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Actually, perhaps I am wrong.  You mention that they had five children - were all five fathered by my father Robert Leslie Smith, or just Michael Leslie?

Hello! What a pleasure to hear from one of Robert's children. I can imagine what a surprise it must have been to find out your father had been married before he was with your mother.  From what I've been able to learn, he and Noni only had two sons together.  Noni's other three sons were born after she and your Dad had divorced, so they have a different father.

 

Hi Shelly,

No, I don't have any death records for Sam or Lavina.  I can only estimate, by census records, that Sam died after the 1875 NY state census which was done in June of that year.  It's the last census he appeared in.  At that time, he was living with his niece and her family in Farmerville, NY listed as a widower; Lavina last appeared with Samuel living in Johnstown, Fulton, NY in the federal census of July 1870 so she certainly died between 1870 to 1875. 
Now, for the children: there were five, that I'm aware of.  Sarah, I have next to nothing on, other than being born around 1830, so I hit a dead end with her; sons, David and George, both married and had families, and both died in 1864 fighting in the Civil War; daughter, Elizabeth, died in Johnstown, NY in 1918 - she was the widow of Charles Foster at the time of her death.  Maybe her death certificate might have her mother's maiden name?  I know my great-grandfather, Charles, only had her first name recorded, which was disappointing, to say the least.

Got them. Thanks, Janette!  Unfortunately, they didn't contain anything earth-shattering, but it made for interesting reading, nevertheless.

Hi Lu,

I did just that as soon as I received Noni's death record and I got a reply today.  He gave me the ages of the 4 sons (I already had their first names) which was a help, and the name of Noni's "friend" who was mentioned in her obituary, so chances are good that he is the father of the 3 younger boys.  Luckily, his last name wasn't also Smith, but it is a relatively common one (King), so it still won't be easy locating them. *sigh*

Hi Janette,

I noticed that and wondered the same thing.  Perhaps she went to Australia?