TOPE FAMILY PAGE

    Rebecca Tope, daughter of Hiram Tope and Eliza Bracken, was born about 24 September 1853 [note 1], and died in Union Twp., Carroll Co., Ohio on April 15, 1885. Rebecca died at age 31 years, 6 months, 21 days when her clothes caught fire as she was making soap out-of-doors in a large kettle. She married John Marion Smeltz on 9 December 1875 in Carrollton, Carroll Co., Ohio [note 2]. Marion was born about 20 April 1855 [note 1] in Union Township, Carroll Co., Ohio, and died in Granada, Powers Co., Colorado, on 7 August 1925 at age 70 years, 3 months, and 17 days [note 3].
     Mr. Smeltz was a member of the Methodist church and Odd Fellows. He went west in 1889, and for many years was a prominent and successful cattle dealer. Around 1921 he spent the winter Carroll Co., most of the time staying with his sister, Mrs. Wagner.
     A funeral service was held at the home of W. L. Smeltz, Sr., on Thursday afternoon at 1:30 o'clock, following which the body was taken to the Mt. Pleasant Methodist church, where services were held and the body laid to rest in the Mt. Pleasant cemetery. Rev. Boyd J. Yorke officiated at both services [note 4].
     Their children:

1. Howard Smeltz at the time of this father's death lived in the state of Wyoming [note 5].
2. Wayne Smeltz, retired Army Captain, died August 24, 1965, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he is buried [note 6]. He married Anna Pearl Daniel, December 14, 1904 in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. She was born June 21, 1884 in Waterville, Kansas to John and Mary Elizabeth Daniel [note 7], and died January 23, 1964, in Munson Army Hospital, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
3. Nannie Smeltz [note 8] was born 17 November 1876 in Carroll Co., Ohio, and died 20 April 1949 in Two Buttes, Colorado. She married Frans Oscar Johnson on 1 January 1895 in Granada, Powers Co., Colorado. He was born 1 October 1863 in Jonkoping, Sweden, and died 27 July 1940 in Two Buttes, Colorado [note 9].
4. Lida Smeltz died 1 December 1883 in Carroll Co., Ohio, at age 2 months, 29 days. She is buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Union Twp., Carroll County, Ohio [note 10].

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Notes:

1. Calculated from age at time of death. [Return to text]
2. Marriage Book, Probate Court, Carroll Co., Ohio, Volume III, 1867-1875, certificate 1145, p. 382. Peter Smeltz consented to the marriage. [Return to text]
3. John's tombstone shows his death date as 7 August 1925, which was a Friday. His obituary, however, gives his death as Sunday. [Return to text]
4. A copy of the original newspaper clipping of the obituary sent to Hallie Martinson by a member of the Carroll Co. Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society. [Return to text]
5. Ibid. [Return to text]
6. Letter, dated Oct. 21, 1998 from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to Hallie Martinson. [Return to text]
7. Obituary, Leavenworth Times, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in Hallie Martinson file. [Return to text]
8. Nannie's name is given as Nancy in the Guide to Carroll County Ohio Birth Records, p. 461. [Return to text]
9. GEDCOM, Date of Import: Apr 27, 2001 from Hallie Martinson. [Return to text]
10. Ibid. [Return to text]

Except for note 2, all data provided by Hallie Smeltz Martinson