The Walter N. Smith home
Walter N. Smith (1850-1920) was a farmer. He raised a large family in this home with his wife, Mary Jane ("Molly") Breedlove.
In the 1880 Warren county census, Walter, Mary Jane and their first two children are listed as black. In the 1900 census, they and all their children are listed as white. See the photo on the home page to see what they looked like in 1912. It is thought that Walter's great grandfather, Lewis F. Smith, probably came from Germany, but that has not been proven. Walter's father, Simon P. Smith, may have died between 1870 and 1880, as he is listed in the 1870 census for Warren Co., but not in the 1880. Or he may have moved. Walter's uncle, John F. Smith, was a tailor who lived a few miles north of Winchester in White Hall, Frederick County, Va. In 1860 John F. Smith was living in the Smith-Brown-Holliday house there. Walter's sister Martha Smith married Charles W. Kline and lived just a few doors away in 1880 census. Charles Kline died young, and Walter and Mary Jane helped Martha with her three children.
photo taken in 1997.