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Submitted: 6/14/22 • Approved: 6/14/22 • Last Updated: 6/17/22 • R1436523-G394174-S3
Francis
FIRST SERGEANT Rieff's Mounted Company
Civil War Confederate
August 18, 1825 - December 30, 1861
*Obituary
Rootsweb.Ancestry.com
SMILEY, Francis Marion – Francis M. Smiley was born August 18, 1825 in Bedford County, Tennessee, a son of James Bartlett Smiley, born in 1800 in Kentucky, and Ann Jane McCluiar. Mr. Smiley was married twice. On July 30, 1846, in Washington County, Arkansas, he married Tabitha Holcomb, born June 27, 1829 in Fulton County, Illinois. They became the parents of two children, Reuben and John H. Smiley. After the death of Tabitha, he married Sarah Ann Norman, born in 1832 in Bedford County, Tennessee, on February 28, 1853 in Washington County, Arkansas. They became the parents of six children: William Frank; James B.; Henry N.; Dorothy Elizabeth; Martha Tennessee and Hugh Marion Smiley. Francis was away from the house one day, away from his expectant wife, when he was attacked by bushwhackers, who were believed to be army deserters. A foot chase ensued and Francis managed to elude his attackers, but became overheated and developed pneumonia. He died from the effects of his illness on December 30, 1861, almost six and a half months before the birth of his child.
Tabitha
June 27, 1829 - January 22, 1852
*Source: Sons of Confederate Veterans, Washington County, Arkansas 2009
Compiled by William W Degge
Contributed on 6/14/22 by tslundberg
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Record #: 1436523