Individual Details

Married to Julie Ann Clarkson (1846-1915)


FindAGrave #7856113
Unidentifed newspaper clipping. Copied by AI with note.
Nelson Duke Smith
Nelson Duke Smith was born in Sequatchie Valley January 1, 1835. He came to Walker County, married Julia Ann Clarkson, and settled in McLemore's Cove. Later, he moved his family to Pond Springs, Walker County. He was a successful farmer. After moving to LaFayette, he opened a Feed Store.
Around 1905, he built a home in LaFayette, Georgia on North Main Street where he lived until his death June 13, 1926. His grandson, Charles Nelson Pursley was raised in this home and continues to live there.
During the Civil War, Nelson Duke Smith was attached to the 35th Tennessee Regiment Company K. General Clayborne's Division, was captured at Marietta, Georgia in 1864 and sent to Camp Douglas, Illinois prison. He was held prisoner nine or ten months.
While in prison he nursed Mr. Carlock, another prisoner, through a siege of smallpox. The camp doctor said his vaccination scar made him immune. One of the camp Colonels was particularly abusive to the prisoners, and one day his large dog disappeared. It was never known whether the prisoners killed the dog for revenge and buried it under the floor or whether they ate it. Colonel Stanley finally released him early in 1865.
Nelson Duke and Julia Ann Smith had five children:
(1) Mary Florence Smith was born January 14, 1863; married Jeff Shankles May 16, 1879; and died March 5, 1909. Their children were Cora and Bob. Mary Florence later married William Thurman and had one child, Julia Thurman.
(2) Lougenia Piera Smith was born May 4, 1866; married Charles Nickson Pursley February 18, 1903; and died November 29, 1903. They had one child, Charles Nelson Pursley, born November 28, 1903.
(3) William Columbus was born July 19, 1868; married Emma Berry March 13, 1892; and died September 13, 1938. Their children were Willie, Duke, Robert, Myrtle, and Sam.
(4) James Abbott Smith was born November 11, 1879; married Cora Tyner November 9, 1909; moved to California and died there 1945. They had five girls: Mabel Louise, Dorothy, Ethel, Eva Jane, and Margaret.
(5) Eva Jane Smith was born December 16, 1886 and died May 12, 1956. She never married but made a home for her father and nephew, Charles Nelson Pursley, whose mother died a day after he was born.
Nelson Duke Smith died June 13, 1926. — Martha Pursley
NOTE:
I left out the handwritten underlining from your copy and kept the spelling just as it was printed. One note for your research: the general's name is printed "Clayborne," but it is usually spelled Cleburne (General Patrick Cleburne).

Birth	1 Jan 1836	Marion County, Tennessee
Death	13 Jun 1926	Pond Sprngs, Walker County, Georgia

Father	Abbott Smith (1809 - 1886)
Mother	Charlotte Duke (1810 - 1872)
Sibling	Susan A. Smith (1829 - 1859)
Sibling	Elizabeth Smith (1830 - 1879)
Sibling	Anderson Smith (1831 - 1896)
Sibling	Robert Smith (1834 - 1914)
Sibling	MaryAnn Smith (1838 - 1888)
Sibling	Martha Smith (1840 - 1922)
Sibling	Rhoda Smith (1842 - )
Sibling	Marcus DeLafayette Smith (1844 - 1905)
Sibling	Adeline K. "Addie" Smith (1849 - 1897)
Sibling	George Washington Smith (1852 - 1878)