ELLEN GRISARD SMITH
by ROBERT W. MERIWETHER

This article is based primarily on Mrs. Smith's obituary published in the Arkansas Gazette (August 13, 1951), p.8B, and on an interview with two of her grandsons, Samuel Gallatin Beal and Samuel Theodore "Ros" Smith, Jr., on October 27, 1987.
 
Ellen Grisard was born Nov. 19, 1867, in El Paso (White County), a daughter of William H. and America Warren Grisard. She had two younger sisters, Nora (Peay) and Viola (Mrs. W. N. Owen of Conway). In 1883 the Grisard family moved to Conway, where her father became a merchant. Family legend has it that the 15-year-old Ellen walked behind the wagon on the 25-mile trip from El Paso to Conway.

Ellen attended public schools in Conway and colleges in Searcy and Russellville, Kentucky. She taught in a public school for a short time before marrying Samuel Gallatin Smith on April 29, 1889. Smith, one of Conway's first merchants, was a cotton buyer and operated a general store on the southeast corner of North and Front streets. In May 1916, he received a franchise from the Ford Motor Co. and established Conway's first automobile agency (now Smith Ford Inc.).  

The Smiths had three children: Floy (Mrs. Ralph Plunkett), born in 1890; Leila (Mrs. Robert Deal), born in 1892; and Samuel Theodore (who married Catherine Hayes), born in 1894. Eventually there would be 15 grandchildren. (1)

During World War I, the Smiths received official notification that their son, Lt. Theodore "Doe" Smith, had been killed in action in France. A memorial service was held in Conway for the grieving family and friends. Then came the joyous news that Theodore, though severely wounded, was alive in a French army hospital. After a long period of recuperation, he returned to Conway and became one of the city's most prominent business and civic leaders. 

The S. G. Smith home on the southeast corner of Caldwell and Mitchell streets was destroyed by fire in 1923. In 1923-24, on the same site, the Smiths built the house that is currently occupied by their daughter-in-law, Mrs. Catherine Smith. The stately home, designed by the eminent Little Rock architect Charles L. Thompson, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 

For many years, Ellen Smith was the most active woman in Conway civic affairs. She was president of the Women's Missionary Society at First Methodist Church from 1897 to 1936, was an honorary member of the church's Board of Stewards, and was a member of the Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in the 1920s. The .'Ellen Smith Parlor" at the Conway First United Methodist Church is named in her honor. She was a charter member of the board of the Conway Memorial Hospital (now the Conway Regional Hospital) and had served as chairman for 20 years upon her retirement in 1944. She was also an active supporter of the American Red Cross and a charter member of PEO Chapter E. 

Perhaps her greatest civic service was in the field of public education. The first woman member of the Conway School District's Board of Education, she was elected in 1921 and served for 18 years, until 1939. She was the moving force behind the establishment of the elementary school on the east side of town, and it was named "Ellen Smith School" in her honor when it opened in 1925. It is now Ellen Smith Elementary School.
(Note: In 2000, the Conway Public School District built a new elementary school, located on South Donaghey St. The new school kept the name “Ellen Smith” and the original property, between 3rd and 4th St., on Harkrider St., was sold to the Friends of the St. Joseph Catholic Church).

S. G. Smith suffered severe financial losses during the Great Depression of the late 1920s and early '30s. Despite her altered financial condition, Mrs. Smith continued unabated in her church and civic work. She was particularly generous in her support of Ellen Smith School, its faculty and students, during the hard times of the 1930s. (2) 

Ellen Smith was a plain-spoken woman with a good sense of humor. She kept a cow and chickens, had fine vegetable and flower gardens and did extensive canning every year. She is remembered as an excellent cook. especially of home-made bread. When a granddaughter-in-law asked for her bread recipe, she replied, "No. It's really too much trouble. Just go on down and get you some store-bought bread." Her grandchildren remember her as the main instigator of the annual Smith family reunions, and the only adult there who showed genuine interest in the youngsters. Known to her grand-children as "Camama," she annually recorded their heights on a doorframe in her home. 

Her husband never drove a team of horses or an automobile, but Ellen Smith loved to drive and travel. The couple made a tour of Europe in the 1920s, and she later visited "every state but one" of the then 48 states. During World War II, while in her seventies, she would pick up hitchhikers, especially soldiers. When one asked her if she minded his smoking, she replied, "I certainly do! If you have enough money to smoke, you have enough to ride the bus!" 

On her 80th birthday in 1947 she drove by herself to Little Rock. In the late 1940s her grandsons asked to borrow her car for trips to both Florida and the West Coast; she agreed on the condition that she went along too. 

S. G. Smith died in 1948, but his wife continued her activities until her death Aug. 12, 1951, after a short illness. Services were held at First Methodist Church by Rev. Joel A. Cooper and Dr. C. M. Reves, with burial at Oak Grove Cemetery. She had been a dedicated leader and worker for more than half a century in three of the most important activities in any community: the church, public health care and public education. 

Footnotes: 
(1) At the time of her death in 1951, Mrs. Smith had 12 great grandchildren.  
(2) See the accompanying article on the Ellen Smith School by its former principal, Miss Ivah Kuykendall, in this issue of Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings.   
Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings
Spring-Summer 1988, pages 20-22.