Good Morning Canby researchers everywhere,
My great grandmother was Susanna Canby Smart and she is presenting
quite a mystery for me- who are her parents??!! I'm convinced that
someone out there has the tiny piece of the puzzle that I need to put
this mystery to rest. Here is what I know:
[1] Susanna is found on the 1850 Pulaski Co., Missouri census,
enumerated as an 8 yr. old in the home of William and Nancy Malone. {Who
are the Malones and what is the Canby connection to them?}
[2] Susanna is found on the 1860 Bell Co., Texas census, enumerated as
an 18 yr. old in the home of John and Mary Elliott.
[3] Susanna marries John White Smart, 30 January 1862 in Burnet County
Texas.
[4] In a, probably Burnet newspaper, there is a write up about the
marriage of Susanna and John. It states that Susanna is the daughter of
Dr. _________ Canby and her uncle is Brigadier General Edward Richard
Sprigg Canby.
[5] Susanna's birth date:
a.) 1842 based on the age of 8yr. and 18yr. on the 1850 and 1860
census.
b.) 1843 date given on her death certificate.
c.) 1846 date written in a Cheatham family bible {a daughter of
Susanna and John married Tom Cheatham.}
d.) 1849 date given by Susanna's daughter - and my grandmother -
Josie Smart Swinney on Josie's application for UDC
e.) On the application that Susanna filled out for a Confederate
pension, she states that she doesn't know the day and month of her birth
- no year mentioned.
f.) All indications are that she was born in Wright Co., Missouri
[6] Another Canby researcher said that she was the daughter of Charles
Gustavis Claggette Canby but will not give me the source even after
several attempts to have it provided. Charles can't be the father of
Susanna unless he had a previous marriage that no Canby researcher
mentions. Charles married Susan Breckenridge 25 Oct. 1859, years after
Susanna was born. He would have been 36 when he married Susan B. so he
could have possibly been married at an earlier age but, as I say, no one
mentions it. I thought there was a possibility that Susanna could have
been illegitimate but in that case the child usually took the mother's
maiden name.
[7] Israel Canby, father of Charles and General Canby, was married
twice. His second marriage was to Ann Carter. Israel was said to have
been a doctor. He married Ann, 29 Jan. 1841 and then he died 14 April
1846. Ann died 7 Dec. 1850 after the census was taken. Ann is on the
1850 Montgomery Co. Indiana census listed as the 46 yr. old head of the
household. Also enumerated with her were Horace E. Caslin and David M.
Jones, a 22 yr. old son-in-law. No Susanna, however, as she is in
Pulaski Co. in 1850
[8] The possible birth dates for Susanna fit in with the dates of the
marriage of Israel and Ann. That would make her father "a Dr. ______
Canby and her uncle Brigadier Edward S. Canby." Unfortunately there is
no mention of her.
Any help that anyone could give me would be so greatly appreciated. A
big genealogy thanks to all. Sidney Swinney Polley sidneyj(a)swbell.net