Jacob GREEN Robert SMITH Irene SMITH Walter SMITH Robert SMITH Pink GREEN Walter Jacob GREEN Thomas Gilbert GREEN John GREEN Arthur Toliver GREEN Susan A BARNETT Mini tree diagram
Nora A GREEN

Nora A GREEN1,7,2,3,4,6,5,8,9

also known as 1,4

also known as Nora GREEN3

17th Sep 18842,3,4,5,6 - 16th Jan 19571,7,4,8

Life History

17th Sep 1884

Born in Muskogee, Indian Territory.2,3,4,5,6

1900

Resident in Township 15, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory.2

1910

Residence2 in Nash, Muskogee, Oklahoma.3

about 1917

Birth of son Irene SMITH in Oklahoma

11th Oct 1919

Birth of son Walter SMITH in Fresno, Fresno, California.10,11,12,13,5

about 1923

Birth of son Robert SMITH in Fresno County, California.6,14

Jun 1939

Residence3: Residence at time of mother's death in Fresno in Fresno, Fresno, California.1

before 1940

Death of Robert SMITH in Ripon, San Joaquin, California

16th Jan 1957

Died in San Francisco County, California.1,7,4,8

21st Jan 1957

Buried in Woodlawn Park, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.7

Other facts

 

Married Robert SMITH

Notes

  • 1900 Federal Census, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, 13 June, Township 15, District 40, Page 6B,  Hse/Fam #126:
    Green, Jacob Head  M W Nov 1848 51 2nd marriage  married 18 years  GA NC GA Farmer
    Green, Susan Wife  F W Aug 1858 41 1st marriage,  married 18 years,  6 children, 6 living MS MS GA
    Green, Norah  Dau F W  July 1885 14 Ind Terr GA MS

    1910 Federal Census, Nash Township, Muskogee, Oklahoma, 30 April, District 107, Page 13B,  Hse/Fam #104:
    Green, Jacob Head  M W 60 2nd marriage  married at age 27  GA NC SC Farmer
    Green, Susan Wife  F W 51 1st marriage  married at age 27  6 children, 5 living  MS MS GA
    Green, Nora  Dau F W  25 OK GA MS

    The 1920 and 1930 censuses for Nora have not been found.  But a voter roll record for Norah is found for 1934.  This roll also lists a Robert Smith at thte same address, which would be her husband.  Note that this voter list has Norah's middle initial as A.

    San Francisco City & Voter Rolls
    Supplemental Register
    35 Smith, Mrs Norah A, 1700 Broadway, Housewife Republican
    36 Smith, Robert A, 1700 Broadway, Master Mariner Republican

    LInda Martin Hanks Bussell reports that David Green told her that Jacob had told him that Nora was crippled and that when they were kids Jacob had to carry her everywhere she went.
    --  Linda Martin Bussell, personal communication to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 18 January 2020

    The 1940 census informs us that Robert Smith is Nora's Son (see below).  So the Robert in this tax roll is not that son, but would be her husband.  In the 1940 census, Nora is reported as Head of the household, without a husband.  Her son Robert is only 16 years old.  Nora was initially deisgnated married, but then that was marked out.  No death record has been found for Robert Smith.  This seems to indicate that Robert Smith died between Sept 1934 and April 1940.

    Nora is mentioned as a survivor of her mother, resident in Fresno at the time of her mother's death in 1939.  This is a caution when we recall that the voter roll on 1934 above seeming to be for our same Nora Green Smith was in San Francisco.  But a California Death record in 1957 reports that Nora Smith died in San Francsco, whose parents are reported as those of our Nora Green Smith.

    "Near Kerman, Calif., June 17, 1939.  Susan Green, beloved mother of Mrs. Nora Smith of Fresno, Tom Green of Kerman and Pink Green of Fresno; ... a native of Mississippi, aged 84 years.  Funeral services will be held in the Mission Chapel, Broadway at Belmont, Tuesday afternoon, June 20, 1939."
    --  Obituary of Susan Barnett Green, The Fresno Bee, Sunday, 18 June 1939

    Nora was enumerated the next year in the 1940 census, with her 16-year-old son Robert.  Nora has no husband in the household.  Initially she was reported Married, but then that is marked through.  But no other designation like Widow s added.

    1940 Federal Census, Fresno County, Arkansas, 2 April, Fresno, District 10-52, Page 1A, Hse #9, Rents $9
    Smith, Nora Head F W 54 Married (? appears to be marked out, but not changed) Grade 2 b Okla Same place in 1935 Seamstress [b abt 1886]
    Smith, Robert Son M W 16 Single Grade 8 b Calif same place in 1935 [b abt 1924]

    A cousin and coresearcher on the Greens and Barnetts, Winnie Yandell, found a death record for a Nora Smith in San Francisco.

    California Death Index, 1940-1997
    Nora Smith
    Born 17 Sept 1886 OK
    Died 16 Jan 1957 San Francisco, CA
    Father Green
    Mother Barnett

    A matching funeral order for her was found by my cousin and co-researcher Marion Mixon.  Initially this appears to be the correct one.  The death certificate has not been found.

    Nora Smith
    Residence Lankershim Hotel (San Francisco)
    Death Jan 16 1957 San Francisco hospital
    Funeral Saturday Jan 19, 1957 2:30 PM at Chapel
    Interment (21 Jan 1957) Woodlawn, Oklahoma, Family will not be present
    Charge to Halter [Walter?, probably meant her son Walter] Smith, 224 4th St, Ripon, California
    Billed 1-30-57 (No name of Funeral Home).
    --  Funeral order form for Nora Green Smith

    The date of death on this funeral order is the same as the death record above for Nora Smith in San Francisco, 16 Jan 1957.  The responsible person named on the funeral order is Halter Smith with a street address in Ripon, California.  This is another confirming tie to the family.  In the obituary of Nora's brother Pink Green, one of the survivors is a nephew Walter Smith of Ripon. My search indicated Ripon is in San Joaquin County, a Bay area county.

    I note that the name on the funeral order is definitely Halter, not Walter.  Some genealogies report the name of Nora's husband as Frank Smith.  But note that her residence is given as a hotel in San Francisco, while the address of "Halter Smith" was a street address in Ripon.  Perhaps the hotel was a temporary residence while she was in San Francisco for medical treatment.

    "Surviving are a brother, Tom Green of Kerman; five nephews, Jake and Jack Green of Fresno, Paul Birch of Lubbock, Tex., Walter Smith of Ripon and Robert Smith of Texas, and two nieces, Eva Green of Kerman and Mrs Irene Sherman of Portland, Ore."
    -- Fresno Bee, 7 April 1968

    The San Francisco location is somewhat questionable for our Susan Green Smith, since we have documented all the rest of her family in the Central Valley.  But if there is a record in the California Death Index, this means that Nora Smith died in San Francisco.  So why is the matching death certificate not showing up?  The funeral order states "Place of Death S F Hospital" with no further detail.

    The funeral order notes that interment is to be in Woodlawn, Oklahoma.  This matches her Oklahoma origins, and the reference in the San Francisco death record to her mother's maiden name of Barnett.  The burial was stated to be "Monday," being 21 January, since the date of the funeral in Ripon was Saturday 16 January.1957.

    In searching for this city, the closest I could find was Woodlawn Park, Oklahoma, Oklahoma.  This is actually a section within Bethany, a suburb of Oklahoma City.  In 2010 a memorial was posted for a burial for one Nora E Smith on Find a Grave, in Memorial Park Cemetery, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County.  However, the date of death for this Nora Smith is 20 February 1957.

    It seems odd that her body was shipped back to Oklahoma for burial, given that all the other Greens who moved to California were buried out there.  Burial was just two days after the funeral in California, which seems a short time for shipping the body back from San Francisco.

    Nora's SS record, which was found only in December 2015, has another variation of her birth date, reporting birth on 17 September 1884, compared to her burial record, reported 17 September 1886, while the 1900 census says July 1885.

    U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
    Nora Green Smith
    Birth 17 Sep 1884 Muskogee, Oklahoma
    Father Name Jacob Green
    Mother Name Susan Barnett
    SSN 551162128
    Aug 1938 Name listed as NORA GREEN SMITH

    Researcher Winnie Yandell made contact with the San Francisco Public Library to have them research an obituary for Nora Green Smith, but they could not find one in a San Francisco paper.

    ----------------------
    "In response to your obituary request for Nora (Green) SMITH, we searched the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner from January 16, 1957 through January 23, 1957.  However, we were unable to locate a death notice or an obituary for Nora (Green) SMITH.  Please be aware that a death notice or an obituary appears in a San Francisco newspaper only if a relative or friend of the decedent pays for a listing"
    --  Magazines and Newspapers Center, email to Winnie Yandell, 9 April 2012
    ----------------------

    ----------------------
    The C D Williams genealogy is one of a few that erroneously cite records for a Nora M Green as this Nora Green Smith.  However, her name on the burial record cited has the last name as Green, and not Smith, as we would expects for her.  The following Find a Grave memorial is cited as hers, but this is one of a large number of Green graves, so it is likely this is Nora M's married name, not the grave of Nora Green Smith.

    No other names here are recognizable as members of Nora Green Smith's family.  The county does not match other known residences either.  They were longtime residents of Fresno County for the time they moved from Oklahoma.  This memorial is not linked to any other family members for further verification.

    Nora M Green
    Birth 1887
    Death 1957
    Burial Saint Marys Cemetery, Arcata, Humboldt County, California
    Created by A.Firefly May 17, 2011
    --  Find A Grave Memorial #69946537, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Green&GSiman=1&GScid=8332&GRid=69946537&

    Other records of Nora M Green in Humboldt County, California confirm this is a different person whose married name was Green.  The 1930 census reports her with her husband with her husband, Martin Green, while we have the 1940 census (above) reporting our Nora Green Smith with her son Robert in Fresno, right there where they should be.  That record reports that Nora's parents were both born in Ireland.  (The 1940 record has not been found for Nora and Martin
    --  1940 census, Ancestry, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1930usfedcen&h=110133660&tid=31245569&pid=27326983970&usePUB=true&rhSource=70500

    The California Death Index report eerily similar information for that Nora M Green also.  She was born 1 Jan 1886 in California and died 15 Jul 1957 in Napa County, California.  Her parents' names are not reported, except her father's surname is also reported as Green, the same as her married name.  Both parents of Nora and Martin were born in Irish Free State, what is now known as the Republic of Ireland.
    ----------------------

    Her Social Security record reports that Nora was born in Muskogee.  This fits the location of the family.  Muskogee is mentioned in some sources as the capital of the Creek Nation (Muskogee is the Creek name for the people), but maps are unclear on where the boundaries are.  It appears that Muskogee was a general administrative center.  The following article from 1901 gives us a profile of the city at that time. Here is an excerpt.

    ----------------
    Muskogee has always been the seat of official life in the Indian Territory, the United States Indian Agency for the five tribes having been located there almost with the establishment of the town and continued to the present time. Within a few years a U S Court for northern district of the Indian Territory having jurisdiction over Creek, Seminole, Cherokee and the governments represented at the Quapaw agency was established, Jno R. Thomas being judge at the present time with Geo A Gill as district judge. Deputy clerks are found at Vinita, Tallequah, Miami, Wagoner and Wewoka.

    The U S Marshal, Leo E. Bennett has 25 deputies on his force while U S Attorney, Pliney L Soper needs two assistants, the whole comprising quite an army who help naturally in the prosperity of the place. At the jail 25 keepers are needed to look after and guard from 150 to 250 prisoners continually confined there. A U S Commissioner, T. A. Sanson has jurisdiction over certain misdemeanors and civil cases involving less than $300. The Indian Inspector with 23 subordinates and the Territory School Inspector with 10, the Town Appraisers with 10 add considerable to the population.

    The Dawes Commission, composed of Tams Bixby acting chairman, T. H. Needles and Clifton R. Breckinridge who are engaged in winding up to a great extent the affairs of the five tribes have their headquarters at Muskogee and employ a small army of clerks, fully 80 being on their rolls and it is expected their work will continue for a period of at least six years.

    A more conservative business-like set of gentlemen than those who comprise the city government it would be hard to find, and as a consequence not only does the place show many improvements but they have what few cities can boast, a surplus in the treasury and no debts. Fully $250,000 worth of business blocks, manufactories and residences have been erected during the past year, many of them being fine stone or brick structures that would do credit to any town in the states.

    Lodges are represented by the Masons, including a Commandery, the Knights of Phythias, Woodmen of the world, Odd Fellows, Elks, etc. Most of the fuel for domestic purposes is coal furnished by thin veins adjoining town and it is only a question of time until large mines are opened either at or within a very few miles of the business centre. Oil of a good quality is found near by which will also soon be developed and will become a great factor for the place. All summed up few cities in the west have the advantages and possibilities in a material and intellectual sense as have Muskogee.

    Gazatteer and Business Directory of the Indian Territory (Buffalo, N.Y.: McMaster Publishing Co., 1901). p.165-167

    --  "Muskogee, Oklahoma," USGenNet, http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ok/county/muskogee/citiesandtowns/muskogee.html
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Sources

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