Marcia Smith – Medium

Marcia Smith

Thelma

As a graveyard biographer, I write about people who die at all different stages of their lives. Most challenging is writing about someone…

Mar 22

Thelma

Mar 22

James Charles “J.C.” Payne

When I was a kid, I enjoyed seeing my mother’s cousin J.C. park his car at the curb and, clutching a couple of greasy bags, transport his…

Dec 24, 2024

James Charles “J.C.” Payne

Dec 24, 2024

Last month, I made a trip to Galen from my home in Dallas, Texas.

I grew up hearing stories about Galen — about my grandparents’ neighbors, my grandpa’s sawmill and small grocery store, my mother’s…

Nov 21, 2024

Last month, I made a trip to Galen from my home in Dallas, Texas.

Nov 21, 2024

Dixie

It’s odd enough that the Tucker brothers, Dixie and Charles, were both born in 1893 — one of them in April, the other in December — but…

Nov 2, 2024

Dixie

Nov 2, 2024

HANDSOME DEVILS

Robert E. Anderson (Photo courtesy of Leigh Anderson)

Sep 27, 2024

HANDSOME DEVILS

Sep 27, 2024

Ila May’s Big Brother

In Dallas’ Oakland Cemetery lie a man and a woman whose tombstone elegies speak of everlasting love and an unbreakable bond.

Aug 6, 2024

Ila May’s Big Brother

Aug 6, 2024

Out of Bounds

The Bounds family headstone in Dallas’s Oakland Cemetery tells a sad story: The small family — a mere trio at a time when families ran…

May 20, 2024

Out of Bounds

May 20, 2024

Madame Isabelle

Isabelle “Belle” Young Niess claims to have been clairvoyant, having recognized in childhood that she had a gift for prophecy, something a…

Apr 22, 2024

Madame Isabelle

Apr 22, 2024

RANSOM DESHA LOVE

On February 24, 1877, a column in the Daily Arkansas Gazette noted: “There is a gentleman living in Pope County, in this State, who answers…

Dec 19, 2023

RANSOM DESHA LOVE

Dec 19, 2023

Mr. Wilburn

My twin brother and I started 4th grade in Schweinfurt, Germany, where our soldier-stepfather was stationed. With only a couple of months…

Dec 5, 2023

Dec 5, 2023

The Doctor

Some might find it creepy, but my family and friends have grown accustomed to my dragging them to cemeteries. Occasionally, I visit a loved…

Nov 25, 2023

The Doctor

Nov 25, 2023

The Widow Adkins

On the evening of May 3, 1890, James Wiley Adkins, 31, left an Elm Street saloon called the Blue Front* and headed home to his family in…

Oct 28, 2023

The Widow Adkins

Oct 28, 2023

Madame Alexandra of Estonia

The grave stone suggests a genteel lady who never left home without gloves and hat, who retained a charming foreign accent and accepted a…

Sep 30, 2023

Madame Alexandra of Estonia

Sep 30, 2023

The Cyclist

AMERICA’S BEST COMEDY BICYCLE ACT is what an Atlantic City newspaper called James Curtis Booth’s troupe. The Booth Trio took their act…

Aug 3, 2023

The Cyclist

Aug 3, 2023

Found Murdered at Home

On the night she died at a Dallas motel, Emma Jean Stewart reportedly screamed, “Don’t kill me!” Another witness heard a child cry out…

May 20, 2023

Found Murdered at Home

May 20, 2023

Bailey men

On Friday morning, January 18, 1963, Lesley Cortez Bailey pointed a French-made automatic pistol at his wife’s left temple and fired. He…

Apr 15, 2023

Bailey men

Apr 15, 2023

Olga Worth’s Final Bow

Can a human body spontaneously combust; that is, can a person suddenly burst into flames without an outside source of ignition? Is that…

Mar 21, 2023

Olga Worth’s Final Bow

Mar 21, 2023

The Outlaw’s Daughter

Lying side by side at Oakland Cemetery are Houston Rhode, the 15-year-old child of German immigrant parents, and Delores “Lola” Scurlock…

Feb 23, 2023

The Outlaw’s Daughter

Feb 23, 2023

John and Beadie

On a rare snowy day in Dallas, a beloved red-haired stray dubbed Rusty abandoned his usual perch on the grand Samuell monument in Dallas’…

Feb 15, 2023

John and Beadie

Feb 15, 2023

Beloved Auntie

The wind serves only those who have set their sails…

Jan 29, 2023

Beloved Auntie

Jan 29, 2023

Marcia Smith

Marcia Smith

The former newspaper reporter and English teacher is the author of the book, The Woman in the Well and Other Ancestories.

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