A Stevens, Tomes, and Nash Family History
The "Smith" Family Story
The Smith family story starts with a lie. The family's name isn't Smith at all, but rather Oxley. Smith was a pseudonym adopted by my great-great-great grandfather, and this is the story of how he built a life in the United States.
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A Man Named Oxley
Our story starts in 1850s England. A young man, Henry Oxley (b. 1834), deserted from the English army and hopped aboard a ship bound for Canada. He worked aboard the ship to earn his passage, and once he made land, he jumped ship, changed his name, and headed straight for the Detroit area. This is how Henry "Harry" Oxley became Henry Smith, a man without a past. Nothing is known about his birth or upbringing, or the details of his voyage across the ocean.
A New Smith Family
The next time we know of Henry's life was in 1861 when he was living in Illinois. By that time he had married a younger Irish girl named Ellen Joyce (or Joyes). Henry worked as a "huckster" and by the end of his days was running a fruit stand. Together, Ellen and Henry had two children while living in Illinois: Henry V. Smith (b. April, 1860) and Jennie Ellen Smith (b. 8 Oct, 1861). By 1863, the family had moved to Michigan, which is where the third and last child, Charles "Frank" Smith (b. 1 May, 1863) was born.
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Everything after Frank's birth is where our story gets very fuzzy. The current unsubstantiated belief is that mother Ellen passed away in 1878, or perhaps even earlier. She is buried in an unmarked field in Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit. I found her burial spot myself, but it was overgrown, weedy, and litter-strewn. Woodmere Cemetery has a lot to answer for on behalf of my great-great-great grandmother Ellen and all the other people buried in that oldest section.
By 1880, it appears that Henry married a much younger Irish woman named Sarah (b. 1855). It is not known if this new wife produced any children, though one census record suggests there may have been three other children (though, possibly they could have been Sarah's from a previous marriage).
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Henry and the Catholic Priest
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According to family legend, Henry's wife (Ellen or Sarah?) was a Catholic and apparently the young local parish priest was fond of coming by to visit Henry's beautiful young wife for a chat. After a while, Henry decided that his pretty young wife was being paid too much attention. He came home one day, found the priest sitting in the parlor and kicked him out of the house. That very day Henry converted the family to the Anglican church.
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Jennie Ellen is Sent Away
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The Smith family was quite poor while the kids were young. The only daughter of the family--my great-great grandmother--Jennie Smith, was considered to go into service for a family. Henry saw the potential for a better life for her, not to mention one fewer mouth to feed. Shortly after entering her new life, Jennie became far too sad and homesick, and Henry reluctantly returned to claim her and bring her back home. Jennie's family apparently resented her lack of fortitude, but she was pleased to be back. Poor Jennie spent most of her life unliked, and this is just one of the earliest indications of distaste for the woman.
Henry Departs
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​Much like his wives, Henry Smith departed this world at a young age. He was only 49 when he passed away on October 16, 1883 in Detroit, Michigan of unknown causes.
His probate records indicate that his son, Henry Jr., was named as executor and that it was originally intended that Henry's estate would be divided equally amongst Henry Jr., Jennie, and Frank (with no mention whatsoever of a wife or of Henry's marital status). However, a surprising claimant stepped forward as an equal heir, by the name of Walter J.A. Smith. This researcher has so far been unable to determine who Walter may have been. The most likely scenario is that, if we believe Henry was wed to Sarah who had her own children, Walter may have been Henry's stepson. In any event, the claim seemed quite unexpected and seemed to ruffle quite a few family feathers back in 1883.
Jennie Ellen Gets Married
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Less than a year before Henry died, he was able to see his only daughter, Jennie Ellen Smith married to a man named Edwin A. Tomes on November 24, 1882 in Detroit, Michigan.​ (Read the Tomes story, including the fate of Jennie Ellen.)
Henry V. Smith, MD
Eldest child Henry V. Smith lived as a perpetual bachelor throughout his life. By the time he was 16 years old, in 1886, he was living on his own as a boarder and worked at a fruit stand. Though he moved from boarding house to boarding house, he remained at the fruit stand until 1901 when he became a student of medicine.
By 1910 he was a physician working for the Department of Agriculture in some capacity in the meat packing industry. This allowed him to own his own home in 1920, which he opened up to boarders. But by 1930 he had disposed of the house--something he probably did at the time of his retirement in 1927--and was living at the now-crumbly Granwood Hotel in Detroit.
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Dr. Henry V. Smith always stayed close with his sister's family and delighted in sharing his stash of lemon drops with the kids when they visited. He passed at Henry Ford Hospital on February 28, 1934 at age 73 from an asthma attack. He was buried at Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit. To his family he bequested his collection of medical books and an undisclosed sum of money.
Dr. Henry V. Smith, c.1910s
Frank's Family
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Youngest child, Charles Frank Smith ("Frank" to his family and friends), married a young woman named Catherine "Kate" Bammel in 1886. Almost immediately the couple began a family with the birth of daughter Mary Genevieve "Jennie" Smith in 1887. They went on to have three boys: Frank Smith, Jr. (b. 1889), Henry William Smith (b. 1891), and Raymond B. Smith (b. 1900).
Charles Frank Smith, c.1930s
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The CF Smith Grocery Store Chain: A History
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Frank's greatest legacy, perhaps, was as the founder of the C.F. Smith grocery store chain in the Metro Detroit area. Frank founded the chain in the 1910s, creating the company name not from his given name, but rather a combination of "Catherine" and "Frank", as his wife was said to
have been active in the grocery business with him. The slogan of the grocery chain was "Price tells and quality sells--the grocery store
around the corner". The headquarters was located at the corner of W. Grand Boulevard and Toledo Street in Detroit, where they also had
a warehouse.
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By 1916, they had 127 locations and were opening a new bakery. The chain prided itself on promoting a corner grocery store feel, and by the
1920s innovated the shopping experience by introducing "truck stores". The trucks would carry produce, baked goods, and other items and drive from house to house, where housewives could climb aboard and fill their baskets, all without leaving their street. In 1925 the stores employed twelve year-old future Teamster Jimmy Hoffa as one of their grocery boys.
In the1930s and 1940s, there were over 300 stores in southeast Michigan, and the workers had unionized. The stores commonly featured Sanders candies and ice cream, adding to their popularity.
Unfortunately, by the 1950s, the new "supermarket" trend was becoming very popular, with massive stores and larger selection for shoppers. C.F. Smith stores chose not to adopt the new larger model, preferring to maintain a "corner shop" feel. Or perhaps Frank was ready to get out of the grocery game anyway. Whatever the reason, with sales down and locations closing (only 210 locations remained by this point), Smith sold the chain on April 19, 1952 to Chicago-based National Tea Co., a subsidiary of Loblaw Groceterias Co., Ltd. for $1,670,728. This outfit was gobbling up grocery companies to the extent that they were investigated by the FTC for violations of the Clayton Antitrust Act. During the investigation, the Chicago company explained that the purchase was worthwhile because the price was lower than the liquidation value. This appears to have been true, as almost immediately after acquisition, nearly every C.F. Smith grocery store was shut down.
An old C.F. Smith grocery ad on a brick building in Detroit, which was uncovered recently when the adjacent building was torn down
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Frank's Adventures in Florida Banking
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In 1920, Frank and Catherine had begun vacationing in Florida, and soon became quite invested in the state--figuratively and literally. In 1931, the successful grocer founded Peoples Bank of Lakeland in Florida. He was president of the bank until his death in 1950. The bank continued to thrive until it was bought by Huntington Banks in 1995.
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Despite his financial interests in Florida, Frank remained primarily in Michigan. He expired in Farmington, Michigan on September 22, 1950. He is laid to rest at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield, Michigan.
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