William Preston Smith (1841 - 1924)

Born 22 Jan 1841 in Harbour Island, Bahamas

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Ann Elizabeth (Parks) Smith — married 6 Jan 1862 in Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera, Bahamas

Died 4 Feb 1924 at age 83 in Key West, Monroe County, Florida

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William Smith is part of a Bahamian family.

Biography

William Preston Smith was born in 1841 in the Bahama Islands - probably Grand Bahama - to Robert Smith and Georgiana Jamieson.

He married Mary Ann Elizabeth Parks, daughter of Joseph T Parks and Emily Ann Carey Parks, 6 January 1862, at St. Patrick's Anglican Church, Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera. The couple had children (not all of whom survived their infancy): Julia Huxtable, William Huxtable, Georgiana Jamieson, Julia Ida, William Albert, Alberta, Edith Blanche, and Lillian Florence Smith. The family made their home in Rock Sound, Eleuthera.

William Preston Smith was a schoolmaster for more than 50 years in the Bahamas. He served as Commissioner, Registrar, Magistrate, and Catechist in Eleuthera.

The Smiths emigrated to Key West, about 1910, to join their children who lived there.

William Preston Smith passed away in 1924 in Key West, Monroe County, Florida at 83 years of age. He was buried in the City Cemetery.

Sources

St. Patrick's Anglican Church, Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera, Bahamas, Marriage Records, 1862.

"Bahamas Births, 1850-1891", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLLW-L9P : 16 December 2019), William Preston Smith in entry for Julia Huxtable Smith, 1865.

Bahamas Births, 1850-1891. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. Name: Georga. J. Smith. Gender: Female. Birth Date: 9 May 1869. Birth Place: Rock Sound, Bahamas. Father: Wm. P. Smith. Mother: Mary A. Parks Smith. FHL Film Number: 222940. Birth record of daughter Georgiana Jamieson Smith.

1910 United States Federal Census for William P Smith, Florida, Monroe, Key West, Ward 1, District 0116.

U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 for William P Smith, Florida, Key West, 1914, Key West, Florida, City Directory, 1914.

Florida Death Index, 1877-1998 for William P Smith, Monroe County, 1924.

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 16 July 2019), memorial page for William Preston Smith (22 Jan 1841–4 Feb 1924), Find A Grave Memorial no. 143205768, citing Key West Cemetery, Key West, Monroe County, Florida, USA ; Maintained by Donna Jean Robinson (contributor 46886069).

Obituary. Miami News, Miami, Florida, 7 February 1924.