Dr. Uriel Terrell MD1
M, #101135, b. 9 April 1885, d. 9 July 1885
Father | Oliver Terrell2 b. 1757, d. 1821 |
Mother | Susannah Mallory2 |
Last Edited | 16 Jun 2025 |
Dr. Uriel Terrell MD married Janett Lovell.3,1
Dr. Uriel Terrell MD was born on 9 April 1885.1
Dr. Uriel Terrell MD died on 9 July 1885.1
Dr. Uriel Terrell MD was buried after 9 July 1885 at Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange Co., Virginia, USA;
From Find a Grave:
Birth 9 Apr 1793
Death 9 Jul 1885 (aged 92)
Burial Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange County, Virginia, USA
Family Members
Spouse
Janett Lovell Terrill 1795–1870
Children
Jane E. Terrill Yancey 1818–1888
Pvt Towles Terrill 1831–1916
Virginia Terrill Perry 1837–1915
Dr Robert Morton Terrill 1838–1876
Maintained by: John Holliday
Originally Created by: PL
Added: Mar 26, 2007
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 18637969.1
Dr. Uriel Terrell MD was born on 9 April 1885.1
Dr. Uriel Terrell MD died on 9 July 1885.1
Dr. Uriel Terrell MD was buried after 9 July 1885 at Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange Co., Virginia, USA;
From Find a Grave:
Birth 9 Apr 1793
Death 9 Jul 1885 (aged 92)
Burial Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange County, Virginia, USA
Family Members
Spouse
Janett Lovell Terrill 1795–1870
Children
Jane E. Terrill Yancey 1818–1888
Pvt Towles Terrill 1831–1916
Virginia Terrill Perry 1837–1915
Dr Robert Morton Terrill 1838–1876
Maintained by: John Holliday
Originally Created by: PL
Added: Mar 26, 2007
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 18637969.1
Family | Janett Lovell b. 21 Sep 1795, d. 2 Feb 1870 |
Children |
|
Citations
- [S2374] Find a Grave, online http://www.findagrave.com/, Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18637969/uriel-terrill: accessed June 15, 2025), memorial page for Dr Uriel Terrill (9 Apr 1793–9 Jul 1885), Find a Grave Memorial ID 18637969, citing Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange County, Virginia, USA; Maintained by John Holliday (contributor 51291643).. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave.
- [S2338] Ancestry.Com Family Trees, online http://trees.ancestry.com/, Accessed on 15 June 2025. Anderson-Nelson Family Tree - Ancestors of Jane E. Terrell:
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/12689995/family/pedigree?cfpid=150157826693. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Family Trees. - [S2374] Find a Grave, online http://www.findagrave.com/, Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18671186/janett-terrill: accessed June 15, 2025), memorial page for Janett Lovell Terrill (21 Sep 1795–2 Feb 1870), Find a Grave Memorial ID 18671186, citing Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange County, Virginia, USA; Maintained by Love (contributor 48506007).
- [S2338] Ancestry.Com Family Trees, online http://trees.ancestry.com/, Accessed on 15 June 2025. Anderson-Nelson Family Tree - Sarah M. Terrill: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/12689995/person/150157826425/facts
- [S2338] Ancestry.Com Family Trees, online http://trees.ancestry.com/, Accessed on 15 June 2025. Anderson-Nelson Family Tree - Jane E. Terrell: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/12689995/person/150157826693/facts
Janett Lovell1
F, #101136, b. 21 September 1795, d. 2 February 1870
Last Edited | 16 Jun 2025 |
Janett Lovell married Dr. Uriel Terrell MD, son of Oliver Terrell and Susannah Mallory.1,2
Janett Lovell was born on 21 September 1795.1
Janett Lovell died on 2 February 1870 at age 74.1
Janett Lovell was buried after 2 February 1870 at Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange Co., Virginia, USA;
From Find a Grave:
Birth 21 Sep 1795
Death 2 Feb 1870 (aged 74)
Burial Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange County, Virginia, USA
Family Members
Spouse
Dr Uriel Terrill 1793–1885
Children
Jane E. Terrill Yancey 1818–1888
Pvt Towles Terrill 1831–1916
Virginia Terrill Perry 1837–1915
Dr Robert Morton Terrill 1838–1876
Maintained by: Love
Originally Created by: PL
Added: Mar 29, 2007
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 18671186.1
Janett Lovell was born on 21 September 1795.1
Janett Lovell died on 2 February 1870 at age 74.1
Janett Lovell was buried after 2 February 1870 at Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange Co., Virginia, USA;
From Find a Grave:
Birth 21 Sep 1795
Death 2 Feb 1870 (aged 74)
Burial Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange County, Virginia, USA
Family Members
Spouse
Dr Uriel Terrill 1793–1885
Children
Jane E. Terrill Yancey 1818–1888
Pvt Towles Terrill 1831–1916
Virginia Terrill Perry 1837–1915
Dr Robert Morton Terrill 1838–1876
Maintained by: Love
Originally Created by: PL
Added: Mar 29, 2007
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 18671186.1
Family | Dr. Uriel Terrell MD b. 9 Apr 1885, d. 9 Jul 1885 |
Children |
|
Citations
- [S2374] Find a Grave, online http://www.findagrave.com/, Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18671186/janett-terrill: accessed June 15, 2025), memorial page for Janett Lovell Terrill (21 Sep 1795–2 Feb 1870), Find a Grave Memorial ID 18671186, citing Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange County, Virginia, USA; Maintained by Love (contributor 48506007).. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave.
- [S2374] Find a Grave, online http://www.findagrave.com/, Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18637969/uriel-terrill: accessed June 15, 2025), memorial page for Dr Uriel Terrill (9 Apr 1793–9 Jul 1885), Find a Grave Memorial ID 18637969, citing Graham Cemetery, Orange, Orange County, Virginia, USA; Maintained by John Holliday (contributor 51291643).
- [S2338] Ancestry.Com Family Trees, online http://trees.ancestry.com/, Accessed on 15 June 2025. Anderson-Nelson Family Tree - Sarah M. Terrill: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/12689995/person/150157826425/facts. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Family Trees.
- [S2338] Ancestry.Com Family Trees, online http://trees.ancestry.com/, Accessed on 15 June 2025. Anderson-Nelson Family Tree - Jane E. Terrell: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/12689995/person/150157826693/facts
Dr. William Tunstall Banks1
M, #101137, b. 1788
Father | Baylor Banks1 b. 1755, d. 1815 |
Mother | Anne Slaughter1 b. 1700, d. 1818 |
Last Edited | 16 Jun 2025 |
Dr. William Tunstall Banks was born in 1788.1 He married Pamela Somerville Harris in 1812.1
Dr. William Tunstall Banks was also known as Tunstall Banks.2
; Genealogical and Historical Notes on Culpeper County, Virginia
Name Tunstal
Residence Date 1807
Comments Children of Baylor Banks and Anne Slaughter ;
1st: Elizabeth (b. 1784 ) m. William Barker , (1808 );
2nd Ann Baylor , (b. 1784 ) m. L. Roberts (1806 );
3rd. Dr. Wm. Tunstall , (b. 1788 ) m. Pamela Somerville Harris (1812 );
4th. Lawrence Baylor , (b. 1790 ), (died 1797 );
5th. John Field , (b. 1792 ) m. Frances Roberts ;
6th. Baylor , (b. 1793 ) m. Mary Stern ;
7th. Richard Tunstal (b. 1795 ) never married;
8th. Mildred (b. 1797 ) m. William Field (1819 );
9th. Lawrence Slaughter (b. 1803 ) m. Margaret J. Noble (1834 );
10th. George (b. 1805 ), (died 1808 ); 11th. Tunstal (b. 1807 ).1
Dr. William Tunstall Banks was listed as a resident in Baylor Banks and Anne Slaughter's household in the census report in 1810 at Culpeper, Culpeper Co., Virginia, USA;
1810 United States Federal Census
Baylor is listed next to a Willliam BANKS (line 9)
p. 78, line 10
Dr. William Tunstall Banks was also known as Tunstall Banks.2
; Genealogical and Historical Notes on Culpeper County, Virginia
Name Tunstal
Residence Date 1807
Comments Children of Baylor Banks and Anne Slaughter ;
1st: Elizabeth (b. 1784 ) m. William Barker , (1808 );
2nd Ann Baylor , (b. 1784 ) m. L. Roberts (1806 );
3rd. Dr. Wm. Tunstall , (b. 1788 ) m. Pamela Somerville Harris (1812 );
4th. Lawrence Baylor , (b. 1790 ), (died 1797 );
5th. John Field , (b. 1792 ) m. Frances Roberts ;
6th. Baylor , (b. 1793 ) m. Mary Stern ;
7th. Richard Tunstal (b. 1795 ) never married;
8th. Mildred (b. 1797 ) m. William Field (1819 );
9th. Lawrence Slaughter (b. 1803 ) m. Margaret J. Noble (1834 );
10th. George (b. 1805 ), (died 1808 ); 11th. Tunstal (b. 1807 ).1
Dr. William Tunstall Banks was listed as a resident in Baylor Banks and Anne Slaughter's household in the census report in 1810 at Culpeper, Culpeper Co., Virginia, USA;
1810 United States Federal Census
Baylor is listed next to a Willliam BANKS (line 9)
p. 78, line 10
Name Baylor Banks
Residence Date 6 Aug 1810
Residence Place Culpeper, Culpeper, Virginia, USA
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10 2 [bef 1810] Lawrence Slaughter 1803, Tunstall 1807
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15 1 [1795-1800] Richard 1795
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25 6 [1785-1794] William 1788, Lawrence Baylor 1790, John 1792, Baylor 1793, Unknown?, Unknown?
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over 1 [bef 1765] Baylor 1755
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15 1 [1795-1800] Mildred 1797
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25 1 [1785-1794] Ann 1784 or Elizabeth 1784
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over 1 [bef 1765] Ann 1770??
Number of Enslaved Persons 19
Number of Household Members Under 16 4
Number of Household Members Over 25 2
Number of Household Members 32.3
Residence Date 6 Aug 1810
Residence Place Culpeper, Culpeper, Virginia, USA
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10 2 [bef 1810] Lawrence Slaughter 1803, Tunstall 1807
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15 1 [1795-1800] Richard 1795
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25 6 [1785-1794] William 1788, Lawrence Baylor 1790, John 1792, Baylor 1793, Unknown?, Unknown?
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over 1 [bef 1765] Baylor 1755
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15 1 [1795-1800] Mildred 1797
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25 1 [1785-1794] Ann 1784 or Elizabeth 1784
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over 1 [bef 1765] Ann 1770??
Number of Enslaved Persons 19
Number of Household Members Under 16 4
Number of Household Members Over 25 2
Number of Household Members 32.3
Family | Pamela Somerville Harris |
Child |
|
Citations
- [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Ancestry.com. Genealogical and Historical Notes on Culpeper County, Virginia [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Seen on ancestry.com 6 Nov 2024 at: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6129/records/823?ssrc=pt&tid=54382767&pid=150051491868. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Web Site.
- [S5921] Barbara Biggers Vaughn, compiler, Descendants of Lewis Davis Yancey with A Brief Genealogy of John Berry (n.p.: The Anundsen Publishing Co., 1986), p. 30. Hereinafter cited as Vaughn [1986] Desc of Lewis Davis Yancey.
- [S2446] 1810 Federal Census, 1810 Census VA Culpeper Co Culpeper, Year: 1810; Census Place: Culpeper, Culpeper, Virginia; Roll: 68; Page: 78; Image: Vam252_68-0150; FHL Roll: 0181428. Seen on Ancestry.com 6 Nov 2024 at:
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7613/records/812552?ssrc=pt&tid=54382767&pid=150051491868
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7613/images/4433404_00154?treeid=54382767&personid=150051491868&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=812552 - [S2338] Ancestry.Com Family Trees, online http://trees.ancestry.com/, Accessed on 16 June 2025. Kobres & Cook Family Branches ... Ancestors of Catherine J Banks: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/12689995/family/pedigree?cfpid=150157826693. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Family Trees.
George Doggett1
M, #101138, b. 1755, d. 11 November 1811
Father | Bushrod Doggett1 b. 1710/11, d. b 22 Nov 1791 |
Mother | Anne Stripling1 b. 31 May 1716, d. 1791 |
Last Edited | 17 Jun 2025 |
George Doggett was born in 1755 at Hamilton Parish, Prince William Co., Virginia, USA.1 He married Ann Yancey, daughter of Ensign Charles Yancey and Catherine Elizabeth Powers, circa 1783 at Culpeper Co., Virginia, USA,
;
It now seems likely that Ann YANCEY, the granddaughter of Lewis Davis YANCEY, married George DOGGET, the son of Bushrod DOGGETT.
Yancey [1994:45] says she married "George Doggett", as does Early Col. Settlers. Doggetts and Other Cousins also says that Ann YANCEY married George DOGGETT and gives the date of marriage as ca 1783 in Culpeper Co., VA.
Per "Doggestts and Other Cousins:"
348 GEORGE DOGGETT, son of Bushrod and Ann (Stripling) Doggett; b. abt 1755, VA; d. 1814, Rutherford Co., NC; m. abt 1783, Culpeper Co., VA, ANN YANCEY, dau. of Charles and Caroline (Powers) Yancey, d. abt 1840.
Children (Doggett):
According to Early Col. Settlers, the George DOGGETT who married an Ann YANCEY was the son of Bushrod DOGGETT. There is a deed dated 15 Sept 1769 in Culpeper Co. with a land description which shows that Bushrod lived near Lewis Davis YANCEY, #100925 and his sons, Richard #100944 and Philemon YANCEY #100940. This lends credence to the possibility that Bushrod's son, George, could have married Lewis's grand daughter, Ann.2,3,4,5
George Doggett died on 11 November 1811 at Rutherford Co., North Carolina, USA.1
George Doggett was mentioned in a land transaction on 15 October 1778 at Culpeper Co., Virginia, USA,
Memo:
Per Early Col. Settlers:
1778-1779 Culpeper County, Virginia Deed Book I; [Antient Press]; Page 53-55
THIS INDENTURE made the 15th of October 1778 Between ANDREW BOURN and JANE his Wife of County of Culpeper of one part and GEORGE DOGGETT of same County Witnesseth that the said Andrew Bourn and Jane his Wife for the sum One thousand pounds current money of the Commonwealth of Virginia have granted unto the said George Doggett a parcel of land in the County aforesaid granted by Patten t unto the said Andrew Bourn as will appear by Proprietors Office in Book G Folio (176) and bearing date the 11th of June 1749 and bounded Begining at three pines Corner to BUSHROD DOGGETT thence North West to one pine in the Point of the Fork a branch thence East to one pine onthe point of a hill thence N East to one white oak in JAMES PENDLETONs line thence with his line South West to two white oaks Corner to said Pendleton and Bushrod Doggett thence with said Doggetts line South to the begining containing Five hundred and seventy five acres of land To Hold the said Tract unto George Doggett and said Andrew Bourn and JEAN his Wife stand seised of right of Inheritance in fee simple in granted land ... Andrew Bourn
At a Court held for Culpeper County the 19th Octr 1778 Jean Bourn
This Indenture ordered to be recorded; Previous to which the said Jean was first privily examined according to Law.1
George Doggett was mentioned in a land transaction on 20 September 1779
Memo:
Per Early Col. Settlers:
1778-1779 Culpeper County, Virginia Deed Book I; [Antient Press]; Page 432-434
THIS INDENTURE made this Twentieth day of September 1779 Betwen GEORGE DOGGETT of County of Culpeper of one part and THOMAS BROWN of aforesaid County Witnesseth that said George Doggett for sum One hundred and seventy three pounds Fifteen shillings current money of Virginia paid by said Thomas Brown he doth grant unto said Thomas Brown land in County of Culpeper containing Two hundred acres which said tract of land is part of a tract of Five hundred and seventy five acres granted to ANDREW BROWN [Bourn] as by Patent from the Proprietors Office bearing date the 11th day of June 1749, and by him conveyed to said George Doggett and bounded Begining at. three pines Corner to a tract first surveyed for WILLIAM TAPP and runing North to a persimmon on Easthams Run thence South to a pine near a ROAD thence South to the begining . . .
George Doggett
At a Court. held for Culpeper County the 20th of September 1779 This Indenture ordered to be recorded.1
;
It now seems likely that Ann YANCEY, the granddaughter of Lewis Davis YANCEY, married George DOGGET, the son of Bushrod DOGGETT.
Yancey [1994:45] says she married "George Doggett", as does Early Col. Settlers. Doggetts and Other Cousins also says that Ann YANCEY married George DOGGETT and gives the date of marriage as ca 1783 in Culpeper Co., VA.
Per "Doggestts and Other Cousins:"
348 GEORGE DOGGETT, son of Bushrod and Ann (Stripling) Doggett; b. abt 1755, VA; d. 1814, Rutherford Co., NC; m. abt 1783, Culpeper Co., VA, ANN YANCEY, dau. of Charles and Caroline (Powers) Yancey, d. abt 1840.
Children (Doggett):
348:1 Elizabeth b. 1784 m. 1807 James Finch Elliott
348:2 William
348:3 Charles Yancey b. 1789 m. 1810 Mrs. Mary Roberts
348:4 George m.
348:5 Richard C. L. b. 1796 unm.
348:6 Fannie m. 1820 James W. McBrayer
348:7 Sarah M. m. John B. Goudelock
348:8 Lewis Coleman b. 1801 d. 1853 m. 1833 Mary A. Smith
348:9 James P. b. 1807 d. 1850 m. Anna Jane Beam
348:2 William
348:3 Charles Yancey b. 1789 m. 1810 Mrs. Mary Roberts
348:4 George m.
348:5 Richard C. L. b. 1796 unm.
348:6 Fannie m. 1820 James W. McBrayer
348:7 Sarah M. m. John B. Goudelock
348:8 Lewis Coleman b. 1801 d. 1853 m. 1833 Mary A. Smith
348:9 James P. b. 1807 d. 1850 m. Anna Jane Beam
According to Early Col. Settlers, the George DOGGETT who married an Ann YANCEY was the son of Bushrod DOGGETT. There is a deed dated 15 Sept 1769 in Culpeper Co. with a land description which shows that Bushrod lived near Lewis Davis YANCEY, #100925 and his sons, Richard #100944 and Philemon YANCEY #100940. This lends credence to the possibility that Bushrod's son, George, could have married Lewis's grand daughter, Ann.2,3,4,5
George Doggett died on 11 November 1811 at Rutherford Co., North Carolina, USA.1
George Doggett was mentioned in a land transaction on 15 October 1778 at Culpeper Co., Virginia, USA,
Memo:
Per Early Col. Settlers:
1778-1779 Culpeper County, Virginia Deed Book I; [Antient Press]; Page 53-55
THIS INDENTURE made the 15th of October 1778 Between ANDREW BOURN and JANE his Wife of County of Culpeper of one part and GEORGE DOGGETT of same County Witnesseth that the said Andrew Bourn and Jane his Wife for the sum One thousand pounds current money of the Commonwealth of Virginia have granted unto the said George Doggett a parcel of land in the County aforesaid granted by Patten t unto the said Andrew Bourn as will appear by Proprietors Office in Book G Folio (176) and bearing date the 11th of June 1749 and bounded Begining at three pines Corner to BUSHROD DOGGETT thence North West to one pine in the Point of the Fork a branch thence East to one pine onthe point of a hill thence N East to one white oak in JAMES PENDLETONs line thence with his line South West to two white oaks Corner to said Pendleton and Bushrod Doggett thence with said Doggetts line South to the begining containing Five hundred and seventy five acres of land To Hold the said Tract unto George Doggett and said Andrew Bourn and JEAN his Wife stand seised of right of Inheritance in fee simple in granted land ... Andrew Bourn
At a Court held for Culpeper County the 19th Octr 1778 Jean Bourn
This Indenture ordered to be recorded; Previous to which the said Jean was first privily examined according to Law.1
George Doggett was mentioned in a land transaction on 20 September 1779
Memo:
Per Early Col. Settlers:
1778-1779 Culpeper County, Virginia Deed Book I; [Antient Press]; Page 432-434
THIS INDENTURE made this Twentieth day of September 1779 Betwen GEORGE DOGGETT of County of Culpeper of one part and THOMAS BROWN of aforesaid County Witnesseth that said George Doggett for sum One hundred and seventy three pounds Fifteen shillings current money of Virginia paid by said Thomas Brown he doth grant unto said Thomas Brown land in County of Culpeper containing Two hundred acres which said tract of land is part of a tract of Five hundred and seventy five acres granted to ANDREW BROWN [Bourn] as by Patent from the Proprietors Office bearing date the 11th day of June 1749, and by him conveyed to said George Doggett and bounded Begining at. three pines Corner to a tract first surveyed for WILLIAM TAPP and runing North to a persimmon on Easthams Run thence South to a pine near a ROAD thence South to the begining . . .
George Doggett
At a Court. held for Culpeper County the 20th of September 1779 This Indenture ordered to be recorded.1
Family | Ann Yancey |
Citations
- [S3744] Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties, online <http://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/>, Accessed 17 June 2025 - George Doggett 1755 - 1811: https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I134414&tree=Tree1. Hereinafter cited as Early Settlers of So Md and VA Northern Neck.
- [S1549] "Author's comment", various, Gregory A. Vaut (e-mail address), to unknown recipient (unknown recipient address), 17 June 2025; unknown repository, unknown repository address. Hereinafter cited as "GA Vaut Comment."
- [S3744] Early Settlers of So Md and VA Northern Neck, online http://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/, Accessed 14 June 2025: Sarah Anne Yancey - https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I134419&tree=Tree1
- [S5920] Dennis J. Yancey, The Yancey Family of America (19341 NW 61 Ave., Miami, FL 33015: n.pub., 1994 ), p. 45. Hereinafter cited as Yancey [1994] Yancey Family of America.
- [S4710] Doggetts and Other Cousins: Devoted to the Study of the Family History of the Rev. Benjamin Doggett of Lancaster County, Virginia, and his Descendants, Antecedents and Kindred, online <http://www.doggettfam.org/index.htm>, Accessed 17 June 2025: http://www.doggettfam.org/340bushrod.htm#348. Hereinafter cited as Doggetts and Other Cousins Website.
Thomas A. White1
M, #101141, b. 25 July 1818, d. 18 September 1884
Last Edited | 17 Jun 2025 |
Thomas A. White married Elizabeth Thomas.
Thomas A. White was born on 25 July 1818 at Tennessee, USA;
Aged 60 in 1880 census.
DOB from grave marker.1,2
Thomas A. White died on 18 September 1884 at Hunt Co., Texas, USA, at age 66.2
Thomas A. White was buried after 18 September 1884 at Etter Lake Cemetery, Dixon, Hunt Co., Texas, USA;
From Find a Grave:
Birth 27 Jul 1818
Death 18 Sep 1884 (aged 66)
Burial Etter Lake Cemetery, Dixon, Hunt County, Texas, USA
Inscription
GONE TO REST. FARWELL DEAR ONE FAREWELL, BUT NOT FOREVER. SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF OUR DEAR FATHER
Family Members
Children
Dr Robert Franklin White 1850–1915
Dr Alphonso G. White 1851–1920
Mary Francis "Mollie" White Strickland 1860–1932
Mrs Nancy Jane White Roberts 1861–1926
Maintained by: Find a Grave
Originally Created by: D. Cotten
Added: Feb 26, 2003
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 7209417.2
Thomas A. White was born on 25 July 1818 at Tennessee, USA;
Aged 60 in 1880 census.
DOB from grave marker.1,2
Thomas A. White died on 18 September 1884 at Hunt Co., Texas, USA, at age 66.2
Thomas A. White was buried after 18 September 1884 at Etter Lake Cemetery, Dixon, Hunt Co., Texas, USA;
From Find a Grave:
Birth 27 Jul 1818
Death 18 Sep 1884 (aged 66)
Burial Etter Lake Cemetery, Dixon, Hunt County, Texas, USA
Inscription
GONE TO REST. FARWELL DEAR ONE FAREWELL, BUT NOT FOREVER. SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF OUR DEAR FATHER
Family Members
Children
Dr Robert Franklin White 1850–1915
Dr Alphonso G. White 1851–1920
Mary Francis "Mollie" White Strickland 1860–1932
Mrs Nancy Jane White Roberts 1861–1926
Maintained by: Find a Grave
Originally Created by: D. Cotten
Added: Feb 26, 2003
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 7209417.2
Family | Elizabeth Thomas |
Child |
|
Citations
- [S5922] 1880 Federal Census, 1880 Census TX, Hunt Co., Precinct 1, Accessed 17 June 2025: Year: 1880; Census Place: Precinct 1, Hunt, Texas; Roll: 1312; Page: 414a; Enumeration District: 063
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742/records/6962721?tid=&pid=&queryId=ce76146a-ca10-4470-9884-ddbac50b642c&_phsrc=muj6&_phstart=successSource
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4244732-00401?usePUB=true&_phsrc=muj6&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=6962721 - [S2374] Find a Grave, online http://www.findagrave.com/, Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7209417/thomas_a-white: accessed June 17, 2025), memorial page for Thomas A. White (27 Jul 1818–18 Sep 1884), Find a Grave Memorial ID 7209417, citing Etter Lake Cemetery, Dixon, Hunt County, Texas, USA; Maintained by: Find a Grave.. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave.
Maj. James Smith (Jr.)1,2
M, #101143, b. 24 April 1724, d. between 2 January 1797 and 9 July 1799
Father | James Smith (Sr.)3 b. c 1700, d. bt 27 Mar 1745 - 8 Apr 1745 |
Mother | Martha (?)3 b. 28 Jan 1697, d. 1792 |
Charts | Ancestors - Myrtle Lee ROBERTS |
Reference | GAV6 |
Last Edited | 20 Jul 2025 |
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) was born on 24 April 1724 at New Bern, Craven Co., North Carolina, USA.4 He married Mary Ann Rowan.1
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) was buried in 1797 at Burial details unknown ;
From Find a Grave:
Birth 28 Apr 1724, New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, USA
Death 2 Jan 1799 (aged 74), Wilkes County, Georgia, USA
Burial Burial Details Unknown
Husband of Mary Ann Rowan (or Roane)
Father of:
Family Members
Children
Jacob Smith Sr 1764–1790
Created by: Steven L. Akins
Added: Aug 6, 2021
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 230407746
The following record (see attached image) was found on Ancestry, and the Smith Cemetary is on Find A Grave, but the burial is not recorded on FaG.
James Smith in the North Carolina, U.S., Historical Records Survey, Cemetery Inscription Card Index, 1700-2018
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) died between 2 January 1797 and 9 July 1799 at Washington, Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA; Presumably died between date of will and of probate.6,4
His estate was probated on 9 July 1799 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA.6
He was Research Issues
NB: The name James SMITH is obviously so common that is almost impossible to be certain that the census and land records actually apply to Maj. James SMITH (1724-1797) #101143. In some cases the time sequence is awkward: e.g., the 1790 Federal census in Craven Co., NC and then a land transaction in Wilkes Co. GA in 1791. There are also examples of people adding the Revolutionary War service records of a PA James SMITH to the NC/GA James SMITH (1724-c1797) on their family trees without addressing the contradiction.
GA Vaut.7 GAV-6.6 He was a mentioned with James Smith (Sr.) and Martha (?);
See attached PDF fileon SMITH Family.
In James Smith (Sr.)'s will dated 27 March 1745 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA, Maj. James Smith (Jr.) was named as executor;
Abstract of North Carolina Wills, 1663-1760
Correct by GA Vaut 20 July 2025 from image of actual will (attached).
James Smith in the North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998
[Image of will attached]
Detail Source
Individuals Listed (Name) Relationship
Table of Contents 5 images
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) appeared in the census of 1769 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
James Smith
in the North Carolina, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) lived before 1775 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA.3
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) and Nathan Smith began military service circa 1777 at Revolutionary War, Georgia, USA,
Per DAR Lineage 33687: "...served in the revolution as a soldier. He received a land grand from the state for his service."
James Smith in the U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (image attached)
"Roll of Major John Batist Ashe's Company of the 1st N. Carolina Battalion Commanded by Colonel James Clark"
p. 24, Column 1, line 18
James Smith in the North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000
[Image attached]
[p. 54]
"Nathan Smith (1751-1816) served as private in the Georgia troops under Col Elijah Clarke. He was born and died in Wilkes County, Ga."
[pp. 250-51]
"Nathan Smith, (1751-1816), was a soldier in the battle of Kettle Creek, 1779 under Co. Elijah Clarke. He was born in Co., Ga., where he died. James Smith was a native of Scotland, who emigrated to Georgia about 1745 and served in the revolution as a soldier. He received a land grant from the state for his service."1,2
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) was mentioned in a land transaction in 1783 at Chowan Co., North Carolina, USA,
Memo:
Chowan County, North Carolina Cross Index to Deeds - Grantees 1696-1878 Vol B
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) appeared in the census of 1790 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA;
James Smith in the U.S., Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) and Mary Ann Rowan appeared in the census of 1790 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
James Smith in the 1790 United States Federal Census
There are nine SMITH households on this page.
p. 431, column 3, line 16
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) appeared in the census of 1791 at Gresham District, Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Tax Index, 1789-1799
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) left a will on 2 January 1797 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Others Listed (Name) Relationship
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) was buried in 1797 at Burial details unknown ;
From Find a Grave:
Birth 28 Apr 1724, New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, USA
Death 2 Jan 1799 (aged 74), Wilkes County, Georgia, USA
Burial Burial Details Unknown
Husband of Mary Ann Rowan (or Roane)
Father of:
Nathan Smith (1751-1816)
William Smith (1752-1774)
Jacob Smith (1764-1790)
Sarah Smith (1765-1811)
John Smith (1768-1827)
Martha "Patty" Smith (1770-1855)
Mary Smith (1774-1812)
Joseph Smith (1775-1865)
Rachel Smith (1778-1848)
Elizabeth Smith (1780-1855)
William Smith (1752-1774)
Jacob Smith (1764-1790)
Sarah Smith (1765-1811)
John Smith (1768-1827)
Martha "Patty" Smith (1770-1855)
Mary Smith (1774-1812)
Joseph Smith (1775-1865)
Rachel Smith (1778-1848)
Elizabeth Smith (1780-1855)
Family Members
Children
Jacob Smith Sr 1764–1790
Created by: Steven L. Akins
Added: Aug 6, 2021
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 230407746
The following record (see attached image) was found on Ancestry, and the Smith Cemetary is on Find A Grave, but the burial is not recorded on FaG.
James Smith in the North Carolina, U.S., Historical Records Survey, Cemetery Inscription Card Index, 1700-2018
Name James Smith
Age 74
Birth Date 1725
Burial Date 26 Dec 1799
Cemetery Smith Cemetery
Burial Place Richmond, N C.4,5
Age 74
Birth Date 1725
Burial Date 26 Dec 1799
Cemetery Smith Cemetery
Burial Place Richmond, N C.4,5
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) died between 2 January 1797 and 9 July 1799 at Washington, Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA; Presumably died between date of will and of probate.6,4
His estate was probated on 9 July 1799 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA.6
He was Research Issues
NB: The name James SMITH is obviously so common that is almost impossible to be certain that the census and land records actually apply to Maj. James SMITH (1724-1797) #101143. In some cases the time sequence is awkward: e.g., the 1790 Federal census in Craven Co., NC and then a land transaction in Wilkes Co. GA in 1791. There are also examples of people adding the Revolutionary War service records of a PA James SMITH to the NC/GA James SMITH (1724-c1797) on their family trees without addressing the contradiction.
GA Vaut.7 GAV-6.6 He was a mentioned with James Smith (Sr.) and Martha (?);
See attached PDF fileon SMITH Family.
In James Smith (Sr.)'s will dated 27 March 1745 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA, Maj. James Smith (Jr.) was named as executor;
Abstract of North Carolina Wills, 1663-1760
Correct by GA Vaut 20 July 2025 from image of actual will (attached).
SMITH, JAMES. Craven County.
March 27, 1745. April 8, 1745. Son and Executor: JAMES. Sons: John SMITH, Thomas SMITH, Daughters: MARY and MARTHA SMITH. Wife and Executrix: MARTHA. Executor: WILLIAM BRICE. Witnesses: THOMAS SMITH [brother], BENJAMIN SANDERSON, JNO. SNOAD. Proven before GAB. JOHNSTON.
March 27, 1745. April 8, 1745. Son and Executor: JAMES. Sons: John SMITH, Thomas SMITH, Daughters: MARY and MARTHA SMITH. Wife and Executrix: MARTHA. Executor: WILLIAM BRICE. Witnesses: THOMAS SMITH [brother], BENJAMIN SANDERSON, JNO. SNOAD. Proven before GAB. JOHNSTON.
James Smith in the North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998
[Image of will attached]
Detail Source
Name James Smith
Residence Place Craven, North Carolina
Will Date 27 Mar 1745
Probate Date 1745
Probate Place North Carolina, USA
Inferred Death Year 1745
Inferred Death Place North Carolina, USA
Item Description Original Wills, Reding, Joseph - Tomes, Joshua
Residence Place Craven, North Carolina
Will Date 27 Mar 1745
Probate Date 1745
Probate Place North Carolina, USA
Inferred Death Year 1745
Inferred Death Place North Carolina, USA
Item Description Original Wills, Reding, Joseph - Tomes, Joshua
Individuals Listed (Name) Relationship
James Smith
James Smith Son
John Smith Son
Thomas Smith Son
Martha Smith Daughter
Martha Smith Wife
Mary Smith Daughter
Ann Smith Wife
Thomas Smith Brother
James Dodley Wife
James Smith Son
John Smith Son
Thomas Smith Son
Martha Smith Daughter
Martha Smith Wife
Mary Smith Daughter
Ann Smith Wife
Thomas Smith Brother
James Dodley Wife
Table of Contents 5 images
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) appeared in the census of 1769 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
James Smith
in the North Carolina, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) lived before 1775 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA.3
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) and Nathan Smith began military service circa 1777 at Revolutionary War, Georgia, USA,
Per DAR Lineage 33687: "...served in the revolution as a soldier. He received a land grand from the state for his service."
James Smith in the U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (image attached)
"Roll of Major John Batist Ashe's Company of the 1st N. Carolina Battalion Commanded by Colonel James Clark"
p. 24, Column 1, line 18
Name James Smith
Gender Male
Military Date 8 Sep 1776
Date Enlisted 17 June 1777
Term 3 Years
Remarks None
Military Place North Carolina, USA
State or Army Served North Carolina
Regiment 1st Battalion
Gender Male
Military Date 8 Sep 1776
Date Enlisted 17 June 1777
Term 3 Years
Remarks None
Military Place North Carolina, USA
State or Army Served North Carolina
Regiment 1st Battalion
James Smith in the North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000
[Image attached]
Name Nathan Smith
Gender Male
Age 65
Birth Date 1751
Birth Place Wilkes, Co, GA
Death Date 1816
Death Place Wilkes, Co, GA
Father James Smith
Mother Mary
Spouse Sarah Foster
Child Elbert Smith
Gender Male
Age 65
Birth Date 1751
Birth Place Wilkes, Co, GA
Death Date 1816
Death Place Wilkes, Co, GA
Father James Smith
Mother Mary
Spouse Sarah Foster
Child Elbert Smith
[p. 54]
"Nathan Smith (1751-1816) served as private in the Georgia troops under Col Elijah Clarke. He was born and died in Wilkes County, Ga."
[pp. 250-51]
"Nathan Smith, (1751-1816), was a soldier in the battle of Kettle Creek, 1779 under Co. Elijah Clarke. He was born in Co., Ga., where he died. James Smith was a native of Scotland, who emigrated to Georgia about 1745 and served in the revolution as a soldier. He received a land grant from the state for his service."1,2
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) was mentioned in a land transaction in 1783 at Chowan Co., North Carolina, USA,
Memo:
Chowan County, North Carolina Cross Index to Deeds - Grantees 1696-1878 Vol B
1st Grantee Last Name Smith
1st Grantee First Name James
Grantor First Name James
Grantor Last Name Milligan
Year 1783
Book T1
Page # 263
Comments Transaction unreadable.10
1st Grantee First Name James
Grantor First Name James
Grantor Last Name Milligan
Year 1783
Book T1
Page # 263
Comments Transaction unreadable.10
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) appeared in the census of 1790 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA;
James Smith in the U.S., Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820
Name James Smith
Gender M (Male)
State Georgia
County Wilkes County
Residence Year 1790
Household Remarks Name on petition, 4 Feb 1793, to Gov Telfair from citizens of Wilkes Co describing men who consider invalid, land granted 8-10 years ago they have cultivated for several years. Some signers are “emigr.11
Gender M (Male)
State Georgia
County Wilkes County
Residence Year 1790
Household Remarks Name on petition, 4 Feb 1793, to Gov Telfair from citizens of Wilkes Co describing men who consider invalid, land granted 8-10 years ago they have cultivated for several years. Some signers are “emigr.11
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) and Mary Ann Rowan appeared in the census of 1790 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
James Smith in the 1790 United States Federal Census
There are nine SMITH households on this page.
p. 431, column 3, line 16
Name James Smith
Home in 1790 (City, County, State) Craven, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over 1
Free White Persons - Females 4 <==Possibly his wife, Mary and three oldest daughters: Martha 1770, Rachel 1775 and Elizabeth 1780
Number of Household Members 5.12
Home in 1790 (City, County, State) Craven, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over 1
Free White Persons - Females 4 <==Possibly his wife, Mary and three oldest daughters: Martha 1770, Rachel 1775 and Elizabeth 1780
Number of Household Members 5.12
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) appeared in the census of 1791 at Gresham District, Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Tax Index, 1789-1799
Maj. James Smith (Jr.) left a will on 2 January 1797 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Name James Smith
Residence Date Abt 1797
Residence Place Wilkes County, Georgia
Will Date 2 Jan 1797
Probate Date 2 Jan 1797 [9 Jul 1799] [1799 July 9]
Probate Place Wilkes, Georgia, USA
Inferred Death Year 1797
Inferred Death Place Georgia, USA
Item Description Will Books, 1791-1819
Residence Date Abt 1797
Residence Place Wilkes County, Georgia
Will Date 2 Jan 1797
Probate Date 2 Jan 1797 [9 Jul 1799] [1799 July 9]
Probate Place Wilkes, Georgia, USA
Inferred Death Year 1797
Inferred Death Place Georgia, USA
Item Description Will Books, 1791-1819
Others Listed (Name) Relationship
Family | Mary Ann Rowan b. 1725, d. b 2 Jan 1797 |
Children |
|
Citations
- [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 June 2025. Book Title: Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol 034, pp. 249-250. Ancestry.com. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61157/records/2060800?tid=37086144&pid=19899403736&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61157/images/46155_b290169-00260?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=2060800&treeid=37086144&personid=19899403736. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Web Site. - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Book Title: Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol 034, pp. 249-250. Ancestry.com. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61157/records/2060802?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61157/images/46155_b290169-00260?pid=2060802&treeid=195414762&personid=102541873338&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true - [S5923] "Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum", p. 1, Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum, online https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~barronfamily/genealogy/Barron/jamessmithfamily.pdf. Previously published in hard copy (n.p.: self published, 2014). Hereinafter cited as Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA. - [S2374] Find a Grave, online http://www.findagrave.com/, Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/230407746/james-smith: accessed July 19, 2025), memorial page for MAJ James Smith (28 Apr 1724–2 Jan 1799), Find a Grave Memorial ID 230407746; Burial Details Unknown; Maintained by Steven L. Akins (contributor 46996187).. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave.
- [S2374] Find a Grave, online http://www.findagrave.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Smith Family Cemetery, McBean, Richmond County, Georgia, USA - Smith Family Cemetery Memorials: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2526284/memorial-search?cemeteryName=Smith+Family+Cemetery&page=1#sr-192798141
- [S5923] Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA, online, p. 2.
- [S1549] "Author's comment", various, Gregory A. Vaut (e-mail address), to unknown recipient (unknown recipient address), 17 July 2025; unknown repository, unknown repository address. Hereinafter cited as "GA Vaut Comment."
- [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 20 July 2025. Abstract of North Carolina Wills, 1663-1760 [database Ancestry.com on-line].
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/48338/images/NCWills1-001788-345?ssrc=pt&treeid=195414762&personid=102541994835&usePUB=true&pId=299026 - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Jackson, Ron V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. North Carolina Census, 1790-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3566/records/16538545?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Gray, Timothy, comp.. Chowan County, North Carolina Cross Index to Deeds - Grantees 1696-1878 Vol B [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: North Carolina State Archives. Chowan County, North Carolina Cross Index to Deeds - Grantees 1696-1878. Vol. B. Raleigh, NC, USA: State Archives, 1696-1878.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6203/records/7399?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Document: Telamon Cuyler Collection, Manuscript #1170 [Hargrett Library, University of Georgia]; Call Number: Box 42, Folder 8; Page Number: 1; Family Number: 116. Ancestry.com. U.S., Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Census Publishing. State Census Records. West Jordan, Utah: Census Publishing, 2003-2009.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2234/records/31443?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025.
The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; First Census of the United States, 1790.; Year: 1790; Census Place: Craven, North Carolina; Series: M637; Roll: 7; Page: 431; Family History Library Film: 0568147
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5058/records/162963?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5058/images/4440913_00574?pid=162963&treeid=195414762&personid=102541873338&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Jeffery, Alice. Georgia, U.S., Tax Index, 1789-1799 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1998.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3467/records/9319?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Wills; Author: Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Wilkes County). Ancestry.com. Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Georgia County, District and Probate Courts.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8635/records/339795?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8635/images/005756824_00192?pid=339795&treeid=195414762&personid=102541873338&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true
Mary Ann Rowan1,2
F, #101144, b. 1725, d. before 2 January 1797
Charts | Ancestors - Myrtle Lee ROBERTS |
Last Edited | 19 Jul 2025 |
Mary Ann Rowan was born in 1725 at Virginia, USA.3,4 She married Maj. James Smith (Jr.), son of James Smith (Sr.) and Martha (?).1
Mary Ann Rowan died before 2 January 1797;
Per Kruschwitz no mentioned her husband's 1797 will.5
GAV-6.5 She was a mentioned with James Smith (Sr.) and Martha (?);
See attached PDF fileon SMITH Family.
Mary Ann Rowan and Maj. James Smith (Jr.) appeared in the census of 1790 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
James Smith in the 1790 United States Federal Census
There are nine SMITH households on this page.
p. 431, column 3, line 16
Mary Ann Rowan died before 2 January 1797;
Per Kruschwitz no mentioned her husband's 1797 will.5
GAV-6.5 She was a mentioned with James Smith (Sr.) and Martha (?);
See attached PDF fileon SMITH Family.
Mary Ann Rowan and Maj. James Smith (Jr.) appeared in the census of 1790 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
James Smith in the 1790 United States Federal Census
There are nine SMITH households on this page.
p. 431, column 3, line 16
Name James Smith
Home in 1790 (City, County, State) Craven, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over 1
Free White Persons - Females 4 <==Possibly his wife, Mary and three oldest daughters: Martha 1770, Rachel 1775 and Elizabeth 1780
Number of Household Members 5.6
Home in 1790 (City, County, State) Craven, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over 1
Free White Persons - Females 4 <==Possibly his wife, Mary and three oldest daughters: Martha 1770, Rachel 1775 and Elizabeth 1780
Number of Household Members 5.6
Family | Maj. James Smith (Jr.) b. 24 Apr 1724, d. bt 2 Jan 1797 - 9 Jul 1799 |
Children |
|
Citations
- [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 June 2025. Book Title: Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol 034, pp. 249-250. Ancestry.com. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61157/records/2060800?tid=37086144&pid=19899403736&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61157/images/46155_b290169-00260?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=2060800&treeid=37086144&personid=19899403736. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Web Site. - [S2374] Find a Grave, online http://www.findagrave.com/, Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/230407746/james-smith: accessed July 19, 2025), memorial page for MAJ James Smith (28 Apr 1724–2 Jan 1799), Find a Grave Memorial ID 230407746; Burial Details Unknown; Maintained by Steven L. Akins (contributor 46996187).. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave.
- [S2338] Ancestry.Com Family Trees, online http://trees.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Black Family Tree - Mary Jane "Rowan" Smith: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/195414762/person/102541994837/facts. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Family Trees.
- [S5821] Geneanet, online <https://en.geneanet.org/>, Accessed 19 July 2025. John DOBB's Family Tree: https://gw.geneanet.org/jhdobbs039?lang=en&n=rowan&p=mary&type=tree. Hereinafter cited as Geneanet.
- [S5923] "Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum", p. 2, Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum, online https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~barronfamily/genealogy/Barron/jamessmithfamily.pdf. Previously published in hard copy (n.p.: self published, 2014). Hereinafter cited as Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA. - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025.
The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; First Census of the United States, 1790.; Year: 1790; Census Place: Craven, North Carolina; Series: M637; Roll: 7; Page: 431; Family History Library Film: 0568147
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5058/records/162963?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5058/images/4440913_00574?pid=162963&treeid=195414762&personid=102541873338&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true
Ebert Smith1,2
M, #101145, b. 4 April 1783, d. 10 July 1837
Father | Nathan Smith1,2 b. bt 9 Mar 1750 - 1751, d. 30 Apr 1816 |
Mother | Sarah "Salley" Foster1,2 b. 13 Dec 1765 |
Last Edited | 19 Jun 2025 |
Ebert Smith was born on 4 April 1783 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA.2 He married Elizabeth Lybas, daughter of William Lybas, circa 1802.1,2
Ebert Smith died on 10 July 1837 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA, at age 54.2
In Nathan Smith's will dated before 17 April 1816 at Jasper Co., Georgia, USA, Ebert Smith was named as executor;
Transcription of will and condicil from Webb Family Tree:
[quote]In the name of God, Amen. I, Nathan Smith of the County of Wilkes and State of Georgia, being low in health, but of a perfect sound mind & memory, knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die do make, constitute and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following: my soul I give to God who gave it me, my body commit to the earth from whence it was taken, to be buried without pomp at the discretion of my Executors hereafter named, and first I will that all my just debts to be justly paid, after which of such goods or chattels as God has blessed me with I give and bequeath in manner and form following.
Item. I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Salley Smith during her natural life all my possessions goods & chattels comprehending my whole Estate without any exception whatsoever and after her death my aforenamed Estate as lands or possessions, goods & chattels of every description whatsoever to be equally divided amongst the lawful heirs of the body with this exception: that whereas to some of my children I have already given some property which said property is to be valued and the same shall stand and be considered as constituting part of the then so divided Estate; and lastly I appoint my beloved wife Salley Smith, my son Elburd [Elbert] Smith, my son-in law James Dorouger [Dorough] Executors to this my last will and testament revoking and making void, annulling all former[ly] wills or testaments by me ever made allowing this and only this to be my last will and testament. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this twentieth day of April in the year of Christ, One thousand eight hundred and fourteen. Signed and sealed in the presence of us who in his presence and in the presence of each other saw him sign and seal this as his will and testament.
Nathan Smith /seal/
B. Moore
Saml. Rice
Joseph Hurley
Recorded the 17th of April 1816. I, Nathan Smith, in reconsideration of my last will and testament above have thought proper to add this supplement in order to have my desires more fully known, as I have given to my son-in-law Charles Phillips property to the amount of forty seven dollars, it to be considered his part in full of my Estate, and I make and constitute his children by his first wife, my daughter Sally heir to a distributive share or child’s part of my Estate, excepting forty seven dollars of the legacy given to them for them to be directed and the balance of the legacy to be delivered them by my Executors when the children separately come of age and apply for it. Signed & sealed this twenty-seventh day of April One thousand eight hundred and sixteen.
Nathan Smith /seal/
Isaac Langdon
Benjamin Powell
Sam C. Rice[end quote]
Georgia. Wilkes County. Personally appeared in open court Bernard Moore and Sal. Rice two of the subscribing witnesses to the within will and being duly sworn sayeth that they saw the with names Nathan Smith sign, seal and publish & declare the will to be his last will & testament and that at the time of his so doing he was of sound and disposing mind & memory and that Jos. Harley subscribed as a concurring evidence to the same in the presence and at the request in the presence of the estate.
Sworn to in open court this 1st July 1816
B. Moore
Saml. Rice.3
Ebert Smith appeared in the census of 1830 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA; Owned 18 slaves.2
Ebert Smith died on 10 July 1837 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA, at age 54.2
In Nathan Smith's will dated before 17 April 1816 at Jasper Co., Georgia, USA, Ebert Smith was named as executor;
Transcription of will and condicil from Webb Family Tree:
[quote]In the name of God, Amen. I, Nathan Smith of the County of Wilkes and State of Georgia, being low in health, but of a perfect sound mind & memory, knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die do make, constitute and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following: my soul I give to God who gave it me, my body commit to the earth from whence it was taken, to be buried without pomp at the discretion of my Executors hereafter named, and first I will that all my just debts to be justly paid, after which of such goods or chattels as God has blessed me with I give and bequeath in manner and form following.
Item. I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Salley Smith during her natural life all my possessions goods & chattels comprehending my whole Estate without any exception whatsoever and after her death my aforenamed Estate as lands or possessions, goods & chattels of every description whatsoever to be equally divided amongst the lawful heirs of the body with this exception: that whereas to some of my children I have already given some property which said property is to be valued and the same shall stand and be considered as constituting part of the then so divided Estate; and lastly I appoint my beloved wife Salley Smith, my son Elburd [Elbert] Smith, my son-in law James Dorouger [Dorough] Executors to this my last will and testament revoking and making void, annulling all former[ly] wills or testaments by me ever made allowing this and only this to be my last will and testament. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this twentieth day of April in the year of Christ, One thousand eight hundred and fourteen. Signed and sealed in the presence of us who in his presence and in the presence of each other saw him sign and seal this as his will and testament.
Nathan Smith /seal/
B. Moore
Saml. Rice
Joseph Hurley
Recorded the 17th of April 1816. I, Nathan Smith, in reconsideration of my last will and testament above have thought proper to add this supplement in order to have my desires more fully known, as I have given to my son-in-law Charles Phillips property to the amount of forty seven dollars, it to be considered his part in full of my Estate, and I make and constitute his children by his first wife, my daughter Sally heir to a distributive share or child’s part of my Estate, excepting forty seven dollars of the legacy given to them for them to be directed and the balance of the legacy to be delivered them by my Executors when the children separately come of age and apply for it. Signed & sealed this twenty-seventh day of April One thousand eight hundred and sixteen.
Nathan Smith /seal/
Isaac Langdon
Benjamin Powell
Sam C. Rice[end quote]
Georgia. Wilkes County. Personally appeared in open court Bernard Moore and Sal. Rice two of the subscribing witnesses to the within will and being duly sworn sayeth that they saw the with names Nathan Smith sign, seal and publish & declare the will to be his last will & testament and that at the time of his so doing he was of sound and disposing mind & memory and that Jos. Harley subscribed as a concurring evidence to the same in the presence and at the request in the presence of the estate.
Sworn to in open court this 1st July 1816
B. Moore
Saml. Rice.3
Ebert Smith appeared in the census of 1830 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA; Owned 18 slaves.2
Family | Elizabeth Lybas |
Child |
|
Citations
- [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 June 2025. Book Title: Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol 034, pp. 249-250. Ancestry.com. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61157/records/2060800?tid=37086144&pid=19899403736&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61157/images/46155_b290169-00260?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=2060800&treeid=37086144&personid=19899403736. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Web Site. - [S5923] "Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum", p. 15, Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum, online https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~barronfamily/genealogy/Barron/jamessmithfamily.pdf. Previously published in hard copy (n.p.: self published, 2014). Hereinafter cited as Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA. - [S2338] Ancestry.Com Family Trees, online http://trees.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 June 2025. Webb Family Tree - Gallery for Nathan Smith REVWAR: https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/37086144/person/19899403736/media/eaf538d2-c0c8-4f75-9c59-990799a2be94?galleryindex=1&sort=-created. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Family Trees.
James Smith (Sr.)1,2
M, #101149, b. circa 1700, d. between 27 March 1745 and 8 April 1745
Charts | Ancestors - Myrtle Lee ROBERTS |
Reference | GAV7 |
Last Edited | 20 Jul 2025 |
James Smith (Sr.) was born circa 1700 at England.2,3,4 He married Martha (?) on 24 April 1718 at Childwall, Lancashire, England,
;
I have no definitive proof that this marriage is the correct one. It seems that this "Martha EATON" [sic] is the source of the maiden name "HEATON" for James' wife.
Marriage Record #1: John Smith in the England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973
Name John Smith
Gender Male
Marriage Date 24 Apr 1718
Marriage Place Childwall,Lancashire,England
Spouse Martha Eaton
FHL Film Number 0844821 IT 2, 93694
Marriage Record #2: John Smith
in the Lancashire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
James Smith (Sr.) died between 27 March 1745 and 8 April 1745 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
Presumably died between date of will and date of probate thereor.7
His estate was probated on 8 April 1745 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA.7
He was Research Issues
NB: Again, the name James SMITH is obviously so common that is almost impossible to be certain that the census and land records actually apply to James SMITH I (the immigrant, c1700-1745) #101149. For example, one Ancestry family tree lists vice different English marriage records, one of which might be for James I and his wife Martha (HEATON?). I do not mean to disparage the work of the authors of these Family trees. After nearly 60 years of genealogical research myself, I know how had it is to find the time to really assess and (in some cases) reject spurious connections. Ancestry's AI model doesn't really help this.
GA Vaut.2,8
Reference:
See attached PDF fileon SMITH Family. GAV-7.
;
per Kruschwitz: "Mr. Seder identifies James Smith as the son of James and Martha smith, per th will of the elder James Smith in 1745". Source: A Smith Family Odyssey, by Arthur R. Seder Jr., Geneaology Publishing Service, 1999.1
James Smith (Sr.) immigrated circa 1725 to Georgia, USA;
Per DAR Lineage 33687: "James Smith was a native of Scotland."9
James Smith (Sr.) left a will on 27 March 1745 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
Abstract of North Carolina Wills, 1663-1760
Correct by GA Vaut 20 July 2025 from image of actual will (attached).
James Smith in the North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998
[Image of will attached]
Detail Source
Individuals Listed (Name) Relationship
Table of Contents 5 images
;
I have no definitive proof that this marriage is the correct one. It seems that this "Martha EATON" [sic] is the source of the maiden name "HEATON" for James' wife.
Marriage Record #1: John Smith in the England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973
Name John Smith
Gender Male
Marriage Date 24 Apr 1718
Marriage Place Childwall,Lancashire,England
Spouse Martha Eaton
FHL Film Number 0844821 IT 2, 93694
Marriage Record #2: John Smith
in the Lancashire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
Name John Smith
Marriage Date 24 Apr 1718
Parish Childwall, All Saints, Lancashire, England
Spouse's Name Martha Eaton
Register Type Bishops Transcripts
Reference Number Drl/2/8.1,5,6
Marriage Date 24 Apr 1718
Parish Childwall, All Saints, Lancashire, England
Spouse's Name Martha Eaton
Register Type Bishops Transcripts
Reference Number Drl/2/8.1,5,6
James Smith (Sr.) died between 27 March 1745 and 8 April 1745 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
Presumably died between date of will and date of probate thereor.7
His estate was probated on 8 April 1745 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA.7
He was Research Issues
NB: Again, the name James SMITH is obviously so common that is almost impossible to be certain that the census and land records actually apply to James SMITH I (the immigrant, c1700-1745) #101149. For example, one Ancestry family tree lists vice different English marriage records, one of which might be for James I and his wife Martha (HEATON?). I do not mean to disparage the work of the authors of these Family trees. After nearly 60 years of genealogical research myself, I know how had it is to find the time to really assess and (in some cases) reject spurious connections. Ancestry's AI model doesn't really help this.
GA Vaut.2,8
Reference:
See attached PDF fileon SMITH Family. GAV-7.
;
per Kruschwitz: "Mr. Seder identifies James Smith as the son of James and Martha smith, per th will of the elder James Smith in 1745". Source: A Smith Family Odyssey, by Arthur R. Seder Jr., Geneaology Publishing Service, 1999.1
James Smith (Sr.) immigrated circa 1725 to Georgia, USA;
Per DAR Lineage 33687: "James Smith was a native of Scotland."9
James Smith (Sr.) left a will on 27 March 1745 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
Abstract of North Carolina Wills, 1663-1760
Correct by GA Vaut 20 July 2025 from image of actual will (attached).
SMITH, JAMES. Craven County.
March 27, 1745. April 8, 1745. Son and Executor: JAMES. Sons: John SMITH, Thomas SMITH, Daughters: MARY and MARTHA SMITH. Wife and Executrix: MARTHA. Executor: WILLIAM BRICE. Witnesses: THOMAS SMITH [brother], BENJAMIN SANDERSON, JNO. SNOAD. Proven before GAB. JOHNSTON.
March 27, 1745. April 8, 1745. Son and Executor: JAMES. Sons: John SMITH, Thomas SMITH, Daughters: MARY and MARTHA SMITH. Wife and Executrix: MARTHA. Executor: WILLIAM BRICE. Witnesses: THOMAS SMITH [brother], BENJAMIN SANDERSON, JNO. SNOAD. Proven before GAB. JOHNSTON.
James Smith in the North Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998
[Image of will attached]
Detail Source
Name James Smith
Residence Place Craven, North Carolina
Will Date 27 Mar 1745
Probate Date 1745
Probate Place North Carolina, USA
Inferred Death Year 1745
Inferred Death Place North Carolina, USA
Item Description Original Wills, Reding, Joseph - Tomes, Joshua
Residence Place Craven, North Carolina
Will Date 27 Mar 1745
Probate Date 1745
Probate Place North Carolina, USA
Inferred Death Year 1745
Inferred Death Place North Carolina, USA
Item Description Original Wills, Reding, Joseph - Tomes, Joshua
Individuals Listed (Name) Relationship
James Smith
James Smith Son
John Smith Son
Thomas Smith Son
Martha Smith Daughter
Martha Smith Wife
Mary Smith Daughter
Ann Smith Wife
Thomas Smith Brother
James Dodley Wife
James Smith Son
John Smith Son
Thomas Smith Son
Martha Smith Daughter
Martha Smith Wife
Mary Smith Daughter
Ann Smith Wife
Thomas Smith Brother
James Dodley Wife
Table of Contents 5 images
Family | Martha (?) b. 28 Jan 1697, d. 1792 |
Children |
Citations
- [S5923] "Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum", p. 1, Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum, online https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~barronfamily/genealogy/Barron/jamessmithfamily.pdf. Previously published in hard copy (n.p.: self published, 2014). Hereinafter cited as Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA. - [S2338] Ancestry.Com Family Trees, online http://trees.ancestry.com/, Accessed 20 July 2025. Black Family Tree - James Smith: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/195414762/person/102541994835/facts. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Family Trees.
- [S5821] Geneanet, online <https://en.geneanet.org/>, Accessed 19 July 2025. John DOBB's Family Tree: https://gw.geneanet.org/jhdobbs039?lang=en&n=smith&oc=1&p=james&type=tree. Hereinafter cited as Geneanet.
- [S5821] Geneanet, online https://en.geneanet.org/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Hailey FRITZ's Family Tree: https://gw.geneanet.org/fritzrhailey?lang=en&n=smith&oc=2&p=james&type=tree
- [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Marriage Record #1: Accessed 20 July 2025. Ancestry.com. England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England, Marriages, 1538–1973. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9852/records/33774033?tid=195414762&pid=102541994835&ssrc=pt. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Web Site. - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Marriage Record #2: Accessed 20 July 2025. Ancestry.com. Lancashire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Lancashire Anglican Parish Registers. Preston, England: Lancashire Archives.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2478/records/55615608?tid=195414762&pid=102541994835&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2478/images/4421481_00742?pid=55615608&treeid=195414762&personid=102541994835&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 20 July 2025. Abstract of North Carolina Wills, 1663-1760 [database Ancestry.com on-line].
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/48338/images/NCWills1-001788-345?ssrc=pt&treeid=195414762&personid=102541994835&usePUB=true&pId=299026 - [S1549] "Author's comment", various, Gregory A. Vaut (e-mail address), to unknown recipient (unknown recipient address), 20 July 2025; unknown repository, unknown repository address. Hereinafter cited as "GA Vaut Comment."
- [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 June 2025. Book Title: Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol 034, pp. 249-250. Ancestry.com. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61157/records/2060800?tid=37086144&pid=19899403736&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61157/images/46155_b290169-00260?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=2060800&treeid=37086144&personid=19899403736 - [S5923] Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA, online, p. 2.
Martha (?)1
F, #101150, b. 28 January 1697, d. 1792
Charts | Ancestors - Myrtle Lee ROBERTS |
Last Edited | 20 Jul 2025 |
Martha (?) was born on 28 January 1697 at Saint Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire, England;
Martha Eaton in the Cheshire, England, Parish Registers, 1538-1909
Martha Eaton in the England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Martha Eaton in the Lancashire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
Martha Eaton
in the Liverpool, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1659-1812
She was baptized on 3 February 1697 at Saint Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire, England.2,4 She married James Smith (Sr.) on 24 April 1718 at Childwall, Lancashire, England,
;
I have no definitive proof that this marriage is the correct one. It seems that this "Martha EATON" [sic] is the source of the maiden name "HEATON" for James' wife.
Marriage Record #1: John Smith in the England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973
Name John Smith
Gender Male
Marriage Date 24 Apr 1718
Marriage Place Childwall,Lancashire,England
Spouse Martha Eaton
FHL Film Number 0844821 IT 2, 93694
Marriage Record #2: John Smith
in the Lancashire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
Martha (?) died in 1792 at North Carolina, USA.8,9
;
per Kruschwitz: "Mr. Seder identifies James Smith as the son of James and Martha smith, per th will of the elder James Smith in 1745". Source: A Smith Family Odyssey, by Arthur R. Seder Jr., Geneaology Publishing Service, 1999.1 GAV-7.
Reference:
See attached PDF fileon SMITH Family. Martha (?) was also known as Martha Heaton.9,8,10 Martha (?) was also known as Martha Eaton All Church records give her surname as EATON.6,7,4,3,2
Martha Eaton in the Cheshire, England, Parish Registers, 1538-1909
Name Martha Eaton
Gender Female
Record Type Christening (Baptism)
Birth Date 28 Jan 1697
Baptism Date 3 Feb 1697
Baptism Place Cheshire, England
Residence Place Cheshire, England
Father Joseph Eaton
Gender Female
Record Type Christening (Baptism)
Birth Date 28 Jan 1697
Baptism Date 3 Feb 1697
Baptism Place Cheshire, England
Residence Place Cheshire, England
Father Joseph Eaton
Martha Eaton in the England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Name Martha Eaton
Gender Female
Birth Date 28 Jan 1697
Birth Place Saint Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Baptism Date 3 Feb 1697
Baptism Place Saint Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Father Joseph Eaton
FHL Film Number 1068887
Reference ID item 2
Gender Female
Birth Date 28 Jan 1697
Birth Place Saint Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Baptism Date 3 Feb 1697
Baptism Place Saint Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Father Joseph Eaton
FHL Film Number 1068887
Reference ID item 2
Martha Eaton in the Lancashire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
Name Martha Eaton
Birth Date 28 Jan 1698
Baptism Date 3 Feb 1698
Parish Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Father's Name Joseph Eaton
Register Type Bishops Transcripts
Reference Number DRL/2/47
Birth Date 28 Jan 1698
Baptism Date 3 Feb 1698
Parish Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Father's Name Joseph Eaton
Register Type Bishops Transcripts
Reference Number DRL/2/47
Martha Eaton
in the Liverpool, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1659-1812
Name Martha Eaton
Baptism Age 0
Event Type Baptism
Birth Date 28 Jan 1697
Baptism Date 3 Feb 1697
Baptism Place Liverpool, St Nicholas, Lancashire, England
Father Joseph Eaton.2,3,4,5
Baptism Age 0
Event Type Baptism
Birth Date 28 Jan 1697
Baptism Date 3 Feb 1697
Baptism Place Liverpool, St Nicholas, Lancashire, England
Father Joseph Eaton.2,3,4,5
She was baptized on 3 February 1697 at Saint Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire, England.2,4 She married James Smith (Sr.) on 24 April 1718 at Childwall, Lancashire, England,
;
I have no definitive proof that this marriage is the correct one. It seems that this "Martha EATON" [sic] is the source of the maiden name "HEATON" for James' wife.
Marriage Record #1: John Smith in the England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973
Name John Smith
Gender Male
Marriage Date 24 Apr 1718
Marriage Place Childwall,Lancashire,England
Spouse Martha Eaton
FHL Film Number 0844821 IT 2, 93694
Marriage Record #2: John Smith
in the Lancashire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
Name John Smith
Marriage Date 24 Apr 1718
Parish Childwall, All Saints, Lancashire, England
Spouse's Name Martha Eaton
Register Type Bishops Transcripts
Reference Number Drl/2/8.1,6,7
Marriage Date 24 Apr 1718
Parish Childwall, All Saints, Lancashire, England
Spouse's Name Martha Eaton
Register Type Bishops Transcripts
Reference Number Drl/2/8.1,6,7
Martha (?) died in 1792 at North Carolina, USA.8,9
;
per Kruschwitz: "Mr. Seder identifies James Smith as the son of James and Martha smith, per th will of the elder James Smith in 1745". Source: A Smith Family Odyssey, by Arthur R. Seder Jr., Geneaology Publishing Service, 1999.1 GAV-7.
Reference:
See attached PDF fileon SMITH Family. Martha (?) was also known as Martha Heaton.9,8,10 Martha (?) was also known as Martha Eaton All Church records give her surname as EATON.6,7,4,3,2
Family | James Smith (Sr.) b. c 1700, d. bt 27 Mar 1745 - 8 Apr 1745 |
Children |
Citations
- [S5923] "Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum", p. 1, Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum, online https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~barronfamily/genealogy/Barron/jamessmithfamily.pdf. Previously published in hard copy (n.p.: self published, 2014). Hereinafter cited as Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA. - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 20 July 2025. Ancestry.com. Cheshire, England, Parish Registers, 1538-1909 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT. USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018. Original data: Church of England. Record Office Chester, England.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61760/records/1667547?tid=195414762&pid=102541994836&ssrc=pt. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Web Site. - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 20 July 2025. Ancestry.com. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9841/records/135958193?tid=195414762&pid=102541994836&ssrc=pt - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 20 July 2025. Ancestry.com. Lancashire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Lancashire Anglican Parish Registers. Preston, England: Lancashire Archives.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2478/records/58441833
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2478/images/4421914_00166?pid=58441833&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 20 July 2025. Ancestry.com. Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: 283 NIC/1/2. Ancestry.com. Liverpool, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1659-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Liverpool Registers. Liverpool, England: Liverpool Record Office.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2247/records/2250593
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2247/images/engl56170_283-nic-1-2_m_00036?pid=2250593&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Marriage Record #1: Accessed 20 July 2025. Ancestry.com. England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: England, Marriages, 1538–1973. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9852/records/33774033?tid=195414762&pid=102541994835&ssrc=pt - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Marriage Record #2: Accessed 20 July 2025. Ancestry.com. Lancashire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Lancashire Anglican Parish Registers. Preston, England: Lancashire Archives.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2478/records/55615608?tid=195414762&pid=102541994835&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2478/images/4421481_00742?pid=55615608&treeid=195414762&personid=102541994835&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true - [S5821] Geneanet, online <https://en.geneanet.org/>, Accessed 19 July 2025. John DOBB's Family Tree: https://gw.geneanet.org/jhdobbs039?lang=en&n=heaton&oc=0&p=martha&type=tree. Hereinafter cited as Geneanet.
- [S5821] Geneanet, online https://en.geneanet.org/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Hailey FRITZ's Family Tree: https://gw.geneanet.org/fritzrhailey?lang=en&n=heaton&oc=0&p=martha&type=tree
- [S2338] Ancestry.Com Family Trees, online http://trees.ancestry.com/, Accessed 20 July 2025. Black Family Tree - Martha Heaton: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/195414762/person/102541994836/facts. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Family Trees.
- [S5923] Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA, online, p. 2.
John Smith1
M, #101156, b. between 1767 and 1769, d. 16 June 1827
Father | Maj. James Smith (Jr.)1 b. 24 Apr 1724, d. bt 2 Jan 1797 - 9 Jul 1799 |
Mother | Mary Ann Rowan1 b. 1725, d. b 2 Jan 1797 |
Last Edited | 19 Jun 2025 |
John Smith married Prudence(?) Barron
;
Per Kruschwitz: "probably" his 1st of 2 wives.2 John Smith was born between 1767 and 1769.2 He married Nancy Simmons on 11 December 1811 at Putnam Co., Georgia, USA,
;
Per Kruschwitz: "probably" his 2nd of 2 wives.2
John Smith died on 16 June 1827 at Jones Co., Georgia, USA.2
John Smith lived;
Per Kruschwitz: "the family resided in Wilkes, Hancock, Baldwin/Putnam, and Jones Counties, GA."2
;
Per Kruschwitz name in father's 1797 will.1
In Maj. James Smith (Jr.)'s will dated 2 January 1797 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA, John Smith was named as executor;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Others Listed (Name) Relationship
;
Per Kruschwitz: "probably" his 1st of 2 wives.2 John Smith was born between 1767 and 1769.2 He married Nancy Simmons on 11 December 1811 at Putnam Co., Georgia, USA,
;
Per Kruschwitz: "probably" his 2nd of 2 wives.2
John Smith died on 16 June 1827 at Jones Co., Georgia, USA.2
John Smith lived;
Per Kruschwitz: "the family resided in Wilkes, Hancock, Baldwin/Putnam, and Jones Counties, GA."2
;
Per Kruschwitz name in father's 1797 will.1
In Maj. James Smith (Jr.)'s will dated 2 January 1797 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA, John Smith was named as executor;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Name James Smith
Residence Date Abt 1797
Residence Place Wilkes County, Georgia
Will Date 2 Jan 1797
Probate Date 2 Jan 1797 [9 Jul 1799] [1799 July 9]
Probate Place Wilkes, Georgia, USA
Inferred Death Year 1797
Inferred Death Place Georgia, USA
Item Description Will Books, 1791-1819
Residence Date Abt 1797
Residence Place Wilkes County, Georgia
Will Date 2 Jan 1797
Probate Date 2 Jan 1797 [9 Jul 1799] [1799 July 9]
Probate Place Wilkes, Georgia, USA
Inferred Death Year 1797
Inferred Death Place Georgia, USA
Item Description Will Books, 1791-1819
Others Listed (Name) Relationship
Family 1 | Prudence(?) Barron |
Family 2 | Nancy Simmons |
Citations
- [S5923] "Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum", p. 2, Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum, online https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~barronfamily/genealogy/Barron/jamessmithfamily.pdf. Previously published in hard copy (n.p.: self published, 2014). Hereinafter cited as Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA. - [S5923] Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA, online, p. 3.
- [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Wills; Author: Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Wilkes County). Ancestry.com. Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Georgia County, District and Probate Courts.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8635/records/339795?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8635/images/005756824_00192?pid=339795&treeid=195414762&personid=102541873338&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Web Site.
Joseph Smith1
M, #101157, b. circa 1775, d. 10 December 1865
Father | Maj. James Smith (Jr.)1 b. 24 Apr 1724, d. bt 2 Jan 1797 - 9 Jul 1799 |
Mother | Mary Ann Rowan1 b. 1725, d. b 2 Jan 1797 |
Last Edited | 19 Jun 2025 |
Joseph Smith was born circa 1775.2 He married Polly Foster on 4 December 1799 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA,
;
Per Kruschwitz: his 1st of 2 wives.2 Joseph Smith married Martha Guthrey Andrews on 30 January 1848 at Henry Co., Georgia, USA,
;
Per Kruschwitz: his 2nd of 2 wives.2
Joseph Smith died on 10 December 1865.2
;
Per Kruschwitz name in father's 1797 will.1
In Maj. James Smith (Jr.)'s will dated 2 January 1797 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA, Joseph Smith was named as an heir;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Others Listed (Name) Relationship
;
Per Kruschwitz: his 1st of 2 wives.2 Joseph Smith married Martha Guthrey Andrews on 30 January 1848 at Henry Co., Georgia, USA,
;
Per Kruschwitz: his 2nd of 2 wives.2
Joseph Smith died on 10 December 1865.2
;
Per Kruschwitz name in father's 1797 will.1
In Maj. James Smith (Jr.)'s will dated 2 January 1797 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA, Joseph Smith was named as an heir;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Name James Smith
Residence Date Abt 1797
Residence Place Wilkes County, Georgia
Will Date 2 Jan 1797
Probate Date 2 Jan 1797 [9 Jul 1799] [1799 July 9]
Probate Place Wilkes, Georgia, USA
Inferred Death Year 1797
Inferred Death Place Georgia, USA
Item Description Will Books, 1791-1819
Residence Date Abt 1797
Residence Place Wilkes County, Georgia
Will Date 2 Jan 1797
Probate Date 2 Jan 1797 [9 Jul 1799] [1799 July 9]
Probate Place Wilkes, Georgia, USA
Inferred Death Year 1797
Inferred Death Place Georgia, USA
Item Description Will Books, 1791-1819
Others Listed (Name) Relationship
Family 1 | Polly Foster |
Family 2 | Martha Guthrey Andrews |
Citations
- [S5923] "Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum", p. 2, Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum, online https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~barronfamily/genealogy/Barron/jamessmithfamily.pdf. Previously published in hard copy (n.p.: self published, 2014). Hereinafter cited as Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA. - [S5923] Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA, online, p. 3.
- [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Wills; Author: Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Wilkes County). Ancestry.com. Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Georgia County, District and Probate Courts.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8635/records/339795?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8635/images/005756824_00192?pid=339795&treeid=195414762&personid=102541873338&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Web Site.
Jacob Smith1
M, #101158, b. 1764, d. December 1790
Father | Maj. James Smith (Jr.)1 b. 24 Apr 1724, d. bt 2 Jan 1797 - 9 Jul 1799 |
Mother | Mary Ann Rowan1 b. 1725, d. b 2 Jan 1797 |
Last Edited | 19 Jul 2025 |
Jacob Smith was born in 1764 at North Carolina, USA; Kruschwitz [2014] says b. bef 1765. FaG says b. 1764.2,3 He married Susannah Thompson, daughter of Benjamin Thompson, in 1780
;
Her 1st of 2 husbands.2,3
Jacob Smith died in December 1790 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA;
Per Kruschwitz name in father's 1797 will as deceased. Per Kruschwitz: "d. late 1790/early 1791."3,1
Jacob Smith was buried after December 1790 at Burial details unknown ;
From Find a Grave:
Birth 1764, North Carolina, USA
Death Dec 1790 (aged 25–26), Wilkes County, Georgia, USA
Burial Burial Details Unknown
Son of Maj. James Smith and his wife Mary (Rowan/Roane) Smith.
Husband of Susannah Thompson (1766-1830)
Father of :
Killed by "Torries" in Georgia.
Family Members
Parents
MAJ James Smith 1724–1799
Spouse
Susannah Thompson Smith McIntosh 1766–1831 (m. 1780)
Children
Jacob Smith II 1783–1862
John H. Smith Sr 1788–1882
Created by: Steven L. Akins
Added: Nov 10, 2020
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 218368931.3
;
Per Kruschwitz name in father's 1797 will.1
In Maj. James Smith (Jr.)'s will dated 2 January 1797 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA, Jacob Smith was named as an heir;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Others Listed (Name) Relationship
;
Her 1st of 2 husbands.2,3
Jacob Smith died in December 1790 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA;
Per Kruschwitz name in father's 1797 will as deceased. Per Kruschwitz: "d. late 1790/early 1791."3,1
Jacob Smith was buried after December 1790 at Burial details unknown ;
From Find a Grave:
Birth 1764, North Carolina, USA
Death Dec 1790 (aged 25–26), Wilkes County, Georgia, USA
Burial Burial Details Unknown
Son of Maj. James Smith and his wife Mary (Rowan/Roane) Smith.
Husband of Susannah Thompson (1766-1830)
Father of :
Jacob Smith (1783-1862), m. Margaret Childers
Salatha Smith (1784-1846), m. Holland Watts
James Smith (1786-1850), m. Frances Brooks
John H. Smith (1788-1882), m. Lucy Dunn
Salatha Smith (1784-1846), m. Holland Watts
James Smith (1786-1850), m. Frances Brooks
John H. Smith (1788-1882), m. Lucy Dunn
Killed by "Torries" in Georgia.
Family Members
Parents
MAJ James Smith 1724–1799
Spouse
Susannah Thompson Smith McIntosh 1766–1831 (m. 1780)
Children
Jacob Smith II 1783–1862
John H. Smith Sr 1788–1882
Created by: Steven L. Akins
Added: Nov 10, 2020
Find a Grave Memorial ID: 218368931.3
;
Per Kruschwitz name in father's 1797 will.1
In Maj. James Smith (Jr.)'s will dated 2 January 1797 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA, Jacob Smith was named as an heir;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Name James Smith
Residence Date Abt 1797
Residence Place Wilkes County, Georgia
Will Date 2 Jan 1797
Probate Date 2 Jan 1797 [9 Jul 1799] [1799 July 9]
Probate Place Wilkes, Georgia, USA
Inferred Death Year 1797
Inferred Death Place Georgia, USA
Item Description Will Books, 1791-1819
Residence Date Abt 1797
Residence Place Wilkes County, Georgia
Will Date 2 Jan 1797
Probate Date 2 Jan 1797 [9 Jul 1799] [1799 July 9]
Probate Place Wilkes, Georgia, USA
Inferred Death Year 1797
Inferred Death Place Georgia, USA
Item Description Will Books, 1791-1819
Others Listed (Name) Relationship
Family | Susannah Thompson b. 1766, d. 1831 |
Children |
|
Citations
- [S5923] "Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum", p. 2, Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum, online https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~barronfamily/genealogy/Barron/jamessmithfamily.pdf. Previously published in hard copy (n.p.: self published, 2014). Hereinafter cited as Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA. - [S5923] Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA, online, p. 3.
- [S2374] Find a Grave, online http://www.findagrave.com/, Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/218368931/jacob-smith: accessed July 19, 2025), memorial page for Jacob Smith Sr. (1764–Dec 1790), Find a Grave Memorial ID 218368931; Burial Details Unknown; Maintained by Steven L. Akins (contributor 46996187).. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave.
- [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Wills; Author: Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Wilkes County). Ancestry.com. Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Georgia County, District and Probate Courts.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8635/records/339795?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8635/images/005756824_00192?pid=339795&treeid=195414762&personid=102541873338&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Web Site.
Martha "Patty" Smith1
F, #101159, b. 14 March 1770, d. after 1854
Father | Maj. James Smith (Jr.)1 b. 24 Apr 1724, d. bt 2 Jan 1797 - 9 Jul 1799 |
Mother | Mary Ann Rowan1 b. 1725, d. b 2 Jan 1797 |
Last Edited | 19 Jun 2025 |
Martha "Patty" Smith was born on 14 March 1770 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA.1 She married William Barron (Jr.), son of William Barron (Sr.) and Prudence Davis, circa 1790.1
Martha "Patty" Smith died after 1854 at Butts Co., Georgia, USA.1
;
Per Kruschwitz name in father's 1797 will.1
Martha "Patty" Smith was listed as a resident in Maj. James Smith (Jr.) and Mary Ann Rowan's household in the census report in 1790 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
James Smith in the 1790 United States Federal Census
There are nine SMITH households on this page.
p. 431, column 3, line 16
In Maj. James Smith (Jr.)'s will dated 2 January 1797 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA, Martha "Patty" Smith was named as an heir;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Others Listed (Name) Relationship
Martha "Patty" Smith died after 1854 at Butts Co., Georgia, USA.1
;
Per Kruschwitz name in father's 1797 will.1
Martha "Patty" Smith was listed as a resident in Maj. James Smith (Jr.) and Mary Ann Rowan's household in the census report in 1790 at Craven Co., North Carolina, USA;
James Smith in the 1790 United States Federal Census
There are nine SMITH households on this page.
p. 431, column 3, line 16
Name James Smith
Home in 1790 (City, County, State) Craven, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over 1
Free White Persons - Females 4 <==Possibly his wife, Mary and three oldest daughters: Martha 1770, Rachel 1775 and Elizabeth 1780
Number of Household Members 5.2
Home in 1790 (City, County, State) Craven, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over 1
Free White Persons - Females 4 <==Possibly his wife, Mary and three oldest daughters: Martha 1770, Rachel 1775 and Elizabeth 1780
Number of Household Members 5.2
In Maj. James Smith (Jr.)'s will dated 2 January 1797 at Wilkes Co., Georgia, USA, Martha "Patty" Smith was named as an heir;
James Smith in the Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Name James Smith
Residence Date Abt 1797
Residence Place Wilkes County, Georgia
Will Date 2 Jan 1797
Probate Date 2 Jan 1797 [9 Jul 1799] [1799 July 9]
Probate Place Wilkes, Georgia, USA
Inferred Death Year 1797
Inferred Death Place Georgia, USA
Item Description Will Books, 1791-1819
Residence Date Abt 1797
Residence Place Wilkes County, Georgia
Will Date 2 Jan 1797
Probate Date 2 Jan 1797 [9 Jul 1799] [1799 July 9]
Probate Place Wilkes, Georgia, USA
Inferred Death Year 1797
Inferred Death Place Georgia, USA
Item Description Will Books, 1791-1819
Others Listed (Name) Relationship
Family | William Barron (Jr.) |
Citations
- [S5923] "Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum", p. 2, Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Georgia: Wilkes County: A Smith Family Odyssey, Chapter 5
http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/wilkes/bios/smith5.txt
CHAPTER FIVE
NATHAN SMITH AND HIS TIMES
Nathan Smith is better known to history than many of Mittie Olivia Smith's forbears. His record of Revolutionary War experience provides some of the details of his life; the land and tax records of Wilkes County include many references; he left a Will that tells us about his family and something about his lifestyle; and the records of the administration of his Will provide still more information. Considering the fact that Nathan was a farmer without pretensions to public life or office, it is possible to piece together a fair indication of who he was and how he lived.
Nathan Smith was born in 1750/51 according to his Revolutionary War record. As noted in Chapter One, he is thought to have emigrated to Georgia with his father, James Smith, shortly before the Revolutionary War. After the war he received several warrants signed by General Elijah Clarke entitling him to land being parceled out to those who had fought for the Patriot cause. He also received a headright grant in the period 1783-1785.
The available record of Nathan Smith's ownership of land begins in 1786, when he is listed in the Wilkes County tax records as owning 200 acres of second quality oak and hickory land on Beaverdam Creek. However, it appears that Nathan did not actually acquire title to the land until September 1789, when it was conveyed to him by his wife's parents, William and Phoebe Foster, for £50 (Deed Book GG 215). The land in question, on which the Fosters lived, had been granted to Foster by the Governor in 1788. The records show that William Foster was also granted 550 acres of land on Beaverdam Creek in 1784 and additional land in 1785, which made him one of the larger landowners in the county. Foster's lands adjoined Nathan's and also land owned by his nephew, William Shepherd Foster.
In 1798 Nathan acquired another 100 acres on Beaverdam Creek from William Shepherd Foster and his wife Susannah, giving him a total of 300 acres.
The land had also been owned originally by Nathan's father-in-law, William Foster, and probably represented the division of a parcel in which Nathan already had an interest. In 1800 his land holdings were temporarily increased to 500 acres, possibly reflecting the disposition of land from his father James' estate. In any event, in 1801 and succeeding years Nathan is again listed as the owner of 300 acres.
In 1805 Nathan and his wife Sarah conveyed 150 acres to their son Elbert "in consideration for the parental love and affection toward the said Elbert". It is further identified as the land on which Elbert Smith lives (Deed Book VV 358). This indicates that Elbert had built his house on his parents' land and suggests that Nathan, who was then fifty five years old, had begun the process of turning over the farm to his oldest son.
Because the description of each parcel of land listed in the tax records refers to the adjoining land owners, it is possible to identify Nathan Smith's neighbors with reasonable accuracy. And since there were frequent intermarriages among neighbors, and wills and other legal documents often bore the names of neighbors as witnesses, appraisers and the like, the people who were important in Nathan Smith's life are readily identifiable.
Nathan's closest friends were old neighbors from North Carolina days, Nathaniel Rice and his son Samuel. Both of the Rices were witnesses to the Will of Nathan's father, James Smith (I Davidson 66), and Samuel was a witness to Nathan's Will in 1814 and to the codicil in 1816 (I Davidson 99). When Nathaniel Rice died in 1799, Nathan Smith was named as one of the appraisers of the estate (I Davidson 138, 141; II Davidson 281). Most importantly, after the deaths of Nathan and Sarah Smith, Samuel Rice was appointed guardian of their minor children, William and James B. Smith, (II Davidson 188, 189, 293). In addition to their friendship, the Smith and Rice families were related through marriage; Samuel Rice and Nathan Smith's son Elbert married sisters, Fanny and Elizabeth Lybas.
The tax records indicate that the Smith and Rice farms also adjoined each other on Beaverdam Creek. The close connections are further illustrated by the fact that another adjoining landowner, Benjamin Powell, was married to a third Lybas sister, Mary. And Nathan and Sarah Smith's daughter Sally married the son of still another adjoining landowner, Charles Phillips, Sr. In short, the cluster of farms on Beaverdam Creek four miles southwest of the town of Washington made up a self-contained community of families that intermarried, ministered to each other's needs and provided support when that was needed.
II Wilkes County changed greatly during the lives of Nathan and Sarah Smith. A vast, forested wilderness when they arrived in the 1770's, it had become a settled, relatively stable farming community by the end of the second decade of the 1800's. The town of Washington was authorized by the Legislature and lots were laid out in 1783. That same year Colonel Micajah Williamson, a Revolutionary War hero, opened a tavern consisting of two log cabins with a broad open space between the two. A large picture of General Washington hung in front of the tavern, and one room housed the first court of Wilkes County. By 1796 the town consisted of 34 houses The acts establishing the town of Washington provided for the reservation of lots to be used for a free Academy and a set-aside of 1,000 acres in the county to provide funds to finance the schoolhouse. A brick schoolhouse was finally built in 1796, but in the meantime classes were held in private homes by itinerant schoolmasters. However, the effort to provide free public education did not succeed, and what little education was offered in Wilkes County in the early part of the nineteenth century was provided by private schools. One such school, the Washington Academy, was established in 1786, and by 1796 the school had enrolled about 70 students. A group of Methodists established another private school, Succoth Academy, about three miles from Washington in 1790. However, few farm children were able to attend any school, and most grew up with no formal education.
By 1790 stagecoaches operated from Savannah to northern destinations by way of Augusta and Washington. After arriving in Augusta the coach departed for Washington at 6:00 A.M. every other Saturday and arrived the following day at 11 A.M. However, Georgia roads, including those used by the stagecoach, were generally in miserable condition. A road law enacted in 1792 gave the county courts the right and duty to lay out new roads and appoint road overseers who were obligated to keep the roads in good repair. The legislation required that all roads should "at all times be kept well cleared from logs, trees, bushes and other obstructions" for a width of thirty feet and all roots should be grubbed up at least sixteen feet across. In order to maintain the roads, all male laboring persons between the ages of sixteen and fifty were required to work not more than twelve days a year. The following year (1793) the act was amended to include slaves in the work detail. It also provided that every white worker must "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols", apparently as a precaution against Indian attacks.
Despite the good intentions reflected in these road acts, road conditions continued to be deplorable well into the nineteenth century. A few people traveled in buggies or sulkies, but most traveled on horseback and shipped their produce by water in flatboats where possible. People emigrating to Georgia usually came in wagons and carts, with some members of the party riding horseback. Every town of much size had its "Waggon yard", and a French traveler in 1802 saw large wagons drawn by four or six horses going from upper Georgia to Charleston, carrying such articles as cotton, tobacco, smoked hams, and deer and bear skins.
By the turn of the century Wilkes County merchants offered a selection of goods brought from Augusta, Charleston or, in a few cases, New York. Articles bought in New York were usually shipped to Savannah by sailing vessels and then barged up the river to Augusta, where they were transferred to wagon trains for the final haul. Merchants xtended credit for as long as one year but sold at about double the cost of the goods. Most stores sold liquor as well as groceries, dress goods and the like.
During the War of 1812 all coastal shipping was cut off by the British Navy, and as a result land transportation reached its height. Cotton was hauled by wagon as far north as Baltimore in exchange for merchandise. However, the roads were so poor and land transportation so slow that by 1813 thirty thousand bales of cotton had piled up in Augusta and equal amounts in Savannah and Charleston. The morass created by dozens of heavy wagons mounted on thin iron-rimmed wheels, all following narrow ungraded roads, can scarcely be imagined.
While some substantial houses were going up in Wilkes County at the beginning of the nineteenth century, most dwellings were still log cabins, although now sometimes covered with clapboards on the outside and plastered inside. Many of the original cabins had been enlarged to accommodate the large families common to that period, with kitchens, spring houses, smokehouses and "necessary houses" scattered about in the vicinity of the main house.
The changeover from tobacco to the cultivation of cotton, referred to in the preceding chapter, continued on into the new century. Vast forests were cut down to make way for cotton fields, and the need for labor to plant, cultivate and harvest the cotton led to an increased demand for slaves. Immediately after the Revolutionary War there was a shortage of slaves in Georgia, as many had run away or departed with the British during the war. However, slaves were soon imported from Africa in large numbers or were brought by their masters from Virginia and the Carolinas. While the percentage of blacks was lower in Wilkes County than in the rice-growing coastal areas of Georgia, the proportion of black to white inhabitants in Wilkes continued to grow after 1820, for reasons to be discussed in the next chapter.
While cotton was king in Georgia, it would be a mistake to assume that other crops and agricultural products were abandoned. Corn continued to be a major crop, both for home consumption and for sale, although it never rivaled cotton as a cash crop. And every farmer raised hogs, a few cattle and horses and much poultry.
Nathan Smith's Will identifies him as one of the class of farmers who made up the great majority of Wilkes County residents. Nathan owned a number of hogs, several horses and ten head of cattle, which was consistent with the holdings of neighboring farmers. While he owned six slaves, they included several women and one child. It is clear, therefore, that Nathan was not one of the larger planters but worked in the fields alongside his sons and the slaves. His landholdings of about 300 acres, while they indicate that he was a very substantial farmer, would not have defined him as a member of the planter class, who often owned from five hundred to one thousand acres or more.
Jack Smith of Wilkes County, GA, and Allied Families of Barron, Foster, White, thompson, Chaffin, and Collum, online https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~barronfamily/genealogy/Barron/jamessmithfamily.pdf. Previously published in hard copy (n.p.: self published, 2014). Hereinafter cited as Kruschwitz [2014] James Smith of Wilkes Co GA. - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025.
The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; First Census of the United States, 1790.; Year: 1790; Census Place: Craven, North Carolina; Series: M637; Roll: 7; Page: 431; Family History Library Film: 0568147
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5058/records/162963?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5058/images/4440913_00574?pid=162963&treeid=195414762&personid=102541873338&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true. Hereinafter cited as Ancestry.Com Web Site. - [S2354] Ancestry.Com Web Site, online http://search.ancestry.com/, Accessed 19 July 2025. Wills; Author: Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Wilkes County). Ancestry.com. Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Georgia County, District and Probate Courts.
Info: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8635/records/339795?tid=195414762&pid=102541873338&ssrc=pt
Image: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8635/images/005756824_00192?pid=339795&treeid=195414762&personid=102541873338&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true