Our mother Frances’ maiden name was Smith, our grandmother’s maiden name was Brugger. There is plenty of information about both the Brugger family than the Smith family. Both families settled in the Springfield, Mo area. My mother was the 3rd child of 8 children of Vincent Aloysius and Theresa Freda (Brugger) Smith. Both are descendents of German heritage. Grandpa worked at Meeks Lumber. Grandpa coached several of his sons in the city baseball league. If anyone knows the name of the team, please let us know and it will be added to this page. Grandpa Smith worked last at Queen City Woodworks on the North Side in Springfield. He was the engineer for the plant as all the machinery was taken care of in-house. They made furniture. Previous to that, Pops had a small grocery store. In Springfield, every 8 blocks there was a small grocery store. He would extend credit to people as the times were hard. When Grandpa would walk down the street, people who owed him money would cross the street to avoid him. That made him very sad. Grandpa also had a bar sometime before the grocery store. Grandpa died of complications of pneumonia. The story behind it is that he was taken to St John’s hospital and when the orderlies transferred him from the gurney to the bed they dropped him onto his back on the floor. Uncle Joe was there and saw it and was very angry with the staff. Joe blamed Grandpa early demise on the results of that fall. He said the fall hurt Grandpa bad. He wanted Grandma to sue St Johns’s but she didn’t want to as it was the catholic hospital. Grandpa and Grandma had 8 children, 5 boys/3 girls: Joseph Vincent, Mary Catherine, Frances Agnes (Mom), Walter Henry, Paul Stephen, Lawrence Albert, Elizabeth Theresa (Sister Mary Beata), Eugene Martin. All the Smith boys were gifted baseball and fast pitch softball players. In a sign of those times, Mom told us that she never got to finish high school because grandpa wanted the girls to find jobs until they found someone to marry. The boys however, were required to finish high school, except Joe, because they would be the bread winners in their ultimate families. Joe quit school after 10th grade at St. Joseph’s only on the condition that he enroll in an engineering course through the mail called Audells. It took him two years to finish and Grandpa only allowed Joe to quit if he did that course. Joe went to work with Grandpa helping out at 10 cents per hour and 10 hour days. He made a dollar a day and was very happy with it. Mom was working as a nurse’s aide at O’Reilly Army Hospital in Springfield when she met Dad. Aunt Catherine worked that Springfield Table Co and never married. The Springfield Table Co made, among other paper products, the Big Chief Table that most of America used in elementary school. Elizabeth (Betty) entered the convent and became a nun and adopted the name “Sister Mary Beata”, teaching at various schools in Missouri. Uncle Joe worked at the US Federal Medical Center for Prisoners as a maintenance superintendent. Originally the Federal Prisons were supposed to be self supporting; that is, they grew their own vegetables, slaughtered cows and pigs, etc. Uncle Joe’s job was to keep all the machinery running, including the elevators. Uncle Walter was an insurance adjuster. Uncle Paul was part owner and manager of Burgess Paint Store and an ardent New York Yankee fan. Uncle Uncle Paul died of stomach cancer. Uncle Joe and Uncle Paul were very close, having spent years hunting together and raising dogs. A very tender story about Paul’s death is that Joe went over to see him at his house. As Joe walked into the room where Paul was in bed, he said it smelled of death. Paul’s stomach was very extended. As dad talked to Paul, Paul reached up and grabbed dad in a bear hug, pulled him down, and said, “I love you Joe”. He died right after that. Uncle Larry was an agent for Ozark and Delta airlines. Uncle Gene worked in sales for Sears and Roebuck. 5 of the siblings died of differing forms of cancer. Grandma died from cancer as well. Only 2 died of natural causes, Uncle Joe and Mom. Aunt Betty (Uncle Larry’s wife) is our sole remaining aunt/uncle from the family. She lives in Springfield and is doing quite well (a/o 2011). In the summer of 1962, I (John) graduated from HS and went Springfield to find a job, but ultimately joined the Air Force. When I left in Sept ’62, Grandma was in good health. About a year or so later, she was diagnosed with cancer and diabetes. She eventually lost blood circulation to her leg and it was eaten up with gangrene. She had the leg amputated just above the knee. She died in 1965 and I never got a chance to see her after I left for the AF. My cousins said that I was fortunate to not see her as she had suffered quite a lot in her last days. It was a very sad time for me as I had a close relationship with her throughout my life. The loss of Aunt Catherine hit me pretty hard for the same reason. I spent many summers with them and I’m very grateful for their love and kindness. Aunt Fanny, Grandma’s sister (Frances) lived with them during those days and was always fun to be around. She had several names for me and used my name in some stories she would tell. Some names she lovingly called me: Johnny Jump Up and Johnny Be Good. One rhyme I often remember is: Johnny, Johnny, kissed the girls and made them cry. When we went to ballgames, she would point out rundown vacant houses and say that “That’s Superman’s House”, or the “Buggyman lives there”. When I was really young, I believed her. Aunt Fanny never missed an episode of “The Grand Ol’ Opry”. Her favorite person on the show was Minny Pearl. Of course, all TV was black & white in those days.
Grandpa Smith was the son of Frank Smith. Grandpa’s brother Joseph became a priest who adopted the name Father Isadora, O.S.B. (Order of Saint Benedict). Not much information on Great-Grandfather Frank and Great-Great-Grandfather Levi, but found quite a lot of info on Great-Great-Great-Grandfather Joseph and GGF5 Charles A Smith. Check out the Leonard Erb Family Tree on www.Ancestry.com to get a good visual of the ancestry tree. Send an email to jerb@satx.rr.com for userid/pswd for access. GGF5 Charles Smith migrated to the US from Alsace, Germany somewhere around 1765 at age 17. Charles and his brother Andrew left Alsace after their mother died and their father (Gabriel) re-married. The step-mother made home unpleasant for the boys, so Charles and Andrew obtained permission from their father and came the America at the age of 17 and 15 respectively. They worked at “grubbing” for 3 ½ years to pay for their passage to America. GGF5 Charles later threshed rye for a “fip penny” (6 ¼ cents) a day. He fought in the Revolutionary War as a Private. GGF5 Charles married Anna Marie Spitler and raised a family of 11 children in Conewago, Pa. Ms. Spitzer was a non-catholic, but soon became Catholic, and a very good one. Her Protestant friends said “Catholics dare not have a Bible in the House”. To disprove this, Charles paid $20 for one. Considering the wages in those days, that was a large amount of money. They became farmers. Their son Joseph who married Magdalena Lawrence was given part of their farm to work as their own. They had 13 children, the 6th being Levi. Levi married Anna Weirich. They had 16 children, Frank being the 2nd. Frank married Bernadine (Dena) VanDerStaay. They had 5 children, the 5th being Grandpa Vincent. Grandpa Vincent and Grandma Theresa were married on Jan 7, 1914. Much of the Smith ancestry beyond Grandpa Vincent was obtained from another descendent of Charles Smith, whose name is also Charles Smith. I (John) met him on Ancestry.com and shared emails and have a book he obtained about the Smith’s. A copy of the book is shared here on this site. Click on Smith History button to read the book:
The info below on Grandma Theresa’s ancestry, the Brugger Family, was obtained from a family tree book compiled by Barbara Horton Francka. Click on Brugger Family button to read the book:
Grandma was the oldest of 10 children of Sigmund and Katharina (Sayers) Brugger. Sigmund was the 11th of 12 children of George and Karolina (Schultheiss) Brugger. George was the son of Michael and Marie (Muggle) Brugger. Michael was the son of Theresia Brugger, father’s name unknown.
Richard Brugger, brother of Sigmund, came to the US before 1888. His wife was Anna M. Hilby. They married in Hannibal, Mo. They moved to Springfield in 1891. Richard wrote to Sigmund in Germany, asking him to come to Springfield to live. Sigmund and Katharina, with baby Theresia, came to the US and Mo sometime in 1893. A second Daughter, Karolina, may have been born on-board the ship on the way to the US. The 3rddaughter, Maria (Mary) and the 4th, Florence, were born on S. Jefferson. Louise, Frances, Carl, and Margarette were born on Lynn St, near Kansas Ave. Josephine was born on Calhoun St in what was later known as the Brugger homestead. The plot of land was later divided up and among 4 of Theresa’s children, Joe, Larry, Walter, and Gene. Catherine lived in the family home until she died in 1998. In September 1906, Sigmund became a citizen of the United States. In those days, when a husband became a citizen, the wife and children also became citizens. In 1908 Mother Katarina had a stroke and was sick for about 5 years. In her later years, she was bedfast. She died of a brain tumor. Grandma Theresa was 22. On the day she died, Grandma had gone to the store to select her wedding dress. Sigmund owned the Palace Saloon, located on Commercial St. It must have been a good business to employ 4 workers. Sigmund may also have owned or worked at the Kirby Arcade for a number of years. On July 30, 1916, in a group known as the “German Singers” were traveling to sing at a picnic in Golden City, Mo. Sigmund was a member of the group and was killed in an automobile accident that day. Observers following his vehicle, that he was driving, said that the car was traveling about 25 mph and suddenly began zig/zaging from side to side and flipped over pinning Sigmund under the “turtled” vehicle to an almost immediate death. At the time of his death, Theresa, Mary, and Florence were married. Theresa and Vincent took over the responsibility of raising the remaining Brugger children.
All of the Vincent & Theresa Smith sons were baseball and softball players in Springfield, Mo. All have been inducted into the Springfield Softball Hall of Fame. Check out this article web site: http://www.parkboard.org/356/Springfield-Missouri-Hall-of-Fames
SMITH ANCESTORIAL LORE
BR: Paul, Catherine, Walter, Gene, Joe, Frances (Mom)
FR: Larry, Theresa, Vincent, Elizabeth (Sister Mary Beata)
Vincent & Theresa (Brugger) Smith
Wedding Picture - 1914