Ambrose Whitlock Smith
b. 2 January 1831, Vincennes, Knox County, Indiana, to James and Eliza (Jones) Smith
d. 22 October 1898, Portia, Lawrence County, Arkansas
m/1. 15 August 1853, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Sarah Ellen Kellar
b. 14 February 1834, Jefferson County, Kentucky, to Moses and Catherine Kellar
d. 22 June 1858, Jefferson County, Kentucky
m/2.
Elizabeth [–?–]
m/3. 21 June 1862
Julia F. (Chadwick) Rainey
b. 1 June 1828
d. 20 January 1887
m/4. 23 January 1888
Laura Morill
b. about 1830
m/5. 14 September 1892
A. Baker
b. about 1842
Children with Sarah Ellen Kellar:
• Emma Hite (1854-1920) married Thomas Watkins Campbell
• Anna Ayres (1856-1890) married Edward Bryant Kellar
The Smith family left Knox County, Indiana, about 1834 for Rapides Parish, Louisiana. Ambrose’s parents had a cotton plantation, as well as a house in New Orleans. Julia Rainey had several children from her previous marriage that became part of his household. During his first marriage, Ambrose lived in Kentucky, but later took the children to Louisiana after their mother’s death. In 1859 he purchased land in Lawrence County, Arkansas. Shortly after the town of Portia was opened on the railroad, Ambrose moved there. He was a dry goods merchant, a druggist, and a land merchant.
Submitted by:
Steven E. Kellar
Overland Park KS