Patrick Smith was born in Ireland, probably Cork County, and he was the second of six children and first of three boys. His parents were John M. Smith and Elizabeth O'Reilly, (family bible) a sister of Bernard and Farrell Reilly. Patrick immigrated to the United States in 1861 and initially lived with his sister, Catherine, and brother-in-law, Frank Monaghan in Derby, New Haven, Ct.

Bernard Reilly of San Augustine, was killed in Plano, Texas in June, 1873 and is buried there. Bernard Reilly was the uncle of Patrick Smith, brother to Elizabeth, and had not married. He had accumulated some 15,000 acres throughout Texas that Patrick Smith and other family members were entitled to inherit. Patrick's mother was dead by this time, so her inheritance rights passed to her children, per stirpes.

Farrell Reilly was a brother of Bernard Reilly, living with his wife in San Augustine and also with his adopted daughter, Mary Poole Reilly. Farrell was also a heir to the Bernard Reilly estate and let Patrick know of his inheritance which is what brought Patrick Smith to San Augustine in December, 1873.

Upon arrival, he found the adopted daughter of Farrell Reilly, Mary Poole Reilly, 18 years old, red haired and blue eyed and from her picture, an attractive young lady. She and Patrick were married 8 July 1874 and within the fourteen years that it took for the Bernard Reilly estate to be settled had twelve children, among whom was my grandfather, John Patrick Smith, for whom I am named in accordance with Irish naming customs.

The first child of Patrick and Mary Reilly Smith was a girl named Bessie Smith, died 1876, according to Michael Smith's family history. There is no marked grave for her in the Smith Cemetery, but she would have been buried on what was then Farrell Reilly's property close to the grave stone of Louie Clark, who died in 1875.

In July, 1997, Mrs. Bessie Spanton Smith, wife of Patrick Bernard Connelly Smith provided me with a "Family History" story of the burial of Patrick Smith and his daughter.

"Bernard and Kathye (Bernard Reilly Smith and wife) and their 2 or 3 yr old son, Patrick, (Bessie's future husband) were in San Augustine when Bernard's father, Pat Smith and his daughter,"Ted" died. I came across a bill for a coffin $25, which I sent to you. A wagon on the place carried them to the family cemetery where family and friends gathered to bury them. The priest came only a few times a year-this was not one of them - so Kathye, B. R.'s young wife conducted the Burial Ceremony. What a wonderful lady she was - equal to any occasion and completely generous. I felt so privileged to be a part of their family."

The iron fence surrounding the Smith section was ordered by Jno P. Smith, 15 Dec 1906 from the Stewart Iron Works, Cincinnati, Ohio, for $146.00 to be delivered by railroad. It then had to be installed and from an invoice from Frank Blount 9 April 1907, this had been done for $142.04.

The land for the Smith/Catholic Cemetery was deeded by Patrick Smith to Nicholas A. Gallagher, Bishop of Galveston, on May 15, 1889. Several years ago, 1997, the local Catholic prelates wanted to remove the iron fence, but Ken Skillern kept this from happening. Thank you, Ken....

Michael G. Smith was the youngest child of Patrick and Mary Reilly Smith. In the 1980's, he prepared a family history of his parents and siblings....

Page 1 Data of Great Grandfather and Mother
Patrick Smith and Mary Poole

"He was born in County Cork Ireland in 1843. He migrated to the U. S. In 1855 landing in New York hoping to find a brother John but never found him. He knew about his uncle Bernard O'Reilly who lived in San Augustine, Texas and worked his way across country after spending seven years around New York and Virginia. During civil war fought with General Forrest in and around South Carolina finally arriving in S.A Texas in 1874. In meantime his uncle Farrell who also lived with uncle Bernard adopted Mary Poole whose people were dead and she was an orphan. Her father was Amos Poole in the Mexican war. Patrick Smith and Mary Poole were married in 1875. The record of adoption of Mary Poole and her father record are in San Augustine as well as graves of all in "Smith Cemetery" in San Augustine. Patrick Smith died of pneumonia in 1906.
Mary Smith died in 1900.

Next Page (of page 1)

Patrick Smith was engaged in extensive farming having several farms. Also ran a gin, sawmill, grist mill, shingle mill and syrup mill. They had twelve children from oldest to youngest in following order
(1) Bernard Riley Smith born 1876 died in 1954.
(2) Bessie Smith died in infancy 1876 (unmarked grave)
(3) John Smith born 1880 died in 1928 (my grandfather)
(4) Lizzie Smith born 1878 died 1900 (Elizabeth)
(5) Latiia Smith, born 1881, died 1906 (Lettitia)
(6) Catherine Smith (Childers) Born June 28, 1884, died June 1955
(7) Mollie Smith died in infancy – Feb 7, 1895 (7 Aug 1886)
(8) Margaret Smith (Sublett) June 7, 1887, died 1952
(9) Farrell Smith Born Jan 27, 1889 - died 1961
(10) Susie Smith Born Oct 16, 1892 - died 1982
(11) Philip Smith Born Aug 7, 1894 - died 1988
(12) Michael Gibson Smith, Nov 17, 1896 (died 1994)

See Chart for descendants (NOTE: Michael also prepared a four generations descendants list to accompany the biographical data.)

The above family history is a great thing to find and to read. Unfortunately, most family histories are the result of oral stories told at family gatherings, weddings, funerals, holiday events, etc and when matched up with historical facts digress from what actually happened and there are a number of items in Michael's history that do not match up with fact.

An example: He has Amos Pool as Mary Pool's father and that he died in the Mexican War. The Mexican War was 1846-1848; Mary Poole date of birth was 15 Oct 1856. I did considerable research on Amos Pool and yes, he was in San Augustine and in 1861, he marched off with the Civil War volunteers. His service record shows him being discharged in 1865 in Richmond, VA and no record of his return to San Augustine. Amos Pool was not Mary Poole's father.

There was a Gibson Poole in San Augustine and Michael's middle name is Gibson. I have not been able to connect the two but the Gibson name is not a Smith family name, so why did Patrick Smith use Gibson as the middle name for Michael?
I don't have an answer for that.

Another item of question is that Patrick served with General Nathan Forest. Patrick actually immigrated in 1861 (Census Record) into New York where the Union was very active in enlisting the young Irish immigrants into the Union as they came off the ships. How Patrick could have gotten to Tennessee to serve with Forest is difficult to envision under the circumstances of port entry of the Irish immigrants into New York.

A third item is how Patrick got to San Augustine that does not match up with the historical facts.

While Michael's family history is somewhat loose on the real facts, what does come through with a great big, loud bang is his great love and affection for Patrick and Mary, his parents, and also for ALL of his siblings. His words pour with love...

Thank you, Michael, for your family history... I really enjoyed reading it and using it to do further research on the Patrick and Mary Smith family of San Augustine.