CYNTHIANA DEMOCRAT – April 15, 1917 - Mary K. Smiser died at her home on Pike Street in Cynthiana yesterday afternoon at three o'clock, after a long illness from Bright's disease. She had been confined to her bed for eighteen months.

Mrs. Smiser was a daughter of the late John Hunt Ewalt and Sarah Snell Ewalt and was born in this county on August 15, 1842. Mrs. Smiser was a member of the Christian church for many years, a woman of the purest Christian character.

She became the wife of Dr. John Harmon Smiser on May 30, 1870. There were five children, of whom three survived: Dr. H. Tod Smiser, Earl Smiser and Miss Mary Smiser, all of this city. A son, Hunt, died September 19, 1899, and a daughter, Lula, wife of D. Bradley Shawhan, died in February 1904. The surviving sisters are Mrs. Dorcas Garnett and Mrs. R. M. Collier, of this city. The late Mrs. Claude Desha was a sister, and the late J. S. Ewalt was a brother. Miss Sarah Snell Desha, a niece and a senior in the Midway Orphan School, has made her home
with Mrs. Smiser for the last sixteen years.

The funeral will be held at the residence Friday afternoon at two o'clock, with services by Rev. Jos. D. Armistead. The burial will be at Battle Grove Cemetery.