William Callaway Smith (6 Nov 1828 – 23 Dec 1880) moved with his family to Linville in eastern Union Parish Louisiana about 1840 from Selma, Dallas County Alabama. He was the son of John Smith, who is buried in the Liberty Baptist Cemetery. In 1850, William C. Smith worked as a saddler, but in the early 1850s he assumed the position of Union Parish Recorder. He held this job for over twenty years, until about 1879. William C. Smith married on 20 March 1856 in Union Parish to Elizabeth Amy Manning (4 Nov 1837 – 15 Nov 1879). Their children were:

1. James Monroe Smith (6 Feb 1857 – 6 Oct 1931)


2. Mary Elizabeth Smith [Mollie] (27 Feb 1860 – 26 Nov 1879) married George Kilgore, Jr. on 20 February 1879. She and her infant died in childbirth.


3. William Allen Smith (12 June 1866 – 16 Mar 1884).


4. Florence Eleanor Smith (9 Nov 1870 – 11 Apr 1957) married Lee Emmitt Thomas in 1891. She died in Shreveport.

        James Monroe Smith (6 Feb 1857 – 6 Oct 1931) was a native of Farmerville, the son of Union Parish Recorder William Callaway Smith and Elizabeth Amy Manning. James M. Smith attended Louisiana State University, and in 1879 at the tender age of twenty-two, Smith was elected clerk of court by the citizens of Union Parish. He remained in this capacity continually until 1900, when he was elected as the region's state senator. After one term, Smith was appointed as the Registrar of the State Land Office, and then in 1904, he was elected as the Louisiana Treasurer. After leaving office in 1908, Smith moved to Shreveport, where he joined his brother-in-law L. E. Thomas in various political and business ventures. He also owned a cotton plantation in Bossier City including the current location of Louisiana Downs.

        James M. Smith was married twice, first on 15 October 1885 to May Olive Kidd (7 June 1861 – 23 Feb 1895), who died at Farmerville. Smith remarried to Eva M. Slaton (19 July 1861 – 6 Feb 1935) on 6 January 1898 in Ruston, her hometown.

        The collection of Smith family photographs contains pictures of many members of this family. The table below gives transcriptions of many old letters written by this family.