| Notes |
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From the Valdo James Smith Research document, The Sudburys of Virginia and Tennessee
HATTEE BELLE YATES was born in Dyer County, Tennessee, on December 16,
1883. She moved with her parents first to Texas, and then to Okmulgee,
Oklahoma, where on October 1, 1902 (according to her husband's obituary) she
married VALDO SMITH. Valdo founded the first newspaper in Okmulgee, the
Okmulgee Democrat, and Hattie Belle apparently used to help him with its
publication. Prior to her marriage she may also have been a schoolteacher.
Hattie Belle's first husband, Valdo, was born near Manhattan, Kansas, on July 18,
1872. A journeyman printer by trade (like his mother), he had come south into
Oklahoma territory at the first opening of the Cherokee strip. In addition to
founding Olcmulgee's first newspaper, he had served as the town's second recorder
and acting mayor.
Hattie Belle and Valdo had been married just over three years when Valdo died on
October 24, 1905. By March 1908 (as indicated by her daughter Minnie Lou's
obituary) Hattie Belle had remarried. Her second husband was EMMETT
SMOOT, who apparently left her shortly after the birth of their only child, Boyd.
(He later resurfaced in Orange County, California, sometime in the 1930s, in poor
health, and died there shortly afterward.)
At the time of her mother's death in 1923, Hattie Belle was married to PAUL
TRA WICK, an oil field worker by trade. She and Paul resided at 803 North
Central Avenue in Okmulgee, according to her mother's obituary. Paul was a
veteran of World War I, and had apparently suffered some disability as a result of
exposure to chemical weapons. Hattie Belle and Paul found it difficult to make a
living in Oklahoma during this time, and in 1923 or 1924, with Hattie Belle's
young son, Boyd Smoot, they began a slow migration westward searching for
work. At one point they settled in Rico, Colorado, where Paul found work in the
mines as a driller. They also lived in Denver for a short time.
Hattie Belle and Paul eventually found their way to Orange County, California,
where they made their home in the small citrus farming town of Yorba Linda.
Unfortunately, Hattie Belle did not live long after their arrival. She died on
September 13, 1927, at the age of 43. She is buried at Loma Vista Cemetery in
Fullerton, California. Paul (date of death unknown) is buried at the Veterans'
Cemetery in West Los Angeles.
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1883 - 1927 (44 years)
, d. 28 Mar 1907, Okmulgee Cemetery 
