Bessie Ethel Smith was born in Smith Co., Tennessee, to Charley Sidney Smith and his young bride, Mettie Freelove "Lovie" Knight. At the age of 3, Bessie lost Lovie to a ruptured appendix, shortly after Lovie had given birth to Bessie’s sister, Mildred. (A younger brother, Clifton, between the girls, died at 11 months.) Bessie’s aunt, Letha Louise Knight--her mother's dear younger sister--promised Lovie that she'd watch over Lovie’s 2 little girls as if they were her own. So, still grieving Love lost, "Lethie" and Charley wed months later, and, on the 1920 Census, Letha is listed as the girls' mother, living with them in Carthage, TN. And so she was.

She and Charley had many more children, 7 girls, 7 boys; that notwithstanding, Letha was true to her word---Bessie was raised with the same loving care from her second mother as she'd had from her first. Charley farmed, played music at society parties as part of a band, and was a well-known maker of that mountain libation known as "white lightnin'". Letha taught Bessie the wonderful cooking skills she was known for throughout her adult life, the child-rearing skills she used as a biological and foster mother, and most of all, to turn to God in times both glad and sad. While Bessie chose the Baptist church of her great-grandfather, Billy Knight, rather than the charismatic worship style of mother Letha, the two shared the same faith.

Growing into young womanhood, Bessie did well in school, and enjoyed playing on the girl's basketball team, as well as helping out with the little ones at home. She met Millard Estes, who appreciated her ample figure, softly-curled brown hair, rosy cheeks, and sense of humor; they married when she was 18. Bessie and Millard had 4 biological children: Hubert Davie (1935-2006), Herbert Monroe (1936-2015), Margaret Charlene (1937- ), and Joyce Modene (1940- ), as well as stillborn twins.

With Letha and Charley still expanding their brood throughout the 1930s, Letha and Bessie were sometimes expecting at the same time; as such, Bessie had younger siblings the same age as her own children. By this time, the Smiths had moved to the Jordonia community in North Davidson Co., while Bessie's grandparents, Daniel Sidney and Matilda Smith, settled in South Nashville's Una Antioch area. A 14-year-old Bessie shows up in both households on the 1930 Federal Census. Family ties were strong; Bessie's mother-in-law, Nancy Tyler Estes, a country midwife, delivered some of her children, who, of course, were all born at home.

Faith was important, too, and Bessie was an active church member, at Fairview Baptist Mission, a new church plant that met in the large Victorian mansion she and Millard rented in Jordonia, near Bell's Bend. Bessie and Millard later joined Scottsboro Baptist Church, where she was active in teaching, and in singing with the choir. Millard, who gave up drinking, once saved, became a deacon there.

Their son, Hubert, an ordained minister, was a frequent preacher, who went on to pastor several Southern Baptist churches and administrate a Christian school. He married at the Fairview Mission, with his brother and sister-in-law as witnesses, with a local diner standing in for a reception, afterward. Following the family tradition of opening their home to an orphan, Hubert and his bride went on to adopt; the girl would be Bessie's last grandbaby, born very near the same time as Bessie's first great-grands.

Having returned from war-time and living in the Territory of Hawaii, Bessie’s second son, Herbert, and his young second wife, married at Fairview, as well. There, the newly converted husband, and his bride were active in many serving roles, from filling in for the song leader and pianist, to teaching Sunday School and VBS, driving the church bus, and hosting parties and bonfires. They went on to raise two girls in Joelton.

Daughter Margaret Charlene purchased the old home place, Bessie and Millard's Scottsboro home on Ashland City Highway, near several of Letha and Charley's descendants. Charlene and her first husband had 4 children; her son and daughter-in-law teach Sunday School at Scottsboro, helping carry on that family tie. She's currently single again, enjoying retirement in Florida. (The annual Smith Family Reunion is held on July 4th of every year, at the home of Bessie's little brother, Lawrence, just a couple of miles from the old Estes residence.)

Youngest daughter Joyce is also retired, after 30 years with the state; like Bessie herself, she also became a foster parent for a while, following the passing away of her second husband, after many years of marriage. Joyce also attends Scottsboro Baptist, and has lived nearby for decades.

So does Steve Johnson---a former foster child rightfully recognized as Millard and Bessie's son, in both their will and their hearts---as they raised him from early childhood. In 2012, Steve married a wonderful widow at the church, with an Elvis-themed reception---held at the local grange hall, now community club---nearby. Much of the family gathered for this happy event, with their youngest brother.

Bessie and Millard celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary with a similarly big reception, in 1983. It was held in the Scottsboro Baptist fellowship hall. Many guests attended, including some of their dozens of former foster children---now full grown---and many of their 9 grandkids.

As the decade of the 1980s progressed, however, Bessie inherited diabetes that was poorly controlled, and its complications took their toll; she lost one leg, then the other. (There is a sad family pattern of diabetes, gangrene, or other complications, then loss of limbs. A grandchild who had juvenile diabetes, despite being slim, and being given early treatment, is now legally blind, and permanently disabled.) By the time she entered Bordeaux Long Term Care, she was in rapid decline, mentally and physically.

She passed away at age 70, on a blazing summer day. Bessie was worn out, in body, but her mind and soul were free. Following services at Buena Vista Funeral Home, family members made the long drive to Willow Spring Cemetery, where her husband's Estes and Tyler relations are buried, in Hickman Co., and laid her to rest. Millard joined her 6 years later. She is missed and remembered by all who knew her.