George Washington SMALL (1879 IN - 1942 OK)
I would appreciate if anyone on this list could assist me with ancestors of George SMALL.
Below is sketch of his ancestors - MEDLEY, SUMMERS, and STEELE.
Thanks
Chet Buchanan
******************
I do not know when or where George's grandfather was born, the first known ancestor of
the Small family. He married Elizabeth "Betsy" MEDLEY about 1837 or so, and
then in 1838 they had a son, John Small - their only child. Elizabeth was born in Ohio
about 1810, but her mother, Polly (maiden name unknown), was born in North Carolina about
1780 and her father, "Unknown" Medley, was born in Tennessee sometime in the
late 1700s, probably near the Tennessee-North Carolina state line. Polly probably married
"Unknown" Medley in North Carolina, and then moved to Ohio a little before 1810
where Elizabeth Medley was born. By 1840, the family had moved again, this time to
Indiana where "Unknown" Medley died or the family moved to Indiana shortly after
he died in Ohio, leaving the head of the family to John Medley, his son. By 1843, the
family had settled in Morgan County, Indiana, a little southwest of Indianapolis, where
Elizabeth married John's step-father, Martillus SUMMERS. I assume that Elizabeth and
Martillus died in Morgan Co. sometime between 1880 and 1900.
In 1860, just before the Civil War, John Small married Rebecca STEELE in Morgan County,
Indiana. For the next 28 years, they lived next to his Uncle John Meadly (alternative
spelling) on one side and his mother (Elizabeth Summers) on the other. During this period
John worked as a farmhand, a farmer, and in 1874, a harness maker. Virginia stated in her
1941 newspaper interview that John served four years in the Union Army heavy artillery,
though I can't find any records of such on the internet. George Small and his six
siblings were born in Indiana - George in 1879. About 1888, the family again moved
westward, this time to Greene County, Arkansas, presumably to take advantage of the
thriving lumber business in the county, though census records indicate that John continued
to work as a farmer. Twenty years later, Rebecca died in Greene County, and then about a
year later, John married Sara CRONISTER.