‘Twas titled Humor (& Ancestry) is the best medicine ?! It was published one-and-one-half years ago.

Waco traffic is terrible!! Laugh with me or at me (that’s OK). I compare my recent experience to “a cat on a hot tin roof”!! ‘Twas very uncomfortable and I was eager to get home. Personally, I was alarmed to see people “out shopping” as though things were “back to normal.” Continuing with “the cat” illustration: I’m a scaredy-cat and I’ll postpone shopping!! I want to live healthy and continue “climbing trees.”

Last night, I was climbing the “Smith” tree and was inclined to add a couple of paragraphs to a couple of individuals. Read it here or go to Amanda in my Ancestry database.

It’s complicated: Amanda Melissa Barnes (1809-1886) was married to my second-cousin-four-times-removed, Warren Smith (1794-1838). Warren was killed in the Haun’s Mill Massacre (do a Google search for details). Amanda was one of Warren’s several wives. After his death she became one of the many wives of Joseph Smith (1805-1844), founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It’s complicated when an individual attempts to trace relatives with the “Smith” surname. I’ve searched… and have not located a connection between my branch of the Smith tree and the Joseph Smith tree.

My fifth-great-grandfather and Warren’s grandfather, Cheleab Smith Jr. (1742-1843), lived one-hundred-years-six-months.

I’m not a Mormon but I’m a genealogist and historian. One can spend hours reading very interesting information about these families. Again I suggest: Do a Google search.

Here is an excerpt from an article regarding the Haun’s Mill Massacre; this is the son of Amanda and Warren Smith. Members of the militia entered the shop and found ten-year-old Sardius Smith hiding under the blacksmith’s bellows. William Reynolds put his musket against the boy’s skull and blew off the top of his head. Reynolds later explained, “Nits will make lice, and if he had lived he would have become a Mormon.”