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Note: IDA SCOTT SMITH
Ida's Mae's husband, John died about 1909. We believe the family was living in Petersburg, VA at that time. The Smith family had previously lived in a number of towns and villages along the tracks of the Atlantic Coastline Railroad where John was employed as a Section Manager. Ida bought a plot in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg around March 1909. John E. Smith was the first Smith buried in this plot.
The Census of 1910 in Newport News, VA , has an Ida M. Smith, age 40 and widowed living at 1202 26th Street. Living in the same household were: John B. - age 17, William E. - age 15, Carl G. - age 14, Fannie Mae, - age 10, Lem L. - age 8, , Otway Lee, - age 5 and Dorothy Peebles, age 2. The Census also says John B was a "helper in the shipyard." William E. at age 15 was also was listed As a helper along with his brother Carl. Lemuel Wheeler, the husband of Ida's sister, Mary Josephine Scott, was very influential in the shipyard during this time, and he was probably responsible for getting employment for the Smith boys.
Caring for this family in 1910 was a difficult job in this lusty maritime village. Family stories tell of Ida selling her long beautiful Amber colored hair for money to wig makers. Ida's sons I'm sure worked in the shipyard. Two years later in 1912, the White Star liner Titanic sank after striking an iceburg and over 1300 people lost their lives. This tragedy had a deep impact on those associated with shipbuilding in Newport News.
All families in early Virginia kept in close touch with one another and shared any benefits they might have acquired. The Wheeler family was living in Newport News and was probably responsible for getting employment for the Smith boys. Ida's sister Josephine married a Wheeler.
My grandmother was a very shy woman as I recall. During her later life, she was living with one of her daughters - Dorothy Newcomb - in Richmond, VA.
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