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Name: Harvey Smith
Alias: Guthrie
Place of Birth: Nelson KY
Year of Birth: 1846
Occupation: Not given
Eyes: Black Hair: Dark Complexion: Black
Height in Feet: 5 Inches: 8.75
View Ledger
Enlistment Date: June 27, 1864
Enlistment Place: Louisville
Enlistment State: KY
Document: View
Congressional District: 5
Company: F
Regiment(s): 108th USCI
Mustered Where: Louisville, Kentucky
Mustered Out Date: March 21, 1866
Rank at Muster Out: Private
Notes:
On page 19 of the CMSR, it states that Ben Bryant, an agent of James Guthrie, “owner of the above named Harvey Guthrie that the said slave is 18 years of age,” confirmed that did James Guthrie did “freely give [his] consent to [Harvey Guthrie] volunteering as a soldier in the Army of the United States, for the period of three years, under the conditions of the laws of the United States. The document was signed in Louisville on June 29, 1864. Page 20 of the CMSR was a “Form for Examining a Recruit,” and stated that Harvey Guthrie “presented by himself owes service to James Guthrie, Henry Co.,” and that Harvey Guthrie was vaccinated against small pox on his left arm.
Died in war? No
Military Death Date:
Military Death Location:
Military Cause of Death:
Death Date: July 12, 1921
Cause of Death: Acute diarrhea (cause unknown), tertiary syphilis, and exhaustion
Death Certificate
Pension Card Link: Pension Card
Pension Application Date: March 18, 1872
Application No.: 173508 Certificate No.: 293168
Alternate First Name: Alternate Last Name: Smith
No widow pension card found
No other family pension card found
Pension File:
Pensioners:
Pensioner County: Pensioner State: (Choose One)
Number of Pages:
Pension Notes:
No state of residence was listed on Harvey Guthrie aka Harvey Smith’s pension card. Although he began his service in the 108th USCI in Kentucky, when he applied for his pension, he was a resident of Indiana. Harvey Smith’s pension payment cards and military medical records reveal a litany of medical conditions that plagued him for much of his post-military life, including gunshot wounds to his arm and shoulder, rheumatism, chronic diarrhea, chronic bronchitis, exhaustion, and tertiary syphilis, that latter of which can result in memory loss and/or personality changes. As a result of his numerous illnesses and disabilities, Harvey Smith spent the the last two decades of his life in and out of military hospitals and “Old Soldiers’ Homes,” including stays in at facilities Marion, (Indiana), Milwaukee (Wisconsin), Hot Springs (South Dakota), and lastly, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he died July 12, 1921.
No Freedman’s Bank information found
No Freedmen’s Bureau Documents found
Mother First Name: Mother Maiden Name:
Father First Name: Father Last Name:
Siblings:
Wife #1 First Name: Mariah Maiden Name: Gibson
Wife #2 First Name: Eliza Maiden Name:
Wife #3 First Name: Maiden Name:
Children: Jefferson Smith 1861
Charles Smith 1863
Lizzie Smith 1869
Josephine Smith 1871
George Smith 1879
Family Notes:
Harvey Guthrie aka Harvey Smith was twice married. His first wife, Mariah Gibson, filed for divorce in 1889, accusing Smith of “all the sins known” and asked for $1,000 in alimony” (“Minor State Items,” State Sentinel, Indianapolis, Ind., January 2, 1889: 7). It was around this same time period when Harvey Smith married his second wife, Eliza, of Hancock, Michigan. According to the 1900 Census, Harvey and Eliza claimed they had been married for 12 years–since 1888. If the 1900 Census was correct, it appears that Harvey Smith may have been married to Mariah and Eliza Smith at the same time, assuming that Harvey Smith was legally married to Eliza (no formal documentation was located to confirm their marriage). It comes as a surprise, then, that Harvey Smith and Mariah Gibson Smith were married (again?) in Connersville on January 28, 1893. By the time the 1900 Census was taken, Harvey Smith was living with his second wife Eliza in Hancock, Michigan, and Mariah Gibson Smith identified herself as a widow in Connersville, Indiana. It does not appear that Harvey Smith had children with his second wife, Eliza, but he did have five known children with his first wife, Mariah Gibson Smith. Their first two children (Jefferson and Charles Smith) were born in Kentucky. Lizzie Smith was born in Oxford, Ohio. The two youngest children, Josephine “Josie” Smith and George Smith, were born in Connersville, Indiana. Of Harvey Smith’s five children, only one is known to have had children of their own. Jefferson Smith (1861-1915) had four daughters with his first wife, Elizabeth Holland Smith (1858-1921).
Family Tree: View
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1870 Census information not found
1880 Census Link: View
1880 Profession: Day laborer
1880 Live with/near former enslaver? No
1880 Ability to Read? Cannot read Ability to Write? Cannot write
1880 Census Notes:
1890 Census information not found
1900 Census Link: View
1900 Profession: No occupation
1900 Ability to Read? Can read Ability to Write? Can write
1900 Own/Rent: Rent 1900 Home Free/Mortgage: Unknown 1900 Farm/House: House
1900 Census Notes:
1910 Census Link: View
1910 Profession: None
1910 Ability to Read? Unknown Ability to Write? Unknown
1910 Own/Rent: Unknown 1910 Home Free/Mortgage: Unknown 1910 Farm/House: Unknown
1910 Census Notes:
1920 Census information not found
Name: James Guthrie
Location: Eminence, Kentucky (Henry County)
Previous Enslaver:
Enslaver Notes:
James Guthrie (1806-1867) lived in the Eminence area of Henry County and died there on October 21, 1867. His widow, Frances “Fannie” Smith Guthrie (1812-1881), may be the source of the “Smith” surname that this soldier, Harvey Guthrie, assumed after the Civil War. The enslaver’s extended Guthrie family was prominent in Kentucky history and politics and included Senator James A. Guthrie, for whom the town of Guthrie, Kentucky (Logan County) was named. But the history made by enslaver James Guthrie’s family was a little bit different. In 1891, over 70 persons were food poisoned at James Guthrie’s granddaughter’s wedding reception, held at the bride’s parents’ home, Magnolia Stock Farm, on Westport Road, in Louisville. The enslaver’s granddaughter, Fannie Belle Herr (1867-1930) was stricken but survived. Her new husband, Winford B. Snook (1862-1891), however, did not. Other victims included the enslaver’s son Benjamin F. Guthrie (1831-1891) and his son’s wife. In all, seven people died after eating food served at the wedding reception. This home is still standing and is on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information about the “Snook-Herr Wedding Tragedy,” visit this web link from the Filson Historical Society: https://www.filsonhistorical.org/archive/news_v4n4_snook.html.
1850 Census Link: View
1850 Slave Schedule Link: View
1850 Number of Enslaved: 3
1860 Census Link: View
1860 Real Estate Value: $17,000
1860 Personal Estate Value: $30,000
1860 Slave Schedule Link: View
1860 Number of Enslaved: 8
1870 Census Link: View
1870 Real Estate Value: $18,000 1870 Personal Estate Value: $90,000
1880 Census Link: [if 230 not_equal=””]View[/if 230]
Compensation Application not found
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