Around The County With Samuel Smiley Martin

By: Karen Zach

Samuel Smiley and Sarah Jane Martin were married October 8, 1857 and had three sons and three daughters, their son Bertram who was an excellent local photographer likely took these photos (and thanks to J&D Jones for sending them). One is of them on their porch in Darlington; the other in their Lambert Automobile.

Samuel Smiley was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania Feb 8, 1838 (Darlington Herald 10-27-1916) the son of Thomas who was born in Ireland and his mother was a Smiley where he received his nifty middle name. Likely, he passed away at the home you see here in Darlington on October 19, 1916, being the age of 78 years, 8 months and 11 days, passing from arterior sclerosis.

The Martins were good, long standing members in the Darlington Methodist Church and he a member of the Masons and GAR.

Sam was 25 when he went to the service on the 2nd day of January 1864 from C’ville in the 11th Cavalry (126th Regiment Co M) serving under Lew Wallace and made the regimental commanding Sgt November 23, 1864. If you’ve heard of Wallace’s Zouaves, then you know Sam was one of them and they were in several of the worst CW battles, including Fort Henry; Fort Donelson; Shiloh; Vicksburg and Cedar Creek among others. Just seemed to be a man you could count on as well as trust.

Sam Smiley and Sarah Jane lived on their farm in the Potato Creek area, had a large sale of their animals and farm equipment and headed into Darlington where he opened an insurance and collection office, then was the Darlington Postmaster for some time. Quite a versatile fellow. They were all settled in by the end of March in 1888 (CWJ 24 March), later building in 1896 I imagine the home pictured here.

Their son, George Earl lived in Kentucky and southern Indiana for quite a time and did his work as a physician, but as I figure it, about the end of WWI, he headed back our way where he and wife Bessie Buchanan (son Harry and daughter Helen) farmed. Their oldest son, Thomas H. lived most of his life in Louisville where he was a tanner. He was just over 60 when he passed away from TB and sclerosis of the liver. He and his brother George returned back home to Darlington where they are buried.

The other son I mentioned above, Bertram Stevenson Martin, was indeed a photographer in the Darlington area for a number of years but also moved to Kentucky with much of the rest of Sam and Sarah’s group. On June 19 in 1918, at just over 45 years old, he passed away of TB at the Waverly Hills Hospital in Valley Station, Kentucky. Three children blessed him but sadly one in 1937 at age 36 (Cameron, his oldest) died from car wreck injuries at Louisville.

The three daughters of Sam and Sarah were: Dora Bell, Maud and Ola Margaret. Dora married Hugh Taylor and they were parents of four daughters, Ella, Martha, Isabelle and Dora Irene. One of the neat things about this couple was that they went to Hong Kong with the two youngest girls returning in May 1924. Dora taught school before her marriage. Maude Alice married (Aug 1881) Albert K. Peterson and they died close together, he in Oct 1948, she in January 1949 after falling and breaking her hip on the 2nd, passing on the 14th. They were parents of four daughters: (Ethel; Hattie; Nellie and Bessie). They were farmers in Franklin Township. Ola, called “Maggie” married Oliver Delashmit and was basically the only other one to remain here, living quite some time in Crawfordsville passing at almost 71 of liver cancer in 1937. Sadly, Oliver went to Oklahoma and filed for divorce out there in 1927 but she did fine afterwards, moving to Darlington where she rented rooms here and there plus did a great deal of visiting with her family members.

Sam was fairly well-known as an early Darlington historian (thanks so much to Martha F. for sending him my way) and wrote articles about the early days, using others’ knowledge and likely books for the earlier years and much of his own remembrances after he lit here in 1857 right after his marriage. Good stuff. His writing is nonfiction, but reads in a light way, flitting here and there a bit, but overall, excellent local history!

– Karen Zach is the editor of Montgomery Memories, our monthly magazine all about Montgomery County. Her column, Around the County, appears each Thursday in The Paper of Montgomery County. You can reach her at [email protected].