Josiah John Smith Tarbell was born 20 July 1845 in St. Charles Co., Missouri. Josiah married Laura Anne Elizabeth Yarnell 7 May 7 1865 in St. Louis, St. Louis Co., Missouri. They had the following children: Josiah John Tarbell, George Lee Tarbell, and Mary Virginia G. Tarbell.

Josiah John Smith Tarbell drowned in the Missouri River, while bathing, 26 Jun 1870 when he was 25 years old. He left two young sons, aged 4 and 2, fatherless as well as a daughter that was born posthumous 3 months after his death. (See Link above to view his obituary written 1870).

Laura Anne Elizabeth Yarnell, wife of Josiah John Smith Tarbell, was born 1849 in St. Charles County, Missouri, and was 3rd child of 13 children born to Memory Yarnall and Amandelia Howell.

Laura's father, Memory Yarnall, or Yarnell as the spelling changed, was one of 14 children born to John Yarnall of York County, Pennsylvania and his wife Elizabeth Wolf. They were married, 18 Dec 1798, in Bourbon County, Kentucky. This Yarnall/Yarnell family dates back to Francis Yarnall, born April 1655 in Martin Hussingtree, Worchester, England. Francis Yarnall, as well as many of his descendants were Quakers who settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Laura's mother, Amandelia (Howell) Yarnall, was the 10th born child of 15 children born to Thomas Howell and Susanna Callaway and the granddaughter of Jemima Boone and Flanders Callaway.

The parents of, Josiah John Smith Tarbell, were Josiah Woods Tarbell and Mary Eleanor Smith. Josiah Woods and Mary Eleanor Tarbell also had a daughter Mary Elizabeth Tarbell, born 15 August 1842, and a child that died in infancy.

Josiah's father, Josiah Woods Tarbell, was born about 1816 in Kennebec County, Maine. He died 14 February 1848 in St. Charles Co., Missouri also leaving two young children ages 6 and 3. From his estate records his 'personal' estate consisted of: 1 Traveling trunk, 1 lot of books, 1 pain of globes, 2 syringes, 1 Pullican & hooks & dividers, shaving tools & hone, 1 Lot of medicine & mortar, 1 double tree single tree fine craw shovel & axe, 1 Bell, and 1 metal kettle. The books, syringes, medicine and mortar, kettle and bell give evidence that he may have been a doctor. A Pullican was used as ‘dislocating forceps’ in dentistry. In this time-period, it was common, for doctors to travel by horse or buggy. When they approached a dwelling, the bell was rung to notify inhabitants that the doctor was near. Josiah Woods Tarbell was the son of Josiah Tarbell and Sophia Hanson. Josiah Tarbell was a Private in Col. H. Moore’s Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia raised at Harlem, Maine District, in the War of 1812. Josiah Tarbell’s parents were Jonas and Olive Tarbell. Jonas Tarbell was a Private in Capt. Asa Lawrence’s Co., Col. William Prescott Regiment of Groton and Pepperell in the American Revolution.

Josiah John Smith Tarbell's mother, Mary Eleanor Smith, was the daughter of John H. Smith and Elizabeth Lyle. John was an Ensign in the 13th Regiment (Dudley’s) Kentucky Militia in the War of 1812. His father, William Smith, was a Captain in Col. Morgan’s 11th & 15th Regiment of Virginia in the American Revolution. William’s father, Henry Smith, born 1715 a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War, but was too old to serve. He furnished supplies, ‘two Beeves’ (plural for beef) and resided in Stafford County, Virginia. Elizabeth Lyle's grandfather, Daniel Lyle, was born 1712 in Larne, County Atrim, Ireland and settled in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He too was a Patriot, furnishing goods, in the American Revolution.

The Yarnall, Howell, Callaway, Boone, and Smith families were all early settlers of St. Charles County, Missouri.

(updated 1/18/2018)