Biography of Roxie (Nida) Smith
Date 2006/9/28 6:20:00 | Topic: People
| [i]A biography of Roxie (Nida) Smith written by her granddaughter, Patsy Jean (Smith) Barnes.[/i]
Roxie Ellen Nida was born at Amma, WV. The Smith family Bible and her death certificate gives a birthdate of Sep 7, 1899. Roane County courthouse records lists it as Sep 5, 1899.
After Lin and Roxie were married in 1915, they made their home at the head of Stoney Lonesome near Newton, WV. Their children were raised there and all helped with the farm chores.
Roxie was a kind and gentle woman, much loved by her children and grandchildren. She was devoted to her home and family. She was a wonderful cook and prepared three full meals every day. You were a lucky person if you could sit at her table. Her daughters and daughters-in-law learned to cook with her help and ever one became as skilled at the art of cooking as Roxie was.
She kept an immaculate home, worked in the gardens, and canned and preserved all of their fruits and vegetables. Her daily schedule included certain days for cleaning, washing and hanging clothes, and ironing. She got up at 6 am and worked all day long. She never complained about it, she expected it, it was what a country wife and mother did. And everything she did, she did well.
In Lin and Roxie's later years, about 1953, they built a smaller home on Sandy Creek near the mouth of Grannies Creek. Lin, a retired minister and evangelist in Roane County for forty years, always attended church services. He walked where ever he went. On a snowy Sunday morning December 11, 1960, he left home for Sunday school. Barely out of sight of his home, he had a heart attack and died on the road. He was buried in the Smith Cemetery on the old homeplace up Stoney Lonesome.
Roxie spent that first winter with her children in Akron, Ohio. During their many years of marriage she had always kept her hair long because it pleased Lin. Most country women at that time wore long hair, as was the custom. But living now in Akron and seeing so many women having short, curly hair, Roxie decided that she too would get her hair cut and have a permanent wave. She liked it and received many compliments on her new style and enjoyed the convenience of shorter hair.
Roxie began spending the good weather months at her home on Sandy and would return to Akron for the winter months. She did this for several years until 1968 when she stayed in Akron. She died September 13, 1971 and was buried beside her husband in the Smith Cemetery at Newton, WV.
Roxie was a great example of a wife, mother, and grandmother. Her descendants loved her, respected her, and admired her.
Also see these related photos of the Lindsey Smith family.
[url=http://www.wvroane.org/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=99][img]http://www.wvroane.org/uploads/thumbs/99.jpg[/img][/url]
Lindsey Epison Smith and family - 1916
[url=http://www.wvroane.org/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=100][img]http://www.wvroane.org/uploads/thumbs/100.jpg[/img][/url]
Lindsey Fleming & Roxie (Nida) Smith - ca1922
[url=http://www.wvroane.org/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=101][img]http://www.wvroane.org/uploads/thumbs/101.jpg[/img][/url]
Lindsey F. Smith family - ca1918
[url=http://www.wvroane.org/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=102][img]http://www.wvroane.org/uploads/thumbs/102.jpg[/img][/url]
Anna Belle Smith
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This article comes from Roane County Historical Society, Inc.
http://www.wvroane.org
The URL for this story is:
http://www.wvroane.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=216
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