1800s Direct
1700s Direct
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1900s Direct
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1700s Branches
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1800s Branches
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1900s Branches
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The 1800s
Expansion and Reconstruction
If you thought there were a lot of things going on before, try keeping
up with the Nineteenth Century. There was so much expansion it is
hard to know who was what and where, much less how and why. The world
was coming to grips that there was so much more out there than Europe.
To be honest, I haven’t discussed anything about Asian, Middle Eastern, or
Pacific dealings. To sort through all the information could take a
lifetime. So I will only hit the highlights as related to our
history and will go into a bit more depth in American History. The Nineteenth
Century was full of noteworthy individuals: Writers such as Charles
Dickens, Emily Dickenson, Benjamin Disraeli, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel
Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, Jules Verne, and Walt Whitman; Composers
such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, and Frederic Chopin;
Philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, and Charles Darwin;
Politicians and Leaders such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew
Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, and Queen Victoria;
Scientists and Inventors such as Thomas Edison, Michael Faraday, Gregor Mendel,
Louis Pasteur, and Nikola Tesla. This list may seem long, but believe
me I only hit the highlights of those who contributed to the world in the
1800s. Many things we take for granted today were invented in the 1800s
such as the electric battery (1800), the refrigerator (1805), Electric motor
(1821), Photography (1826), Insulated Wire (1827), the lawn mower (1830),
Colt’s Revolver (1835), Morse Code (1835), sewing machine (1836), type writer
(1843), Telegraph (1844), Elevators (1852), the Mason Jar (1858), Repeating
rifle (1860), Revolving Machine Gun (1862), Dynamite (1866), Vacuum Cleaner
(1868), Barbed Wire (1873), Phonograph (1877), Zipper (1891), Wireless Communications
(1893), and the Radio (1895).1 The current leaders of the various powers
at the beginning of the 1800s were Emperor Napoleon I in France, Emperor
Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire (central Europe), Pope Pius VII, Emperor
Alexander I in Russia, King George III in the UK, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
were the presidents in the beginning of the 1800s for America.
In England, the British began to consolidate their holding and regroup.
They had just lost their most valuable asset, America. In 1801, Great
Britain and Ireland merged in to the United Kingdom. But that didn’t
just satisfy them. They wanted the colonies back. In 1812, they
tried again to take America. But they couldn’t put all their efforts
into this, because they had other threats; the Holy Roman Empire (Central
Europe) had just been dissolved in 1806, the Barbary Wars in North Africa
were affecting slave trade around the world (1801 – 1815), Napoleon had
become an international threat (1803 – 1815). As Ireland was their
new state, they had a potato famine between 1845 and 1849. Famine and
disease were a major cause the European Revolutions in 1848. In 1854,
the English fought against the French, the Ottoman Empire and Russia in
the Crimean Wars. In 1878, the British had their famous Zulu Wars;
then the Boer War in 1880s. I’m telling you, when your at the top it
is tough staying their and fighting off all the competitors.
About the only thing England did constructive was the establishment of what
we now call Singapore in 1819 through the British East India Company and
the Canadian Confederation in 1867. We will get more into the English
when they are concerned with America.
The French were the cause of much debate in the early 1800s. During
the American Revolution, the French were our allies and helped us defeat
the British as they would do anything to hurt England. The Bourbon
Monarchy in doing so had almost bankrupted the country; thus, causing a French
Revolution. Republicanism attempted to oust the monarchy in 1789.
The monarchs managed to stay around till 1795, until they were run out of
France. Now that they had control, the French people did not know what
to do and for the next 4 years, there was no clear leadership. In 1799,
a man named Napoleon Bonaparte, who was a General, took over as the first
Consul for the new French Republic. In 1804 with no opposition, he proclaimed
himself as Emperor of France, Napoleon I. From 1804 till 1812, Napoleon
attempted and nearly succeeded to conquer all of Europe. From 1812
to 1815, he suffered many defeats such as the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium
in 1815. He was finally captured and imprisoned on a British Isle named
St. Helena as he surrendered to the British. War caused many things
in the world. It causes death and desolation not only of people, but
of economies and nations, yet it also promotes invention, industry, reform,
as well as distraction from other things. Napoleon’s war did all these
things. There were new weapons of warfare which had been created and
an industry to replicate them. There was reform in the style of government
in France and these efforts kept the other powers that be focused on France
and not America which was very fragile and learning to be a country on its
own.
The Spanish were having troubles also as Mexico was following suit and
wanted independence. This war took a little longer than most as it
began in 1810 it did not end till 1821. As a matter of fact, the Mexicans
were pretty much in a state of war for independence and to hold on to what
they had for entire first half of the century. In 1835, the territory
of Texas fought against Mexico to free itself; which by 1846 it developed
into a Mexican-American War. As you can see all that was going on
in the Nineteenth Century in other countries affected the world, but more
importantly the Americas.
America was united in 1789 as they elected a new government. The
United States had enormous potential but was very fragile. The United
Colonies, now states, still had the same issues as before. They
did not change overnight. They still fought Indians, the British never
gave up attempting to regain the land, the French were now the allies of
the newly recognized nation, and the Spanish issues were brewing and yet
to come. The Declaration of Independence was almost never signed due
to several grievances, even though all agreed on the separation from England.
The biggest issue of the day was avoided thanks to the diplomacy and compromising
of Benjamin Franklin, but never solved – Slavery. Between 1784 and
1800, the US government paid out an estimated $1 Million a year to keep their
ships free from the pirates that originated from the Barbary Coast (Morocco,
Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis) in North Africa. Thomas Jefferson opposed
the idea for fear of further attacks on merchant and/or slave ships to extort
monies from the new and inexperienced nation from the beginning but as
he was just an Ambassador to France at the time, he could do nothing.
The pirates would capture the merchant ships and hold the crew ransom.
The government just paid the ransoms. In 1800, it is reported that
20% of the US treasury was spent on these ransoms.2 Now Washington
spent from 1789 to 1797 as the President. John Adams took over from
1797 till 1801. Then in 1801, Thomas Jefferson was elected as he
opposed these dealings. America was growing but still a toddler nation.
Jefferson sought to strengthen the country by redirecting the funding.
He sent a fleet of US ships to protect its interests in the Mediterranean
as a defence against these pirates. This was called the first 
Barbary War. This lasted till 1805 at the Battle of Derna, a city
of Tripoli. Do you remember the theme song for the Marines with the
phrase “to the shores of Tripoli”? This is where that came from.
Yet most people don’t even know about the wars. In 1803, Jefferson
negotiated a deal with the new ruler of France (who was still an ally),
Napoleon. He took the 20% spent on ransoms and bought France’s claim
to the Americas. Jefferson had negotiated the Louisiana Purchase.
The acquisition of almost 530 MILLION acres of land for roughly $3/square
mile (or $11,250,000.00) was the greatest deal of the century. Understand
I am leaving out much of the story and only giving a synopsis. Napoleon’s
forces were exhausted in Europe and had no interest in international affairs
at the time, not to mention he could use the cash. It is funny how
God places people in particular situations at particular times to give an
out come that would normally not have taken place. The new land basically
doubled the size of the new nation. Now that we had this land, we still
didn’t know anything much about it. We knew there was land on the other
side yet it belonged to the Spanish. How did we first learn about this
land? Jefferson got approval from the congress of $2,500 to fund an
expedition. His private Secretary, Capt. Meriwether Lewis, was chosen
as leader of the group and Lewis chose William Clark to co-lead. Beginning
on 14 May 1804, they began (not the first but the first American expedition)
from the last outpost known in Missouri, Le Rochette. 3 The story is very
interesting but not quite relevant yet for our discussion; but it ended at
they made it to the Pacific Ocean at what is now Astoria, Oregon in December
1805. The trip took so long, many thought it had failed, but in 1806,
the explorers made it back to tell their story. Apart from the obvious
geographical knowledge, why did Jefferson do this? The famous expedition
opened up the fur trade in the west, discovered new species of plants and
animals, helped pave the way for peace with the Indians, help establish claim
to the Oregon territory, created the beginnings of the Oregon Trail, and created
the first post-war national heroes, which also spurred the first writings
about the early west. Do you think Jefferson had some insight?
Jefferson did more to establish America than just about any one of the times.
In 1809, Jefferson’s protégé took the helm as President, James
Madison. Madison had his work cut out for him.
Not only were the Mexicans fighting for their independence from Spain,
who owned the south western portion of America, between 1810 and 1821, Britain
had regrouped and tried to retake their lost colonies. As the French
were in a revolution of their own, the Americans were on their own.
The British was upset with the American self-government and their policy
of expansionism. The Americans wanted to push England out of North
America all together, this included the Canadian colonies. The Americans
were upset with the failure to comply with many of the terms of the 1783
Treaty of Paris (including the giving up of forts in the frontier – the British
were still using the Natives to harass the Americans) and they were upset
with the English’s attempt to keep the colonies from growing by stopping
American ships supposedly looking for deserters and harassing the crewmen
about once being British. This eventuated in trade embargos against
the Americans and the loss of hundred of ships. From 1812 to 1815,
The War of 1812 took place from New Orleans up to Baltimore.4 In 1814,
all up and down the Louisiana and Natchez territories, the Battle of New
Orleans took place. This eventuated into a stalemate and the Treaty
of Ghent. Although the US didn’t officially win, it was proven that
the US could defend itself because the people, however divided about other
issues, still came together to defend its borders. It created
a stronger sense of nationalism. The British Canadians, of who were the majority
of the British forces, signed a treaty in 1818 with the US to settle border
disputes in the north ensuring Canada’s survival. The war also stopped
the clashes caused by the Indians as they used the differences between the
two groups to defend their lands. A little revolution now and then is
a good thing, but how many were the Americans to have just in their first
25 years.
Still, Americans were divided on the issue of Slavery. American
slaves even attempted to band together and start a revolt but it ended
in the hanging of the revolt leaders; for south was growing stronger and
stronger with the trading of commodities farmed by the slaves and were
not about to loose them. The north was growing bigger in the industrial
side of things, steel for instance. The US issued the Monroe Doctrine
explaining to the world that the Americas were not to be underestimated,
nor trifled with but all the while struggling to maintain the structure
inside, such as having to establish a Bureau of Indian Affairs in the US
War Dept., not to mention the rebellions by slaves. This bureau created
many treaties, such as the Creek Indian Treaty in 1825 forcing the Indians
to sign over all lands and move out of the Georgia area. Still, Eli
Whitney finished his Cotton Gin (thus prolonging slavery in the south) and
creating guns (contributing to the American Civil War). In 1820,
the US Government passed the Missouri Compromise which banned slavery north
of the 36th parallel, other wise known as the Mason-Dixon Line. By 1833,
the British banned slavery all together in their colonies with the Slavery
Abolition Act. This was huge step because earlier they were promoters
of the slave trade. This meant that the Canadians were now officially
against slavery. This news along with the overwhelming support already
in the northern states began to cause waves. But the issue was side
stepped again as the settlers in the Texas territory revolted against the
Mexican control. Texas was not part of the US at this stage, but the
prospect of gaining such land kept their interest. President John Q.
Adams offered Mexico $1 Million for Texes in 1827 but to no avail.
Again, Andrew Jackson in 1829 offered $5 Million and was turned down.
Also in 1829, the Spanish tried to retake the colonies but were quickly repelled.
The Mexicans were concerned with all the interest and the Texans were upset
with the current leadership; thus, in 1835 the Texans revolted and won by
1836 to become the Republic of Texas. It was not until 1845 that Texas
was ceded into the Union as the 28th state in the United States. As
the Texan borders were still in dispute and Texas now belonged to the US,
the Mexican-American War began in 1846 and lasted until 1848. The
Mexicans were defeated and the border for Texas was now set at the Rio Grande.
As Texas supported slavery due to its cotton plantations, the war was supported
by the southern states while the northern states opposed the war but were
obligated to defend as it was now part of the nation. Can you see
how this slavery issue just keeps manifesting itself? In 1848, there
was a gold rush in California that lasted till 1858 and extended all the
way to Australia. This gave the citizens something else to talk about
for a while as many began to migrate to the west. Now the gold rush
is not that important but it is what eventually led the area to become a
state due to all the migration. But alas, the Slavery issue could
wait no longer. In 1857, the Dred Scott decision was made by
the US Courts that slaves were property and property was protected under
the 5th amendment.5 This was the first of the “coffee” to boil out
of the cup. In 1861, the war between the states, the American Civil
War began. The southern states felt so strongly about their rights
to continue the status quo they had for so longed survived on, that they
succeeded from the US to form the Confederate States of America (CSA).
Those states were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, and Texas at the start. Then Jefferson Davis was elected
President of the CSA and Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee
joined. Several states were divided and thus were called Border States:
Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland. Slavery
was a question of constitutional state’s rights; did the states have the
right to admonish or deter slavery? The North also wanted to end the
division among the states and create a solid union. The south fought
to preserve their way of life and the north fought to preserve the Union.
Slavery was the pinnacle of the underlying issues. Lincoln shortly
after the start of the war issued his Emancipation Proclamation in 1862.
It declared all slaves held in the slave states to be "then, thenceforth,
and forever free. It actually had little effect but served as a commitment
of the US to end slavery. After the some of the bloodiest battles on American
soil (more people were wounded or killed in the civil war than all the other
wars combined), the war ended in 1865 as General Lee surrendered to Grant
at the Appomattox Court House. But to this day, these feelings still
exist over numerous generations. But how did the North win? Several
reasons which are: (1) Industrialization of the North provided more
arms and ammunition, (2) Union outnumbered the Confederates, (3) better railroad
routes for movement of troops, and (4) Former slaves recruited into
the Union Army are just to name a few. This marked the end of the
fighting and the beginning of a reconstruction of the Nation. The
results were the 13th, 14th, and the 15th Amendments to the constitution.
It took till 1877 to regain control over the southern states.
In 1867, the US continued their quest for more land and purchased the
Alaskan Territory from Russia while the Canadians formed their own confederation;
however, remaining under the commonwealth of Queen Victoria. Progress
continued on the industrial front as well, for example, the First transcontinental
railroad was completed in the US in 1869 and the first electrical power
plant was created in New York. Parks were established such as the Yellowstone
in 1872. In 1890, the Indian wars came to an end with the last battle
called the Wounded Knee Massacre. The US participated in the revival
of the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. While in 1898, we gained control
over Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines at the end of another war, the
Spanish-American War which lasted only a year.
Mississippi history for the 1800s was not much different. The
area was inhabited by three Indian tribes totalling 25,000 to 30,000 in
number: Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Natchez. There were other smaller
tribes, but these three controlled them. The first white man
to see this land and its inhabitants was Hernando De Soto in 1540 as a Spanish
Explorer. It was left alone until 1682, when the French Explorer,
Robert Cavelier – better known as LaSalle – travelled the Mississippi River
from the Great Lakes down to the Gulf of Mexico. Through this he claimed
the whole river basin (basically everything the river touched along with
all its tributaries) for France. He named the area Louisiana (after
King Louis XIV) and named the river, Mississippi, based on a Canadian Indian
tribe word meaning “big river; Great River; or literally Father of waters”.
The first French Settlement was in 1699 at the present day Ocean Springs.
The next settlement was not until 1719 at Fort Rosalie, or the present day
city of Natchez. This settlement was abandoned after the Natchez Indians
massacred most of its inhabitants in 1729.6 In 1734, the French allied
with the Choctaws and fought the Chickasaw Indians until 1740. The
official French and Indian War began in 1755 as their many Indian alliances
were now used to disrupt the English expansion. In 1763, a treaty was
signed with ceded all the lands belonging to the French east of the MS River
to the English and the Spanish ceded all of Florida to the English.
At the same time, the French also gave the Spanish all the lands west of
the MS River including New Orleans. At this point, MS is called the
Natchez Territory and belonged to the English. Then in 1783, with the
ending of the Revolutionary War, the US government allied with Spain controlled
the land east of the MS River. By 1788, the US wanted free navigation
of the MS River and by 1795 the Spanish agreed to move out everything it had
above the 31st parallel. This caused some tension among the Americans
and the Spanish and in 1797; the US government just claimed the whole territory
for themselves and pushed the Spanish out. A new governor was appointed,
Gov. Winthrop Sargent, on 6 Aug 1798. He renamed the area the Mississippi
Territory and this remained it name for the next 19 years. In
1803, we found out that Thomas Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase
which gave the territory the MS River from the French. Then in 1812,
the British attempted to regain their lost colonies. Part of their attack
was centered in New Orleans. But Mississippians had to fight two wars
at once as the MS Militia aided in the Battle of New Orleans and helped stop
the Creek Indians uprisings. As the British mounted their attacks,
the Creek Indians began to formulate an attack in the now Alabama area in
their final attempt to run out the white man. There is a unique history here
but it is off our beaten track. The main point here is that those in
the MS Territory in between 1812 and 1815 were very preoccupied with attacks
from all sides. Finally on 10 Dec 1817, the Mississippi Territory was
split in two (MS and AL) and MS became the 20th state of the Union.
Alabama did not join till 1819.7
Mississippi was already being broken up into counties. By 1815,
there were 14 counties including Franklin, Marion, 
and Lawrence Counties. Then after MS had become a state, between
1817 and 1833, MS obtained several treaties with the natives, such as the
Treaty of Chickasaw Council House, the Treaty of Doak’s Stand, and the Treaty
of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which inturn gave us many more counties including
Copiah, Lincoln, Smith, and Neshoba (which was later carved into Newton
and Neshoba). Many of the Indians left for the Oklahoma territory.
The lands were left open for settlement and many people came. The
land was excellent from growing crops such as cotton which became MS’s chief
export. As huge fields of crops were to be grown, you would need many
people to work the land. Slavery already existed and had become a necessity
in the south. As there was opposition in the Union for slavery, MS
along with other states became a strong advocate of State’s rights.
Mississippi was no exception when it came to explosive feelings about their
way of life or the hot topic of slavery; therefore, by 1861 the state agreed
to be the second state to secede from the Union and become part of the Deep
South or the Confederate States of America. When the civil war broke
out, MS was very much part in the fighting. The 33rd Regiment and
the 8th Regiment were just a few among many confederate soldiers from MS.
Many of the famous battles took place in MS, such as: The battles
of Corinth, Harrisburg, Holly Springs, Iuka, Jackson, Meridian, Port Gibson
and Vicksburg. By the end of the war, MS was devastated by the scorched
earth policy adopted by General William T. Sherman and the rerouting of
labor that did work the land to fight this war. As a matter of fact,
Union, MS was one of the only towns saved from Sherman’s wrath just purely
because of its name. In 1870, MS was finally re-admitted into the
Union after changing its constitution. It took MS many years to begin
to recover from the war and I believe will never fully recuperate.
That looks like it brings us up-to-date with what I believe to be the relevant
history of MS till the end of the 1800s. We have talked about what
was going on in the world, in America, and even down to the state of Mississippi
in the Nineteenth Century.
Now that we are up to speed on the history, let’s recap the last 150
years of our family migrations before we move on just to keep thing clear
(in my mind). From England, our ancestors first arrived in America
in the mid 1650s and 1660s. We entered from Gloucester Co. VA via Major
Lawrence Smith and Lieutenant Christopher Smith. Here they had many
influential friends and family that helped promote our family. They
had the Taliaferro’s, the Warner’s, and a few other highly placed individuals.
Lawrence even scrapped with the notorious Nathaniel Bacon of Bacon’s rebellion.
Christopher remained quiet and vigilant in his duties, teaching others,
and ministering. The Smiths eventually migrated to Hanover County and
up to Louisa County where many land dealings took place as well as in other
surrounding counties in VA as we revealed with Captain Ambrose Joshua Smith.
Ambrose, living to almost 100 years old, became quite the 
important figure in his little world of which also could have been a
contributing factor to his demise. He took land brokering to new heights
for our family. Before Ambrose died in 1758 at the hands of the Indians,
he began making a move towards North Carolina where many of his kin folk
lived, including his first born son, Nicholas. It was in Edgecombe
County, North Carolina where we next found Ambrose as he stopped for the
better part of a year to help fight the local Indians. His son Nicholas
was already living in what we now call Moore County, North Carolina on property
his father had purchased some time earlier. It was here that the Smith
family settled for almost 50 years till the end of the Revolution.
Nicholas continued some of the land speculation but generally kept a low
profile as feelings began to fester over the homeland and the local Indian
uprisings. He raised his family in the wilderness portion of NC.
For reasons I can only speculate, Nicholas’ son Nathan, moved his family
from the well settled homestead of Moore County to new lands being offered
freely in what was called Franklin County, Georgia. Today the actual
area lies in Habersham County, GA. There are three theories as to why
Nathan moved: (1) Cheap and better land deals, (2) over population of
the Moore Co. NC area caused the family to seek more frontier land, and (3)
He was considered a Loyalist during the time of the Revolutions, and was
hiding from those who knew him for a new start. It could have been all
three reasons or a combination. The move had to have had taken place
sometime between 1797 and 1798 as Nathan’s son, Isham Smith, had his son
John while still in North Carolina and we found Nathan signing a document
dated 1798 while in Franklin County, Georgia. Nathan for some reason
kept his entire family always near him. They lived and moved together
while he was alive.
At last discussion back in the 1700s, we determined that the Smith family
moved to the Mississippi Territory but left it there. How and Why
did they move? Let’s start with Why. Do you remember from the
earlier section the reason why Nathan and his son’s signed the petition in
1798? The Georgian Government were offering great incentives to promote
emigration by giving away land ceded from the Indians. This enticement
spurred many to move to Georgia and bring their entire families, such as
the Smith Family, the Wofford Family, and the Hollingsworth Family.
As a matter of fact, each of these families had their own aptly named settlements
in the land being offered (the Nathan Smith Settlement, the Wofford Settlement).
These families were offered to build their own forts as well for protection
from the still uprising Indians in what was then the large county of Franklin,
created on 25 Feb 1784 (but today the location is actually around Habersham
Co.). Ok, we should pause here for a moment and gather a bit more
information about these settlements to better understand what happens afterwards.
Below is an abstract from an article written by Mrs. Sara Hines Martin for
the North Georgia Journal about one of the forts in the area:
“Between 1782 and 1797, when white settlers were making
treaties with
the Native Indians to define Georgia's boundaries, whites built forts
to
protect settlers living on the frontier. When misunderstandings took
place between the two parties, hostilities sometimes broke out and the
settlers needed protective quarters. Fort Hollingsworth
was built for
that purpose.
When whites first migrated to Franklin County between 1783 and 1788,
they settled (by mistake or otherwise) on land that was Indian
territory
fixed by the treaty of 1785. A survey ultimately revealed that the sett-
lers had trespassed, and the Cherokee Nation demanded that the settlers
leave.
William W. Wofford and Jacob Hollingsworth both moved from North
Carolina to Franklin County in 1792, each building a fort.
The area came
to be known as Wofford's Settlement. According to an account,
Colonel
Wofford and others, upon learning that the settlement lay in Indian
ter-
ritory, petitioned Georgia Governor James Jackson to either relocate
the
line out of Indian territory, or to protect the settlers and their possessions
in that area against possible Indian attack.
Supposedly, Wofford rode his horse to Washington to talk with authori-
ties about the situation. After further negotiations, the Indians
ceded a
strip of land four miles wide to the state of Georgia. This property
was
called the "Four Mile Purchase" in 1804, and it included
the Wofford Set-
tlement. Originally, a twenty-foot-wide strip of felled trees
marked the
line. The United States agreed to pay the Cherokees $4,000 immediately
and $1,000 annually for the property rights.”8
Mrs. Martin also wrote this following abstract which coincides with
what she wrote earlier but it gives us a bit more insight into the Fort
and the time period:
Fort Hollingsworth-White House
Fort Hollingsworth-White House is located in the community of
Hollingsworth, on Wynn Lake Road, about two miles off US Hwy
441 between Baldwin, Ga. and Homer, Ga.
Hollingsworth Fort was first shown on a map of the Defensive
Plan
Western Frontier, Franklin County in 1793.
Georgia's boundaries in the 1700's can best be described as the
wild frontier. Between 1782 and 1797 various treaties were made
with the Indians to define Georgia's boundaries. Forts were built
to protect the settlers who lived on the frontier. Indians were
likely to be incited by misunderstandings. Horses and farm animals
were frequently stolen, and families had to be protected in fortress-
type buildings surrounded by wooden fences.
The first settlers of Franklin County whose lands granted by the
State of Georgia between 1783 and 1788 lay north of the Indian
Boundary fixed by the treaty of 1785. These lands were granted
under the impression that they lay south of the agreed Indian
boundary line. When this line was surveyed it was found that
these lands lay north of the boundary line and in the Cherokee
Nation, which demanded their removal.
William W. Wofford and Jacob Hollingsworth both moved from North
Carolina to Franklin Co., Ga. before l792. Wofford's fort appeared
on the map in 1792 and Hollingsworth's in 1793. This area was known
as Wofford's Settlement.
When Col. Wofford found out that their settlement was considered to
be in Indian territory after the line was surveyed, he along with
the other settlers in this area petitioned Georgia Governor James
Jackson to have the line re-run or to take such other action as
would protect them and the possessions of their homes.
Legend has it that he mounted his horse and rode to Washington to
talk with the authorities about his land holding in Georgia. This
resulted in the "Four Mile Purchase" of 1804 when the
Indians ceded
a strip of land 4 miles wide (from the Habersham and Banks County
line on Baldwin Mountain to the Line Baptist Church on Hwy. 441)
and 23 miles long (extending from Curahee Mountain to the head waters
of the South Oconee River) which included the Wofford Settlement. It
was originally marked by a line of felled trees at least twenty feet
wide which became a sort of no man's land. The United States agreed
to pay the Cherokee Indians $4,000 and $1,000 per annum for the
property rights.
By about 1796 the Indian troubles were about over and the need for
the string of frontier forts was no longer pressing. The forts,
after the need for defense subsided, became log farmhouses.
The Wofford's and the Hollingsworth's travelled together to new
frontiers in the west using passports to travel through Indian
territory. As the years passed many of their descendants would
pack up their belongings, taking wives, children, slaves and
animals and move west, as genealogy records show. Fort Hollingsworth
was left on these vacant lands.8 Same as above
Not bad stuff for a history buff, but as you can tell there was no mention
of our Smith’s in these articles. We do however get a great deal of history
about the area and what was happening which will prove helpful in time to
come. I will explain more in a bit. Let’s go back to the original
land deals that Mrs. Martin spoke of. How did so many settlers just
get it wrong, and move to lands that were not legally theirs? Maybe
one or so, but every single settlement in the area was in the wrong location.
As we have the benefit of hindsight, we also can see a bigger picture from
within the prevailing Georgian government. In the late 1700s and
early 1800s, 
the country was still trying to find its legs and had no real safeguards
to protect citizens from scams; especially from those within the very administration
of the states. Governments knew what to do, but there were many details
that had to be ironed out. In the Georgia territory, up until about
1803, land was distributed or granted on what was called a “Headright” system.
The heads of the families would be granted the right of 200 acres of land
for himself and then 50 acres each for every member of their family they
brought with them, not to exceed 1000 acres per family. I wish they
had this system today! It is easy to see why people came and brought
their families. When the war was over in 1783, the governors were
signing land grants to these individuals per the arrangement, but the grants
were greater than the amounts allowed by law. To be more specific the
grants were greater than the available land. The Governors of Georgia
wanted to make a name for their selves and granted land at such a fast pace
fuelling the land speculations to bring Georgia in to the national limelight
as “the place to be”. I would bet a wooden nickel that these
officials were getting some cash under the table from all these deals as
well. There is a record showing a governor granting one man a million
and a half acres. What would one man do with 1.5 Million acres?
Several more were just below the million acre mark, with a grand total of
around 2.5 million acres. Wow, it would appear that Georgia had land
coming out their ears. The problem was that in the area that they were
granting (and accepting some money for no doubt at what I understand was
3 shillings per acre) was only 407,000 acres. Oopps. Just a calculation
error – or was it? You can imagine the small problem this may have
caused. But this isn’t even half of the issue. The land
was advertised as - suitable for farming, bring your whole families – you
know the spill; yet the actual land was desolate, unproductive, or barren.
People were now rushing to acquire inadequate land and eventually began fighting
over this unusable land. This particular situation was known as the
Pine Barrens Scandal.9 If this were not enough, can you imagine
this scandal being overshadowed by an even greater one, the Yazoo Land Fraud.
The current Georgia government was not just ignorant or stupid, they were
down right thieves. I wonder if this is where the politicians got their
ruthless reputations. In 1785 a company called the Combined Society
was created for the sole purpose of obtaining large land grants and selling
them off for a profit. Ok, no problems yet. This creation was
formed in Bourbon County Georgia. Where is this? Remember that
Georgia, at the end of the war in 1783, encompassed what we know today as
the states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and parts of Tennessee and South
Carolina; basically all the Deep South except for Florida. The official
lines had not been drawn yet that we know today. The state of Georgia
had concluded a treaty with the Indians (Cherokee and Creek) ceding what
we now call North Georgia; but Georgia stretched even further west.
Bourbon County was located on the Mississippi River close to Natchez, MS.
This puts a new light on things. This area was void of any real government,
so when the Georgian government discovered this Combined Society buying land
out west, they began to set up shop to govern them. 
The Society quickly disappeared as people began to pay attention to
what was going on but not before the damage was done. Before
its demise, the Society gave others the same idea and three other companies
were established for the same purpose: The South Carolina Yazoo Company,
the Virginia Yazoo Company, and the Tennessee Company. To cut a long
story short, the companies bribed, swindled, and intimidated the Georgia
Assembly to pass a bill in 1795 which would give the companies huge amounts
of land for next to nothing. When the public got wind of this, the
game was up. Every one involved scattered, especially the politicians.
A US senator, James Jackson, came down and took over as acting Governor.
He set out to reform the politics and attempt to straighten out the mess.
He even threatened to shoot all those involved. In 1796, James collected
all the records, bills, and receipts (except one to George Washington) and
burned them. All that had been done was no more, yet here again the
damage had already been done and now was compounding. Now can you
see where there could be much confusion here? The US government had
granted many lands that bordered Georgia as Indian Territory back in 1785.
Our Nathan brought the family down well after all the dilemmas, but the
new Georgia government still were not exactly sure of the boundaries.
We know this because of the abstracts written above, as William Wofford and
Jacob Hollingsworth both obtained land in 1792 and 1793, respectively, which
we know was in the wrong place. The state had to refund the money paid
for the land (to those who would accept money for some of the land had already
be resold) and did not recognize any of the claims. For the original
land holders this was ok, but what about those who had bought the land from
the originals. They were screwed (this was our family). This
began to tie up the courts as many fought to seek retribution. The
Federal Government stepped in and accepted the claims finally in 1802.
And as we saw above, the Federal Government tried to make amends at least
in one particular case through the “Four Mile Purchase” of 1804. This
was short term pacification, for there were some that still didn’t agree.
The matter ended up in the US Supreme Court in 1810 where they ruled in favour
of the individual claims and that the reform act by James Jackson was unconstitutional
(Fletcher vs. Peck). The Supreme Court said that the state breached
on a valid contract.10 Go figure. It looks like those
officials from Georgia moved up to the Supreme Court. How would this
make you feel if you owned the land – or thought you did?
I know you’re asking yourself, why did we just go through all this.
Keep your pants on, it will all make sense soon. Therefore, with more
research we come across a similar account of which we shown in the previous
chapter but will go over again here. As shown above, some one rode
to Washington D.C. to plead their case. This resulted in the sending
of the Indian Agent, Col. Benjamin Hawkins, to Georgia to determine who
was right. As you can imagine from the scandals, the US Government
wanted to settle these issues quickly. Recorded in what is now Habersham
County, taken from the Lavonia Times and Gauge, February 23, 1934, the following
excerpt is cited:
“The first settlers of what is now Habersham County were those settlers
of Franklin County, whose lands were granted by the State of Georgia between
1783 and 1788, lay north of the Indian Boundary fixed by the treaty of 1785.
These lands were granted under the impression that they lay south of the
agreed boundary line. When this line was surveyed, it was found that these
lands lay north of the boundary line and in the Cherokee Nation, the Indians
demanded their immediate removal. In 1798, these settlers petitioned Governor
James Jackson to have the line re-run or to take such other action that
would protect them in the possession of their homes. This resulted in the
"Four Mile Purchase" of 1804, when the Indians ceded a strip of land four
miles wide and twenty miles long which included these lands. This strip of
land was then added to Franklin County, but now lies in Banks and Habersham
Counties. Those who signed the petition were: Phillip Thomas, John Thomas,
William Thomas, Phillip Thomas, Jr., Abednego Downing, George Waters, Levi
Taylor, James Huitt, Joseph Dunnegame, E. Dunnegame, Moses Terel (probably
Terrell), John Little, William Alexander Ramsey, Jesse Austin, Thomas Ketrim,
Thomas Lean, Equila McCrackin, (torn) McCrackin (probably James), (torn) Halcom
(probably Moses), George Hopper, William Weatherspoons, Hugh Hartgrove, Benjamin
Wofford,* Nathaniel Wofford, Richard Burkes, Richard Lay, Nicolas Smith,
Nathan Smith, Oen Carpenter (probably Owen), James Minnerd (probably Minyard),
Nicholas Nuton (probably Newton), Stephen Smith, Lewis Dickerson, Joseph
Halcom, John Parker, John Ratley, Thomas Warren, Robert Shipley, John Shipley,
Nathaniel Shipley, William Little." In the Georgia Genealogist, under Franklin
County, Wofford Settlement appears the following: ". . . Col. Meigs further
reported settlers left outside the Hawkins line around other forts:
Isham Smith, John Smith, Adam Sheffield, James Keys,
Joseph Shelton, Samuel Spencer, William Spencer, Richard Jacks, John Huitt,
Jacob Hollingsworth, Moses Alfred, William Smith, Averitt Smith,
James Brown, Temple Carpenter, John Warren, James Hamilton, Nimrod
House, James Alfred, Thomas Bullen, ` William Newton, ____ Snow, Asa Walker,
Morgan Guest, George Morgan, Reuben Warren".
Of the above names found in Nathan Smith's Settlement, the following
relocated to Mississippi: Nathan Smith - Franklin County, Nicholas
Smith - Franklin County, Owen Carpenter,* Lawrence County, Isham
Smith - Lawrence County, Asa Walker - Lawrence County, Temple Carpenter
- Lawrence County, William Newton - Lawrence County, Morgan Guest - Lawrence
County, and Averitt/Everitt Smith - Lawrence County.
It appears from the above transcripts that the Smith land was reclaimed
by the Cherokee Nation and that the Smiths then migrated to Lawrence Mississippi
prior to 1813. In the 1813 Tax Roll of Marion County (note: Lawrence County
was formed from Marion in 1814), Isham Smith, Sr. is shown with a lot in
Monticello with no poll taken. Persons exempt from poll taxes were over 50
years of age, thus the estimate that Isham Smith, Sr. was born about 1760.”11
What does all this tell us? The first two abstracts gave us some
history of the area. This history matches this last article.
We have the same story, the same time frames, and the same references such
as the “Four Mile Purchase” and even some of the matching names: Wofford
and Hollingsworth. Ok, so the story has credibility now with two different
sources reporting the same basic story. The difference is that the
last one gives us a list of those who signed the petition to Washington.
This is the best information of all, for it documents many of our ancestors.
It gives us a time and place of where they were and with the history we have
just went through we can understand what they were doing and why they acted
they way they did. I have highlighted the names that are important
to us. Notice that some of them are not Smiths. These guys married
into our family later on (or we into theirs). So it would stand to
reason that the singular event in Georgia brought many families with in close
proximity to one another which inevitably resulted in union of one or more
families via marriage, not to mention probably some long standing friendships.
I say this, because we find that not only did they live around each other
in Franklin County, the Carpenters, Keys, and Hollingsworth’s all traveled
to Mississippi with the Smiths as we will find in the tax records and censuses
later. One Smith researcher, Dr. Harold Graham, who has helped me
more than he knows in my own research and is connected to us through the
Hollingsworth line, has shared with me some of his research on the Hollingsworth’s.
He is currently the head of the Newton County Genealogical Society in Decatur,
MS and he and his staff are transcribing priceless documents for others
to use in their research. The following essay tells the story of the
descendants of Isaac Hollingsworth, Sr. but it is filled with detailed information
and mentions many times of our Smith lineage. Together with the earlier
abstracts, will show how our Smiths migrated from Georgia to Mississippi.
We will discuss the details afterwards.
Chapter 1: Descendants of Isaac
Hollingsworth, Sr. (1781-1866)
One of the first settlers of Newton County, Mississippi,
was Isaac Hollingsworth, a native of North Carolina, a farmer and
miller, who came to live southwest of Decatur in the year 1834. Isaac,
it is believed, was born in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Burke
County, North Carolina. As a young adult, he came with his brother
Jacob to the frontier country of Franklin County, Georgia.
Franklin County, Georgia, was created in 1784 from
lands ceded by the Creek and Cherokee Nations and included all or part
of the present-day counties of Franklin, Banks, Jackson, Hart, and Stephens
Counties. As an incentive to settlers, land could be homesteaded at
no cost to the settler except a few years of cultivation and use.
Many of the early inhabitants were former residents of South and North Carolina,
a significant number having served in the Revolutionary War. These
early settlers included Jesse and William Smith, both natives of Moore
County, North Carolina, and veterans of the South Carolina militia.
Col. William Wofford, Sr., settled on the
western border of Franklin County in 1790, bringing with him his friend
from Newberry County, South Carolina, Jacob Pennington. The territorial
government authorized Wofford to set up a military outpost as protection
against the Indians and the area under his jurisdiction, included a six-mile
strip, known as Wofford's Settlement, along this western frontier.
Soldiers posted at Wofford's Fort in 1793 included William Wofford, Benjamin
Wofford, Samuel Hollingsworth and Jacob Hollingsworth. After the arrival
of Jacob Hollingsworth in 1792 from Burke County, North Carolina, another
outpost, known as Hollingsworth's, was created. Later outposts
were created in the names of John Martin and John Dickerson. Several
of Wofford's sons and Samuel Hollingsworth are listed as members of the militia
stationed at Wofford's Fort.
Other settlers who moved into Wofford's settlement
included Stephen Smith (1796, from Moore County, North Carolina), Jacob
Kees, Isham Smith, Sr. (1804, from Montgomery County, North Carolina),
and Isaac and Everett Smith, also William Smith, Jesse Maxwell, his brother
Thomas Maxwell, Jr., and Thomas' brother-in-law, Benson Henry. With
them they brought the Baptist religion, and built a church along the edge
of the frontier The church was named Line Baptist Church [this church still
exists today] and located a mere few feet across the true Georgia border
and in a community that came to be known as Hollingsworth. Since it was located
on Cherokee land, its members refused to worship at night for fear of Indian
raids.
In 1797 and 1798 the federal agent Benjamin Hawkins
conducted a survey of the area, announcing afterward that many of the settlers,
such as Isham Smith, Sr., were living on Indian lands outside the
state of Georgia. These settlers were ordered to move, an action they
first resisted, but later complied with. Many had already begun to look
toward the Mississippi Territory. Now they took the incentive to move
into the new Mississippi counties of Marion and Pike Counties. Many
of the settlers from Wofford's Settlement located near Fair River in present-day
Lincoln County, Mississippi. For many, the county of Franklin
had been viewed as a "jumping off place" and they had moved temporarily
to the area with the expectation that the federal government would soon
open new lands for habitation to the South and West.
¬ In the year 1802, Isaac and his brother Jacob
were in the Territory of Tennessee, likely with a brother Abraham, in search
of the best migration route from Franklin County to the Mississippi Territory.
Isaac and Jacob returned to Franklin County in 1803, as per return passport
from Col. Jonathan Meigs that authorized passage from Tennessee through
Indian lands into Franklin County. The language of that passport
reads as follows:
So. West point Sepr. 13th 1803
Cherokee Agency
Jacob Hollingsworth and Isaac Hollingsworth have
permission to pass thro; the Cherokee Nation to Franklin County in the
state of Georgia, taking care to make no infraction of the Law for regulating
intercourse with the Indian tribes & for preserving the peace on the
Jacob Hollingsworth and Isaac Hollingsworth have permission to pass thro;
the Cherokee Nation to Franklin County in the state of Georgia, taking
care to make no infraction of the Law for regulating intercourse with the
Indian tribes & for preserving the peace on the frontiers; or the regulations
of the Executive of the United States for the Government of the Indian
Department
Return J. Meigs
A War in Tennessee
Then in 1804, we have the following passport application:
Hudson's River
Frontier of Franklin County 14th of April 1804
To whom it concerns:
Whereas Lewis Dickens, Caleb Dickinson,
Nathan Horn, and Lewis Jones, hath made known to us the Subscribers, of
their intentions in Removing to the westward of the Cumberland mountains
with their families; and that it is two Hundred miles more or less in the
distance of their journey, to pass through the Cherokee Nation; and that
is considered that it will be much to their safety to obtain a Passport for
the purpose.
We certifie that all the Men above
named are honest men and good citizens, that they have for a considerable
(time) declared their intentions of their Removal; and we believe that they
have settled their affairs and dealings with all Persons in this part of
the Countey.
William Weatherspoons
Charles Spencer
Samuel B. Spencer
Joseph Skelton
Stephen Smith
Jacob Loughridge
Adam Shuffield
Matthew Dickeson
John Dickeson
James Stigler
Elijah Maxwell
Jesse Maxwell
Robert Dickeson
Benson Henry
Benjamin Wofford
George Hoppe
(illegible)
Hugh Hartgrave
Samuel Brights
Richard Jacks Isam Smith
N. B. We the within Subscribers do confirm this on
the back as there were some left out within that were intended by us--Samuel
Hollingsworth, James Maxwell recommendations for Pass Ports. Acted
on 21st of April 1804.
The above named Samuel Hollingsworth returned to
Franklin County to take a land grant of 160 acres on Webb's Creek in 1807
next to Thomas Maxwell, Jr. Meanwhile, Jesse Maxwell and his brother James
went to the wilderness west of the present town of Monticello, Mississippi,
to clear land, build dwellings, and begin crops. The womenfolk and children
were left behind with Thomas. By 1816, James returned to Georgia to stay,
settling in Elbert County, while Thomas, his brother, brought the womenfolk
and children to their new home in Mississippi near the residence of
Isaac Hollingsworth.
Samuel Hollingsworth returned to North Carolina,
where he died in Haywood County in 1810. It is assumed that he was the
father of Isaac and Jacob Hollingsworth and that the trip to Mississippi
was made on their behalf to seek out new and fertile lands. Neither
Jacob nor Isaac is mentioned in the will in which he indicates, "As for
my other children, I have taken care of them in my lifetime."
In the fall of 1810 Isaac took his family through
the Cumberland Mountains, in a route known today as the Atlanta Road, and
into the Tennessee valley. Building a raft, they began the float trip through
the Tennessee River system. Low waters interrupted their trip and
they went into winter camp, probably in the area of Carroll County, Tennessee.
Isham, the second son of Isaac and Dorcas Hollingsworth, was born during
this time. With spring, the family continued their trip into the Mississippi
River, down to Natchez, and then traveled overland on the old Fort Stephens
road to the Fair River, a tributary of the Pearl River, where they built
a log cabin and began life anew.
Isaac bought 160 acres along the Fair River suitable
for a mill place and for farming. One record of 1813 indicates he
was indebted to Caleb Dickerson for payments on the land. Among his
neighbors during these early years were Jesse and Thomas Maxwell, Caleb
and Lewis Dickerson, Jacob and Perry Kees, Stephen Smith, William (Billy)
Smith, the Steen family, Isham Smith, Sr., and Isham Smith, Jr. The Fair
River Baptist Church was organized in 1815 in the home of Lewis Dickerson
and many of the same families were early members.
With the outbreak of the War of 1812, the main concern
in the rural South was that the Creeks, who had allied with the British,
would wreck havoc on the settlers. This confrontation came to a head
on August 13, 1813, when the Creek Indians attacked and killed more than
500 persons at Fort Mims, Alabama. In retaliation, Governor Claiborne
organized the Mississippi Militia and marched against the Creeks at the Holy
Ground on December 23, 1813, and at Horse Shoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River
in March of 1814. This ended the Indian threat.
George Nixon's 13th Regiment represented Marion and
Pike Counties in these military campaigns. Specifically, Company S (for
Smith) was comprised of residents of the Fair River area. Under the
command of Captain William (Billy) Smith, the unit included Lt. Isham Smith,
Corp. Isaac Hollingsworth, and privates James Steen, Caleb Dickerson, Jacob
Kees, Levi Smith, Eli Smith, William Steen, and Ensign Robert Steen.
The unit was poorly prepared for battle, with summer clothing, primitive
weapons, and few food supplies, and would later petition the Governor for
relief. Isaac Hollingsworth, himself, was assigned to the gunsmith
shop.
In 1828, Isaac sold his land at Fair River to Balinda
King (Jesse Maxwell, witness) and moved to Copiah County, Mississippi.
Isaac owned land in Copiah County and was a charter member of County Line
Baptist Church in Copiah County prior to his move to Newton County in 1834.
Isaac Hollingsworth is listed as one of the first
thirty-two settlers in Newton County, then part of Neshoba County, Mississippi
[this is on of the reasons why we will find later so many of our relatives
in Newton Co. MS. Isaac married Isham Smith’s daughter, Dorcas, while
also naming their first born after Isham Sr., but we will get to that later].
On March 13, 1835, Isaac was awarded an Original Land Patent in then Neshoba
County, Mississippi, described as W 1/2 of SE 1/4 of S 2 T7 R11E containing
80 35/100 acres for the price of $100.44, for which he paid cash. In
the years that followed, Isaac continued to add to his land holdings.
In 1841 tax records indicate that he was assessed $10.12 for his property
that included 1,034 acres, 1 clock, 40 cattle, and 5 slaves. (This clock,
along with a razor owned by Isaac, is currently in the possession of Dr.
John G. Hollingsworth of Athens, Georgia.) On the eve of the Civil War,
Isaac owned fourteen slaves, including an elderly couple that had apparently
been with him for many years. Many of the Hollingsworth slaves retained
the family name after the Civil War and lived in the area, but after a number
of years, drifted to other states.
At least part of the town of Decatur was included
in the early land holdings of Isaac Hollingsworth, including the present
location of the Decatur United Methodist Church and the courthouse.
It is said that he donated land to the county with the stipulation if the
courthouse were ever moved that the land would revert to the family. The
property donated included stipulations for a courthouse, jail, and school.
In a story told by Jacob Carl Hollingsworth, Isaac made it a special occasion
by preparing a huge barbeque under the trees for all who would come.
The date of Isaac's death is established in part
on the basis of a Certificate filed in Hinds County, Mississippi, under
date of 3 March 1866, in which Isaac N. Hollingsworth of Hinds County was
authorized to act as attorney in disposing of the effects of the estate
of Isaac Hollingsworth, deceased, late of Newton County, of which the spouse
and children of the late William Smith Hollingsworth are heirs, namely Clarissa
M. Hollingsworth, S. M. Hollingsworth, Nathan M. Hollingsworth, J. D. Hollingsworth,
M. A. and Simeon Wise, J. O. Hollingsworth and H. T. Hollingsworth, minors,
heirs of William Smith Hollingsworth, Isaac Newton Hollingsworth, guardian.
The property consisted of 160 acres in addition to one wagon, one gin, one
gristmill, and other items.
The homestead of Isaac Hollingsworth is believed
to have been located southwest of Decatur in Section 21, Township 7, Range
11 East. Located in this immediate area are the Hollingsworth Cemetery
and a millpond, reputedly known originally as Hollingsworth's, but subsequently
owned by Summers and McMullan. Carl Ledlow reports the remnants of two old
home sites in this area, one of which may have belonged to Isaac. Elizabeth
Hollingsworth, the spinster daughter of Isaac, was living on this land when
she died in 1878 and it is likely that she inherited her father's home site
as she helped Isaac manage the household affairs for over fifty years.
Times were hard for Elizabeth after her father's
death in 1866, and much of her inheritance was sold off in order to survive.
With her death, the remaining section was sub-divided between her brothers
and sisters and their heirs.
Isaac had married, about the year 1803, to Dorcas
(Smith?). It is believed that Dorcas died with or following the
birth of their last son, Addison, in 1824, and she is likely buried in
the Fair River Baptist Church Cemetery. Known issue of Isaac and
Dorcas Hollingsworth:
B01. Sarah (Sally) Hollingsworth,
born 18 June 1805, Georgia (likely Franklin County)--died 30 June 1865,
Copiah County, Mississippi; married Rev. George
K. Tillman
B02. William Smith Hollingsworth,
twin, born 25 February 1806, Georgia--died 13 June 1852, Hinds County,
Mississippi; married Clarissa M. (Clara) Morris
B03. Mary (Polly) Hollingsworth,
twin, born 25 February 1806, Georgia--died 27 July 1860, Hinds County, Mississippi;
married Isaac Riser
B04. Nancy Hollingsworth, born
11 January 1808, Georgia--died 1852/ 1856, Newton County, Mississippi; married
David Riser
B05. Elizabeth Hollingsworth,
born 1809, Georgia--died 3 December 1878, Newton County, Mississippi. Did
not marry.
B06. Isham Hollingsworth, born
3 December 1810 in the wilderness of Tennessee--died 1 November 1879, Newton
County, Mississippi; married Elizabeth
(Betty) Miller
B07. Samuel H. Hollingsworth,
born 6 May 1813, Lawrence County, Mississippi--died 19 June 1888, Newton
County, Mississippi; married Linnie
Smith
B08. Robert S. (Robin) Hollingsworth,
born 29 October 1817, Lawrence County, Mississippi--died Fall of 1892, Newton
County, Mississippi; married (1)
Jemima Smith and (2) Cinderella Smith Pinson
B09. Jemima Hollingsworth,
born ca. 1817, Lawrence County, Mississippi--died 1850/1860, Newton County,
Mississippi; married John Smith
B10. Jacob (Jake) Hollingsworth
(Jr.), died ca. 1849, Newton County, Mississippi; married Emily Alexander
B11. Addison H. Hollingsworth,
born 1824, Lawrence County, Mississippi--died 24 January 1892, Coryell County,
Texas; married Clarissa Ann (Cassie)
McCullen
Census records suggest that two
additional sons were born to Isaac and Dorcas. These, however, may
have died young. Their names are unknown.12
I don’t know about you, but I just love this information. I have
personally talked (emailed) with Dr. Graham and a few of his staff which
also happen to be of some kin. I feel his research is of the utmost
authentic and so much better than my own. So, what did we draw from
the Hollingsworth essay? We found out that they were in Franklin Co.
GA at the same time as our Smith’s. We already knew this, but one
more document will help seal the issue. Dr. Graham mentions a Jesse
and William Smith from Moore Co. NC. Jesse we will find out was considered
to be one of Isham’s sons, but is actually of another branch of our Smiths.
I am not quite sure, as there are so many, which William Smith is referring
to. The only William Smith I know from Moore Co. NC is our William,
brother to Isham and his son. 
Next he mentions the Hollingsworth Fort which we had already learned
about. But here he reconfirms many of the names we discovered, such
as Stephen, Isham, Everett, and William – all whom are brothers. But
then he brings up an interesting point – Religion. He says that the
Smith’s brought with them the Baptist religion from NC to GA as they started
the Line Baptist Church which still exists today. This is interesting
because it is reported later that some of the Smiths established the Fair
River Baptist Church in 1815 in Lincoln Co. MS, one of the Smiths from the
Stephen Smith line also established a church (Pleasant Grove Baptist Church
near Brookhaven, MS), one of Isham’s grandson, Rueben Anderson Smith, was
a Primitive Baptist preacher, and as any one of you in our direct family knows
that it continues to run deep in our blood as my dad is also a pastor, Carey
T. Smith. And don’t forget Christopher Smith back in 1700 who
was the Church Clerk who ministered to the people, including the Indians.
This is just a bit of early trivia for you. Dr. Graham further mentions
our Isham Smith again as he was living on the Indian lands then says he moved
with others to the Fair River area in present day Lincoln Co. MS. We
will prove this in just a bit but it is nice to know that the story is authenticated.
Now earlier Mrs. Martin mentioned something about passports and low and
behold, so does Dr. Graham. But he goes one better, for he gives us
a copy of these passports along with a list of those to whom it was granted:
We found Stephen and Isham (Isam). Why were these individuals on the
passport to begin with? They were making plans to move, but to where
and why? Let’s start with why. Remember that I took you through
all the troubles in Georgia politics and how it related to us. In
Georgia between 1797 and 1804, the confusion of property lines in Indian
Territory along with the scandals. It was clear that the settlers
in Georgia were just about fed up with all the business by 1804 even with
the Four Mile Purchase. Ok, we were fed up with Georgia politics; so
why choose Mississippi? As word had been spreading in the south that
the Mississippi Territory was about to open up (meaning the lands were
soon to be ceded from the Indians) it was a second chance for the Smith
Family and others to begin again with good land, cheap land. Americans
in general have always been on the move, our ancestors were not too indifferent.
During the first 20 years of the 1800s, so many Americans moved west it
was called the “Great Migration”. Think about it. In 1800,
there were only two states west of the Appalachian (Smokey) Mountains:
Tennessee and Kentucky. Yet by 1820, there were eight: Ohio, Kentucky,
Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana.
It is estimated that the population grew from 386,000 in 1800 to well over
2 Million by 1820.13 As we found out through the Scandals earlier,
there were a few that already lived in the area such as Natchez and the
Tombigbee area above Mobile, AL. But other than this, it was just
Indians. So why did people, specifically our ancestors choose Mississippi?
Opportunity! This land was being considered the Garden of Eden flowing
with the Milk and Honey; even the poor man had plenty to eat. Land
was still the “great wealth” but our family was soon to be out of the brokerage
of land and into the farming of land. Cotton was king of the south.
Tobacco and rice, the two original staple crops upon which our country was
founded on as exports, were all but dying out. Cotton became the new
way to go. The best place to grow it was in MS. This eventually
made MS one of the richest states in the Union up until the Civil War.
Therefore, if you take this opportunity and combine it with all the troubles
the Smith Family was having back in Georgia, it becomes a bit clearer as
to why we chose the Magnolia State. Although the move didn’t happen
till between 1810 and 1812, the six to eight years between this time was
spent serving out their debts to farm the land in GA, waiting on the outcome
of the Supreme Court about the land deals gone
bad, and assuming the worst by looking for an exit (which was Mississippi)
and a route there. The Smiths and the Hollingsworths were checking
out the best routes to the MS Territory through the Indians lands; therefore,
the need for the passports. As the Hollingsworths and the Smiths were
working on this endeavor together, it would be prudent to assume that they
may have traveled the same route, even though they may not have traveled
together at the same time. Dr. Graham mentions Isaac’s family took
the route through the Cumberland Mountains (known today as the Atlanta Road)
in to the Tennessee Valley (via the river system). This would mean that
they would have had to have built raft to travel down the river system.
I would imagine it looked like those in the old Daniel Boone movies; large
flatbed with part of it covered to shield from the weather. Remember,
they were bringing not only the family, but the slaves, animals, and all
their belongings. And I am sure they had all the relevant dangers such
as rapids, predators such as bears, and not to mention Indians; but they didn’t
have to walk and it was a faster pace as well as a bit safer. They
would have packed up and headed north to link up with the Tennessee River.
From here they would have built their boat and headed toward the Ohio River
near present day Paducah, Kentucky. Here the flatboats would float
down the Ohio River until it reached the Mississippi River near Cairo, IL
today. From here it was southward towards Natchez. Just the water
trip alone would have been over 1000 miles, but it was better to go around
and arrive alive. Remember that the MS River belonged to the French
until 1803 and was not usable without permission. This is another reason
why the Smith’s would have waited till 1804 to try the route. Once
on the Mississippi River, they could float easily down to the Natchez port;
hopping off to make the short trek to the then Marion County, or the present
day Franklin, Lincoln, and eventually Lawrence Counties. Why this route
and not another? A straight line would seem the quickest. It
is because not only was all the land frontier land with very few roads, but
the most known paths, such as the Natchez Trace, were littered with thieves
and Indians. The Natchez Trace was a known trap as many others before
had attempted to travel it and died doing so. There were actually
four different routes. They could have traveled down the Tombigbee
River, but this went through the Cherokee Indian territory – too dangerous.
They could have gone from Georgia to Fort Stephens crossing the Alabama
River and Tombigbee River trekking many miles through Indian Territory –
too dangerous. They could have used the Natchez Trace – we already
proved it too dangerous. The safest route was up and around using the
natural water ways. It was still a tough time out there.
Not only was it tough with the locals, don’t forget the British were
still around. They tried to take the US back in the War of 1812.
It has been mentioned that our ancestors were in the war of 1812 of which
I will get to in a minute, but this fact would place the Smith’s in the Mississippi
Territory prior to June 1812 (the official starting date of the war).
Again, we will say that a few Smith families made the trip around 1810
to find out if the reports were true about the land and to see how they
would get there. Of these a couple would have returned for the rest
of the family. From the dates of the children and grandchildren, we
discovered that the family didn’t all travel together. They came in
groups, but all that traveled were accounted for by 1813. With this
said, it is understandable that many would have been able to participate
in the War of 1812. Now Dr. Graham mentions that there was a 13th Regiment,
known as Nixon’s Regiment under Col. George Nixon. His regiment represented
the counties of Marion and Pike counties. He broke it down even further
by giving us the names in one of the companies, Company “S”. The
“S” stood for SMITH. He mentioned Capt. William Smith, Lt. Isham
Smith, Levi Smith, and Eli Smith as well as Isaac Hollingsworth in this
company. Each of these are our relatives. When we get to discussing
each one individually, I will show you exactly who they are but for now
I believe Capt. William is the son of William Smith. Lt. Isham Smith
is the son of Isham Smith. Levi and Eli are both sons to Everett Smith.
William, Isham, and Everett are all brothers, and sons of Nathan.
For now, that will end our discussion of Dr. Graham’s essay, but we have
found out loads of information about our Smiths.
As you have discovered way back at the beginning, the name of SMITH
has an old and long history; some colourful and some fictitious, yet one
fact remains: we are still here. We Smith’s have been here
for as long as anyone dares to remember and Lord willing; will be here for
generations to come. It has been so with our Smith family line as
well – all the way down to Mississippi. The Mississippi Territory
that was created in 1798 had been further divided in 1817 into the Mississippi
& Alabama Territories; therefore, Mississippi was only a toddler state
in the 1820s. Indian lands were becoming open for white settlers as
six major treaties with the Choctaws and Chickasaws (such as Treaty of Doak's
Stand14, Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek15, and Treaty of Pontotoc Creek16)
were all signed by 1834. These last treaties effectively established
most of the counties within the state.
The brothers Smith (Everett, Nicholas, Isham, Stephen, and William)
and their sister, Sarah, as we found out in the previous chapter all came
down to the Mississippi Territory. My direct line from Nicholas to
Nathan now flows though Isham Smith. And as we discovered, Isham
and his wife Sarah Harbin had six children: Isham Anderson Smith,
Elizabeth Smith, John Smith, Jemima Smith, Stephen Smith, and Dorcas Smith.
Isham Anderson Smith was born 1790 in North Carolina and died about
1869 in Louisiana. He married Ms. Elizabeth Kees (remember those
Keys back in Georgia that signed the petition, she is part of them) on
24 Jun 1812. Dr. Graham mentioned that a Lt. Isham Smith was in the
Company “S” from Mississippi during the War of 1812. The war officially
began on 18 Jun 1812. I want to believe that he and Elizabeth were
sweethearts, and when the war broke out he and his family felt they too
needed to join to help; but before he left he wanted to show Elizabeth that
he did love her (in case he didn’t return) and married her just a week later
before their departure. This too leads me to believe that the Company
“S” went down to fight the British in New Orleans. Along the way Isham
probably seen some land that he fell in love with, and after the war he took
his family back down to the area and settled in. Together, Isham and
Elizabeth had 12 children starting with Harbin Smith who was born about 1813.
Now whether she was pregnant before he left or upon his return I don’t know.
But notice the boy’s first name. Harbin has the maiden name of his
grandmother from the Smith side – Isham Smith Sr. married Sarah Harbin.
Just a bit that links him to his mother and father (when researching your
family from the past where records may be scarce you have to pay attention
to small details like this to help sort out who belongs to who). The
other 11 children were: Mary Ann, Hiram, Isaac, William, Isham, Sarah, Elizabeth,
Pleasant, Stephen, Maranda, and Belinda with the last one being born about
1835.
Elizabeth Smith was born about 1796 in North Carolina. I have
put little effort so far in to finding her family. I don’t even know
if she was ever married. One day I will find out. The next
was John Smith who was born 23 Feb 1797 in North Carolina. This helps
me find out when Isham moved from NC to GA. As he lived near his father
and other family, he would have followed them as they moved as he proved
through out his life. We know Isham Sr. was in NC during 1797 and
signed the petition in 1798, so the move was within these dates. But
as that John of our direct ancestry I will save him for last.
The next child of Isham Sr. and Sarah, Jemima was born about 1798 in
Franklin Co. Georgia. She grew up to marry a Mr. Henry Maxwell.
Henry was born 17 Apr 1793 in Elbert Co. Georgia and died about 1870 in Lawrence
Co. MS. This tells me that he married into the family, but again as
all Smith’s stuck together, instead of her moving to his family home stead;
he came with Isham to Mississippi. But remember also back on the list
of names on the Passport for the Indian territories, there was a Jesse Maxwell.
So there were some Maxwells in the area that were looking to migrate as
well. Jemima could have known them as she grew up as kids. Any
way, Henry and Jemima were married on 27 May 1819 in Lawrence Co. MS.
Together they had 9 children: Simeon, Jemima, Martha, John, William,
Jemima, Andrew, Sarah, and Amanda. I don’t know why she had two children
named the same.
The fifth child was Stephen Smith, no doubt named after his Uncle Stephen
Smith. He was born about 1803 in Franklin County Georgia. He
grew up to marry a Ms. Mary Newton who was born about 1803 and died in 1868.
They were married on 8 Mar 1822 in Lawrence Co. MS. Together they
had 13 children: Benjamin, Keziah, Sarah, Mary Ann, Talitha, William,
Isham, Frances, Arcadia, Isaac, Ellen, Virgilla, and Frankie. Now if
he was born in 1803 and his mother died in 1803, it seems fair to assume
that she may have died as a result of complications from childbirth.
This would have been hard on Isham. But there was another child.
The last child that we believe to be Isham’s is Dorcas Smith.
Now Dorcas is a bit of a mystery but we can figure some things out.
She had to have been born before 1803 as her mother died then. As
I have no date for her birth, we will have to figure this one out on our
own. From records found among the Hollingsworth line, we discovered
that Isaac Hollingsworth married a Dorcas in 1803 in Franklin Co. Georgia.
There was no last name given. Isaac being one of the settlers in
Franklin Co. Georgia as proven in the essay by Dr. Graham, we can see the
connection forming as the Smith’s and Hollingsworth’s are now living amongst
each other. It is obvious that a friendship formed between Isham
and old Samuel Hollingsworth (Isaac and Jacob’s father) if they didn’t
know each other from before. The Hollingsworth family also came from
North Carolina. Therefore, the marriage between the two families is
no surprise. Now if most women were married between the ages of 18
and 22, we can assume an average of 20. This is just an observation
on my part, no official data here, but you can deduce this for your self.
If she married Isaac Hollingsworth at about age 20 in 1803, she would have
been born about 1783, on average. So far so good? This would
place her parents, Isham and Sarah, being married about 1782. If Isham
was born around 1760, he would have been married about age 22. That's
good. If Sarah was born about 1765, she would have been married at
age 17. That puts Isham at age 23 and Sarah at age 18 when Dorcas was
to have been born. These calculations are all fitting pretty good.
So the possibility of Dorcas belonging to Isham is very high. Some
other records from the Hollingsworth’s give her the surname of Smith.
I have no official data, but all the makings are there for the story to be
the truth. I searched and found no other Smith families in the
area of Franklin County Georgia during this time. This has to be the
only answer. I for one believe it as does other more educated researchers,
such as Dr. Graham. With that out of the way, Isaac and Dorcas moved
with the Smith family to Mississippi to Lawrence Co. MS. It is believed
that Dorcas died at the birth of her last child in 1824. From here
it appears that Isaac took his children and moved on up to what is now Newton
Co. MS as we seen in Dr. Graham’s research. Isaac and Dorcas had
11 children: Sarah, William, Mary Ann, Nancy, Elizabeth, Isham, Samuel,
Robert, Jemimah, Addison, and Jacob. Notice the names of Isham and
Samuel – both references to their grandfathers – it’s the little things
we must watch. There is one more piece of evidence (which is why I
spoke of Isham’s children in this particular order) we must notice.
This has to do with the son we waited till the last to speak of, John.
John Smith had come down from Georgia with his father Isham Smith and
many other family members between 1810 and 1812 to settle in Lawrence Co.
MS. John and his first wife, Francis Maxwell, began their family
in Lawrence Co. MS with the first of his 9 children. Remember John’s
sister married a Henry Maxwell. Francis was Henry’s sister.
Francis was born (how’s this) on 23 Feb 1797 in Elbert Co. Georgia like
her brother; Francis was born on the same day as John but in different
parts of the country. They were married in 1817 in Lawrence co. MS
but eventually moved up to Newton Co. MS some time after 1826. Their
children were: Lina Carolina, Jemima, Jeremiah Benton (Jerry), Cinderella,
Jeremiah, Joshua, Reuben Anderson, Isham, and Mary between 1817 and 1842.
That’s enough for the average crowd, but our John was no average man.
John went on and married twice more and ended up with about 17 children
before he died. Some say he
actually fathers 21 children but I haven’t found them yet. His second
wife was none other than Jemima Hollingsworth of which they were married
shortly after Francis died in 1842. Don’t remember? Just look
one paragraph back. That’s right; he married his niece, the daughter
of his older sister. As John was in Newton County, so were the Hollingsworths.
This is that other piece of evidence I was referring to. And
this isn’t the only instance of our family marrying within it self (maybe
not this close though). Everett, William, and Stephen’s families all
married inside the family many times (1st cousins, 2nd cousins, and so on).
Sounds bad at first, as many in the north would have you believe.
But if you look back at any family in the old days from early 1800s and
beyond, even to biblical times, it was not that uncommon. I am not
advocating marrying your sister or anything, I am just pointing out that
we take our population today for granted. In the Early days, let’s
say London in the 1500s, there are many times more people now in New York
City than there were in the entire country of England. In 1700, the
population was estimated to be 250,000 in the entire British-American Colonies.
Jackson, MS beats that number. The issue is that the Pickings were
slim. It just wasn’t right to marry your immediate family as it is
today, but cousins were fair game and as too many don’t care to admit, we
wouldn’t be here if they didn’t. This is the explanation we have for
being connected to a few Famous people from marriages. Jemima and
John had 5 children together: Isaac, Bailey, Huldy, Jane, and James
between 1842 and 1849. Each of these children can be found in the Lawrence
Co. Census’. Now Jemima died in 1854 at age 37, but old John had the
juice in him like his Great-Great Grandfather Ambrose. He married a
third time, to a Ms. Eliza Graves in 1854. Now John was 58 at this
time. Eliza was born about 1832 and died in 1870. That made her
23 at the time of her marriage. She gave John at least three more children:
Sarah Celia, Andrew Jackson, and Elizabeth. John out lasted them all
or was hard on his wives. He lived to the age of 84 in the year 1881
in Newton County Mississippi.
To validate his existence we found him listed in the 1820 Federal Census
of Lawrence Co. MS (pg. 63 ln#9, Tshp #7). Incidentally, Isaac and
Jacob Hollingsworth were also found on the same page. Coincidence?
I don’t think so. I jumped to the 1840 Federal Census of Newton Co.
MS (pg. 147) and found him again as he and Jacob Hollingsworth signed together.
The next census was the 1850 Federal Census of Newton Co. MS and on page
184a, Line # 41, I found our John Smith, at age 54, described as a white
male and a farmer. The census recorded his current assets valued at $350 (a
tidy sum back then but nothing to write home about) and his birthplace to
be North Carolina. This last census is very interesting as it just reconfirms
all that we have surmised. If he was age 54 in 1850, he would have been
born about 1796/97 (If the census was taken in January 1850 his birth date
was 1796, and if any time afterwards the date would be 1797. We finally
find out what he was doing for a living – a farmer. This would be a
given though, Farming was the way of life in Mississippi and he had a bunch
of mouths to feed some how. Still checking, I found him in the 1870
Federal Census of Newton Co. MS (pg. 433b, Ln #8) listed as age 73, born
in North Carolina and described as a white, male, farmer who could not read
or write, yet was reported as have a personal value of $290. The last
record I have found on our John Smith so far is the 1880 Federal Census of
Newton County Mississippi (pg. 597b – Beat 3) living at the house of Robert
Hollingsworth. Robert was the husband of Cinderella Smith, John’s daughter.
So John was born in North Carolina, raised in Georgia, became friends
with and travelled with the Hollingsworths, moved to Mississippi with his
family and friends, and got married three times in Mississippi before his
death in 1881 at age 84. At this stage I know next to nothing about
his children with Jemima Hollingsworth and Eliza Graves, but hopefully
I will be able to expound on them some time soon. But I do know a
little about his children with Frances Maxwell. It will get a bit
confusing but try to stay with me. To begin we must go back to these
Hollingsworths that keep hanging around in our story. The Hollingsworth
line goes back a long way. There was a Henry Hollingsworth
roughly about 1610 from England who begat his son Valentine Hollingsworth
about 1640 in England. Now it was Valentine that came over via Ireland
to the Americas. I say Ireland because his son Samuel Hollingsworth
I, was born in 1673 in Belfast, Ireland. Samuel I begat Samuel II in
1706 who in turn begat Samuel Hollingsworth III in 1741. Samuel III
was the same one who migrated from North Carolina down to Franklin County
Georgia with his family. Samuel had 10 children: Abraham, Jacob,
Rachel, Isaac, Elizabeth, John, Enoch, Ruth, Margaret, and Malona.
Do you recognize some of these names: Isaac or Jacob? It was Isaac
who married Isham’s daughter, Dorcas. Isaac and Dorcas had 11 Children:
Sarah, William, Mary Ann, Nancy, Elizabeth, Isham, Samuel, Robert, Jemima,
Addison, and Jacob. We already met Jemima as she was one of the wives
of our John William Smith. But it was also Samuel and Robert who got
their hooks in our Smith girls.
John Smith’s first child with Frances Maxwell was Lina “Carolina” Smith,
born about 1817 in Lawrence Co. MS and died 5 May 1912 in Newton Co. MS.
She married Samuel H. Hollingsworth (son of Isaac and Dorcas). Together
they had 12 children: Mary Elizabeth, Sarah Jane, John, Jacob, David
Riser, William Perry, George, Isaac, Martha, Robert Willis, Isham, and James.
We could go on but this isn’t the time to do so. John’s Second child
with Frances was Jemima Smith, born 1822 in Lawrence Co. MS and died 1861
in Newton Co. MS. She married Mr. Robert Hollingsworth (son of Isaac
and Dorcas). Together they had 11 Children: Samuel, Isaac,
John, Addison, Mary Francis, Isham, Jeremiah, William, Willis, Joshua, and
Stephen. Notice not only all the kids that are around but all the
names. Many of them are the same. Can you imagine a family reunion,
and we haven’t discussed hardly any of the other close families. John’s
third child was Jeremiah Benton Smith (sometimes called Bent) who was born
about 1826. As he is our direct ancestor he will be the last of the
children we will talk about. John and Frances’ fourth child was Cinderella
Smith, born about 1827 in Lawrence Co. MS and died about 1907 in Newton
co. MS. Remember that John was found living with her in the 1880 census
before he died. Cinderella was one hell of a woman. She lived
to be 80 years old and didn’t waste a day. She was married early to
a James Walley. She and James had 12 children: James, Richard,
Frank, Buster, Everett, Matt, Tom, Jake, Elizabeth, Anna, Mattie, and Susanna.
James died sometime around 1860 about the same time Cinderella’s sister did,
Jemima. This left Cinderella and Robert Hollingsworth with a bunch
of “younglings’ each and themselves with no mate. So as the situation
presented itself, Robert and Cinderella married each other to provide a mutual
advantage. Now Robert already had 11 children now coupled with Cinderella’s
12. That is 23 kids. Then together they had another 3 children:
Jacob, Mary, and Donna. Now that is 26 kids of various ages.
But it appears that Robert and Cinderella didn’t get along. The story
goes that Cinderella was the princess and was quite a hard woman. They
split up and she remarried again to a Mr. Owen Pinson. Together they
had 4 Children: Elizabeth, John, William, and Frankie. She herself
had 19 children with the additional step children from her marriages.
Is it any wonder she was so tough?
John and Frances had a fifth child, Jeremiah, born about 1830 and that
is all I know. Their Sixth child was Joshua Smith born about 1834.
I am sure there is more to his story, but I have been unable to locate it.
The seventh child was Mr. Reuben Anderson Smith, who was born 15 Mar 1835
in Newton Co. MS and died 7 Aug 1927 in Newton Co. MS. Reuben married
a Ms. Lillie Carey. They had no children as it appears that she died
at an early age. Now Reuben married again to Narcissa Stephens (b.
1840 / d. 1890) and had 9 children: Sarah, William, Henrietta, Margaret,
John, Narcissus, Lena, Mary, and Ed. Reuben became a Primitive Baptist
Minister as a profession in Newton Co. MS. He eventually died near
his brothers on 7 Aug 1927. There is a small story with him, but we
will get to that in the next chapter. Reuben was found next to his
brother Jeremiah in the 1860 Federal Census of Newton County MS, page 109,
Line #732, age 26, white male, farm labor, married to Ann (Narcissa) age
17 with one child Sarah. Again he was found in the 1870 Federal Census
of Newton Co. MS (page 466a, Line #29, Tshp #7, Range 10) at the age of 35,
white male, with wife Narcissa, age 27, and 3 children (Sarah, William, and
Henrietta) The lastly he was cited as a farmer in the 1880 US Federal Census
of Newton Co. MS (pg. 597a, Beat #3). But for now that is enough to
prove his existence. Then lastly, John and Frances had two more children;
the eighth was Isham (born about 1838) and Mary (born about 1840). That
is all I know of. Ok, now back to the direct line with the third child.
John’s third child, Jeremiah Benton Smith Sr., was born on or about
1826. Knowing the area was only newly established as was the local
and federal governments; those living in the area were settlers. Settlers
survived as farmers and farm labor. Such was the case of John Smith
and Jeremiah Smith, respectively. After growing up on a farm in and
around Newton County MS and hiring his self out as farm labor in later years,
during Jeremiah’s travels he met a lady names Sarah E. Young. Sarah
was born 11 Mar 1830 in what is known today as Alabama. We believe
these two were married around 1855, when Jeremiah would have been 29 years
old and Sarah, age 25. I say believe because we are not sure of the
exact date, but we can estimate through the births of their children.
They only moved back towards Smith County MS some time after 1860, even though
the youngest son, John, was born in Smith Co. MS. As Sarah’s family
was from around that area, it would possible to assume she went to have the
baby near her parents for help. Jeremiah and Sarah had two children,
which we know of: Jim [James] F. Smith and John Smith. The first
born, Jim, was born about 1856. With this date, we assume they were
married before 1856. We know very little about Jim at this stage.
In the 1860 Federal Census of Newton Co. MS on page 109, it is recorded that
Jeremiah and Sarah were living there with two son, Jim – age 4, and John –
age 2. Knowing that Jim was 4 in 1860 would estimate his birth to be
about 1856. While we are on the subject of the 1860 Census, it is interesting
to note that the actual recording had our Jeremiah as a “Jerry”, living next
to his brother, Reuben, and father (John).
Jeremiah was a hard man to locate. We know his name was Jeremiah
(will explain in a bit) and we know he went by the name Jerry in Newton
Co., but his family and friends all called him “Bent”. Having the advantage
of researching him after his death still didn’t help much because only a
gravestone was found with a name “J.B. Smith” and no date. Let’s start
with the gravestone. We all know he was a Smith. His friends and
family called him Bent. Now nick names are usually short for something
and in this case the obvious choice would be “Benton”. Armed with J.
Benton Smith now, we are still searching for his first name. One could
argue the name “John” after his father as well as argue “Jerry” seeing how
it is recorded in 1860 as such. It was not till later that we discovered
that his son John, actually named after his grandfather, later changed his
name to Jeremiah to honor his father after his death. What kind of
love is that for a father by a son? There you have it, how we found
Jeremiah Benton Smith, Sr.
It is here that we will stop to take a break and see what is going on
around our Smith’s. The US was just over 80 years old. They
had the makings of a great country yet over the years, the county had developed
two separate ways of life; the north was run by the political and national
leaders who were trying to build the country and tear away from the old
ways but the south had just been quiet and settled in were making a good
thing even better. The North began to build on and develop human rights
(whether or not they went about it the right way is to be determined, but
the intent was there). The South had settled in using the culture
they had always known and been used to for 1000 years, slavery, to create
an empire of sorts in agriculture. This however, had no regards for
civil liberties of the slaves. By 1860 the tension just grew too great
and a civil war broke out. The war lasted for three years with the
south spurned and the north weak but liberated; thus, the states once again
became UNITED. In 1863, the final battle at Gettysburg brought an
end to the war and Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address. Lincoln was
shot and a Thirteenth amendment to the Constitution was passed to abolish
slavery. Our forefathers, had a weak government structure and hard
time keeping it around, yet they had the fortitude to remain true and the
wisdom to create a government that can change and evolve with the times
(thus the amendments). America began to mend itself and become an
economic powerhouse till the beginning of the 1900s.
Jeremiah’s wife, Sarah, is buried in Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery
in Smith Co. MS and is recorded with a death of 4 Oct 1889. This
is a bit odd as most couples are buried together, yet the gravestone we
found with J.B. Smith (believed to be him) is in Bezar Cemetery, Smith
Co. MS. This is still feasible, as she died many years after him
which we will go through in a minute. On this “J.B. Smith” gravestone
we further found a marker on it with the symbol “CSA”. CSA stands
for “Confederate States of America”, which is to say he was supposedly in
the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. I am still trying
to get documented proof via the Old Military records office in Washington
D.C. on this. But while I was waiting I still did a bit of research
and found him recorded in Company “C” – The True Confederates of Smith
County, MS – in the 8th Mississippi Infantry Regiment which was mustered
into service on the 1st of June 1861. He was listed as a SGT. (see
http://www.datasync.com/~davidg59/8th_c.txt ). The regiment was assigned
many times over the 5 year time frame to various Division Commanders, and
they were in many battles. The following is a list of battles the 8th
Regiment were in: [1] Murfreesboro (Dec 31, 1862 –Jan 3, 1963), [2]
Tullahoma (June 1863), [3] Chickamauga (Sep. 19-20, 1863), [4] Chattanooga
Siege (Sep-Nov 1863), [5] Chattanooga (Nov 23-25, 1863), [6] Atlanta Campaign
(May-Sep 1864), [7] Peach Tree Creek (July 20, 1864), [8] Atlanta (July 22,
1864), [9] Franklin (Nov. 30, 1864), [10] Nashville (Dec 15-16, 1864), [11]
Carolinas Campaign (Feb-Apr 1965), [12] Bentonville (Mar 19-21, 1865).
That was a lot of moving around and fighting. The following is some
accounts of a few of the battles I felt were interesting just see what our
Jeremiah went through and survived. Each was written by a Mr. David
Graham:
The 8th Regiment Field History:
After rendezvous at Enterprise, MS. in August, 1861,
the 8th Regiment was mustered into Confederate service in early October
and immediately sent to Pensacola, FL. along with the 5th Mississippi Infantry
Regiment. As part of Gen. Braxton Bragg's forces, they camped opposite
of Union-held Ft. Pickens through the fall & winter of 1861 where severe
artillery engagements occurred between Fts. Barrancas and Pickens. A return
shows the Regiment at "Camp Burt near the Warrington Navy Yard, FL." from
Oct. 18 - Dec. 31, 1861. A return for Jan. and Feb. 1862 shows the Regiment
at "Camp Jones near O'Bannonsville, FL." A further return for March and
April shows the Regiment encamped at Warrington, FL. Although not ordered
to Corinth as were the Ninth and Tenth Regiments they remained in the Pensacola,
FL area until May of 1862 where they were evacuated to Ft. Morgan near Mobile,
AL under the command of Lt.-Col. J. Gates. During the summer of 1862, the
8th was sent by rail to Chattanooga, TN as Bragg prepared his offensive into
Kentucky which would be part of the overall battles for Chattanooga. It
was at this time the 8th was assigned to Gen. J.K. Jackson's Brigade, Whither's
Division, Polk's right wing along with the 5th Mississippi and the 5th Georgia
Inf. Regiments. Although the 8th participated in the advance into Kentucky
(Bardstown near Louisville) they were not engaged at the Battle of Perryville
(KY - Oct. 8, 1862) where Bragg was compelled to fall back into Tennessee.
A return for Sept. and Oct. 1862 shows the regiment stationed in Knoxville,
TN., preparing for the great battles to occur in Tennessee which would culminate
with the loss of Chattanooga, the fall-back into Georgia, the return to
Tennessee with Hood for the slaughter at Franklin and "the end in the Carolinas"
where the Army of Tennessee surrendered in April 1865.
Battle of Murfreesboro
Although Gen. Braxton Bragg had manoeuvred Union Gen. Buell out of Tennessee,
his defeat at Perryville, KY in October 1862 forced him to retreat to Murfreesboro,
TN and there his forces dug in. The Union Army of the Cumberland, now commanded
by Gen. William S. Rosencrans (who had replaced Buell) had been in light
pursuit of Bragg and was back in Tennessee occupying Nashville. The federal
forces finally advanced out of Nashville on Dec. 26, 1862 and found Bragg's
forces and the 8th Mississippi waiting at Murfreesboro - about 30 miles away
from Nashville. Although the Federals had made the advance from Nashville,
the Confederates made the attack. Here, the 8th served in line with Breckinridge
on the east bank of Stone's River at the opening of the Battle of Murfreesboro
on Dec 31, 1862. They accompanied several units sent across the river to
attack Palmer's Division after other divisions had failed, yet this attack
also failed. The fighting was so fierce that one officer and three enlisted
men from Co. K refused to go to the front line. Of the 874 total from the
brigade engaged in this attack, the returns from the 8th Regiment show 20
killed and 113 wounded.
Bragg's army withdrew from Murfreesboro on the night of Jan 3 and proceeded
to Shelbyville - falling back to the so-called Confederate "Tullahoma Line".
Rosencrans did not pursue and no major engagements were seen until Rosencrans
finally moved his army out of Murfreesboro 6 months later on June 24 - here
began Rosecran's "Tullahoma Campaign". Returns show the 8th encamped "on
the river" at Bridgeport, AL until July 1863. There they were engaged at
times with hunting deserters and bushwhackers in northern Alabama. It was
during this time that Bragg was compelled by Rosencrans to fall back to Chattanooga
as Rosecrans pushed through the "Tullahoma Line". As Rosecrans advanced
on Chattanooga in August, the 8th was brought in to help reinforce Bragg's
position. A return on August 27th shows that three men from the 8th Regiment
were killed and one wounded by a shell that exploded, having been shot from
enemy batteries on Waldron's Ridge. Later returns show the 8th with Bragg
at Chattanooga and retreating with him to Lafayette, GA - at the time that
Rosencrans' flanking movements through the mountains were underway. Since
the Confederates still held Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, the Federal
position was tenuous. Bragg received much-needed reinforcements by rail
from Longstreet's Corps (of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia) as Rosecrans
was involved in a series of deceptive ploys by separating his army into
three groups trying to confuse Bragg and also locate the bulk of Bragg's
army and hopefully deliver a decisive blow. Rosecrans hastily tried to reunite
his separated army when he realized that the Confederates were amassing
themselves along with Longstreet's reinforcements and both armies found
themselves manoeuvred about 8 miles east of Chattanooga near the banks of
a little creek named Chickamauga (a Cherokee name meaning "River of Blood")
- the Federal and Confederate main bodies were now lying too close together
to avoid contact. Manoeuvring and skirmishing occurred during the days and
nights of Sept. 17th and 18th. On the night of Sept. 18, 1863, Bragg's forces
had sufficiently crossed the creek and set up positions for an attack.
Battle of Chickamauga
In the great Battle of Chickamauga which began about 8 am on Sept. 19,
1863, the 8th Regiment, commanded by Col. John C. Wilkinson, shared the
right side of the Confederate line and were distinguished in the gallant
advance of Cheatham's Div. which occurred around noon. In this battle, the
8th was placed alongside the 5th Miss. Infantry Regiment (the 5th Mississippi
usually always had the same assignments as the 8th). The 8th captured and
brought off the field several pieces of artillery and some horses belonging
to the enemy who was being commanded by Gen. Thomas. This booty had been originally
captured earlier in the day by Walker's Corps, but was recaptured by Thomas'
forces. Later, the 8th lost the forward ground attained on the 19th but later
again advanced close to Federal positions on the Chattanooga Rd. Under heavy
fire, the 8th held their ground until the enemy was driven back. It was at
this point that Elbert's first cousin, Col. Adin McNeill of Co. F was killed
and Col. John C. Wilkinson of Co. F was wounded. Also killed was my great-great-great
granduncle, Capt. J.W. White of Co. G and his nephew Wm. Oscar Chatham. The
following description of Capt. White's death was supplied to me by Kay Armstrong
Lee, a "newly found" distant cousin (original source "Records of Jasper County,
W.P.A. Source Materials"):
On the 2nd day of the Battle of Chickamauga,
about 4 pm on Sunday evening
the 8th Miss. Advanced close to Thomas' position on Chattanooga Rd.
and
held their place, driving the Federal Army from it's last position.....the
soldiers
were loading their guns, (when) Capt. White...was struck by a shot.
It cut the button
at the neck of his shirt, entering his neck, came out at his shoulder
blade, cutting
through his knapsack. He ran about 100 yds just as hard as he could,
shooting
as he ran. With outstretched arms, he fell to the ground, face down,
where his
mouth filled with dirt. The orders were given to fire, and it was therefore
impossible...to go to him.
Ms. Lee continues with this anecdote from the family
history:
Upon hearing the news of the deaths of Captain John White and
his nephew, William Oscar Chatham, their families travelled to
Chickamauga, exhumed the bodies, loaded them in the back of a
wagon under a load of coal and brought them home for burial at
the Hopewell Methodist Church Cemetery in Jasper County.
The casualties for the 8th for the 2 days of fighting were: 10 killed
and 84 wounded out of 252 engaged. Col. Wilkinson said, "...all men in
the regiment did their duty nobly...". Adin McNeill and several of his
family members who fought and died with the 8th Regiment are buried at the
McNeill Family Cemetery outside of Shubuta, MS. The memorial on my cousin
Adin's tombstone reads:
Dear brother, too hard it seemed that
just at the close of the struggle
in which thou hast striven so bravely and the victory won from the foe,
flying balls thy life which promised so well should take but thus it
was.
And as the sun in silence hid his face and the enemy in confusion fled,
and the den of battle lulled into stillness three shots thy body pierced.
And ended the life of one of whom we were
proud and sent thy spirit to realms of glory."
Withdrawal to Atlanta
The 8th Regiment was part of Jackson's Brigade holding a position on
Chattanooga Creek during the Battle of Lookout Mountain (Nov 24, 1863).
They were a part of Cheatham's Div. the next day in the Battle of Missionary
Ridge where many of the regiment were captured. From there in retreat, the
8th proceeded to Dalton, GA. and went into winter quarters. Bragg would not
again return to Tennessee with his army. Jefferson Davis replaced Bragg with
Gen. Joseph Johnston - a very able general, but a man who Davis had never
really gotten along with. Now the Battles for Atlanta would begin.
In Feb 1864, the 8th became part of Walker's Division composed of mainly
units from GA. When Gen. W.T. Sherman advanced, the 8th served with Cleburne's
Div. and was then in action at Calhoun on May 14, 1864, at Reseca May 15,
at Adairville May 17, at New Hope Church May 27 and along the line at the
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain up until July 2. Near Pine Mountain, Lt.-Col.
J.F. Smith was killed. The 8th was then temporarily attached to Gist's Brigade.
A roll dated June 17 has my great-great grandfather admitted into the "Floyd
House and Ocmulgee Hospitals" in Macon, GA with dysentery and then furloughed
on June 22. At this time, Jefferson Davis relieved Gen. J. Johnston and
handed the Army of Tennessee to Gen. J.B. Hood. Davis could not forgive
Johnston for allowing the western front to push itself into Atlanta...the
very heart of the Confederacy. Unlike Johnston, who preferred manoeuvring
for position, Hood, believed in open frontal assaults which in the upcoming
months, would allow the Federals to chew up much of the Army of Tennessee.
Hood, who himself had lost use of an arm at Gettysburg and had lost a leg
at Chickamauga, is still a controversial figure in the history of the Army
of Tennessee, which unlike the Army of Northern Virginia, was unable to
find a leader with the charisma of Robert E. Lee.
Battles for Atlanta
At the Battle of Peachtree Creek on July 20, 1864 - the fight for the
city of Atlanta commenced. The regiment had considerable casualties as
did other units engaged, e.g., Gen. Loring's Confederate troops faced horrendous
losses of over a 1000 men in only a few minutes. Even worse for the 8th
was the fighting that occurred during the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864.
The 8th was again with her "sister-regiment" - the 5th Mississippi and were
part of Lowery's Brigade which lost half it's numbers that day, having in
battle a total of 1200. Forgoing sleep for 2 days and nights in excessive
summer heat, the men were completely exhausted. Nevertheless, they made
a gallant charge against the Federal rifle pits. It was at this time that
Col. John C. Wilkinson was killed, Adjutant J.S. McCaskill missing, and
Lt. A.E. Moody wounded. Gen. Lowery said, "The 8th Mississippi lost their
gallant Colonel, Adjutant and many other valuable officers and men near the
works". Three companies of the 6th Iowa Regiment repulsed the charge of the
8th Mississippi and "secured their dead and wounded with some prisoners".
On this day, the 8th's Division commander, General W.H.T. Walker was killed.
Also for the first time in the western theatre, a Union general was killed:
Gen. MacPherson, whom Sherman had personally mentored.
The regiment had been 408 strong when it left Dalton on May 10 and by
July 22 had tallied 36 killed, 190 wounded and 14 missing, leaving 208
fit for battle. It was at this time that Sherman began a siege of Atlanta.
While the city was under siege, the 8th Mississippi served in the works
of the fortifications that had been built and also at East Point. The brigade
was moved to Jonesboro to face Sherman's troops there.
At the Battle of Jonesboro (just outside of Atlanta), the 8th made a
gallant fight, driving the enemy across Flint River on Aug 31. However Sherman,
who had swung the bulk of his army south of Atlanta succeeded in capturing
Jonesboro, effectively cutting-off Confederate railroad support. At Jonesboro,
the Army of Tennessee lost 10 men to each Union soldier killed. This would
not be the last time Gen. Hood would demand blood sacrifice from the Army
of Tennessee.
At Lovejoy's Station on Sept. 2 as Hood abandoned Atlanta, the 8th assisted
in the repulse of Wood's Union Division with heavy losses to the enemy,
but also with considerable casualties within the 8th Regiment. Atlanta was
now lost and it was at Lovejoy's Station that the Army of Tennessee's tattered
elements reorganized. As Sherman settled into Atlanta, Hood's Army moved
north, hoping to lure Sherman out of Atlanta to fight him in the mountains
to the north. Hood had persuaded Beauregard to let him try this strategy,
for even if Sherman stayed in Atlanta, Hood could then try to break Sherman's
supply lines coming down from Tennessee and even reclaim Tennessee itself,
in it's relatively open position. Sherman, who entertained no notion of leaving
Atlanta, ordered Federal General J.M. Schofield to depart with his army
and link-up with Gen. Thomas' forces in Nashville and from there, protect
Tennessee, the supply-line to Atlanta and also deal with the Confederate
Army of Tennessee "once and for all". Sherman had other plans: the burning
of Atlanta, then carving a 60-mile wide swathe through the South as he burned
his way to Savannah - his infamous "March to the Sea".
As the Army of Tennessee moved north chasing and trying to lure Schofield
into a fight, the 8th took part in operations along the Chattanooga &
Atlanta RR, including the capture of Dalton AL, then on to Gadsden AL, skirmishing
before Decatur and then crossing the Tennessee River on Nov 13, 1864. On
Nov 21, they marched in a snowstorm from Florence to a position of battle
at Spring Hill against Stanley's Federals, in the rear of the Union positions
at Columbia in preparation for the Battle of Franklin. Schofield had been
avoiding a fight all along, but now that he was close to Gen. Thomas' and
his forces at Nashville, an encounter was eminent. Hood knew he had to
try to do something before the two armies linked up. As the Federals firmly
entrenched themselves at Franklin in preparation for a possible Confederate
attack, Hood made it known to his generals that a frontal assault over exposed
ground would be the order of battle. In disbelief, Hood's subordinates objected,
informing Hood that the attack was suicidal. No amount of persuading could
compel Hood to change this plan. Division commander Gen. Patrick Cleburne,
an illustrious leader under whom the 8th Regiment served, commented bitterly
to his friend and subordinate, Gen. D.C. Govan, "Well, Govan, if we must
die, let us die like men."
Battle of Franklin
At the Battle of Franklin on Nov. 30, 1864, Hood launched an massive
assault against Schofield's army in what would be one of the Army of Tennessee's
worst battles. The 8th was part of the memorable assault upon the fortified
Union breastworks in which Division Commander Cleburne was killed as well
as Gist and also 60 other brigade and regimental commanders being either
killed or wounded. As an example, Company B of the 8th Mississippi brought
in 27 men on this sacrificial charge and lost 10 killed at the breastworks,
7 wounded and 4 captured. At the McGavock Cemetery , 25 men killed at the
Battle of Franklin from the 8th Regiment are buried. In this 5 hour battle,
Hood lost 6,250 men (more than both sides lost at Shiloh). Federal losses
were 2,326. That night, Schofield retreated into Nashville, leaving his dead
and wounded on the field and linked with Thomas, as Sherman had originally
planned. Hood ordered his wounded army to follow and at this time, the 8th
Regiment numbered 837 men. Taking up positions in a hilly area south of Nashville
Hood prepared his remaining 23,000 soldiers for the battle. These soldiers,
recovering from the blow of Franklin, were ragged...more than 1/3 of them
without shoes in this December winter. So ill-equipped and provisioned, a
Tennessean said, "We can see our ragged soldier with sunken cheek and famine-glistening
eyes." The Federals, on the other hand, were amassing over 70,000 men. Gen.
Thomas knew this would be the opportunity to finally destroy the Army of Tennessee.
Thomas took so much time preparing for a total victory that Grant decided
to replace him - but Thomas, at the last minute, launched the attack on the
foggy morning of Dec. 15, 1865.
The Final Battle: Nashville
At the Battle of Nashville on Dec. 15-16, the 8th, under the corps command
of Nashville's own Gen. B.F. Cheatham, was involved in the repulsions of
the enemy's "mostly colored" units assaulting Hood's right (eastern) flank
during the 15th. The repulsions left Union dead and wounded by the hundreds
scattered on the battlefield. The only Confederate casualties in Cheatham's
corps that day were those from Federal sharpshooters. That night, Cheatham's
corps was marched west to station themselves on the right of Stewart's Corps,
along the western flank. On the 16th, the Federal assault on Shy's Hill resulted
in a breech in the Confederate line along the west flank. The 8th, as part
of Lowrey's Brigade, was at the center of the Division's (Cleburne's) line
- which was under the command of Gen. J.A. Smith, who held command after
Cleburne's death at Franklin. Lowrey was immediately ordered to relocate
to support the western flank just as it fell through. As the Federals pressed
on, the Confederate line further gave way and a confused retreat towards
the Granny White Pike ensued. Cheatham ordered that Lowrey's and Granbury's
Brigade check the Federal advance. It was here that the 8th was involved in
the disastrous fighting near the Granny White Pike. The routed Confederates
reorganized in the hills several hundred yards southwest of the abandoned
line of battle. After Nashville, Hood was pursued by the Federals for the
next 10 days. As Hood retreated southwest - the destination being northeast
Mississippi, a rear guard was formed under Gen. N.B. Forrest to protect the
army from attack by the Union pursuit. Forrest had gained such success and
notoriety with his quasi-guerrilla tactics, that Sherman hinted at his assassination
in a letter to Thomas in Jan. 1865 saying, "...I would like to have Forrest
hunted down and killed...". Through Christmas of 1865, the Army of Tennessee
and the 8th Mississippi marched through snow and frozen mud through northern
Alabama and finally reached Corinth, Mississippi - where they stayed for a
week and then on Jan 23, retired to Tupelo where Gen. Hood resigned command.
The Army of Tennessee and the western theatre was brought to a close. Hood,
in his report, stated that he brought about 15,000 men into Mississippi, not
including approximately 3,000 Tennesseans given furlough. This means that
during the Battle of Nashville and the subsequent retreat to Mississippi,
the Army of Tennessee lost approximately 5,000 men either killed, wounded,
captured or missing. For the entire campaign under Hood, since receiving command
at Atlanta, Hood himself estimated his losses at an incredible 10,000 men
(in only 2 months!). Actual losses surely were higher, at Franklin alone,
Confederate losses were over 6,500. Add to that the 5,000 that can be determined
from Hood's own report concerning the Battle of Nashville and subsequent retreat,
then add the losses at Jonesboro and the subsequent chasing of Schofield into
Tennessee, it would be more accurate to estimate losses of 15,000. Defending
his decisions to the bitter end, he wrote in his official report to Richmond
concerning the campaign and particularly, the breech at Shy's Hill during
the Battle of Nashville:
Were I again placed in such circumstances I should
make the same marches and fight the same battles, trusting that the same
unforseen and unavoidable accident would not again occur to change into
disaster a victory which had been already won. The remaining elements of
the Army of Tennessee were then transported by rail to the eastern theatre.
If that didn’t tell you how it was, I don’t know what would. Our
Jeremiah saw some heated battles. As I wait for the official records,
we have no date of death and I have found no records alluding to him after
1861. I want to believe he survived these battles purely based on
the fact his grave is in Smith Co. MS. He could have been killed in
the war and transported back but I just don’t know.
I mentioned earlier that Jeremiah has two sons, Jim and John.
As there is not much more to be said about Jim than already discussed,
we will continue now with the latter. John Smith was born 4 Dec 1858
in Smith Co. MS. We know that our Jeremiah Benton Smith Jr. (my G-G-Grandfather)
was married to a Rosa Wedgeworth from personal knowledge. In the 1880
Federal Census for Smith Co. MS we find a Jeremiah, age 21 and a Rosa, age
22 on page 357a. Now Rosa’s ancestors are a mystery yet it is believed
that she is of an Indian descent, Cherokee to be a bit more specific.
As stated before, we knew that Jeremiah Sr.’s son,
John, changed his name to Jeremiah in honor of his father. We can
verify this though the 1880 Census. To further verify, if he was recorded
at 21 years of age at 1880, by calculating back we find that he would have
been born about 1858/59 – a perfect match. It further gives us an approximate
date of death for Jeremiah Sr. - before 1880. Since we found Jeremiah
Jr. in the 1880 Census, then John had already changed his name; this means
that Jeremiah Sr. was born around 1826 and died before 1880; thus, he could
not have lived more than 64 to 65 years of age (and possibly died earlier).
Jeremiah Jr. was 21 years old in 1880 which also means that his father died
while he was young. Growing up without a father (even if he was 21
at his death) is tough for anyone and especially during this time and in
my mind would create a strong sense of family importance and quality of time
with them. Now this is a guess (and only a guess), but if John / Jeremiah
Jr. was old enough to understand the meaning behind changing his name to
honor his father, the he would have been at least around the ages of 10
or 15 at his father’s death. This assumption would put Jeremiah Sr.’s
death between 1868 and 1880, but I have no proof; he could have died earlier.
Just this one theory would help with the assumption that he survived the
Civil War. One last theory about this subject: The family unit
could also be important to Jeremiah Jr. because he grew up alone.
His father died early, his brother is something of a mystery at this stage
and could have died early, and his mother died before he was 30 years old.
This process may seem a bit tedious, yet it is the way we prove records
as well as find out interesting facts (like name changes) and gives us the
diagram as we see here.
We have already begun the story of Jeremiah Benton Smith Jr. with his
birth, parents, siblings, and name change. Through that discussion
we have discovered that by the age of 30, he was parentless and only one
brother (if he was alive). Born on 4 December 1858, John (Jeremiah
Jr) lived most, if not all, his life in and around Smith Co. MS. as I have
found no evidence to the contrary. John was named after his grandfather,
John Smith (b. 1797 in NC). While young John was still a boy, his father,
Jeremiah Benton Smith, Sr., died some short time after 1860.
As devastating to any young boy as this would be, young John assumed the name
of his father in my belief to keep his memory alive. What greater tribute
to a father could a son do? John is now known as Jeremiah Benton Smith,
Jr. - my great-great-grandfather. Growing up without a father would
seem very hard and thus would explain why Jeremiah Jr. seems to love family
so much. For this love he had for his father, obviously carried through
to his own family as they all grew up and remained around him. The
census data we have for Jeremiah Jr. is as follows:
Burial: Aug 01, 1935, Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery, Pineville,
MS., Smith Co.
Census 1: 1880, Smith Co., MS., page 25, Dist #5; No HH #, Jeremiah
Smith 21, Rosa 22
Census 2: 1900, Smith Co., MS., Beat #5; Sheet 9B, HH#148.
Census 3: 1910, Smith Co., MS, Beat 5; Sheet 12A; HH #144, page 106A
of the 1910 Federal Census of Smith County, Mississippi, as having been married
30 years with 9 of 11 children still living .
Census 4: 1920, Smith Co., MS, Beat 5 - Pineville Precinct: Sheet 6A;
HH #90.
Census 5: 1930, Smith County, MS., Federal Census, Beat 5, Em Dist 65-13,
Sheet 2A, HH # 41, list J.B. 72; Rose 72; & Maggie 41.
Death Cert.: MS#35-21071; states date of birth as Dec 8, 1862.
In about 
1879, Jeremiah Jr. married a Ms. Rosa Wedgeworth (b. 25 May 1855) of
whose descent I have yet to discover. He is 
recorded in the 1880 Census of Smith Co. MS as only him, age 21, and
Rosa, age 22. By 1910, the census records them as having been married
for 30 yrs. With 9 of 11 children living. These children are as follows:
Wallace (b.11 Oct 1880), Mittie (b. 30 Dec 1882), Carrie (b. 11 Mar 1885),
Maggie (b. 8 Nov 1887), Vander (b. 9 Dec 1889), Dollie (b. 5 Jan 1892),
Edward (b. 5 Feb. 1894), Mary (b. 24 Mar 1898), Aaron (b. 25 Nov 1899), and
2 infants who died at birth. They did have one more child, Oma (b.
6 Jan 1901) that was found later that also died young in 17 Feb 1903.
Jeremiah Jr. appears to be quite the loving and caring center of the
family at this time, for all his children and grandchildren still lived
around him. This too may be in part to the fact that he was a farmer.
In 1915, he posed with his wife and then children and their families for the
first family photo that I am aware of. In this photo, it is apparent
that as his children married into such families as the Harris’ and McNeil’s’,
the daughters and their families as well as the sons are still living around
their father.
Jeremiah continued to live in Smith Co. MS (Near Pineville, MS) till
his death on 31 Jul 1935. He died in Smith Co. MS just 7 months exactly
after the death of his wife, Rosa, who died 31 Dec 1934. My opinion
is that when couples who live together for any great length of time as these
two did learning to love and depend on each other and one dies, the other
one will not be far behind. In this case or in addition to the theory,
there was a daughter Maggie who never married and lived at home who lived
only a few months later as she died on 20 Nov 1936. At the time of
Jeremiah’s death, he was survived by 8 children and 37 grandchildren.
He is buried at the Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery in Pineville, Smith
Co. MS along with his wife and many of his ancestors and descendants.
As of June 2005, his descendants number 12 children, 43 grandchildren, 100
great grandchildren, 122 great-great grandchildren, 31 great-great-great
grandchildren, and 4 great-great-great-great grandchildren. That’s 412
descendants that I have found so far… and still counting. What a legacy!
Jeremiah and Rosa’s first child was Wallace Samuel Smith. He was
born 11 Oct 1880 in Pineville, Smith County, MS. He died 14 Mar 1955
in Smith County, MS at the age of 74. Wallace was found in the 1910
Federal Census of Smith Co. MS (Beat #5, pg. 12A, Household #145).
Again, He was found in the 1920 Federal Census of Smith Co. MS (Beat #5, pg.
7A, Household #113). Incidentally, Beat #5 is the Pineville District.
Then in the 1930 Federal Census of Smith Co. MS (Beat #5, Em District 65-13,
pg. 3B, Household #69) we find Wallace at age 49 with wife, Julia
age 47, and three children: Ona at age 22, Clint at age 18, and
Ola at age 16. The last record found was a WWI registration found
by Dr. Graham listing Wallace as a potential candidate for being drafted
to the war. This document gave his birth date as 28 Oct 1880.
Along the way he managed to marry (as many of his siblings did) into the Harris
Family. He married Ms. Julia Harris about 1900 in Smith co. MS.
She was born 22 Sep 1883 in Smith Co. and died 28 Feb 1969 also in Smith
Co. MS. Both were buried in the Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery
in Pineville, Smith County, MS. 
Together they had 6 children: Hansford or Hance (b. 1 Oct 1901),
Missouri “Zura” (b. 3 Nov 1903), Onie (b. 1905), Iris (b. 1908), William
Clint (b. 28 Nov 1912), and Mary Ola (b. 12 Mar 1917). We will go
further with the linage in the next chapter, but I am unable at this time
to tell you what they did for a living, although I assume it was farm labor.
I can however show what they looked like. I have obtained two family
photos which contain Wallace’s family. One was obtained from Larry
and Charlotte Webb who run the Smith County Mississippi Genealogical Society
as well as publish a book about the Smith County History.
Larry is a descendant from the Harris Family of which our Smith’s married
into Now the Larger photo (from Larry Webb) shows Wallace as he is holding
Onie; Julie holding Iris (who is not quite one yet); Missouri standing behind
Julia; and Hansford standing behind Wallace. This photo was taken
around 1908/09 as it is dated or judged by Iris in the photo. The
individual photos were cropped from a larger family photo taken about 1915
of which I obtained from my father who got it from our Aunt Ruth (we will
get to her soon). Wallace’s photo (top left) is a bit distorted but
you can still make out the features. As we go through notice the differences
as they grew older. Julia (the top middle) hasn’t changed much but
her hair. Hansford (top right) is very much like his dad. Missouri,
who looked scared stiff in the 1908 photo, has grown taller in the 1915
photo (middle row, left). Onie (middle row, middle photo) is now age
10. Iris (middle row, right) has grown the most, as she is now age
6 or 7. Notice the photos of each of the girls; see that they are
all wearing the same cloth of dress. Now by 1915, Wallace and Julia
had two more children, William Clint (bottom left) and Mary Ola (bottom
right). For now this is the best I can do for the Wallace Family.
Jeremiah and Rosa’s second child was Mittie Smith who was born 30 Dec
1882. She died 10 Feb 1962. She was born and died both in Pineville,
Smith Co. MS
and is buried in Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery. Mittie,
like her older brother Wallace, married into the Harris Family about 1902.
She married Mr. Cratus Rolland “Rollie” Harris, who was born 12 Jan 1878
in Newton Co. MS and died 30 Apr 1962 in Smith Co. MS. He too is buried
with Mittie at Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery. Now as Census records
are only recorded via head of households, we must look up Cratus Harris
to find our Mittie. We found the following records concerning Cratus:
1910 Federal Census of Smith Co. MS (Beat #5, pg. 8B, house hold #98)
1920 Federal Census of Smith Co. MS (Beat #5, pg. 7A, house hold #115)
1930 Federal Census of Smith Co. MS (Beat #5, pg. 4B, house hold #85)
Again the Harris’ were living in the Pineville area. Notice how
the family just sticks together as they did just a couple of generations
earlier. I love this fact. In 1920, they were still living
next to one another. Notice the House hold number of 115. In
1920, Wallace’s house hold number was 113. They were living close
to one another. The last census in 1930 shows Cratus at age 52, with
wife Mittie age 47, and 9 Children: Wilma at age 20, Edgar at age
16, Dewey at age 16, Huey at age 16 (they were twins), Clurah at age 14,
Rentha at age 12, Rubin at age 10, Prentis at age 7, and Gay at the age
of 5. It just appears that our family were like rabbits again and
again. The census didn’t show that there were three older children
already moved out: Lola Harris, Homer Benjamin Harris, and Ambrose Tom Harris.
As you can see on the first row, the first picture on the left is of
Cratus “Rollie” Harris. The second picture is of Mittie Smith.
The third picture is of Wilma Harris, the fourth is of Edgar Harris, the
Fifth is of Dewey Harris, and the last picture is of Dewey’s twin, Huey Harris.
If you notice before I cropped the pictures, Rollie is holding Huey and
Mittie is holding Dewey. The second row of photos is of the children
who had already moved out by 1930. The first one is of Lola, the second
of Homer, and the third of Amburs. Again, these photos are derived
from a 1915 family photo. So that gives Rollie and Mittie 7 children
so far with pictures. They ended up with 12 children here listed in
order: Lola E. (b. 19 Oct 1903), Homer Benjamin (b. 15 Jan 1905),
Ambrose Tom [or Amburs] (b. 10 Nov 1906), Wilma Francis (b. 15 Oct
1908), Edgar Roland (b. 5 Oct 1910), Dewey Joe and Huey C. (b. 10 Jan 1913),
Clurah (b. 1915), Rentha (b. 1918), Rubin (b. 11 Jan 1920), James Prentiss
(b. 12 Feb 1923), and Gay (b. 17 Jul 1925).
The third child of Jeremiah and Rosa was Carrie Smith. She was
born 11 Mar 1885 in Smith Co. MS and died on 8 Sep 19
the Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery in Pineville, MS. She
married a Chester A. McNeil about 1906. The McNeil’s w19 in Smith
Co. MS. She is buried atere from Bay Springs, Jasper Co. MS.
How they met, I do not know, but it appears that the McNeil family moved
to Smith Co. and stayed. Chester; therefore, was born in Bay Springs,
MS on 16 Aug 1887 and died 12 Dec 1935. Chester was also buried at
Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery. We found Chester
in the WWI registration for Smith Co. giving a birth date of 16 Aug 1888.
Then we found him in the 1910 Federal Census of Smith Co. MS (Beat #5,
pg. 8A, House hold # 95). This family also lived near the other family
members. Then again we found him in the 1920 Federal Census
of Smith Co. MS (Beat #5, pg. 6A, House hold #92). Together, Carrie
and Chester had 7 children. Some are in the photos below.
The first picture is a little distorted but it is Chester McNeil and
Carrie Smith. The second picture is of Myrtis, the first born.
The third picture is of Curtis McNeil, the second born. The Fourth
picture is of the third born, Slonie McNeil. The fifth picture available
is of the fifth child, Myrtle. The last photo is of two infants.
The bald headed baby in the back looking forward is Floyd McNeil. But
that is not all. The seven children are as follows: Myrtis
(b. 7 Oct 1906), Curtis (b. 6 Jul 1908), Slonie (b. 10 Oct 1910), Myrtle
(b. 27 Sep 1912), Floyd (b. 2 Nov 1914), Dollie (b. 25 Sep 1916), and Carrie
(b. 8 Sep 1919).
The fourth child of Jeremiah and Rosa was Maggie Smith. Maggie
was born 8 Nov 1887 in Smith Co. MS and died 20 Nov 1936 in Smith Co. MS.
She was
buried with her parents in Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery.
Maggie never married and as we spoke earlier, she died just months after
her parents died. From the picture we have on the left, I am not
quite sure there wasn’t something wrong with Maggie. Maybe some birth
defect. I don’t believe she had any real health problems as she lived
to nearly 50 years old and for a child to survive so long in a tough environment,
I believe she was dearly loved by her parents; thus, the grief of their death
over came her soon after. I have seen this happen before in my family,
but on my mother’s side. My grandfather, Richard Marsh died, and then
my Uncle died with in weeks of his father’s death. Not two months later
after grandpa died, my grandmother died because of the grief. Here
again I am going off the subject. Maggie was the spinster as she died
at the age of 49. The fifth child is Vander Bill Smith. As he
is our direct ancestor I will discuss him last.
The sixth child of Jeremiah and Rosa was Dollie Smith. Dollie
was born 5 Jan 1892 in Smith Co. MS and died 13 Nov 1970 in Smith Co. MS
as she too is buried
at Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery. Dollie, like her sister
Carrie married into the McNeil Family about 1908. She married Closier
C. McNeil who was born 23 Jul 1889 in Bay Springs, MS and died 13 Dec 1935
in Smith Co. MS as he was buried at Leaf River Baptist Church. Again,
to find records of Dollie I had to look for Closier. He was found
in the 1910 Federal Census of Smith Co. MS (Beat #5, pg. 12A, House hold
# 139). We found him like the rest of the family still living in the
area in the 1920 Federal Census of Smith Co. MS (Beat #5, pg. 9B, house hold
# 154). Between these two records, he was recorded in the registration
book for WWI with his birth date given as 23 Jul 1890. I don’t know
the significance of all the WWI registers showing our family as being born
one year after they actually were. Just an observation. The last
record found for Closier was in the 1930 Federal Census of Smith Co. MS
(Beat #5, pg. 2A, House hold # 34) listing himself at age 40, Dola (Dollie)
at age 38, Son at age 20, Cooper at age 18, Henry at age 16, and Carrie [his
niece] at age 10.
This was all his family. He and Dollie had 3 children that we
know of: Othel “Son” McNeil (b. 10 Aug 1909), Cooper McNeil (b. 1911),
and Henry McNeil (b. 15 Aug 1913). Closier is the first photo, Dollie
is the second (and no that is not horns on her head, but the collar of the
shirt from Hance, her brother), Othel is the middle picture, the Fourth is
Cooper, and the last is Henry.
Jeremiah and Rosa’s seventh child was Gayle Edward Smith. He was
born 5 Feb 1894 in Pineville, Smith Co. MS. His date of death is unknown
at this stage but it is believed he died in Mobile, AL. I have no
data on Gayle except that he married a lady named Luannie Boykin. His
pictured in the photo though between his older brothers, Vander and Wallace;
even though it is a bit distorted, he appears to be a clean cut gentleman.
The eighth child of Jeremiah and Rosa was Mary Smith. Mary was born
24 Mar 1898 in Smith Co. MS and died 26 Nov 1995 in Sylvarena, Smith Co.
MS. She was buried in the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery in Sylvarena,
MS. As she was only 16 or 17 at the time of the photo we have she wasn’t
married yet; so the only photo I have of the family so far is as shown to
the right. According to the Smith Co. marriage books (Book 2, pg. 511);
she was married on 5 Mar 1920 to Lem “Vander” Bryant. Lem was born
22 Jul 1898 and died 6 Mar 1974. He was buried at Mt. Pleasant Baptist
Church in Sylvarena, MS. A newspaper article from Laurel, MS announcing
his death stated:
Bryant, Lem Vander
Funeral Services for Lem Vander Bryant, 76, Rt. 1,
Raleigh, who died Wednesday, will be held Friday, 2 pm at Mt. Pleasant
Baptist Church with burial in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. Memory Chapel
of Bay Springs is in charge of arrangements. Survivors are his widow;
two sons: A.G. Bryant, Atlanta, GA; Ralph Bryant, Raleigh; two daughters:
Mrs. Cleo Rogers, Jackson; Mrs. Janice Welborn, Raleigh; 19 Grandchildren,
12 Great-Grandchildren, and two sisters: Mrs. Emma Moore, Bay Springs; Mrs.
Lizzie Culver, Mobile, AL
Laurel Leader-Call
This article gives us heaps of information. But we did actually
find him in the 1930 Federal Census of Smith Co. MS (Beat #5, pg. 3B, House
hold #66) listing himself at age 31, Mary at age 33, A.G. at age 7, Cleo
at age 4, and Ralph at age 1. In actuality, there were 4 children
between Mary and Lem: A.G. (b. 1923), Cleo (b. 1925), Ralph (b. 24
Jan 1930), and Janice (b. 15 Sep 1935).
The ninth child of Jeremiah and Rosa was none other than Aaron Hance
Smith. Hance was born 25 Nov 1899 in Smith co. MS and died on 7 Aug
1956 at Whitfield, Rankin Co. MS. No, he wasn’t in the Mental Hospital.
Aaron was buried with his parents at Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery.
As he was only 15 or 16 at the time of the photo I have, he too, is the only
photo I have of his family and that is the top of his sister, Carrie’s head
under his chin. In the Smith County Marriage books (book 3, page 140)
he is record to have married on 24 Dec 1921 to a Ms. Iva Beulah Sorey.
She was born on 29 Dec 1905 in Smith co. MS and died on 10 Jan 1964 in Forest,
Scott Co. MS. She was buried with her husband at Leaf River Baptist
Church Cemetery. Aaron and Iva had 4 children together: Margaret
Genevieve (b. 12 Nov 1925), Elba Katherine (b. 1927), George Fred (b. 27
Sep 1927), and Christine (b. 26 Apr 1928). There is more information
about the family linage, but this again isn’t the time.
One last reminder about Jeremiah’s kids is that he and Rosa tried to
have three more. The tenth and eleventh children were infants that
died at birth or just afterwards. There was believed to be one boy
and one girl. The twelfth child born to them was named Oma Smith, born
about 1901. But to their dismay, the little girl only lived till 1903.
How heart breaking that would be. I believe with great understanding
they quite trying to have kids.
Ok, finally we are down to the fifth child of Jeremiah and Rosa, Vander
Bill Smith, of whom our direct line funnels through. He too was a
challenge to find as his father was. Now Vander was born on 9 Dec 1889 in
Pineville, Smith Co. MS and died 30 Dec 1970 in Pineville, Smith Co. MS.
He was buried at the Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery. Of the kinsman
I had living; they all only knew him as Van Smith. Some had called
him Van diver, but neither name was showing up on any register. Finally
after asking around to various genealogy sites I ran across a man who had
done some research on Smith’s in and around Smith and Newton Co. MS.
His name was Dr. Harold Graham from Decatur, MS. We have discussed
him earlier. And through his research we even found out that he is
related to some Hollingsworth’s that we too are kinsman with. I had
found a long lost cousin. Anyway, Dr. Graham had already found my
great grandfather as Vander Bill Smith. As I began to research Vander
Bill, I began to find records not only in the Federal Census but in the Military
records as well. What I really found was not that he was in the miliary
but a draft record of available men in the Smith Co. MS area for WWI; and
once again his birth date was recorded as 9 Dec 1890. He was
found in the 1910 Federal Census for Smith Co. MS (beat 5, sheet 12a, House
hold # 137) as the son of Jeremiah Smith and Rosa Smith (Wedgeworth).
He would have been 21 years old or thereabouts. In the 1930 Federal
Census of Smith Co. MS (beat 5, Sheet 2a, House hold # 38) listing Vander
40; Mattie 36; Ruth 18;Vera 15; Eulon 12; & Beulah 8. Not
only does this verify Vander, but it confirms what we know about his wife
and children. Vander was married to Mattie Olivia Smith around 1909.
She was born on 29 Jul 1893 in Smith Co. MS and died 28 Nov 1974 in Brandon,
MS. Together, they had 6 children: Emma (b. 17 Apr 1910), Ruth (b.
1912), Vera (b. 1915), Eulon (b. 18 Dec 1917), Beulah (b. 12 Jul 1920), and
Edward (b. 5 Jun 1930). Vander’s children at the time of the 1915 photo
are as follows: Left – Emma, Middle – Ruth, and Right – Vera (infant
in front looking down). Uncle Larry, brother to my father, said he remembers
Vander a little bit. He remembered his dad, Eulon, sending him with
plough parts to be rebuilt and sharpened as he remembered that his grandpa
was an excellent black smith. Seems fitting after reading the history
of the Smith’s. Uncle Larry said him and Jerry, his older brother –
my name sake – used to ride their worn out old bicycles with an old basket
tied to the front handlebars filled with parts for Vander to fix.
Larry said he doesn’t remember much more than that, except that it was a
long ride on the bicycle even though in reality is was just down the hill,
but then he finished by saying:
“My first memories of Vander were him and grandma
walking down the hill to visit. He was a small wiry man with a good sense
of humor, but kinda quick sometimes with the temper. He was a blacksmith
and we used him for all sorts of things that we had to have fixed around
the farm. He was very strong for his size and worked very hard. He was born
and grew up in Pineville MS. When he and grandma got married he came to burns,
Pulaski address, and built his house and raised his family. They already
had family in the area as grandma's sister Dell lived just down the road.
Vander as you know was called Van by everyone who knew him. When all the
kids were grown he moved to Polkville, MS. By the time he moved to Polkville
he had arthritis really bad and was confined to a wheel chair, but never
lost his since of humor.”
Dad, Carey T. Smith, says he remembers being stubborn and not
doing what his father asked. As grandpa was about to “whip” him,
he said he remembered his grandma (Mattie Olivia Smith) as he put it – fly
off the porch and begin beating on Eulon to stop “whipping” the children.
Vander was been laid to rest in the Leaf River Baptist Church Cemetery in
Smith Co. MS after his death on 30 Dec 1970 at the age of 89. His wife
Mattie followed him on 28 Nov 1974 in Brandon, MS.
Now Vera Darlene, Vander’s granddaughter, had this to say:
“I don't have many memories of my grandparents.
Grandpa Taylor died before I was born and the others died when I was very
young. I remember Grandma Taylor always being kind of sickly. When we would
go to the house where she and Dimple (Thelma) lived, she would want me to
sing for her. I was very young and shy and wouldn't stay in her bedroom
to sing. I would sit on the front porch and sing loud enough for
her to hear. That's probably why I have such a loud singing voice
today. We would go and visit Uncle Claude and Aunt Annie often.
He and Daddy did a lot of hunting. I remember going to Grandma and
Grandpa Smith's (Vander and Mattie Smith) place and how they always smelled
like the fireplace to me. I remember the well and the out house.
They always had snuff in their mouths and could spit with wonderful accuracy.
Grandpa Smith was always sitting on the front porch.”
What about that last sentence? Every memory I have of our older
generations always included a front porch. I dreamed of owning a
house with a porch all around the house so no matter where I was I could
enjoy the porch. I believe everyone in our family just enjoyed a
porch. The porch or veranda as some call it, represents peace, home,
and family. Where else did you get together and just sit and talk
about things, new and old, good or bad? Friendships were forged there
and relationships sitting on the porch swing were solidified. It was
and is where I want to be. Just to prove my point I will leave you
with a picture on the next page of the entire family of which I had broken
up to match with the stories above. This is the picture taken in early
1915. The family had anywhere in the world to take this photo.
Where did they choose to take it?
By: Jerry A. Smith,
Smith Family Researcher
___________________________________________________________________________________
Resources:
1. Website About.Com: http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa111100a.htm
2. Wikipedia Free Online Encyclopaedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War
3. Ambrose, Stephen, “Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas
Jefferson, and the Opening if the American West”, 1997.
4. Hickey, Donald R., “The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict”,
2004 reprint.
5. Website “The History Place.com”: http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/dred.htm
6. Geoghegan, Ann A., “Natchez Massacre of 1729”, American Local History
Network, Inc., 2003.
7. Rowland, Dunbar, “History of Mississippi, the Heart of the
South”, Clark Publishing Co., 1925. Vol. I.
8. Martin, Sara Hines: “Revelations of a Fort from Yesteryear”,
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/%7Ejayken/hollingsworth/fort/#hist
9. Irby, Richard E.: Yazoo Land Fraud and Pine Barrens Scandal.
http://ngeorgia.com/history/land.html
10. Miller, Nathan “The Founding Finaglers”, David McKay Company, Inc.
1976. p. 123-6.
11. Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly Vol II Ser 3 March 1967 &
Lavonia Times and Gauge, February 23, 1934.
12. Graham, Dr. Harold, Smith Family Researcher. Essay: “Chapter 1:
Descendants of Isaac Hollingsworth, Sr. (1781-1866)”
13. Lowrey, Charles, “The Great Migration to the Mississippi Territory,
1789 – 1819”, MS Historical Society, 2000. p. 1-5.
14. The treaty has be transcribed on the internet at: http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/features/feature14/doaks_1.html
15. The treaty has be transcribed on the internet at: http://www.peaknet.net/~aardvark/treaty.html
16. The treaty has be transcribed on the internet at: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~msalhn/NativeAmerican/TreatyofPontotoc1832.htm
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