Appendix E - The Wills of John B. Smith & William Wigginton Smith

Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, Will Book 4, page 64.

Will of JOHN B. Smith, December 30, 1884.

I, JOHN B. SMITH, will and bequeath as follows:

1.  To my youngest son, James Henry Smith, my 4 year old bay mare.  To my daughter, Luella Bell Smith, my 3 year old bay horse.  To my youngest daughter, Harriet Ann Smith, one horse or mare worth not less than $75 in case I leave her no horse.  To my youngest son, James Henry Smith, one milk cow and I give to Luella Bell Smith and Harriet A. Smith one milk cow.

2.  All the rest of my property I leave to my wife, Nancy Jane Smith.  I appoint my son-in-law, John W. Stuart, sole executor of this will.

                                                                                                            (Signed) John B. Smith

December 20, 1884.

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Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, Will Book 3, page 80.

WILLIAM W[igginton] SMITH 

First, to son, William B. Smith, I will a negro boy named Wesley (age 24).  Also a tract of land, Penrod tract of 250 acres.

Second, to son Thompson B. Smith a negro boy named Bailey (8 years old).  I have by deeds executed conveyed to him certain lands.

Third, I have made advances to my children James G. Smith, Susan Strom, Lucy Bell, and Elizabeth Jones in land, negroes, and money.

Fourth, all lands, negroes, and properties to be sold and divided as follows:  To sons James G., William Bradford, Thompson Bailey, and my daughters Lucy and Elizabeth, each to get one-sixth part, and to my grandchildren, the children of my daughter Susan Strom--except Margaret Cundiff--the remaining sixth part of such proceeds amongst them to be equally divided--I do not bequeath any sum or property to my granddaughter Margaret Cundiff.

I hereby constitute my sons James G. Smith and Thompson B. Smith executors of this my...

                                                                                   

                                                                                                 (Signed) William W. Smith

Dated March 18, 1846; probated in May Court 1847.

Appendix D - The Will of James Simpson Smith

Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, Will Book 3, page 35

JAMES S[impson] SMITH.            

I, James S. Smith, do make, ordain and publish this my last will and testament:

1.  ...to son John an undivided half of the tract of land on which I now live, to him and his heirs forever;

2.  The other undivided half of said tract of land whereon I live I give and bequeath unto the three natural heirs or children of my deceased son Moses F. Smith to be equally divided between them.

3.  I also give and bequeath to my son John Smith and his heirs forever two negro women to wit one named Clary and her daughter Margaret.

4.  The negro girl Margaret given above to John Smith, now has three children, said children as well as said Margaret's future increase are to be equally divided between my two sons John and Peter and the children of my deceased sons Aaron A. Smith and Moses F. Smith.

5.  I give and bequeath to the children of my deceased son Moses F. Smith $500 in money equally divided between them when they severally arrive at age or marry.

6.  I give and bequeath to the children of my deceased son Aaron A. Smith $500 to be equally divided between them as they arrive at age or marry.

7.  I give and bequeath to my son Peter Smith one negro boy named Sampson to him and his heirs forever.

8.  After all my just debts are paid all the remaining personal property of every kind I hereby give and bequeath to my two sons John and Peter and the children of my two deceased sons to be equally divided.

9.  Having heretofore given to my daughter Jemima Price, wife of Giles Price, her full share and portion of my estate I give her one additional dollar.

10.  The sums devised above to the children of Moses F. and Aaron A. Smith are to bear interest from twelve months after my death.

I hereby appoint my son John Smith the executor of this my last will, etc.

                                                                                                            (Signed) James S. Smith 

Dated  July 22, 1851.

Probated in November Court 1854 and ordered to be recorded.

John B. Smith, Son of James Simpson Smith

John B. Smith, son of James Simpson Smith, born 1805 in Kentucky.  In 1850 he lived at home with his father, who by that year was quite elderly, and John's occupation was shown in the census records as blacksmith.  Ten years later the 1860 census shows a John B. Smith, 51, whose age corresponds with that of John, who was a farmer.  His wife was Nancy J., then 33 (born 1826 or 1827).  This family is found in the 1860, 1870, and 1880 census.  The children were: 

           

            Margaret E.,               b. 1852 or 1853, in Tennessee

            Mary F.,                      b. 1854 or 1855, in Kentucky

            William M.,                 b. 1856 or 1857, in Kentucky

            George A.,                 b. 1858 or 1859, in Kentucky

            James Henry,           b. 1864 or 1865, in Kentucky

            Luella B.,                   b. 1866 or 1867, in Kentucky

            Harriett A.,                 b. 1869 or 1870, in Kentucky

John B. Smith's will is found in Muhlenberg County Will Book 4, page 64.  It is dated December 30, 1884.  I failed to note the date of probate.  (See Appendix E.) To each of his three younger children, James Henry Smith, Luella Bell Smith, and Harriett A. Smith, he left a horse and a cow.  The remainder of property he willed, to his wife, Nancy Jane Smith.  As executor he appointed his son-in-law John W. Stuart.  This would indicate that John W. Stuart was the husband of one of the two older girls, Margaret E. or Mary F.

James Simpson Smith, Son of Peter Smith of Caswell County, North Carolina

James Simpson Smith, son of Peter Smith of Caswell County, North Carolina , born in 1766 in Virginia; died in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, July 6, 1854, in his 88^th year.  The mother of his children was also a native of Virginia.  It would appear that James S. Smith was married when he went to Kentucky and that his first wife died after the year 1820 and before 1825.  He married Rachel S. Robertson, a widow, in Muhlenberg County in 1825.  More will be said about this marriage later.

Indications are that he was a prosperous farmer in Muhlenberg County.  His will was dated July 22, 1851, and was probated in November 1854, Will Book 3, page 151.  (See Appendix D.)  He gave his son John "an undivided half of the tract of land on which I now live"; the other undivided half he bequeathed to the "three natural heirs or children of my deceased son Moses F. Smith to be equally divided between them."  He bequeathed the sum of $500.00 "to be equally divided between the children" of his deceased son Aaron A. Smith ''as they arrive at age or marry."  The six slaves mentioned were to be divided among the heirs referred to above.

The children of James Simpson Smith were:

            John B. Smith

            Peter Smith

            Moses F. Smith

            Aaron A. Smith

            Jemima Smith

James Simpson Smith, of Virginia, son of Peter and Jemima Smith, had a family in 1820 that consisted of four sons, one daughter, and his wife.  Evidently his wife died after 1820, for in 1825 he married Rachel Robertson.  Rachel was a widow and had children of her own.

The 1830 census does not show any woman in the household of James Simpson Smith. Rachel Smith heads another household in which, in addition to herself, there are two girls between 10 and 15 and two boys, one between 5 and 10 and the other between 15 and 20 years of age.  One of the girls may have been Jemima Smith (who was not married until 1835) and one of the boys may have been Alney Robertson (thought to be the son of D. Robertson), whose guardian Rachel was in 1825-26 and 1827-28.

Rachel Robertson Smith's will was dated January 7, 1837, and was probated in January Court 1837.  It states that she wished "to make a disposition of my property somewhat different from the course it might otherwise go” and she names “my daughter Margaret" and “my son David Robertson.”  Evidently these were children by an earlier marriage.

E. Marsh Blackwell, Son of William Marshall Blackwell and Mary A. Davis

E. Marsh Blackwell, son of William Marshall Blackwell and Mary A. Davis, birth was 1871; 

Died on July 31, 1936, in Tecumseh, Pattawatomi County, Oklahoma.  E. Marsh was a newspaper man and is said to have left a substantial estate.

Jemima Blackwell, Daughter of William Marshall Blackwell and Elizabeth Strader

Jemima Blackwell, daughter of William Marshall Blackwell and Elizabeth Strader, born 1843

Married William Hughes on March 5, 1865.