Monkton Man Born, Died on Big Falls Road

William Harrison Leon 'Smitty' Smith was born on Nov. 30, 1930 on Big Falls Road in Monkton, and nearly 81 years later, he died on that same street.

Smith, 80, in the 17000 block of Big Falls Road, said Donna Welsh, a Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. 

The elderly Monkton resident provided an account of his life in a 2005 book by Louis Diggs entitled "North County: The History of African American Settlements in Northern Baltimore County's Scenic Horse Country."

In the profile, Smith said he was unsure exactly what house he was born in and described growing up on Big Falls Road at a time when segregation was still the norm. He writes about his education at Hereford Colored School, and then Shepperd Colored School in Monkton when he was promoted to the eighth grade. Smith said Hereford Colored School only went up to seventh grade.

He reminisced about having most of the food he needed from his father's garden, which also had chicken and pigs, and about days spent working on the farms of white families. 

Smith left the Monkton area for a while to attend high school in Baltimore City, work as a barber and, in 1950, serve as a soldier in the Korean War. He was awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded when an artillery round exploded near him, throwing shrapnel into his thigh and abdomen. 

Smith, who never married, described returning home to Big Falls Road to find that not much had changed, except more white familes had moved into the area. 

A neighbor described Smith as a "very nice man who enjoyed life." In a comment on , his niece Lakisha Booker wrote "My Uncle will be missed. We love you Smitty."

At the end of his profile, Smith talked about how much he loved life on Big Falls Road. 

"I will say that I have always enjoyed myself residing on Big Falls Road, and have absolutely no desire to go anywhere else to finish my life out."