Smith Ancestry – England to United States to Canada (second stage)

As noted in the previous post on the Smith Ancestry, Abijah Smith (1783-1869) was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was the first Smith to be born as a Canadian. Abijah had a son named Caleb Nickerson Smith (1814-1893) who was also born in Halifax and died there at the age of 79. In turn, Caleb had a son named John Caleb Smith (1852-1940). John Caleb married his second wife Emmeline Deborah Boutilier (1859-1940) in 1881.

John was 42 years old and Emmeline was 34 years old when Ernest Milburn Smith was born on May 5, 1894 in Tantallon, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Ernest was the sixth of nine children (seven boys and two girls). According to the Nova Scotia Certificate of Death, Ernest was a cobbler (shoemaker), he died on November 9, 1948 at the age of 54 and he was buried at Fort Massey Cemetery in Halifax.

Ernest Milburn Smith, circa 1919

Ernest enlisted for service in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on December 21, 1915. He was sent to fight in World War 1 and survived. During the war, Ernest met Bessie Cannon. When the war was over, Ernest Milburn Smith and Bridget “Bessie” Cannon were married on January 15, 1919 in Govan Parish, Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Scotland. Ernest was 24 and Bridget was 27. Their marriage lasted 29 years. Ernest and Bessie sailed from Scotland to Canada in 1919. Russell Cannon Smith, their first child, was born the following year in Halifax on March 18, 1920. They had three more children, all girls.

It is noteworthy that, on November 29, 1915, Ernest’s younger brother Malcolm Russell Smith (1896-1917) enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force. He served in World War 1 as a member of the 10^th Machine Gun Company (Regimental Number 488787). He was killed in action on August 21, 1917 in the battle at Vimy Ridge. He was only 21 years old. Malcolm was buried at Villers Station Cemetery, France. Several online memorials honour his sacrifice, including: Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Canada at War and First World War - Books Of Remembrance. Perhaps Ernest and Bessie named their only son, Russell Cannon Smith (born March 18, 1920), in his memory as well. The name “Russell” has not been observed in the Smith family lineage dating back to Robert Smith (1539-1590).

Russell Cannon Smith,  1939

Russell Cannon Smith (1920-1995) married Margaret Cecilia Mumford (1922-1998) on December 28, 1944 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At that time, he had enlisted for one of many terms of service for the Canadian Army as an artillery instructor (his photo in uniform is shown above). 

Russell was 24 and Margaret was 22 when they wed. Their marriage lasted 50 years. They had five children, a boy and four girls. Their children, grandchildren and several great grandchildren can now explore their Smith ancestry all the way back to England in the 1500s and back to Canada in the mid 1700s when Abijah Smith was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and whose parents emigrated from the United States.