Born 11 October 1874, Ingham County, Michigan, Carolyn C. "Carrie" Crane was the daughter of Cyrenus Cabbott (1926-1887) and Mary J. (Turner) (1832-1932) Crane. Cyrenus Cabbott Crane, a New Yorker by birth, was one of the original 15 members of the First Universalist Church Society of Lansing which was organized in 1854 and he too was elected to the society's first board of trustees.

Mary Turner was Cyrenus' second wife, his first wife having died in about 1868. Mary Turner was the first white child in Okemos, having moved with her parents from New York state and she wed widower Cyrenus soon after his first wife's passing. Mary not only was newly married but she also, by marriage, became a stepmother to a young son, Ira. Soon Mary birthed a son. Fred, and on 11 October 1874 gave birth to a daughter, Caroline. Baby "Carrie" may have been named after Cyrenus' first wife, Caroline Hart.

Carrie was an enrolled student in the Okemos Union School in 1888. She wed Walter Gorman Smith, born 1 April 1871, Readfield, Kennebec County, Maine, in Okemos on 28 November 1901. The couple quickly moved to Readfield where the household of Smith's included Walter's widowed father and 2 unmarried sisters.

Over the next 16 years Carrie birthed 5 children, 4 living to adulthood. Her first born, Robert, died soon after birth but Donald Chester was born 1902, Reginald, 1907, Hugh Carpenter, 1909, Renalo "Rina", 1910, and Ruth May 1916.

Carrie had a fine voice and piano talent. Numerous Readfield Grange newspaper articles mention her musical talent. US Federal Census 1900, 1910 and 1920 reveal an ever-growing family with Walter farming first alongside his father and later with son Reginald. Walter's sister Eva continually made her home with the family and assisted as Carrie's health began to decline by the early 1920's.

Carrie died 2 December 1924, Kennebec County, Maine. She was interred Readfield Corner Cemetery, Readfield. Walter never remarried. He continued farming on the family spread for many more years, dying 15 April 1963, Augusta, Kennebec County. He was interred with Carrie and their infant son, Robert, in Readfield Corner Cemetery.

Crane, Cyrenus (father of Carrie Crane) obit, The State Republican (Lansing, Michigan), Friday, December 16,  1887, probably interred Riverside Cemetery, Okemos

Crane, Caroline (married Walter Gorman Smith 1901) health issue Lansing State Journal 16 September 1899 

Crane, Caroline (married Walter Gorman Smith 1901) marriage announcement Lansing State Journal  22 November 1901 

Crane, Caroline (married Walter Gorman Smith 1901) health issues, Greenfield Daily Recorder (Greenfield, ME), 02 November 1921 

Crane, Carrie (married Walter G. Smith 1901) obit, Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, Maine), Saturday, December 6, 1924

Crane, Carrie (married Walter G. Smith 1901) obit, Lewiston Evening Journal (Lewiston, Maine), Saturday, December 6, 1924

Crane, Caroline (married Walter Gorman smith 1901) article on her mother Mary J. Turner Crane Young, Lansing State Journal, 23 September 1931, Page 18

Crane, Caroline (married Walter Gorman Smith 1901) Turner, Mary Crane Young, mother of Carrie Crane, obit, Lansing State Journal, Monday, February 1, 1932, interred Mt. Hope Cemetery, Lansing