Family Photos and Letters

I found a box of family photographs and letters that had been compiled by my Dad over the years. This was the first time I had ever seen them and they included some pictures of people relative to this story. At left, the caption on the back reads: "Helen S., Helen A., Alice A., and Edna".

Helen Anderson and Alice Anderson were Emory Smith's step-daughters. Edna was my grandmother, seen wearing the darker hat and clothing. This was taken in 1932, three years before the murders. According to Alice's daughter, Marilyn, January 21 was Alice's birthday and Emory had been busy assembling a new bicycle for her when the call came in from Capital Transit night watchman Baxter that he was needed as a replacement that night. Emory said he would be there after he finished putting the bike together. It was his final gift to her.

The morning of January 21, 1935 was filled with tragedy. Not only did Alice and Helen lose their beloved step-father to a heinous murder, but they also lost another family member. Within an hour of the homicide and before she heard the news, Emory Smith's mother, Sarah, also died that morning. She had been ill with pneumonia and succumbed at nearly the same time that her son was murdered. My family not only struggled with the news of two deaths on the same day, they could not bury Emory and Sarah because the huge amount of snow prevented them from getting to the cemetery. They turned the caravan around and went home to wait until the roads cleared.

Emory Smith was eventually interred at St. Paul's Lutheran cemetery in Uniontown and Sarah was buried at Union Chapel cemetery in Libertytown.