The Smiley Family of Union City, Pennsylvania

This family is of Scotch origin. The first of the name are said to have arrived in New England about the same time and settled in Haverhill, Massachusetts. One of them at least, John Smiley, remained there and was the progenitor of the Smileys of that city. Francis Smiley, emigrant ancestor of the Maine family, was born in the north of Ireland, in 1689, and came to America with others of his family about 1727. He did not settle in Maine, but in 1743 is first found in Windham, New Hampshire, where he lived until his death, March 16, 1763. He married Agnes Wilson and had three sons, who settled in Maine:

1. William Smiley.
2. David Smiley.
3. Hugh Smiley.

(I) Thomas Smiley

Thomas Smiley, direct progenitor of the Smileys of Bradford, Pennsylvania, is supposed to have been a brother of Francis. His ancestors emigrated from Scotland to the north of Ireland, where Thomas was born, near Londonderry, about the time of the close of that famous siege. He came to America, in 1727, and settled in northern New England, supposedly Maine or New Hampshire. He married, and among his children were three sons:

1. Thomas (2) Smiley, founder of the Venango county family.
2. Charles Smiley, founder of the Perry county, Pennsylvania, family.
3. James Smiley, of whom further.

(II) James Smiley

James, son of Thomas Smiley, died at Union City, Erie county, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer of the state of Maine, where he married. He was a soldier of the revolution, and also served in the war of 1812. After the war he came to Pennsylvania, settling at Union City, Erie county, where he built and operated the first mill in the town. He also owned and cultivated a farm. In 1833 he was elected justice of the peace. He was a Democrat and a man of influence. He married and had children:

1. William Smiley, died in Union City, Pennsylvania; married —– Chichester.
2. Moses Smiley, of whom further.
3. John Smiley, born August 13, 1814, died January 22, 1894; married Rachel Wilson, born May 31, 1814, died December 30, 1906; children:
   1. Alfred Smiley, lives in Foxburg, Clarion county, Pennsylvania
   2. Jefferson Smiley, deceased
   3. Matilda Smiley, born May 28, 1839, now deceased; married John Needham, March 7, 1865, and has:
      1. John (2) Needham.
      2. A daughter, who married Thomas E. Cooper.
   4. Hannah Smiley, lives in Pittsburgh
   5. Mina Smiley, lives in Union City.
4. A son, died in early youth.
5. George Smiley, a farmer near Union City, died unmarried.
6. Robert Smiley, died June 27, 1907; a noted hotel proprietor in Union City for many years.
7. Ann Smiley, lived with her unmarried brother George in Union City; died unmarried.

(III) Moses Smiley

Moses, son of James Smiley, was born in Maine, October 5, 1809, died at Union City, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1884. He was educated and grew to manhood in the state of Maine, later settling in Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he purchased and cultivated a farm near Union City. He was an old school Democrat and served his town in many local offices, including that of justice of the peace, an office he held for many years. By a first wife Moses Smiley had two children. He married (second) Margaret Marshall, born in Ireland, October 14, 1820, came to the United States when a child with her parents, died at Union City, April 9, 1898. She had a brother and a sister:

1. James Marshall, brother, who died in California.
2. Mary Jane Marshall, sister, who married John Thompson, at one time associated in the leather business with General U. S. Grant, at Dubuque, Iowa.

Children of Moses Smiley: John and Jane by first wife; the remaining children all born near Union City:

1. John Smiley, deceased.
2. Jane Smiley, deceased.
3. James Van Buren Smiley, born January 20, 1841; a merchant of Union City; married Adaline Perry, deceased, of Union City; children:
   1. Eugene Smiley.
   2. William Smiley.
   3. Cora Smiley.
4. Perry Smiley, of whom further.
5. Dallas Smiley, born April 19, 1846; now a banker and merchant of Union City, and for the past twenty years a justice of the peace; married Ella Zinn, of Union City; children:
   1. Frank Smiley.
   2. Clyde Smiley.
   3. Ward Smiley.
   4. Robert Smiley.
6. Addison Smiley, born March 24, 1851; now a resident of Bradford, Pennsylvania, engaged in oil production; married, September 10, 1874, Carlettia Lucina Henton, born in Erie county, August 29, 1858; children:
   1. Nellie M. Smiley, born March 26, 1876; married L. A. Nash, of Bradford, Pennsylvania; children:
      1. Edwin A. Nash, born September 29, 1898
      2. Leona Nash, August 16, 1905
   2. Pearl Lillian Smiley, born September 16, 1891
   3. Addison H. Smiley, July 18, 1902.
7. Lilly Smiley, born December 27, 1838; married John Wescott, a successful lumberman, of Union City.
8. Emma Smiley, born January 27, 1853, died 1858.
9. Ida Smiley, born December 17, 1854, died 1857.

(IV) Perry Smiley

Perry, son of Moses Smiley, was born at Union Mills, now Union City, Erie county, Pennsylvania, May 1, 1843. He attended the public schools and worked on the farm until January, 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Company L, Twelfth Regiment Pennsylvania Cavalry. He saw hard service with the Army of the Potomac, participating in the battles of Second Bull Run, Winchester, Antietam, Harper’s Ferry, and was with Sheridan throughout his entire famous campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. At the battle of Winchester his horse was killed under him, and at the battle of Charleston, Virginia, he had the same experience. He had three horses killed during the war. He was promoted sergeant in 1864, and that same year was detached as a scout, under Captain McAllister. He was honorably discharged and mustered out July 20, 1865. After the war he returned to Erie county, and for a few years was variously employed, then came to McKean county and the oil regions. In 1877 he was appointed superintendent of the National Transit Company, a position he still most capably fills. He is a Republican, and served as councilman of the borough of Kendall Creek, now part of the city of Bradford. He is a member of Bradford Post, No. 141, Grand Army of the Republic; Bradford Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Trinity Commandery, No. 58, and Chapter No. 260, Royal Arch Masons.

He married, July 6, 1869, Melissa Electa Bacon, born in Bloomfield, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, August 13, 1848. She was educated in the public schools of Union City. She was the first worthy matron of Bradford Chapter, No. 61, Order of the Eastern Star. She is also a member of the Woman’s Relief Corps and the Daughters of Rebekah. Her father was Daniel Scott Bacon, born in Phelps, Chenango county, New York, June 25, 1821, died April 27, 1899, a cattle dealer of Waterford, Pennsylvania; later of Union City, where he died. He was a Republican and a Methodist. He married Louisa Drake, born October 12, 1825, in Smyrna, New York, died October 30, 1893, in Union City, Pennsylvania, daughter of Hiram Drake, who was born December 4, 1796, died August 27, 1870, and married Electa Pease, born November 5, 1796, died November 29, 1853. Children of Daniel S. Bacon:

1. Henry L. Bacon, born in Wayne, Pennsylvania, June 13, 1845; a veteran of the civil war, having served in Company C, Sixteenth Regiment Pennsylvania Cavalry; married a Miss Wade, of Union City.
2. Melissa Electa Bacon, of previous mention.
3. Ellen Louisa Bacon, born at Rockdale, Pennsylvania, June 22, 1853; married Paul Perkins, of Union City, an engineer; children:
   1. Charles Perkins, born May 15, 1873
   2. William Perkins, lives in Chicago
   3. Lines Perkins, deceased
   4. Roy Perkins, of Union City
   5. Mina Perkins, of Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania.
4. Estella J. Bacon, born May 31, 1855; now a resident of Jamestown, New York; unmarried.

Daniel Scott Bacon was a son of Henry Bacon, born about 1788, died in Union City, Pennsylvania, 1860, a farmer, and the son of a revolutionary soldier. He married and had children:

1. Daniel Scott Bacon, of previous mention.
2. Louisa Bacon, married Daniel Phelps, and moved to Kansas; child,
   1. Devault Phelps, now resides in New York City.
3. Chester Bacon, married Roxanna Slocum; children:
   1. Charles Bacon, of Meadville, Pennsylvania
   2. Jennie Bacon, of Union City.
4. Horace Bacon, served in a Pennsylvania regiment of infantry during the civil war; married Amelia Fox, who survives him, a resident of Hatch Hollow, Erie county, Pennsylvania; children:
   1. Ida Bacon.
   2. Flora Bacon.
5. Wells Bacon, married Julia Chafey, who survives him, a resident of Hatch Hollow, Erie county; children:
   1. George Bacon.
   2. Gertrude Bacon.

Children of Perry and Melissa E. (Bacon) Smiley, all born at Union City, Pennsylvania:

1. Ida Louisa Smiley, born April 24, 1870, died October 18, 1879.
2. Ella Josephine Smiley, born August 24, 1871; married, July 30, 1895, William W. Lourey, a railroad employee in Boston, Massachusetts; child,
   1. Guy Perry Lourey, born November 23, 1899, died April, 1900.
3. Bert Moses Smiley, born July 15, 1873; now captain of Hose Company, No. 3, at Bradford; married, May 23, 1909, Nora Elizabeth Murphy, born in Cork, Ireland, January 25, 1886; child,
   1. Perry Edward Smiley, born August 6, 1910, deceased.

See: Genealogy of the Allegheny Valley Pennsylvania

Source

Jordan, J. W. 1840-1921. (1913). Genealogical and personal history of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co.

This genealogy is based upon the source cited above. Only the structure and formatting have been changed for clearer presentation; the genealogical and biographical content has been preserved.