Smith Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: 000049

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Smith Family Papers contain materials related to the life and military service of Commander Xavier Martin Smith, USNRF, and his wife, Mary Bartol Smith. This collection includes personal documents, correspondence, greeting cards, invitations, photographs, postcards, newspapers, military documents, and oversized materials. Additionally, this collection contains a substantial amount of legal, financial, and personal documents related to James Bartol, an auditor for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and uncle to Mary Bartol Smith.

The correspondence in this collection consists primarily of letters between Mary Bartol Smith and Xavier Martin Smith, which were written to stay in contact while he was deployed with the United States Navy. Additional correspondence featured within this collection includes letters to and from Commander Xavier Martin Smith, letters to and from Mary Bartol Smith, and letters to and from James Bartol.   

A substantial portion of this collection consists of V-mail letters addressed to Xavier Martin Smith from his wife Mary Bartol Smith. These V-mails portray Mary Bartol Smith’s day-to-day experience living in the continental United States and send her love and affection to her husband serving as an officer with the United States Navy Reserve Force in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. Additional V-mails from family members and friends addressed to Xavier Martin Smith have been included in this portion of the collection.  

The postcards in this collection include locations of images worldwide, including various roadside hotels throughout the continental United States, a postcard from Cheyenne, Colorado, and European landmarks.  

Photographs and negatives in this collection include images from the United States’ Homefront. These images feature Xavier Martin Smith and Mary Bartol Smith alongside various unidentified individuals and places throughout the United States.  

Also included in this collection are state maps, local pamphlets, greeting cards, and invitations addressed to members of the Smith family collected by members of the Smith family.   

Lastly, this collection contains published materials related to The Fredericksburg Radio Post and The U.S.S. Keokuk Radio Press News. Oversized material within this collection features newspaper issues of The Radio Post, Truax Field, and the Sheppard Field Texacts.

Dates

Creation: 1884 - 1949

Creator

Smith, Xavier Martin, 1894-1973 (Person)
Smith, Mary Bartol, 1885-1945 (Person)
Bartol, James, 1848-1919 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection in any form must be obtained from the National Museum of the Pacific War’s Center for Pacific War Studies.

Biographical / Historical

Xavier Martin Smith was born to Peter Xavier Smith and Edith M. Smith in Norfolk, Virginia, on November 30, 1894. He spent much of his early life in his hometown of Norfolk before leaving college and enlisting in the U.S. Navy at the outbreak of World War I. Mr. Smith was commissioned as an Ensign and sent to the European theatre in December 1917. In April 1919, he was awarded the command of the submarine chaser USS SC-206 and was deployed to clear mines from the North Sea. As a result of his meritorious and distinguished service while in command and his hazardous work, he was presented with the Navy Cross.

During the inter-war period, Xavier Martin Smith began service with the U.S. Navy Reserve and continued to rise in rank. During World War II, he served as an instructor contributing to training Naval personnel in mine warfare techniques at the U.S. Naval Torpedo Testing Range in Maryland and the Naval Mine Warfare School in Yorktown. In the later years of the war, he was stationed in Australia. Upon retirement from the United States Navy and the United States Naval Reserve, he had reached the rank of commander.

Mary Bartol Smith was born in 1895 to Nancy Rutledge Bartol and George B. Bartol. During the interwar period, she served in the Ordnance Department in the Engineering and Small Arms Divisions from July 29, 1918, to August 12, 1919. She served as the Head of the Mail and Record Unit of the Equipment Section and later, after reorganization, served as the Assistant to the Head of the Mail and Record Unit of the Small Arms Division. She also worked in the Publicity Department at Universal Studios. She was a Singing Instructor for children at Saint Mary's church before leaving the church to teach independently at her cousin's home.

On July 16, 1930, Xavier Martin Smith married Mary Bartol. Mary Bartol Smith passed away on November 8, 1945, after a prolonged battle against an illness at the United States Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. USNRF Commander Xavier Martin Smith passed away on February 3, 1973, in Los Angeles, California.

James Bartol was born to Robert Bartol and Mary Kurtz Bartol in Fawn Township, York County, Pennsylvania, on January 10, 1848. James Bartol served as an auditor for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad for several years and served as a member of the 1908 committee appointed to investigate the financial condition of New York City. James Bartol passed away on January 19, 1919, at the Union Protestant Infirmary in Baltimore, Maryland, after contracting pneumonia from an operation.

Extent

1.5 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Spanish; Castilian

Additional Description

Abstract

Arrangement

This collection consists of two archival banker boxes divided into seven series as follows:

I. Personal Papers

II. Military Service

III.Correspondence

a. Correspondence

b. V-Mails

C. Envelopes

IV. Greeting Cards, Holiday Cards, and Invitations

V. Publications

VI. Photographs and Postcards

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Bruce Smith donated these materials to the Center for Pacific War Studies on behalf of the Texas Historical Commission on October 28, 2005.

Separated Materials

3D artifacts have been separated from this collection, including a white drawstring canvas bag with red and black kanji; a U.S. Army Air Force patch decorated with a star, gold wings on a blue background; tan epaulets; and a khaki cap. Contact the archivist for further information.