Civil War Veterans Buried In Washington State - James Smith

9^th KANSAS VOLUNTEER CAVALRY
Organized: Fall, 1861 / Winter, 1862
Mustered In: By companies 10/1861 to 3/27/1862
Mustered Out: 7/17/1865 Devall's Bluff, AR

REGIMENTAL HISTORY: 

The organization of this three year western theater cavalry regiment was completed in the early months of 1862 by consolidating independent battalions, squadrons and detachments originally intended for other units. Initially designated the 9^th Kansas Calvary, much of the regiment subsequently became the 2^nd Kansas Cavalry.
 

Soon after its Federal muster was completed in late March, 1862 the 9^th was sent to various points from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains.
 

During nearly its entire period of service the 9^th was employed in the irregular and hazardous warfare that took place along the Missouri/Kansas border. While performing these duties the regiment was seldom united as a single entity. 

REGIMENTAL LOSSES:
Officers Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 1; Officers Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 2; Enlisted Men Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 52; Enlisted Men Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.:  140.

SOLDIER:
Residence: Leavenworth, KS   Age: ca. 29 yrs.
Enlisted/Enrolled: 11/22/1862   Rank:  Sgt.
Mustered In: 11/22/1862
Mustered Out: 7/17/1865 Devall's Bluff, AR
Highest Rank: Sgt.
Rank At Discharge: Sgt.

PERSONAL/FAMILY HISTORY:
 

NOTE: The birth - to - death biographical profile of Milton Smith was created in November, 2021 during the Covid-19 medical pandemic. It contains less depth of detail than many other biographies within this website because military service, pension and other veteran-related files housed in Washington, D.C.'s National Archives were not available. At a later time those documents may be obtained and the data contained therein added to the narrative which follows.
______________________________________________________________________________________________

 James Peadly Milton "Milt" Smith was born during the year 1833. No specific birth date or month has been found. The place of his entering this world has been noted as both Washington County and Phillips County, Arkansas.
 

Milton's father was born in Pennsylvania. His mother, Washington County, AR. Their names have not been found within existing documents. The same holds true for possible siblings.
 

Milton married on 1/9/1859. The location of his being wed was Washington County, AR.
 

Mrs. James Peadly Milton Smith was nee Margaret Christina Leach. Margaret had been birthed on 3/20/1842 in Washington County, AR.
 

During their years together Milton and Margaret produced nine children. Only eight are identified in available documentation. They were: Reuben A. Smith (b. 10/1859 AR), Violet C. Smith (b. 11/1865 KS), Mary Frances Smith (b. 3/18/1868 KS), Walter Travis Smith (b. 10/18/1869 Sedan Chautauqua County, KS), Daniel Ernest Smith (b. 5/21/1872 Cane Hill Washington County AR or Sedan Chautauqua County, KS), Getty M. Smith (b. 1/14/1872 AR), Emma Alice Smith (b. 2/15/1875 AR) and Asa Smith (b. 11/30/1885 AR). Eight of the children were living as of 1910.
 

As noted by the birth state of their first child, Milton and Margaret appear to have begun their married life in Arkansas. The U.S. Census for 1860 found the young family farming in or near the community of Flint located in Benton County.
 

 Sometime before November, 1862 the Smiths appear to have removed from Arkansas to Leavenworth, KS. That is where Milton claimed residence when he enlisted in the U.S. Cavalry on 11/22/1862.
 

 Without accessing his military service and medical records, about all that can be said about Sergeant Smith's enlistment period is that he transferred from one company to another and he survived The War. Returning to civilian life in Kansas he and Margaret continued to grow their family.
 

Looking, again, at the birth locales of the Smith children we see that at some post-war time the Smiths took up farming in Sedan Chautauqua County, KS. By 1870, however, they had departed Kansas and returned to Washington County, AR. There, they were farming in or near the community of Logan Creek.
 

A decade later, in 1880, the Smiths were still farming in Arkansas' Washington County, but by that year their community of residence was Cane Hill.
 

March 1, 1885. This date found the Smiths no longer in Arkansas, but in Sedan Chautauqua County, KS.  At that time Milton noted his occupation as "stone mason."
 

According to information gleaned from the life of Milton and Margaret's son Daniel, in 1889 he - with his parents and siblings - arrived in the now all-but-extinct rural community of Elberton, Washington Territory/State. Elberton was located in southeastern Washington's Whitman County near the Washington/Idaho border. What had drawn the Smiths to this remote region is not known. What is known is that they did not linger there very long.

By June of 1890 Milton and family had moved once more. Their address at that time was Township 22 of King County, WA. Today, this area would likely be considered a part of the south King County's city of Kent. Just what drew the Smiths westward to this locale and when they had arrived here are unknowns.
 

If the Smiths lived in south King County in 1890, two years later they were living near the north end of the county. In 1892 Milton, Margaret and three of their children were farming in Fall City, King County, WA.
 

Milton Smith died on 3/25/1898. It appears the location of his passing may have been in Pierce County, WA. If that was the case, then likely his health had failed to a point where he could no longer be cared for by his family in Fall City. As a result, he had been admitted to the Washington State Old Soldiers' Home located in that county's community of Orting. Burial, however, was/is in the Fall City Cemetery.
 

Dropping back a few years, on 7/28/1890,* Milton had applied for a U.S. Government disability pension based on his soldierly service during the American Civil War. We know a stipend was granted, but without accessing his pension files the details of the payments remain unknown.
 

With her husband's passing Margaret petitioned the government to continue receiving at least a portion of his monthly funds. Again, we know the request was granted, but without her widow's pension file the details of her cash receipts are unknown’s.
 

After Milton's death Margaret remained on the Fall City farm through the census of 1910. At some point in time after that, however, she removed to Fergus, MT to the home of one of her married grand-daughters. It appears, though, that by the time of her death on 5/2/1924 she had returned to Fall City. She was/is buried in the Fall City Cemetery with Milton.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
* According to Milton’s U.S. Government pension file card, he made his initial application in the state of Oregon. How Oregon fits into the Smith narrative is not known. Pension files may have to be obtained to shed light on this mystery.

Buried at Fall City Cemetery