James "White" Smith Genealogy

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

www.SaltTram.blogspot.com   SalineValleySaltTram@gmail.com
Salt Tram history is rapidly disappearing, and we are striving to rediscover the efforts of our forefathers in order to give proper recognition to their hopes, dreams and abundant sweat from an era that is rapidly fading from our memories. We are actively seeking out information about the mining of Salt in Saline Valley between 1903 and the 1940's, including: documents, photos, articles, stories, artifacts, etc. If you can help us out, please email us at the address above - Thank-you! --Tim and Brian Waag, the Waag brothers (aka E. Clampus Waagus).

Caution (PLEASE READ): Climbing around on the tramway is dangerous because its really old and defnitely unsafe, so don't even think about it. Shoot, just getting to it requires some perilous hiking, and if you don't believe me, just take a look at the Zig Zag Access Trail (or what's left of it). Plus, climbing on it weakens it and endangers your life. Also, the Saline Valley Salt Tram is on the National Register of Historic Places and should be treated with the respect that it deserves. What little remains is of great historic value, and should not be disturbed in any way. Heck, its probably against the law to move parts of the tram around, and certainly a crime to take home some of the few bits of it that remain (though you'd have to ask your friendly local BLM agent for details). So please treat it with the respect it deserves, so that future generations can enjoy whats left, without you messing it up. Really. Please. You can see its listing on the National Register of Historic Places at these web links:
National Register of Historic Places 1          National Register of Historic Places 2

**********Update July 20, 2011 (from Anonymous) **********

**********Update July 20, 2011 (from Anonymous) **********
Have you found Annie M. White? who married Earl Hollenbeck? They had a daughter called "Daisy" who later married Wagner. She died in the late 1970s at 93=95 years of age. She told stories of how her parents brought her on a wagon from the east and settled in Inyo County

********** Original Post **********
Well, the challenge to locate any living relatives of James "White" Smith has begun!  Brian has been tasked with conducting genealogy research to locate any living relatives that may have photographs and other key information regarding White Smith.  Many, many hours were spent this weekend searching thru Ancestry.com and printing out Census records from 1880 thru 1930 timeframe.  If ANYONE out there can assist with knowledge of living relatives of White Smith and his wife Margaret WATTERSON Smith that would be greatly helpful!  Here are some facts regarding the couple:

James White Smith:
B - 10 Feb 1853 in Tipton, TN
D - 25 April 1927 (location ???)

Margaret Watterson Smith
B - May 1861 Isle of Man, England
D - ???

M. Margaret Smith (daughter)
B - Abt 1902
D - ???

White Smith was the son of James Frederic Smith, born in 1818 in Dinwiddie, Virginia and Mary Margaret Bell of North Carolina.  White was the 4th child of 9 siblings born to James and Mary.  The siblings in order of oldest to youngest:

Henrietta P (born 15 Feb 1846)
Eudocia Carolina (born 19 Feb 1848)
Ambrose Henry (born 16 June 1850)
James White (born 10 Feb 1853)
Lucy Annabelle (born 10 Jan 1856)
Edward Bell (born 30 March 1859)
Fred Robert (born 3 Feb 1862)
Eugene Ewart (born 24 Jan 1865)
Jessie J (born 2 Aug 1868)

From my many hours of research it appears that very few of White's siblings married and had any children.  Other than White himself, to date I have only found children for Jessie, who married John Leonidas Hayes on 7 Jan 1894.    They appear to  have had 3 children, William Paul, Jean, and Merle Margaret.  Jean passed away on June 19 1994 in Los Angeles so hopefully will find some leads there.

The Watterson family on the other hand is HUGE!!!  I have around 15 different Census records I've printed out trying to patch together the puzzle pieces.  I have found others that have created family tree's for the Watterson's on Ancestry.com so has helped out quite a bit.  I have also discovered that there are many Native American families in the Owens Valley that have the Watterson surname.  Haven't yet figured out the correlation (if there is any) but hope to during the research.  Here is some information that I pulled from an Obituary for William Watterson (Margaret's brother) that I pulled off the web:

William Watterson was born in Peel, Isle of Man on November 10, 1842.  He married Eliza Quayle and they came to the U.S. via the Panama Canal to San Francisco in 1869.  They moved to Inyo County in 1886 and with his brother, Mark, purchased farm property.  They made their home in Bishop as well as other family members including brother, James, who died in Benton, Mono County.  Brother Mark ended moving back to the homeland after selling his interests to live out his closing days.  Another brother, George, was head of the Geo. Watterson Co hardware company.  Margaret (Mrs. White Smith) and Mrs. Arthur Ridge were sisters of the deceased.  Williams sons, Wilfred and Mark Q Watterson were President and cashier consecutively of the Inyo County Bank.

The funeral services for William were conducted by Reverand A.P. Beal and assisted by none other than Reverand S.S. Patterson, Father of Henry Clifton Patterson, of Salt Tram fame!

Anyhow, more to come as I continue to sort thru all of this data!!!

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