Charles Henry Smith

Charles Henry Smith 1859-1906, son of James Smith and Mary Ann Reilly Smith; Charles Henry married Mary Ann Bannon.

Their children were all baptized at St. James Roman Catholic Church: 

1) Mary Ann Smith (Mamie), December 27,1880; Sponsors:  James Smith and Mary E. Dunn; (Mamie married Thomas M Kelly)

2) James A Smith, September 8,1883; Sponsors: James Hyland and Mary Keller; 

3) Catherine Smith (Katie), March 2, 1886; Sponsors: James Bannon and Mary A Smith (Katie married Robert Englehart);

4) William Henry Smith, September 21,1889; Sponsors: William Wall and Catherine Burke;

5) Charles Robert Smith, March 29,1892 (died 1892);

6) Hoke Charles Smith, October 4, 1893 (died before 1900);

7) George William Smith,  1896

8) Walter Dewey Smith, July 31,1898: Sponsors: Thomas J. D. Smith and Mary Ann Donegan (sp?)

9) Thomas Jefferson Davis, October 28,1900.

Charles Henry Smith worked in the glass-bending business operated by his mother. Charles received the following US patents for glass bending equipment:

Below: Patent application filed January 1900, patented April 30, 1901

Thomas Jefferson Davis Smith

Thomas J. D. Smith, 1865-1958, son of James Smith and Mary Ann Reilly Smith

New York Times, November 29, 1910

Charles "Buck" Smith

From The Independent, February 26, 1986

The above article has at least one error: Charles "Buck" Smith's paternal grandparents were Charles Henry Smith and Mary Ann Bannon. Thomas Jefferson Davis Smith was the brother of Charles Henry Smith. 

Below: from The Independent, September 13, 1989

Hampden - Marilyn Claire (Smith) Playter, 83, died on Thursday, March 11, 2010 at a Bangor nursing facility, with her loving daughter Laura by her side. She was born Jan. 15, 1927, in Newark, NJ, the daughter of Charles A. “Buck” Smith and Frances (Byrnes) Smith Deevy. She was a lifelong resident of Belford, NJ before moving to Hampden, Maine in July 2004.

Marilyn met her husband, Gordon William Playter, Jr. while they both attended and graduated from Fairleigh Dickenson Junior College. She was a better dress buyer for Hayne & Company in NJ and later in life she took over as owner of her father’s business, Buck Smith’s “House of Brides” a landmark banquet facility in Middletown (Keansburg), NJ. Marilyn loved to travel and travel she did all over the world from the South Pole to Russia with many stops in between. Her last big trip was to Kenya on a safari. It was better to ask her where she hadn't been rather than where she had been.

She is survived by her daughter Laura Playter Poll and husband Everett “Bud” Poll of Hampden, son-in-law Drew Roberts of Belford, NJ, daughter-in-law Susan Miller Playter of Middletown, NJ, son-in-law and daughter-in-law Gary and Cheryl Apel of Island Hgts, NJ and Max Playter her beloved pug. Grandchildren in Maine, David Poll and wife Toni of Hudson, Melissa Poll Gould and husband Jaimie of Levant, Kristen Poll of Jacksonville, FL, grandchildren in NJ, Karisa, Shannon, Cole, and Grant Playter of Middletown, Brendan Apel and wife Anne Marie of Island Heights, Justin Apel and wife Danielle of Bayville, Kevin Apel of Island Heights, Desa Martin Dalia and husband Fred of Brick. She leaves behind her great-grandchildren, Diane Apel, Hunter Poll, Jacob Gould, Maiella Apel and Desa’s four children. She also leaves behind her special cousin Marcy Labarge of Tempe, AZ with whom she spent so many happy times with in Florida and Arizona, brother-in-law George Playter of Sedona, AZ and sister Eleanor Smith Wilcox and husband Russell Wilcox of NJ.

She was predeceased by her husband Gordon W. Playter, Jr. on May 23, 2007, her daughters Diane Playter Apel on April 25, 1975 and Sharon Playter-Roberts on Sept. 22, 2009, and her son James G. Playter on Oct. 30, 2009.

The Mary Ann Smith Estate

From The New York Daily Tribune, April 12, 1897.

Note: "Thomas Q. D. Smith" in the above article should read "Thomas J. D. Smith" (Thomas Jefferson Davis Smith)

The following is from a 1999 genealogy article by George G. Morgan writing about the use of estate information in genealogy research:

"Mrs. Mary Ann Smith," declared the New York Herald, in her obituary dated Wednesday, March 24, 1897, "one of the best known and wealthy business women in New Jersey, died late Monday night in her home, No. 63 Market Street, Newark, of a complication of diseases. She was sixty-eight years old, and had been a widow for a number of years." Her obituary further

states that she was an immigrant from Ireland, having arrived and settled with her husband in Newark in 1847. Following the death of her husband in 1872, she took her money out of the grocery business and began what became the American Glass Bending and Beveling Works in Newark. Mrs. Smith was the sole owner of the business at the time of her death, and she was considered to be one of the wealthiest women in New Jersey.

Mrs. Smith had six surviving sons at the time of her death, all of whom were in some way involved in the business. Her sizable estate was left in a trust, administered by her youngest son, Thomas D. Smith. In simple terms, the estate was to be divided into seven equal shares: one for each of her children and one for a Catherine Burke. Her estate would be distributed on

the death of her last son among all of her grandchildren and the children of Catherine Burke. If some issue of these seven individuals died before that time, their portion would be distributed among their siblings. If there were no issue by any of the seven, or if all his/her issue died

before that time, that portion of the estate went back into the pot.

What Mrs. Smith had not reckoned on was that her youngest son would survive until July 30, 1958. Over those years, during her sons' management of the business and Thomas' management of the estate, its value had reduced significantly. However, there was still an estate, and sixty-one years later, it became the job of lawyers to determine who were the rightful

heirs, and for the probate court to determine Mrs. Smith's intent and how to distribute the residue of her estate.

The lawyers began an extensive research campaign to locate every potential heir. They determined that Catherine Burke had died without issue, and so her share went immediately back into the estate. They next determined the names (including spouse's name) of each of Mrs. Smith's children, grandchildren and, after all these years, her great-grandchildren. Each

person's birth date, status--living or deceased (and date of death) as of July 30th, 1958, and, if living, the current address was ascertained. Careful research determined that Mrs. Smith had twenty-eight grandchildren, sixteen of which were still living, and seventeen great-grandchildren

living as of July 30, 1958.

Mary Ann Reilly Smith

Husband: James Smith 

Children:

Philip 8/18/1853-1899 

Patrick 11/24/1855-11/23/1911

John William 7/29/1857-7/4/1912

Charles Henry 5/30/1859-4/22/1906

James, Jr. 1861-1862? (mentioned in an 1883 letter)

James Edward 2/23/1863-1/18/1901

Thomas Jefferson Davis 5/7/1865-7/30/1958

George Washington: 2/5/1867-2/9/1896

From The Sun (New York City), March 24,1897

Below: The Sun, March 25, 1897

The following is from a 1999 genealogy article by George G. Morgan writing about the use of estate information to find genealogical information:

"Mrs. Mary Ann Smith," declared the New York Herald, in her obituary dated
Wednesday, March 24, 1897, "one of the best known and wealthy business
women in New Jersey, died late Monday night in her home, No. 63 Market
Street, Newark, of a complication of diseases. She was sixty-eight years
old, and had been a widow for a number of years." Her obituary further
states that she was an immigrant from Ireland, having arrived and settled
with her husband in Newark in 1847. Following the death of her husband in
1872, she took her money out of the grocery business and began what became
the American Glass Bending and Beveling Works in Newark. Mrs. Smith was the
sole owner of the business at the time of her death, and she was considered
to be one of the wealthiest women in New Jersey.

Mrs. Smith had six surviving sons at the time of her death, all of whom
were in some way involved in the business. Her sizable estate was left in a
trust, administered by her youngest son, Thomas D. Smith. In simple terms,
the estate was to be divided into seven equal shares: one for each of her
children and one for a Catherine Burke. Her estate would be distributed on
the death of her last son among all of her grandchildren and the children
of Catherine Burke. If some issue of these seven individuals died before
that time, their portion would be distributed among their siblings. If
there were no issue by any of the seven, or if all his/her issue died
before that time, that portion of the estate went back into the pot.

What Mrs. Smith had not reckoned on was that her youngest son would survive
until July 30, 1958. Over those years, during her sons' management of the
business and Thomas' management of the estate, its value had reduced
significantly. However, there was still an estate, and sixty-one years
later, it became the job of lawyers to determine who were the rightful
heirs, and for the probate court to determine Mrs. Smith's intent and how
to distribute the residue of her estate.

The lawyers began an extensive research campaign to locate every potential
heir. They determined that Catherine Burke had died without issue, and so
her share went immediately back into the estate. They next determined the
names (including spouse's name) of each of Mrs. Smith's children,
grandchildren and, after all these years, her great-grandchildren. Each
person's birth date, status--living or deceased (and date of death) as of
July 30th, 1958, and, if living, the current address was ascertained.
Careful research determined that Mrs. Smith had twenty-eight grandchildren,
sixteen of which were still living, and seventeen great-grandchildren
living as of July 30, 1958.


Below from The Newark Daily Advocate, Friday, May 21, 1897

Early 20th Century Street Scenes

Hamburg Place (sometimes written as Hamburgh) later renamed Wilson Avenue;

View is looking SE across Elizabeth St intersection on the left and Lang St intersection on the right; church is German Presbyterian Church at the SW corner of Hamburg Place and Ann St.

A number of  other Down Neck street names also had German origins but were renamed during WW1 e.g. Berlin Street became Rome Street, Frederick Street became Somme Street, Frankfort Street became Paris Street, and Dresden Street was between Berlin St and Frankfort St where Rt 1/9 is now.    

East Side Park, now known as Independence Park

Postcard view above is looking NW with buildings along Walnut Street on right. Church in 

background is St James Catholic Church (torn down about 1979) with a steeple 

235 feet tall and facing Lafayette Street between Jefferson and Madison Streets.

East Side Park was created in 1895, bounded by Adams, Oliver, Van Buren, and Walnut Streets and designed by the Olmsted Brothers firm. The name of the park was changed from East Side Park to Independence Park on July 4, 1923.  From a January, 1923 recreation report: "An evidence of the interest in this park on the part of citizens of the district was shown when a committee of representative men called upon the Commission and presented a petition to change the name of this park to Independence Park. The benefits of the park to the people were pointed out by the committee. The speakers urged that the Commission adopt the name Independence Park because it will bring to the park a new significance in the minds of the foreign-born population. The committee submitted this name as being most appropriate for 

a park touching upon or adjacent to streets that have been named after the presidents of the 

United States."