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is the tallest Stith in the branch that the author belongs to. Dick's wife, Julia (called
Judy) nee Mathier, is the tallest spouse in the branch, and a very sweet and kind lady. In
the author's opinion, Dick and Judy were made for each other. Unfortunately, they have not
been blessed with children. It is sad for they would have been wonderful parents. Rex
Stith, of the same family, was a Doctor of Chiropractory for many years in Bonner Springs,
Kansas. The author has been advised of the death of Rex Stith. He leaves a wife and an
adopted son.
The author has very incomplete information on the Kentucky branch of the family and relies
heavily upon information provided by Dr. Lee S. Stith which is offered in hope that it
will incite other Stiths to write in and set the record straight. Additionally, Dr. Lee
advises that:
"In a Popular Science Magazine of June 1944, I learned that a Stith family in
Kansas actually built and displayed the first track as a substitute for the wheel. This
was displayed at the Kansas City Fair of 1879. He refused to patent the device or sell it
for $50,000 so (the article states) the track was put on a bicycle and it is still in
possession of Mack Stith. (See information submitted by Joyce Stith in which Leon Stith
states that Henry Thomas Stith invented the caterpillar track.) This family traces-its
progenitors to Tennessee and possibly to a Mose Stith who was a son of Jesse Stith of
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Stokes County, N.C. This is a border county on the Virginia line. There has been no
definite connection with a Stith family in Virginia.
Ralph and Thomas Jay Stith, whose address is presently Guston, Ky. are the sons of William
Allen Stith. They were reported to have the complete story of the Stiths in Meade County,
Ky. Later, Dr. Lee writes "I contacted Ralph and Thomas J. and their father W. A.
Stith died and they never did complete all the records that he had. Thomas J. says 'I wish
now but it is too late.' We got out the old family bible and have information on the
immediate family but no history."
The author has found traces of numerous Stith families in Missouri and the family history
cannot be complete without reference to this branch. More information is sorely needed as
numerous Western Stiths trace their lineage back to Missouri and there the line seems to
end. So, dear relatives, we need your help.
A good example of this is that the grandfather of Dr. Robert M. Stith (West coast
physician) a Richard Marcus Stith was county judge of Jackson County, Mo. Nothing more is
known about these Stiths.
Harold (Pete) Stith married Elizabeth Nelson of Iola, Kansas on May 7, 1944. Elizabeth,
who was such a "Tomboy" that her family called her "Jiggs based on the
cartoon character,
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is a very poised and gracious lady. She, like her husband Pete, is a teacher and received
her Master's Degree in English from Kansas University.
Pete, or "Coach Pete" has recently (1971) completed 34 years of coaching and
teaching. Upon the occasion of his retirement he was featured in The Iola Register.
He was cited as a coach who focused on "the development of the boy into a man"
and not on the score of the game. Needless to say, many of the high school and junior high
school teams-- football and basketball--achieved championship standings. Several of his
"boys" entered the "pro" ranks.
Pete Stith and Jiggs Stith never had any children of their own, however, as the legendary,
"Goodbye, Mr. Chips," Pete was the father of hundreds of fine young boys who
became good citizens as they grew to manhood. Dr. Albert Faulkner, a noted physician, came
from Warrenaburg, Missouri, on the occasion of a banquet honoring Coach Pete. Dr. Faulkner
and Stith's boys presented Coach Pete with a complete set of golf clubs, bags, and cart.
Coach Pete could only remarked, "I was flabbergasted."
Pete also found time to serve as the City Park Supervisor and is looking forward to
turning this position over to a younger man in about a year. Those who know Pete Stith
believe that he will continue to get involved wherever and whenever the youth of the
community need a helping hand. Now here's a Stith that the family can be proud of. You
see, Pete's father died
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before Pete was old enough to remember him; he has come all of the way "by
himself" and until he married "Jiggs," that must have been a mighty
lonesome trip.
"Mr. Chips" left us in 1982 and his leaving has been severely felt by those of
us who knew him and loved him.
A Mrs. Alma E. Stith, Houston, Texas has written: "My husand was Maurice Taylor
Stith, son of George Taylor Stith and Dadie Karens Stith. My husband was born in Maitland,
Florida in 1886 and died in 1932. George Taylor Stith was born in 1852 and died in 1920.
The only other Stiths I ever met were a cousin Logan Stith who was a brother of Jack
Stith, who was a mortician in Danville, Ky. Both are deceased, but Jack Stith's son, Jack
Brown Stith, is now operating the business in Danville, Ky." The author attempted to
correspond with this Stith, however, no reply was received.
Dr. Lee Stith advises of a Robert Dean Stith (1939), 119 E. Jones, S. Maize, Kansas.
Robert's father is Kenneth W. Stith who is the son of John Stith (l870-1952) born in
Scotland Co., Mo. and who married a Lou E. Tremain. They had the following children:
Samuel Emret (1897-1920) Rosey Mary (1900), James Lafayett (1903-1948), Cora Mable (1905),
John Paul (1907), James Francis (1910-1910), Kenneth W. (1913), Paulian Loyd (1919), and
Herbert Odell (1920). Kenneth W. has two other children, William Luther (1936) and Arlis
Ann
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(1949). William Luther lives in Duncan, Arizona and has the following children: David
William (1961) and Lisa Gage (1963). Robert D. (1939) married Dee Wall and has the
following child: Roger Dean (1963). Herbert Odell (1920) has the following children:
Herbert Odell, Jr. (1941), Linda Odessa (1942), Ronald Eagen (1943). The author has no
verification of this line with respect to the Virginia-based Stith family which originated
with immigrant John Stith.
There was a Fred Stith, Jr., Attorney, in Kankakee, Ill., whose sons are or were
Joseph, Edward, and Roscoe. There was also a daughter, Sarah. It is believed that Fred's
father was also named Fred Stith and had siblings named: Roscoe, Edward, and Sarah. Fred,
Sr.'s father was Johnny Walker Stith and his father was Jessie J. Stith who had Kentucky
roots. The author has no positive connection on this line.
Mrs. Irene (Stith) Herndon, Springfield, Missouri, needs assistance in connecting her
branch of the family to the early American Stiths in the Williamsburg, VA. area. Her
father was Perry Stith (l877-1920) born in Ironton, Mo. and her mother was Grace C. Roe
(l886-1956) born in Lesterville, Mo. Irene's grandfather, LaFayette W. Stith (l844-1924)
was born in Cabell Co. West Virginia and her grandmother was Frances Cyrus (l846-1926)
born in Wayne Co., West Virginia. Her great- grandfather was Eli Stith (l816-1866) born in
Cabell Co., West Virginia and her grandmother was Ellen Brumfield. Irene needs the help of
all Stiths as she has been unable to trace her family further
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back. Her great-great-grandfather and grandmother were John and Anne Stith, however, there
is no indication as to where they came from, and the author has no verification of this
line.
The following biographical sketch was provided by Joyce Stith, Iola, Kansas (Joyce Stith
nee Morrison) has submitted very much material. Joyce has found the "Zada"
(actually Zoda) referred to by Wirt Stith, Baton Rouge, La.)
"Who was Who in Hardin County
By Hardin County Historial Society
Zorayda Stith
About the time and shortly after the Civil War, this talented young woman attracted
considerable attention with her verse and won the praises of the eminent journalist and
poet, George D. Prentice, who published some of her poems in the old Journal before it
became the Courier-Journal. Her volume of lyric and pastoral poems appeared in 1867 from
the press of the Southern Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, Tenn., entitled 'Poems by
Elloie' and dedicated to her little niece, Elloie Enfield Dyer, daughter of a deceased
sister; Parmelia A.(Stith) Dyer. The volume contains 152 poems covering 221 pages.
Zorayda ("Zoda") Stith was the daughter of Milton and Martha Stith of Hardin
County, Kentucky who came of Virginia Stock, and once resided on the farm where later
Rufus Holbert
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lived and died, about a mile from Blue Ball. The orchard hill referred to in the 'Poems,'
was immediately back and east of the house, a brisk elevation overtopping the buildings
and woodland to westward. Here she was accustomed to go and watch the sunset and muse and
weave her imagery. She says, 'Twas here I felt the first poetic fire spring up and burn
with wild intensity, an unseen spirit softly swept my fire; love waked the song. I
listened tremblingly.'
In 1859, Milton Stith purchased more than a thousand acres 'on the turnpike road leading
from Elizabeth Town to West Point' and moved on it with his family, the home being what is
now known as the Will Brown place on the old Dixie near New Stithton. It was for this
immediate family of Stiths that the town of Stithton was named. Children of Milton, beside
the poet, were Manson J., Richard L., Parmelia A., who married Ben J. Dyer, Lottie M. who
married John L. Dillard, and Thomas F. Two elder boys died in childhood. The reference is
to these in lines inscribed to the poetess's mother:
'The first upon they breast to bloom
Were first to wither in the tomb."
The father, Milton Stith, became blind in his old age. Another wing of the Virginia family
descended from Drury Stith, who once wrote a history of Virginia. (Author's comment: This
is incorrect, William Stith (1701-1752), one time president of
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William and Mary College, is the author of the first history of Virginia) settled in 1805
in Stith Valley in Meade County, then a part of Hardin. (Author's comment: The Fort Knox
Gold Depository is located at the southern most reaches of Stith Valley.)
Zorayada Stith is buried in the old Tarpley graveyard (now a church cemetery) near the
home on the pike (Author's comment: Pike as is generally known meant 'road' or more
precise 'main road') where she died. Once she is mentioned in the public records at the
courthouse, where among others 'Zoda' is noted as a witness to the marriage of her brother
in 1873. She was a lovable girl, tender and sensitive, fitly fashioned to exult and to
suffer. She rode horseback selling her volume of poems in the hope of realizing enough
from the sales to publish a larger volume for which much of the manuscript had been
prepared. This, however, did not materialize, and her unpublished manuscripts are lost.
She died unmarried." (Author's comment: As a young lad, sometime in 1934-1935, the
author lived in Fort Knox, Kentucky. He visited the small, deserted, village of
'Stithton,' Elizabethtown, West Point, Vine Grove, the Fort Knox Gold Depository, and
because of the failure of someone 'who could and did put it all down in writing,'
the author was totally unaware that he was in the center of a portion of the land of his
heritage, and that he had relatives all over the countryside. All of that was lost
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because someone, a member of the family, did not think it was important enough to be
written down and given wide distribution. What a shame! -- "Zoda,' you must not have
lived in vain. This is your story and it must be told.)
Hollis L. Stith, of Iola, Kansas, whose wife, Joyce, has been so instrumental in compiling
the Stith family history, was born on August 17, 1933, in Hannibal, Missouri. He married
Joyce Morrison (b. 1930--) on January 13, 1952, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Hollis and
Joyce have one daughter, Barbara Lynette (b. June 5, 1953). Hollis's mother, Helen
(Weaver) Stith, died of tuberculosis when Hollis was seven years old. Hollis's father,
Frederic L. Stith, was the son of Holland F. Stith (b. 1883- 1919). Holland was also the
father of Harold "Pete" Stith, Iola, Kansas (mostly referred to as "Coach
Pete"). Helen Weaver Stith was a very beautiful woman and a devoted mother. The
author's father, Charles W. Stith, was a brother of Holland Stith. The author's father
(deceased, 30 June 1973) stated that Frederic L. Stith was a policeman for many years in
Iola, Kansas and was holding the office of Sheriff, Allen County, Kansas at the time of
his death in 1952. Charles W. stated that Frederic L.- Stith remarried soon after the
death of his first wife. Frederic's second wife refused to accept Kenneth and his brother,
Hollis, so they were raised by their maternal grandmother.
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Hollis Stith is a journeyman plumber and a Master Sgt. in the Kansas National Guard.
Currently, his duties with the Kansas National Guard have required him to devote his
fulltime to military duties. He has completed twenty years with the National Guard, and it
appears that he is going to stay with it for thirty years. Joyce becomes a little tired of
seeing Hollis go off to summer camp each year. She doesn't say much on the subject because
Hollis, who does not have much to say most of the time becomes quite verbose about his
loyalty to the "Guard." Hollis, in his spare time has become a Worshipful Master
of the Masonic Blue Lodge, and also belongs to Eastern Star. Daughter Barbara married
Stephen Segraves on January 13, 1973 in Wesley United Methodist Church in Iola, Kan.
Hollis is lucky to be around. He was almost overcome by gas fumes in August 1962 while
working on plumbing fixtures in a manhole located in Erie, Kansas. Roy Perry, carpenter
foreman, was instrumental in saving the life of Hollis. As a second cousin of Hollis
Stith, the author wishes he had been there to thank Roy Perry.
Joyce recently lost her mother who had resided all of her many years in Moran, Kansas. It
is assumed that Mrs. Morrison will rest in the cemetry near Moran. The author's
grandmother and grandfather were laid to rest in this same place. Joyce has two brothers:
one still owns and works a farm near Moran, Kansas. The other is located in California.