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KANAWHA COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
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Submitted to the West Virginia Biographies Project by:
Kenneth Smith
sgtssmith@worldnet.att.net
February 14, 2000
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BIOGRAPHY OF PERCY HOWE SMITH OF MARMET, KANAWHA CO., WEST VIRGINIA
Percy was born in Marmet, West Virginia, on April 17th, 1879. Marmet was, at
the time, called Brownstown. He was the seventh of eight children of James
and Lizzie Reynolds Smith. James ran a general store in Brownstown. After
the death of his father, Percy left his home in West Virginia and came to
Minneapolis to visit his sister Geneva. He decided to look for work in
Minnesota and landed a job with a railroad. Most of his brothers and
brothers-in-law worked in the transportation industry too, back in West
Virginia. Percy's first job was a run from St. Paul to Mankato. While laying
over in Mankato, he stayed at a rooming house in Kasota, just north of
Mankato, run by his aunt, Catherine Rowe, a sister of his father. It was at
Aunt Kit's rooming house that he met his future bride, Angeline Middaugh.
Angie had attended business school and was a clerk in a dry goods store in
Mankato. Her parents farmed near Waseca, Minnesota, and she was also staying
at Aunt Kit's rooming house. Two of Percy's sisters, Minnie and Carrie, also
met their husbands at Aunt Kit's.
Percy & Angie were married in St. Paul on September 3rd, 1902. They lived in
Minneapolis for a while, then moved to Mankato, where Avavalle and Raymond
were born. Percy was moving up in the railroad, and they moved back to St.
Paul, where they lived at 391 Goodrich from 1906 to 1913. James and Kenneth
were born while they lived there. They moved to 705 Jefferson for a year,
then to Minneapolis, where they lived at 965-14th Av. SE. When Percy was
promoted to yardmaster at the Rollins yard, they bought a larger home at
1047-17th Av. SE.
Percy retired around 1930 as the General Superintendent of the Minneapolis,
Northfield and Southern Railroad. The couple then sold their home in
Minneapolis and bought a resort near Mcgregor, Minnesota, on Lake Minnewawa,
called Greenwood Lodge. In 1935, their son Kenny was killed in a one car
accident while driving to the resort from Minneapolis. They owned Greenwood
Lodge until the early 50's, when they sold it and bought a home in Osseo,
Minnesota, where they both lived out their days. Percy died on July 22nd,
1960.
This information is the personal recollection of their daughter Avanalle,
and their grandson Kenneth Smith.
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