Mabel Smithson (1878 - 1974)

Born 10 Nov 1878 in Macoupin County, Illinois, USA

Ancestors

Died Aug 1974 at age 95 in Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, USA

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Biography

Mabel Smithson was born in Macoupin County, Illinois (most likely in Nilwood Township). She was the youngest of four children born to Oscar Smithson and Elizabeth Anna Burford. She and her sister Minnie removed to Chicago about 1900 to live with their mother's sister Martha W. Bates, who was divorced at the time, where Mabel worked as a clerk. In the family's 1880 census Mabel was recorded as "Margaret." She was never known to the family as such. In the 1900 census in Chicago her birth was listed as OCT 1878 in Illinois; however, later records show her birth as being November.

Mabel became a public educator. She taught school in Tulsa, Oklahoma where she owned her own home. Mabel never married and never did her sister Minnie. There are anecdotal stories handed down from family members still alive who knew her about her various adventures (and misadventures). One of those being that Mabel once met Annie Oakley. Mabel was reportedly a lively character, a real "hoot." She died in Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois in August of 1974. She is buried in the Suphur Springs Cemetery in Atwater, Macoupin County, Illinois along with other members of her immediate family.

Sources

• United States Federal Census 1880 Nilwood, Macoupin County, Illinois (Listed with family as "Margaret"

United States Federal Census 1900 190 Warren Ave, Ward 12, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. United States Federal Census 1930 Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma. United States Federal Census 1940 (residence same in 1935) Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com, Operations Inc, Ancestry.com U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com, Operations Inc, Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=36966320&ref=acom