Individual Details

Russell Eugene SMOTHERS

(30 Aug 1924 - 29 Oct 1961)

Uncle Russell was a very cute child and when he was in the orphanage a young wealthy couple wanted to adopt him. Grandmother would not allow Russell to be adopted. Dad thought that Russell would have had a better life if Grandmother had let him be adopted. Instead of a good life, Russell had a very troubled life.

Events

Birth30 Aug 1924Nebraska
Residence1930Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head: Ward - Prairie, Phelps, Nebraska, United States
Census-shared1930(Jack Bruce SMOTHERS) Prairie, Phelps, Nebraska, United States
Census1940Simi Judicial Township, Ventura, California, United States
Military9 Feb 1943Fresno, California
Marriage5 Jan 1945Buena Vista, Chaffee County, Colorado, United States - Willie Eilene MCELHANEY
Residence1946Relation to Head: Self - Buena Vista, Colorado, United States
Residence1954Burbank, Los Angeles, California, United States
Residence1961Ventura, California, United States
Death29 Oct 1961Merced, California, United States
Burial1 Nov 1961Ivy Lawn Cemetery, Thousand Oaks, California, United States
ResidenceAtwater
ResidenceVentura, California

Families

SpouseWillie Eilene MCELHANEY (1926 - 2008)
ChildLiving
ChildFrank Ward SMOTHERS (1946 - 1998)
ChildLiving
ChildLiving
SpouseThelma PORTIS ( - 1989)
ChildFrank Ward SMOTHERS (1946 - 1998)
ChildLiving
ChildLiving
ChildLiving
FatherWard Miles SMOTHERS (1898 - 1928)
MotherClara Ruth "Ruth" BRUCE (1901 - 1987)
SiblingEade SMOTHERS (1920 - 1920)
SiblingJack Bruce SMOTHERS (1921 - 2000)
SiblingBetty Gayle SMOTHERS (1923 - 1990)
SiblingRichard SMOTHERS (1926 - 1926)

Notes

Census-shared

Grandmother placed Dad, Aunt Betty and Uncle Russell in a Orphanage so that she could be with Al Davis. She told Dad that Al Davis was the love of her life and that she and Al were having an affair before Ward's accident. Near the end of her life, Grandmother was in sever pain. She told Dad that she thought God was punishing her for abandoning her children to be with Al.

Census

Russell Davis in Census.

Endnotes

1. Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002), Year: 1930; Census Place: Prairie, Phelps, Nebraska; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0015; FHL microfilm: 2341024.

2. "United States Census, 1930".

3. "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K96G-N61 : accessed 13 December 2016), Russell Davis in household of Alvin Davis, Simi Judicial Township, Ventura, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 56-41, sheet 1A, line 36, family 193, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 364..

4. Ancestry.com, U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005).

5. Ancestry.com, U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 227.

6. Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011).

7. Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011).

8. Ancestry.com, California, Death Index, 1940-1997 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000), Date: 1961-10-29.

9. Ancestry.com, U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014), Number: 524-34-5051; Issue State: Colorado; Issue Date: Before 1951.

10. Ancestry.com, U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012).

11. In Memory of Russell Eugene Smothers, 1924-1961..

12. Ancestry.com, California, Death Index, 1940-1997 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000), Date: 1961-10-29.

13. Ancestry.com, U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005).