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Joseph Gates Smith

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Joseph Gates Smith

Birth	:	12 Aug 1879 Hemford, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada
Death	:	16 Dec 1960 Nineveh, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada
Burial	:	Smith Family Cemetery, Nineveh, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate	:	44.4941860, -64.8051310
Description	:	Remembering Grampie Gates Gates came from a large family and was a hard working family man who willingly lent family or neighbours a hand when needed. He was born Joseph Gates Smith but become known as Gates because there was another slightly older Joseph Smith in their small community. Married Naomi Wagner on the same day that his brother Annis David Smith married Naomi's sister Ruby Wagner and his brother Allison Smith married Naomi's sister Magdalene Wagner. Three brothers marrying three sisters all on the same day! A man who had little but... Read More	Remembering Grampie Gates Gates came from a large family and was a hard working family man who willingly lent family or neighbours a hand when needed. He was born Joseph Gates Smith but become known as Gates because there was another slightly older Joseph Smith in their small community. Married Naomi Wagner on the same day that his brother Annis David Smith married Naomi's sister Ruby Wagner and his brother Allison Smith married Naomi's sister Magdalene Wagner. Three brothers marrying three sisters all on the same day! A man who had little but expected and wanted little in the way of material comforts. Having little themselves and knowing his habitual tobacco chewing family members would present him with a plug of chewing tobacco at Christmas and on his birthday and would receive a warm and heartfelt thank you and then watched as he added the latest one to an ever growing stack of plugs behind the stove. In the last years of his life he accumulated a generous lifetime supply of chewing tobacco. He possessed the strength of a farmer and a woodsman who made his living off the land and this physical strength was carried through to his 80's. He looked like a man you would call on to put down that pesky bear that was bothering the women and children in the blueberry field, to get your buggy unstuck from the mud or to help you re-seat the wagon wheel back on the buggy. He was a man more at home in a horse and buggy then in the horseless carriage. His mental strength and calmness under duress carried him through one the toughest situations faced by his family and that of the wider Smith family; that of the death of his first cousin and Brother-in-law Lemuel Smith at the hands of his son Naaman. But Gates did not allow this tragic event define his life or isolate him from his family. What defined Gates was his love of family, the enjoyment of visits of family and friends and his respect for others. Unable to read , which was of smaller significance in a world without instruction manuals and the internet, he learned by watching and listening to his elders and the hands on experience they provided enabled him to provide his family a living from the land. With a few milking cows, some pigs, chickens, work horse and a pair of oxen with 100 acres of field, pasture and mixed woodland by Lohnes Lake and a 500 acre woodlot for firewood and lumber on the property behind Fay Smith's (on what is now the Lemuel Smith Road) Gates managed to care for his family over the years. Through hard work and determination he feed and cared for his family; never having much if anything to spare but keeping the family feed. His farmland on Lohnes Lake provided for their basic needs of milk, meat and potatoes and fresh summer vegetables or pickled/canned ones for winter with the bonus of easy trout fishing, a big rock to wade out to, sit on or swim around. A place for bonfires and ice skating. A small lake a good swimmer could cross or a grown man could wade on the upper shore avoiding the mud and the swampy meadow bog if he knew the path to walk. Behind the hay field was pasture land and a beautiful pine hill and mixed hardwood stands. At the top of the lake above the meadow grew big trees accessible only by building an ice road strong enough for a horse or oxen to yard the logs out in the cold of the winter. My memories of spending time with Grampie was a long cold hard days work in the winter cutting firewood up behind Fay's with a short lunch break with a piece of bread, a hard boiled egg and a hot cup of tea steeped over an open fire built with twigs and broken branches in a snow covered mound in a small clearing among the trees. Energy and time were too precious too waste on a walk back to the camp just to sit at a table when a log dragged over close to the fire provided more warmth and comfort that that of a seat at the table in a cold woods camp. Another even stronger cup of tea awaited on our return home when we stopped at Fay's on the way and Lucy poured a steaming cup from the kettle boiling on the stove top. Being accepted into an adults world through the simple act of being handed a steaming hot unsweetened black cup of tea was enough to make a six year old child feel like a young man and to make a lasting memory that can still be recalled today. Spending time with Grampie was balancing on the planks floating in the small earthen rock walled basement on the water of a runoff after a heavy rain or spring thaw when sent on an errant to get some pickled beans, cucumbers or sauerkraut from one the barrels, or apples or potatoes from one of the sacks resting on shelves strategically placed above the floor that somehow were always higher than the highest spring run off or heaviest rain. Spending time with Grampie was standing quietly watching the horse while she ate from the pile of hay just brought down from the hayloft and placed as an offering before her. Gently stroking her forehead or rubbing her ears as she ate. Oh there were many other times with Grampie and the horse plowing the garden, hauling logs, bringing home the wagon stacked high with hay or a wagon loaded with sacks of potatoes. But there's something special about the quiet resting of a hand on a horse and the nudging of a horses head against your shoulder that speaks of a trust that has never been spoiled by cruelty or willful disobedience. An animal a head taller and more than ten times his weight gently nudging him and gently licking oats from the palm of his hand is saying you have treated me with love, kindness and respect and I will share my quiet time of rest with you. Watching the gentleness of Grampie and the horse together at the end of a day demonstrated fully that there's a time for work and there's a time for rest. A time for a well earned rest of a weariness at the end of the day. A time to reflect and quietly communicate through a gentle touch of a day well spent, a job well done and a day well lived without regret with no complaining or bitterness at the end of the day. A moment at the end of a work day that reflects a moment at the end of the life of a quiet gentle hard working man who respected the land and farm animals in his care and demonstrated his love through his care and provision for his family. Remembering Grampie Gates by Gerald Smith Jan 19, 2019 He may have been born in Nictaux, Annapolis County or in Hemford, Lunenburg Co as the family moved between their farm in Hemford and working on a farm in Nictaux. But he records his place of birth as Hemford on his marriage registry. Naoma Wagner and Gales Smith married 1907 in Lunenburg County Item can be found in Registration Year: 1907 - Book: 1830 - Page: 48 - Number: 92

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Joseph Gates Smith's memorial?
Joseph Gates Smith's memorial is located at: Smith Family Cemetery, Nineveh, Lunenburg County, Canada.
When did Joseph Gates Smith death?
Joseph Gates Smith death on 16 Dec 1960 in Nineveh, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada
Where are the coordinates of the Joseph Gates Smith's memorial?
Latitude: 44.4941860
Longitude: -64.8051310

Family Members:

Parent

David Freeman Smith

(1836 - 1924)

Lucy Victoria Mosher Smith

(1842 - 1935)

Spouse

Naomi Orpah Wagner Smith

(1889 - 1974)

Siblings

(1861 - 1917)

(1862 - 1933)

(1864 - 1939)

(1869 - 1874)

(1872 - 1933)

(1875 - 1969)

(1881 - 1931)

Children

Naaman Smith

(1908 - 1975)

Alonzo Bazil Smith

(1909 - 1997)

Maurine Marell Smith Sarty

(1914 - 2000)

Oren Clifton Smith

(1921 - 2006)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Smith Family Cemetery
Nineveh, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4941860, -64.8051310

2. Gospel Hall Cemetery
Nineveh, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4942400, -64.8054590

3. Hemford Cemetery
Hemford, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.5076590, -64.7902030

4. Crouse Family Cemetery
Nineveh, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4744170, -64.8048940

5. Hillside Cemetery
Simpsons Corner, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.5394080, -64.7787950

6. Epworth United Church Cemetery
New Germany, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.5418800, -64.7277500

7. Saint John in the Wilderness Cemetery
New Germany, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.5463600, -64.7282200

8. Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
New Germany, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.5395100, -64.7115800

9. Lakeside Cemetery
New Canada, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4851500, -64.6890600

10. Lone Oak Cemetery
New Elm, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4046600, -64.8256900

11. Hillside Cemetery
New Elm, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4048200, -64.8275400

12. Barss Corner Community Cemetery
Barss Corner, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.5650711, -64.6792679

13. Pinehurst Community
Pinehurst, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4965560, -64.6441110

14. Barss Corner Baptist Cemetery
Barss Corner, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.5700200, -64.6815800

15. Saint James Lutheran Cemetery
Branch LaHave, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4560000, -64.6380100

16. St Joseph's Catholic Cemetery
Chelsea, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.3716500, -64.7423600

17. Hillside Cemetery
Branch LaHave, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4495700, -64.6314500

18. Baker Settlement Cemetery
Bakers Settlement, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.3985900, -64.6779700

19. North Brookfield Cemetery
North Brookfield, Queens County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4076500, -64.9545000

20. Union Square Cemetery
Union Square, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.5514040, -64.6276790

21. Rosette Cemetery
North Brookfield, Queens County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4175940, -64.9691640

22. Maple Grove Cemetery
Chelsea, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.3549800, -64.7582200

23. Midville Branch Cemetery
Midville Branch, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.4215800, -64.6320500

24. Saint Matthew's Catholic Cemetery
Elmwood, Lunenburg County, Canada
Coordinate: 44.5802800, -64.6277300