After the major “Smith” family break through earlier today,  I came across a very interesting geneaology query posted on July 14, 2001 at the genealogy.com Smith surname forum:

I am looking for any information on  Hiram Gregg Smith. He died sometime before 1913 in Iowa and was married to Julia Ann Geesline in 1884 in Humboldt Co., Iowa. They are reported to have had at least 5 known children including my great-grandmother Leta Ethel Smith. E-mail me directly. Shawn Butler

I was very excited.  I finally found another Smith relative.  Shawn had actually posted another similar query at the Ancestry.com forums on March 9, 2001.

Looking for any information on Julia Ann Geesline born in Johnson Co. 5 DEC 1868 and later married Hiram Gregg Smith

The bad news is that the email address attached to his postings is no longer valid.  Unfortunately there are just too  many Shawn Butlers out there to try to find him without more info.