March 31, 2011

Days of 98 Show

Photo by Mrs. Pumpkin
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If you've never been to Skagway to see the Days of '98 Show I thought you might enjoy seeing some photographs taken of the show (click link to see whole collection) by "Mrs. Pumpkin." Click

Photo by Mrs. Pumpkin
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I have seen Jim Richards and Jeff Brady perform as Soapy but I don't recall seeing Jonathan Baldwin yet. I look forward to the opportunity. Note the ascot (tie) he is wearing. It is a copy of the original Soapy owned and supposedly died wearing.

Photo by Mrs. Pumpkin
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Here is a link to other posts on this blog pertaining to this topic:
February 5, 2011



Jeff Smith








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March 30, 2011

Gambler Sam Roberts 1898 murder.

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Marlene McCluskey over at the Skagway Historical Society blog posted some interesting research about Sam Roberts, another Skagway murder victim popularly published as having been a crooked gambler whose victim(s) took revenge. The Seattle Daily Times claimed he was a member of the Soap Gang. Marlene writes,

This murder occurred on this day, March 13, 1898. Mr. Roberts ran the Wonder Hotel and saloon in Dyea and was murdered on his way home. Fitzpatrick, Corbett and Brooks apparently felt they could get away with murder during this period of wild abandon. They did not.

Because Alaska was a federal territory and not a state at the time, the case went to a federal court, was appealed, and then heard at the Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court case 178 US 304 stated on May 28, 1900:
"The said John Fitzpatrick, Henry Brooks, and William Corbett at near Dyea, within the said District of Alaska and within the jurisdiction of this court, and under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, on the 13th day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, did unlawfully, willfully, knowingly, feloniously, purposely, and of deliberate and premeditated malice make an assault upon one Samuel Roberts, and that they, the said John Fitzpatrick, Henry Brooks, and William Corbett, a certain revolver, then and there charged with gunpowder and leaden bullets, which said revolver they, the said John Fitzpatrick, Henry Brooks, and William Corbett, in their hands then and there had and held, then and there feloniously, purposely, and of deliberate and premeditated malice did discharge and shoot off to, against, and upon the said Samuel Roberts, and that said John Fitzpatrick, Henry Brooks, and William Corbett with one of the bullets aforesaid out of the revolver aforesaid then and there by force of the gunpowder aforesaid by the said John Fitzpatrick, Henry Brooks, and William Corbett, discharged and shot off as aforesaid then and there feloniously, purposely, and deliberate and premeditated malice did strike, penetrate, and wound him, the said Samuel Roberts, in and upon the right breast of him, the said Samuel Roberts, then and there with the leaden bullet aforesaid so as aforesaid discharged and shot out of the revolver aforesaid by the said John Fitzpatrick, Henry Brooks, and William Corbett, in and upon the right breast of him the said Samuel Roberts one mortal wound, of which said mortal wound he, the said Samuel Roberts, instantly died, and so the grand jurors duly selected, impaneled, sworn and charged as aforesaid upon their oaths do say that said John Fitzpatrick, Henry Brooks, and William Corbett did then and there kill and murder the said Samuel Roberts in the manner and form aforesaid, contrary to the form of the statutes in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the United States of America. Burton E. Bennett U.S. District Attorney"
Fitzpatrick was sentenced to life imprisonment of hard labor at San Quentin, California. Brooks and Corbett received separate trials.

There is no information on what became of Sam Roberts' body, whether he was buried in Dyea or Skagway. The three defendants all show up on the 1900 census at San Quentin.

Great work as usual Marlene!











Sam Roberts: page 468-69, 521.



Jeff Smith








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March 29, 2011

Words of experience

GOOD and EVIL


Got an email from Harold Stewart, an experienced descendant of another outlaw warning me not to expect too much from Hollywood when it comes to Soapy. Harold writes,

Jeff, it’s great that your grandfather will be a character in a new movie. However, you better prepare yourself for a complete fabrication, or at least twisting, of what you know about him. I was tickled to learn that my great grandfather, Doc Scurlock, would finally be portrayed as a major character, which he indeed was, in the story of the Lincoln County War. Then, when I saw Young Guns, with Keifer Sutherland as Doc, I found they played my great grandmother, Antonia Miguela Herrera, as a Chinese love slave. I have no idea where they could have come up with such a screwed up idea, since she and Doc were married and had two kids at the time of the movie’s setting. The Oriental angle came totally out of someone’s imagination. I had some female cousins who were ready to go to war with Hollywood, literary license be damned!

Good luck.
Harold Stewart


I surely appreciated hearing from Harold Stewart and wrote back the following.

Hello, Harold.

Nice to meet a fellow descendant of a bad man. Like you no doubt have, I have met many descendants of other bad men over the decades. Seems like we share a common bond.

Thank you for the warnings. I remember seeing Young Guns and although I knew very little of Billy the Kid and the gang, I knew not to trust the film for historical facts. I and my family are well aware of Hollywood's history of messing with history. The first film with Soapy in it was in 1913. Clark Gable played him in 1941 and Rod Stieger in 1979. None of the films were even close. My hope/goal is not for accuracy, but rather to propel Soapy's name upwards in the ranks of known old west characters. People that seek the truth about the man can read my book.
Jeff Smith




Jeff Smith








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The 1898 murder of P. C. Bean in Skagway, Alaska.

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Marlene McCluskey over at the Skagway Historical Society blog has done it again. On March 17, 2011 she wrote about the murder of  P. C. Bean. The blame was placed on the gamblers and Soapy Smith and was one of the proverbial "last straws" that drove the Skagway vigilantes to post their infamous 101 handbills.

I was contacted yesterday by an author and historical researcher that had been reading the diaries of Frank Purdy that are held at the University of Fairbanks. One entry in those diaries mentioned the fact that the Purdy party had heard a shot on the evening of March 7, 1898 up near White Pass. The next morning they found the body of P.C. Bean who had been murdered. Now the clue here was that they said he was from California. After some serious sleuthing I discovered that P.C. Bean was actually Philander Cyrus Bean, born March 12, 1840 in Caratunk, Somerset County, Maine. His family there was quite old (coming from Scotland in the 1600's) but he had gone to California and had mined for gold in Sierra County. He had a wife and three children there in 1880. In 1888 he was involved in a mine accident which resulted in a California Court case that I found online also.


This solves who P.C. Bean was, but then the murder case is still unsolved.

from: 1880 census; Familysearch; The Pacific Reporter, 1888 Vol 16, p.522 online; Michael Gibson author of "Echo of a Family Secret" (the story of another unsolved murder available at lulu.com) but is currently working on the biography of Frank Purdy, a goldrusher who passed through Skagway.


The information published in Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel is based on contemporary articles in the Seattle Daily Times and The Oregonian which stated Beans' name was Peter Clancy, a 25-year-old miner from Williams, California. Marlene's findings state Peter Clancy Bean was actually Philander Cyrus Bean, a 58-year-old miner from Maine.  That a pretty big mistake in newspaper reporting.

Marlene, I trust your research but is there something concrete in what you found that clearly shows both Beans are one and the same? I need this for corrections and additional information for the second edition of Alias Soapy Smith, in which, by the way, you will be fully acknowledged.













Peter Clancy Bean: page 467.



Jeff Smith








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March 27, 2011

Film: Gold in the Snow

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Another Klondike gold rush film, this one possibly starring Robert Redford, is in pre-production. This one is called, Gold in the Snow, based on the 2004 book, L’or sous la neige (Gold in the Snow) by Nicolas Vanier. The story takes place in the Klondike in 1897 just before the main gold discovery. There is no mention of Skagway or Soapy Smith although Soapy was in Alaska at the time. Who knows, maybe they'll write him in.


Jeff Smith










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Busy days

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1891: Soapy’s mock auction house opens in Denver (one of numerous).












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March 26, 2011

The Skaguay Military Co. versus the U.S. Army.

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Soapy's organizing his troops to stand up to the US Army (at least for a tense while) is a key scene in my THE FLOOR OF HEAVEN.

Author, Howard Blum, wrote the above comment on Soapy's Facebook page. as you may recall the rights to his book have been purchased and will be made into a film. I don't know about you but that's one scene I hope makes the final cut! A volunteer army up against the United States army makes for great movie excitement.


Here are some links to other posts on this blog pertaining to this topic:
March 9, 2011
March 8, 2011
February 4, 2011
October 3, 2009









Skaguay Military Company: pages 79, 471, 486-90. 494-95, 498-502, 505, 510, 514-15, 595.












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March 17, 2011

The Denver City Hall War

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Following are some photographs and drawings of the infamous City Hall War in Denver 1894. I won’t get into talking about the event itself very much as the story, in great detail, can be found in chapter 12 of my book, Alias Soapy Smith. Craig and Scott Johnson also did a wonderful job dealing with the “war” on their website. I strongly suggest visiting it if you don't already have my book.

My post today is about the additional detail and comparisons between some of the city hall war photographs found in my book and some drawings not in my book that I recently found while researching the pages of The Rocky Mountain News.



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The photograph, from my book, showing the front line and the cannons behind them is my favorite from the war. I found that comparing the photograph from my book, to the drawing published in the Rocky Mountain News showed striking similarity, a complement to the artist. Everything recorded in the drawing matches up with the photograph perfectly. I had read and reported on the Gatling guns brought in by the National Guard but knew nothing of their location. For the first time, since finding the drawings, I can see the Gatlings in the photograph.




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In looking at the two different newspaper front pages it is easy to see that one copied the other in reference to the "thug" and "Soapy" carrying the dynamite to city hall.





1894: Soap Gang member Billy Larimer dies. In honor of his death Soapy writes a poem and it is published in the Denver Mercury.











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March 15, 2011

Giving Soapy Smith a title



Friends of Bad Man Soapy Smith member, Rich, suggested a great idea in the campaign to move Soapy up the ladder of the known historical characters of the American old west. He suggests we give Soapy a "special title to associate with him." Rich came up with "Robin Hood of the Old West." Early historian authors called Jesse James a Robin Hood sort, but few fit that title better than Soapy does.


Rich is on to something here. Incidentally, I took the same idea in naming Soapy's last gunfight, "Shootout on Juneau Wharf." I used, as a reference, the title of the west's most famous shoot-out, the "Gunfight at the OK Corral."


In the 1960s Soapy was known as the "King of the Frontier Con Men," taking the title from the book of the same name. He has also been known as:
  • Bad Man of the North
  • Alaska’s Outlaw
  • Prince of Knaves
  • Green Cloth Diplomat
  • Hayseed Educator of Seventeenth Street

I have created a page devoted to giving Soapy a title and there are more samples there to hopefully give you some inspiring thoughts. Let's all come up with our own ideas for a great title. Something that will encompass his entire life, not just Colorado or Alaska.

Check out the new page HERE 












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On This Day...






1839: Samuel H. Blonger, Soapy’s successor in Denver, is born.
1894: Colorado Governor Waite sends Special Order No. 242 ordering the Colorado National Guard to assemble at the armory and prepare to invade city hall to force the old commissioners out.
1898: Alexander McLain, a businessman, is sandbagged and robbed in front of his home in Skagway.









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March 14, 2011

Artifact #29: Soapy Smith, Deputy Sheriff

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It's true, Soapy was officially given a commission as a deputy sheriff of Arapahoe County, Colorado in which the city of Denver resided. This is not a forgery made by Soapy, but the real deal, made out and signed by the County Sheriff, William K. Burchinell on April 17, 1894, the day of Denver’s transition from the old police and fire board to the new one appointed by Populist Party Colorado Governor Davis H. “Bloody Bridles” Waite. The firings and appointments from and to the old board is what touched off the infamous Denver City Hall War on March 15, 1894 of which Soapy and his men were combatants.




… Given the recent past history of discord and with police forces in disarray, the sheriff wanted to be ready. It seems likely that many such appointments were made that day, and Jeff, having proved able to lead men to city hall on March 15 and able to calm subsequent disturbances there, could be a valuable man to have ready to serve. And so the following document was prepared and signed:

To Whom it may Concern:
Know all Men by these Presents, That posing especial confidence and trust in the integrity and ability of Jeff R. Smith I, WM. K. BURCHINELL, Sheriff of said County of Arapahoe, in pursuance of, and by authority vested in me by law, have appointed, and do hereby confirm him, the said Jeff R. Smith to be a Deputy Sheriff in and for said County Without Compensation from County And all of his official acts legally performed while acting as such Deputy Sheriff are entitled to full faith and credence. Witness my hand and seal this 17th day of April 1894
Wm K Burchinell Sheriff of Arapahoe County

When word got out that Jeff was a lawman, Burchinell denied it. He also denied that Jeff carried any legal weight during the siege at city hall.

I will say that I did not put a single deputy sheriff in the city hall…. If Soapy is running around making arrests then he is doing so illegally and is liable to arrest for impersonating an officer. For all I know he is a special policeman [but not a deputy sheriff].

Eventually, the sheriff admitted giving Jeff a deputy sheriff’s commission but that it had since been revoked A commonplace practice among political figures was to deny involvement with Jeff. It was nothing personal. Most of them worked with him and liked him, but denial was sometimes a necessary part of that friendship. - Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel, p.321.


The commission was said to have been revoked but Burchinell did not actually do so, thus Jeff and his younger brother, Bascomb, along with numerous other thugs who worked for the Republican Party in the last election were able to retain their legal positions and Denver went through a period of violence between newly appointed Populists city police officers and Republican deputy sheriffs. Numerous shooting and murders were the result.


For Soapy and the Soap Gang, they used the documents and the badges that came with the commission in swindles against visitors to Denver. Fir instance, once a victim had been swindled in the final hand of a gaffed poker game (“big mitt,” “big hand”) several “officers” (members of the Soap Gang) would enter the room and arrest the gamblers, as gambling in Denver at this time was closed down by the new administration. One of the “officers” would take custody of the victim and start walking him to jail. The victim would naturally plead ignorance of the city ordinance, so feigning compassion, the “officer” would let his arrestee loose on the condition that he leave the city immediately. This method worked most of the time in convincing their conquered victims to leave Denver before they realized they had been had. Over a period of about eleven months this scenario was repeated, with the last known usage of the deputy sheriff commission by Soapy occurring in May 1895.

Following are just a few of the known reported episodes involving the commissions being used after they were supposedly revoked.




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Bascomb Smith, a brother of Jeff Smith, recklessly discharged his pistol at Thirteenth and Market last night, and when Officer Shuck attempted to arrest him he resisted with tooth and nail, finally flashing a deputy sheriff’s badge. The policeman was never phased [sic], however, and Smith was gathered in. -Rocky Mountain News, 05/12/1894.




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…in Overland Park [Colorado], for an unknown reason, Jeff arrested a man. The police doubted his authority, but Jeff exhibited a deputy sheriff badge that had been given to him by Sheriff Burchinell. [Boulder Daily Camera, 06/18/1894] The outcome is not recorded, but the “fall out” was. On June 19, 1894, the News charged that the sheriff had appointed a very large number of the lawless element as deputy sheriffs. Professional gamblers, tin horns, [and] confidence men of every degree are said to bear the badge of the office, and to flash it when themselves or one of their pals gets into trouble to protect him.


One of the rights that follow being commissioned a deputy is to carry a gun, and everyone of this element with a commission does carry one. When Soapy Smith and men of his ilk who are deputies flourish revolvers and strike down police officers who don’t walk along according to their lines of duty, is it not time that the extent of this outrage upon law and order should be discovered and proper steps taken to rectify the outrage? Rocky Mountain News, 06/19/1894, p. 4.

The Denver Republican usually supported Jeff but this time did not:
The sheriff says he gave Jeff Smith a commission for some special work several months ago, but has since revoked it. The Colonel still retains his commission and badge.
It is strange, in the face of the sheriff’s statement, that nearly every bunco steerer arrested by the police has in his possession, a revolver and deputy sheriff’s badge. Bascomb Smith, who was arrested last week, was thus equipped, although Mr. Burchinell denies having ever given him a deputy sheriff’s commission [Denver Republican clipping saved by Soapy, unknown date but probably June 1894. Jeff Smith collection.]. –Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel, pp. 339-40.



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BURCHINELL IS POLITE.Protest to Soapy Smith About Displaying a Deputy’s Badge.
Sheriff Burchinell has addressed a letter to “Soapy” Smith, informing him that reports of Smith’s displaying a deputy’s star had reached him, and that he had instructed his deputies to arrest Smith upon a recurrence of this conduct. Sheriff Burchinell chafes at the suggestion that Smith is a deputy sheriff, and says he has no right to carry weapons as such. -Rocky Mountain News, 05/11/1895, p. 8.




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March 12, 2011

Police officer in Skagway, Alaska related to Soapy Smith?

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Believe it or not, a police officer, in Skagway, Alaska may be a descendant of Soapy! Officer Ken Jennings contacted me about this possibility in hopes we might be able to solve this case.

Ken writes,


My name is Kenneth Jefferson Jennings. I am a 22-year police veteran, having retired from the Juneau Police Department (AK) in 2006 as the Departmental Senior Officer and Senior Detective. I am now working as a Police Officer in Skagway, Alaska.

My grandmother is Helen Smith…aka Helen Jennings. She married Boyce Jefferson Jennings of Fort Smith, Arkansas…and they later moved to Augusta in Woodruff County, Arkansas. My Grandfather Boyce died in Augusta, Arkansas in 1963. My grandmother Helen died in Augusta, Arkansas (1995?). My father (Kenneth Lane Jennings, born October 8th 1933 in Fort Smith, Arkansas – died at the age of 73 on June 14th 2008 in Eagle, Idaho) had always claimed we were related to Jefferson R. “Soapy” Smith through bloodline on his mother’s side. My father also claimed we were related to the founding Smith Family of “Fort Smith”, Arkansas.

Additionally, I recall my older father and his brother Billy Ray Jennings (of Little Rock, Arkansas…my uncle) retelling “Soapy Smith stories” they had heard from my grandmother Helen and her brother (my grand-uncle) Robert “Uncle Bob” Smith (who died in Anchorage, Alaska circa 1959). I have family in Arkansas who remember stories of “Uncle J.R.” (Smith) and how he had “turned bad” and “gone up to Alaska and got himself killed”. My father told me stories he recalled of family get-togethers in Arkansas where family history was discussed, remembered, laughed at, and mourned. He recalled how the “older folks” in our family had always used “Uncle J.R.” as an example of what NOT to be when you grow up, and why you should attend church regularly.

Do you have any information regarding Smith’s family and his/their descendants? He (“Soapy” Smith) certainly has a strong physical resemblance to many male relatives on my Grandmother’s side…but that – and the recollections of my family, though honest and sincere they may be – are not reliable sources.

I ask because of this: A notorious “Bunko Man” and criminal who plied his illegal trade(s) in Alaska – specifically between Juneau and Skagway – may have a descendant who was born in Alaska, is a highly decorated Lawman from Juneau, and is currently a Lawman in Skagway. (If the stories are true . . . then Destiny has a peculiar sense of irony).

Officer Kenneth J. Jennings
Skagway Police Department
Skagway, Alaska 99840


In another email Officer Ken wrote,


Hi Jeff…

I don’t recall my grandmother (Helen Smith – ne Jennings) as having a middle name. However, as she was born in the deep south, and as EVERYONE in the south has a middle name (Jimmy Dale, Billy Bob, etc – haha) it is certainly plausible. I also had an Aunt named Helen, who married a man named Robert. Robert died and was buried in Anchorage, Alaska circa 1968. I believe Aunt Helen’s maiden name was Worthington, and she worked for British Petroleum in Anchorage as a very senior secretary. As a child (early 1960’s) I recall I was afraid of her because she had one of her legs removed just above the knee. I don’t remember what caused this. She has – in all likelihood – passed away by now.

In the late 50’s (1958?) my father (Kenneth Lane Jennings) traveled to Anchorage, Alaska with a cousin named Billy Ray Smith (from Arkansas – now living in Texas) Billy Ray Smith was a professional football player who used to play for either the Miami Dolphins or the Baltimore Colts - - or both. His son, Billy Ray Smith Jr., also plays/played football (for the Arkansas Razorbacks and I believe went on to play professionally…though I don’t recall the team).

According to my father, their uncle (my great uncle?) named Robert “uncle Bob” Smith lived in Anchorage in the 50’s. “Uncle Bob” may have had other male family members living in Anchorage, as my father used to tell stories about how “Uncle Bob” and his brothers couldn’t walk down the same side of the street together as the police would instantly know who they were and run them in on “general principles” (apparently he – and many of my Smith and Jennings clan – were a bunch of hard drinkers and hard fighters. Seems to run in the family from WAY back….). Anyway, “Uncle Bob” used to get himself embroiled in one barroom fiasco after another, and would continually call my father and Billy Ray to either “back him up” or “bail him out”.

Uncle Bob died in Alaska in the 1950’s…probably from drowning. As best I can recall the story told by my father, Uncle Bob was on board a boat in waters in or around Anchorage, Alaska (not sure why, but apparently he might have been working as a fisherman). Apparently there was a pretty violent storm. In the middle of all this, Uncle Bob (and those aboard the boat he was on) located a fully loaded barge. The barge was adrift in the storm, and no tug or other vessel in sight. My father says Uncle Bob declared he was going to claim the barge for “Salvage” (Maritime Law says an abandoned vessel in International waters can be claimed thus). As the story goes, Uncle Bob grabbed his 30-30 lever action Winchester rifle and managed to board the barge during the storm in order to claim salvage rights. That was the last anyone saw of Uncle Bob. However, my father and many others walked the shorelines looking for Uncle Bob. The beaten-up barge and damaged cargo was found on the shoreline. About 3” of the barrel of his rifle was sticking out of the sand on a beach not far from the barge. The rifle was recovered, but the body never was.

I spoke to my mother, who says she remembers a few stories about how we are related to Soapy Smith. She is going to send me an Email today or tomorrow about what she remembers. I’ll forward that along. (As a side-note…she also claims we are related to Captain James Cook (British naval officer & explorer who discovered areas of the Pacific including parts of Alaska, Hawaii, and the Cook Islands). I don’t know about that, but that is another story for some other time.

I have also contacted several other family members, and will keep you posted if I learn anything further. And thank you very much for everything you are doing. Truly, I didn’t expect such an effort. It is greatly appreciated.

Officer Kenneth J. Jennings
Skagway Police Department



Dear, Officer Jennings.

As you write, Destiny would have a peculiar sense of irony, —or perhaps even a bizarre since of humor. You certainly have a number of family members who firmly believe Helen Smith is a descendant of Soapy’s. That’s a positive sign, but as you state, it’s not a reliable source (of provenance).

As promised, I looked in my personal family tree and did not find Helen. However, do not close this case yet. The genealogy of my family is a huge tree with many branches each having ever sprouting twigs flowing in all directions.

Here’s one of the issues: When Soapy was born in Georgia; his family was one of good standing in Coweta County. When the pillars of the family (his grand-parents) passed away Soapy’s parents moved to Texas. When Soapy’s mother passed away in 1877 Round Rock, Texas the father dove headfast into a state of alcoholism and eventually ended up in an asylum (where they used to put alcoholics). Contact with the main family in Georgia waned, and ceased with Soapy reaching manhood. Once becoming a known bad man, the Georgia branch of the family erased acknowledgement of his existence, as well as his name from the family bible. Except for what they read in the newspapers, there was little, if any connection between the families outside of Soapy’s cousin, Edwin Bobo Smith. Up until the 1960s the Georgia clan did not know of my side of the family. Even the plots at the Newnan cemetery were “lost” as far as location. In the 50s my father and his siblings began searching for the old family and today, thanks to their efforts, many were found and connections were made. However, over the decades since Soapy moved to Texas, many family tree branches had uprooted and left Georgia, knowing they were related to Soapy, but not much more. I believe this is possibly your families’ case.

On top of all that uprooting there were family members who were very shamed that Soapy was in their bloodline. They chose to pretend that he did not exist; hence, there are many families, like yours, with only a few hints of a relation.

I contacted my friend, Gay Mathis, who is a professional genealogist to look into your search. I am also hopeful someone else in my branch of the family knows of yours.

Here’s what Gay found. Note: These Smith’s are not currently listed in my personal family tree but may very well be candidates for admission if anyone can connect them. Without going into the detail that Gay so kindly sent me here is what we have thus far.

(1880 census)
James Smith and Elizabeth Willingham aka Cumire E. married in Tennessee 1868. They had 9 children, including son, John D. Smith, born about 1875-1880.

John D. Smith and Pearl Killchrist married in Tennessee 1903. They had 3 children including Helen Smith. Born: August 15, 1908 in Arkansas.

Helen Smith and Boyce Jefferson Jennings married in Augusta, Woodruff, Arkansas. Helen Smith died May 18, 1996.

I will send Officer Ken the details Gay found in hopes he might be able to solve this case. I also need my family’s help in seeking out clues.



TO ALL FAMILY MEMBERS

Please check your trees for Helen Smith, born: August 15, 1908. Died: May 18, 1996. Married to Boyce Jefferson Jennings, Augusta, Woodruff, Arkansas.




1898: Soapy posts “answer to warning” handbills in Skagway for the Committee of 101. The handbills are signed from the Committee of 317.



Special thanks to Gay Mathis, genealogist extraordinaire!









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