This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Smith, Slavens Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/Vm.2ADE/1059 Message Board Post: Family history has it that John Oscar Slavens, b. March 2, 1858 in Pike County, Ohio, ended up in Hutchinson, Kansas, using the name J.O. Smith. Smith was the proprietor of a gun shop and was killed in a robbery on May 3, 1932. Stories from the Hutchinson newspapers on the murder can be found at http://www.slavens.net/misc/john_slavens_shooting.htm I have the newspaper films on loan at the moment and am searching for confirmation that Smith was Slavens. There's no obituary in the papers, just a brief mention about services. I'll keep looking to see if anything came out in the murderer's trial. Are the Johnson funeral home records available anywhere? I suspect that if they exist they may confirm the Smith/Slavens connection. The death certificate should be available, and I'll give that a try too. Anyone have any other suggestions where to look for confirmation? According to the stories, Smith had a son Paul, 44, and granddaughter Margaret, 18, at the time of his death. Thanks!