Ya' Related Ta' Joe Smith Over The Mountain?

Life as a "Smith" has been pretty easy as far as family names go. It's seldom mispronounced or misspelled. Occasionally I have someone ask, "Are you related to (insert a first name) Smith?" I often smile politely and say, "I don't think so," or "You never know."

I knew someone named "Bundy" once. I asked her if she was related to Ted. After that, I don't think she minded so much that most people ask if she's related to Al. She never liked me anyway.

Having a common first name as well makes ego-surfing pointless. However, there's a site that will tell you how many people share your name:

how many share my name?

There are: 1,397,854 with the name Jennifer in the U.S.

3,017,684 Smiths

14,062 Jennifer Smiths

I entered "Jen Smith" into the Yahoo search engine (using the "directory" option). At reunion.com, 1,055 profiles exist with that name, and I haven't registered there.

More interesting though is that many people assume that "Smith" indicates British origin. Actually, the father of my dad's father (my great-grandfather) was named Oliver "Schmitt". When he and his wife came to the U.S. from Germany, they changed it to "Smith" to fit in better. The fact that many people think "Smith" makes my background British tells me that my great-grandparents were successful. Even the exact spelling of Schmitt varies. I have seen it spelled "Schmidt" for example.

This anecdote is not that unusual. Many of America's immigrants voluntarily adapted their names to something close to English. Wikipedia has an interesting article on the name Smith:

Click Here

I intend to learn more of the story behind my Irish-German-Native American genes. Maybe there's a few genes in there with other national identities. Who knows? I hate it when they fight with each other; puts me in a bad mood.

**Note: the title of this entry is my so-so attempt to use the way of speaking of some people where I grew up -- a diluted coal-speak. What's coal-speak? A "dictionary" can be found at:

Coal Region

Click on the "CoalSpeak" link on the left-hand menu. Many of the words are beyond my knowledge; however, "I ain't Catlick. I never ate bleenies." I wear a housecoat and know the correct way to pronounce Wilkes-Barre.

I also know the difference between hard and soft coal. Hard (anthracite) is denser due to compression, produces more heat over a longer period without as much ash (debris) when burned than soft (bituminous) coal. I am a coal miner's great-granddaughter (on my mother's side, Irish-born immigrants.) Check this out: coal region

Also, the county I grew up in (Columbia County, Pa) is the site of the Centralia mine fire disaster with great environmental and life-changing damage. If you're interested in more history, check out: Centralia story

or the wikipedia entry at:

Centralia, PA

Thankfully, I grew up well north of Centralia, in the county seat.

more cracker pics

and more info:
mine country

Below: a couple of photos from Centralia. The first shows a cracked road with steam and smoke coming up from the fire. The second shows a polluted stream exiting the mine.