Jan 25 2001 12:00AM By Louise Carroll: New Castle News Establishing her roots: For 40 years Olive Smilek has traced her family tree, digging back four centuries Olive Smilek first became interested in genealogy 40 years ago when a relative celebrating a 60th wedding anniversary suggested she "look up the family tree because I'm too old." When the North Sewickley Township woman mentioned this to a friend, the friend said, "Forget those dead people." Smilek ignored the well-intentioned advice and began to trace her family genealogy. Now, four decades years later, she has traced both sides of her family back 400 years and has had a lot of fun doing it. In April, Smilek will be 90 and is still enjoying the challenge of tracking down ancestors and getting history lessons in the process. She does it all without a computer. She saves her information in notebooks, charts and scrapbooks. Her collection includes copies of wills and real estate transfers, and documents from government pensions for war service. She also has photographs, some dating back to the 1890s, and these pictures of men in stiff collars and women in long dresses bring to life the people whose names and dates make up the family tree. The relative who suggested she pursue the family roots told her enough to get her started and whet her interest. Her father's family, Groscost, came from Bavaria in what is now southern Germany in 1730, and her mother's family, McClinton, came from Ireland in 1816. At the New Castle Public Library, Smilek has found many facts to help in her search, including the name of an ancestor on a list of passengers coming to America. Hans Philip Groscost arrived in Philadelphia in 1730 aboard the Thistle of Glasgow with 260 other immigrants. He and many of the others passengers were from the village of Ludwigshaven in Germany. Smilek discovered that Hans Philips' grandson, Jacob, served in the Revolutionary War and, although there is no written record of his birth, the records of his service were found and his request for a pension in 1834 netted him $80. Smilek's search provided Jacob with a tombstone in 1977. By proving his service in the Revolutionary War, she was able to apply for a tombstone from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. So far, Smilek has found six ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War. Proof of this service qualified her for membership in the Beaver County Daughters of the American Revolution, which she joined in 1965. Doing genealogy is not just a list of names and dates, but a trip into the history of families and nations. Interesting family stories are a part of the fun of finding roots. An unusual fact about her great-great-grandfather, Patrick Caughey, was discovered at his gravesite in New Salem Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Ohioville, Beaver County. Caughey is the only person buried there whose headstone faces west. This positions him foot to foot with his wife's grave, which faces east. No one is sure why this is, but the caretaker jokingly conjectured that he either wanted to face his wife, or, "He knew where he came from and wanted to know where he is going." In a suitcase of her grandmother, Elizabeth Barnes McClinton, Smilek found photos of the McClintons and a list of names and births prepared in 1906 by Elmore Alfonso Barnes, Elizabeth's cousin. Barnes recounted the history of 12 different families from Chestnut Ridge, Md., coming to Pennsylvania around 1792 and marking off tracts, clearing acreage and building log cabins. The Barnes, Graham and Inman families later crossed the Ohio River and went north into Black Hawk (now spelled Blackhawk) near Hookstown. They were among the first settlers north of the Ohio River in Beaver County. As Smilek traces the different branches of her family, her lists begin to read like a phone book, with many names including Bradshaw, Porter, Harbison, Barnes, Graham and Garvin. Elmore Barnes also wrote about another ancestor, Peter Barnes, who was born in 1744: "My great-grandmother Sophia Barnes (nee Inman) was born Sept. 8, 1753, where I do not know. At what place or what date she married Peter Barnes I can't say as I do not have any record of it." He concludes the record with the death of his grandmother, Agnes Barnes, who died at Bridgewater in 1875 when she was nearly 90 years old. He said, "My grandparents, Robert and Agnes Barnes, in religion were Seceders, afterwards United Presbyterians, and were very devout and religious people." Smilek's research discovered that another ancestor, Peter Porter, born in 1605, and his wife, Frances, were killed by Indians in 1652 in Maryland. Porter had a small shop where he made household kettles and the story is that the Indians felt free to come in and take whatever they wanted. To try to teach them a lesson, Porter heated the bottom of a cauldron and one of the Indians sat on it, got burned and took revenge. The Porters had an infant, Peter II, born in 1651, who survived and was raised by other members of his family. Smilek and her husband, Phil, who died last year, raised four sons and a daughter. She was very active in community affairs in the North Sewickley Grange and is the oldest living member of the North Sewickley Township Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary. The auxiliary was formed in 1940 and she became a member in 1941. She also was the North Sewickley Township tax collector for 12 years before retiring in 1962 Although Smilek no longer golfs or bowls as she used to, she is in good health and enjoys "Jeopardy" on television and doing crossword puzzles. She lives on Dennis Lane in North Sewickly and is continuing to work on genealogy. There is still a leaf or two on the branches of the family tree to search and more family history to record. "I still have a lot of work to do," she said.