Maggie Smith, Daughter of Abner and Martha Frances Chapman

©  Kathy Duncan, 2019

Margaret L. "Mattie" Chapman, daughter of Abner and Martha Frances (Meadows) Chapman, of Titus County, Texas was a loose end in my research for many years. Recently, she was revealed in newspaper searches which began tying her to her Chapman siblings.

The first of these newspaper clippings was a death notice for Vince A. Chapman who died in Mt. Pleasant, Titus County, Texas in 1942. This clipping turned up in a Red River County newspaper because that's where sister Maggie Smith lived. Maggie or one of her children placed this news item as a way of letting her community know that her brother had died. Not only does this clipping tell me that Maggie had married a Smith, but she was also still living in 1942 and was in Johnstown, Texas. That information helps me sort her out of all the possible Maggie Smiths living at the time.

Vince A. Chapman's full obituary appeared in a Mt. Pleasant, Texas newspaper in 1942. Exact date unknown:

Pioneer of County Dies Early Friday of Lengthy Illness - V.A. Chapman Passes Away at Age of 87 at Damascus Home - V.A. Chapman, pioneer resident of Titus County, passed away at his home in the Damascus community at 3:00 o’clock Friday morning at the age of 87 years. He had been in poor health for some time, and his death was not unexpected, because of his advanced age. Mr. Chapman moved to this county when two years of age, and spend [sic] 85 years of his life on the farm where he died. He was highly respected, and his death will [be] mourned by a large circle of friends.

            Besides his widow, Mr. Chapman is survived by two sons and a daughter--J.R. Chapman and Mrs. Lee Sinclair of this county and Abner Chapman of Grand Prairie. He also leaves a brother and sister, Ike Chapman of Texarkana and Mrs. Maggie Smith of Johntown. Eighteen grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren are also survivors.

            Funeral services were held at the Damascus [sic] Baptist Church, of which he had been a faithful member for many years, at 4:30 o’clock Friday afternoon, under the direction of Rev. T.P. Lee and Rev. Don Rogers. Grandchildren acted as pallbearers and interment took place at the nearby cemetery. 

The next clipping appeared five years later. In this one, Ike Chapman, who was brother Isaac R. Chapman, was visiting his sister Maggie Smith in Johntown. At that time, he was residing in Texarkana. Now I have two clippings that link Maggie Smith to two known Chapman brothers.

The next newspaper clipping mentions Dezzie Bardwell of Oklahoma, visiting her aunt Maggie Smith. I know from my research that Dezzie Bardwell was the daughter of Georgia Ann (Chapman) Duffee, who was the sister of Maggie Chapman - now identified as Maggie Smith. Additionally, I know from my research that Mrs. John Brown was Lela Martha Duffee, a sister to Dezzie Bardwell and another daughter of Georgia Ann (Chapman) Duffee. As a bonus, Lela Martha Duffee had married the brother of my great-grandfather Toy M. Brown.

Now that I am comfortable in my identification of Maggie Smith of Johntown, Red River County, Texas as my grandfather's aunt Margaret L. Chapman, I can dig into researching her further.

Next, I located Maggie Smith's obituary. Maggie died a few months after Ike's visit. In her obituary, he is the unnamed brother living in Texarkana. From her obituary, I am able to gather the names of her surviving children. They present the usual challenge of women whose identities are masked by their husband's names.

Her obituary does confirm that Maggie (Chapman) Smith's formal name was Margaret L. Smith and that she was born in Titus County, Texas on 1 May 1873, which fits with what is known about the daughter of Abner and Martha Frances (Meadows) Chapman.