Abraham Smelser

The patriarch of one branch of the Smelser family in Greene County, Arkansas was Abraham Smelser born in Tennessee in 1805. His known children were: John W., 1827; Mary, 1831; William, 1833; Martha, 1841; and Nancy, 1847. John W., Mary, and William were born while the family lived in Kentucky. Martha and Nancy were born after the family arrived in Arkansas. The family came to Greene County sometime between 1833 and 1841 and settled in St. Francis Township. John W. Smelser, son of Abraham, married Nancy Clark, born in Tennessee in 1827. Their known children were: William Henry, born in 1850; J. A., 1851; Joseph, 1858; and Sarah, 1860. William Henry Smelser, son of John W., married Susannah Adams in Greene County on July 28, 1877. Joseph P. Smelser, son of John W., married Margaret Adams on July 4, 1878. By 1880 John W. Smelser had taken a number of his relatives into his household. His sister, Adaline Smelser Smith, and her two children, James and Nancy Smith, were living with the family. Benjamin Smelser, a nephew, and John W. Smelser, another nephew, were also in the household. The nearest neighbors of John W. Smelser at this time were the families of Franklin Gramling, B. M. Gramling, John A. Smelser, and John Parker.