The true life story of William Joseph Peacock, AKA William Lonie Smith.
Lisa Cooke
Lisa Cooke originally shared this on 03 Oct 2018
William Joseph Peacock - Alias William Lonie Smith.
Facts - Through DNA matches and talking to family members on the Peacock side it has come to light that William Joseph Peacock was residing in Mississippi, was married to Mattie Martha Elizabeth Johnson. They had 6 children by the year 1911. Family rumors say that he sold the last of the fall crops, gambled and drank all the money away and disappeared around the year 1912-1913.
He ended up in Texas using the name William Lonie Smith and changed his birthday from May 2, 1879 to May 2, 1885. He married my grandmother, Elsie Frederica Christiansen on May 31, 1914 in Lee County, Texas. My mother, Florence Jessie Smith was born in 1915 and over the course of the next 10 years that had 5 children together. They moved around a lot, as he never held any one job for any length of time. They would move from Giddings, Texas to Houston, Texas and back again.
Around 1927, his son, Joe Louis Peacock in Mississippi found out that he was in Texas and made a trip down to bring him back home to his first wife and their 6 kids he had abandoned. According to my mother, he left when she was 12, so around the year 1927 he left never to be seen or heard from again. They were living in Giddings at the time and the story that always circulated through the family was that he had left for Houston to look for work and either got in trouble gambling or someone had robbed and murdered him. Little did he know that 91 years later, DNA would reveal his little secret.
Contributor: Donna (49889380)
Lisa Cooke
Lisa Cooke originally shared this on 03 Oct 2018
William Joseph Peacock - Alias William Lonie Smith.
Facts - Through DNA matches and talking to family members on the Peacock side it has come to light that William Joseph Peacock was residing in Mississippi, was married to Mattie Martha Elizabeth Johnson. They had 6 children by the year 1911. Family rumors say that he sold the last of the fall crops, gambled and drank all the money away and disappeared around the year 1912-1913.
He ended up in Texas using the name William Lonie Smith and changed his birthday from May 2, 1879 to May 2, 1885. He married my grandmother, Elsie Frederica Christiansen on May 31, 1914 in Lee County, Texas. My mother, Florence Jessie Smith was born in 1915 and over the course of the next 10 years that had 5 children together. They moved around a lot, as he never held any one job for any length of time. They would move from Giddings, Texas to Houston, Texas and back again.
Around 1927, his son, Joe Louis Peacock in Mississippi found out that he was in Texas and made a trip down to bring him back home to his first wife and their 6 kids he had abandoned. According to my mother, he left when she was 12, so around the year 1927 he left never to be seen or heard from again. They were living in Giddings at the time and the story that always circulated through the family was that he had left for Houston to look for work and either got in trouble gambling or someone had robbed and murdered him. Little did he know that 91 years later, DNA would reveal his little secret.
Contributor: Donna (49889380)
The true life story of William Joseph Peacock, AKA William Lonie Smith.
Lisa Cooke
Lisa Cooke originally shared this on 03 Oct 2018
William Joseph Peacock - Alias William Lonie Smith.
Facts - Through DNA matches and talking to family members on the Peacock side it has come to light that William Joseph Peacock was residing in Mississippi, was married to Mattie Martha Elizabeth Johnson. They had 6 children by the year 1911. Family rumors say that he sold the last of the fall crops, gambled and drank all the money away and disappeared around the year 1912-1913.
He ended up in Texas using the name William Lonie Smith and changed his birthday from May 2, 1879 to May 2, 1885. He married my grandmother, Elsie Frederica Christiansen on May 31, 1914 in Lee County, Texas. My mother, Florence Jessie Smith was born in 1915 and over the course of the next 10 years that had 5 children together. They moved around a lot, as he never held any one job for any length of time. They would move from Giddings, Texas to Houston, Texas and back again.
Around 1927, his son, Joe Louis Peacock in Mississippi found out that he was in Texas and made a trip down to bring him back home to his first wife and their 6 kids he had abandoned. According to my mother, he left when she was 12, so around the year 1927 he left never to be seen or heard from again. They were living in Giddings at the time and the story that always circulated through the family was that he had left for Houston to look for work and either got in trouble gambling or someone had robbed and murdered him. Little did he know that 91 years later, DNA would reveal his little secret.
Contributor: Donna (49889380)
Lisa Cooke
Lisa Cooke originally shared this on 03 Oct 2018
William Joseph Peacock - Alias William Lonie Smith.
Facts - Through DNA matches and talking to family members on the Peacock side it has come to light that William Joseph Peacock was residing in Mississippi, was married to Mattie Martha Elizabeth Johnson. They had 6 children by the year 1911. Family rumors say that he sold the last of the fall crops, gambled and drank all the money away and disappeared around the year 1912-1913.
He ended up in Texas using the name William Lonie Smith and changed his birthday from May 2, 1879 to May 2, 1885. He married my grandmother, Elsie Frederica Christiansen on May 31, 1914 in Lee County, Texas. My mother, Florence Jessie Smith was born in 1915 and over the course of the next 10 years that had 5 children together. They moved around a lot, as he never held any one job for any length of time. They would move from Giddings, Texas to Houston, Texas and back again.
Around 1927, his son, Joe Louis Peacock in Mississippi found out that he was in Texas and made a trip down to bring him back home to his first wife and their 6 kids he had abandoned. According to my mother, he left when she was 12, so around the year 1927 he left never to be seen or heard from again. They were living in Giddings at the time and the story that always circulated through the family was that he had left for Houston to look for work and either got in trouble gambling or someone had robbed and murdered him. Little did he know that 91 years later, DNA would reveal his little secret.
Contributor: Donna (49889380)
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See more Smith or Christiansen memorials in:
- Giddings City Cemetery Smith or Christiansen
- Giddings Smith or Christiansen
- Lee County Smith or Christiansen
- Texas Smith or Christiansen
- USA Smith or Christiansen
- Find a Grave Smith or Christiansen
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