Sixth Generation

1537. Sereno SMITH^207,218 was born on 13 Sep 1823 in East Haddam, Middlesex , Connecticut.^{5,26,207,217,218} He died on 25 Apr 1872.^207,217 "He was a well-to-do farmer, unassuming and universally respected in the locality in which he lived. On the morning of April 25, 1872, he mysteriously disappeared from his home and it was thought by his family and friends that he had, in a fit of mental aberration, wandered away or committed suicide, although no cause could be assigned for such an act. With this impression, woods were searched, streams and ponds were dragged with no result. About two weeks after the disappearance of Mr. Smith, Mr. J. H. Phelps, brother of Mrs. Smith, came to Rome, and dreamed that his brother-in-law had been murdered and the body concealed in a large manure heap near the barn. Not being a firm believer in dreams he deemed it more a fallacy than a reality. Still being so strongly impressed, and the search being still continued, a search was made at the place indicated in the dream on Sunday morning May 12, and the body was soon found, presenting
a horrid sight and revealing a most brutal murder. The skull was beaten in as by an ax. Suspicion at once pointed to one John Housel, a young man who had been for the past year in the employ of Mr. Smith, and the chain of circumstantial evidence was so strong that it seemed likely he would pay the penalty of the crime. As there was no conceivable motive for the murder, the deed was as mysterious as it was brutal." Since the above was written, Housel has made a full confession of his crime and was given a life sentence in the Ohio penitentiary.

Sereno SMITH and Mary PHELPS were married on 30 May 1848.^207,217,218 also may be 3 May
no children Mary PHELPS was born on 7 Nov 1828 in Williamsfield, Ashtabula, Ohio.²⁰⁷ She died on 25 Oct 1889 in Kingsville, Ashtabula, Ohio.²⁰⁷