Person Page 171

Elizabeth John A. Smith was born on 11 Oct 1835 in Fayette Co., TennesseeG.^4,5,6
     Her mother died on 31 Oct 1835, when Elizabeth was 10 days old.¹²
      After the death of her mother, Elizabeth went to live with her aunt, Permelia S. Walton, and her husband, in Kentucky.¹³ She appeared on the 1850 Federal Census of Christian Co., KentuckyG, in the household of her mother's sister Permelia, and her husband, Alexander J. Farrar.^14,15
     Elizabeth was named an heir in the will of her father, dated 25 Jan 1856 in Fayette Co., TennesseeG, to receive Negros Sally Ann, Bobbie, and Mary Ann, and a bed and furniture. At the death or remarriage of her step-mother the 300 acres left to her during her widowhood was to be sold and the proceeds divided equally with Elizabeth and his other five children.¹⁶
     Elizabeth married Dr. Henry Davis Tuck, son of Dr. Davis Green Tuck and Elizabeth M. Toot, on 6 Oct 1858 in Christian Co., KentuckyG.^7,4,8
     Elizabeth and Henry, with their son Alexander, appeared on the 1860 Federal Census of Hopkinsville, Christian Co., KentuckyG, in the household of Alexander J. Farrar and Permelia S. Walton, her aunt and her husband.^17,18
     Henry and Elizabeth sold his interest in father’s estate, a grocery store house on the north side of Main St. in LaFayette, and a distillery in Little River known as the Williams Distillery to her aunt Permelia on 11 May 1868, for $6,000.¹⁹
     Elizabeth and Henry appeared on the 1870 Federal Census of Lafayette, Christian Co., KentuckyG, enumerated 14 Sep 1870, reporting real estate of $11,250 and personal estate of $2,500. The household included 10 year old black male servant. Their children Davis, Sallie, and Corinne were listed as living with them, as was her aunt, Permelia.²⁰
     Elizabeth and Henry appeared on the 1880 Federal Census of Lafayette, Christian Co., Kentucky G, enumerated 5 Jun 1880, with the household including a 24 year-old white farm hand, Marcus Landrum, and a 40 year old black cook, Fannie Robb. Their children Davis, Sallie, Corinne, and Emma were listed as living with them, as was her Aunt Permelia.²¹
     Her husband died on 5 Sep 1881 in Lafayette, Christian Co., KentuckyG.^22,23,24
     Elizabeth died on 27 Nov 1887 at age 52.^9,10 She was buried in the Henry D. Tuck Family Cemetery, Lafayette, Christian Co., KentuckyG.¹¹
     Elizabeth died intestate, that is without a will, leaving under the law two adult heirs, daughters Sallie and Corinne, and two "infants" (minors), daughter Emma and Davis Henry Tuck, son of her son Davis who had died before the probate proceedings were completed. Her debts were determined to exceed her personal assets so some of her real estate, about 900 acres in Christian Co.G, had to be sold to pay the remainder of her debts. The administrator concluded, with the agreement of the adult daughters and the guardian for the minor daughter, that the heirs were better served by sale of all the land and the court ordered on 7 Dec 1889 that be done.²⁵
     The administrator sold the land, in two parcels, to Thomas Herbert Elliott, brother-in-law of Elizabeth's late husband, for a total of $11,402. Since the grandson did not yet have a legal guardian, his share of the proceeds was not to be collected but left as a lien on the land. The debts of the estate and costs of administration totaled over $7,000. For reasons unclear from the record it appears that the entire purchase price was in fact collected, but young Davis's share was "squandered" and he never received it. When his guardian was appointed he sued Thomas for the balance supposedly due the child. Thomas responded that the sale of his share of the land remaining after payment of her debts should not have been allowed, and that part of the sale was void. The guardian prevailed in the lower court, but Thomas appealed successfully, in a complex split decision taking 25 pages when printed. The case was sent back to the lower to resolve the details, the result if which have not been found.^25,26