Jesse W. Smith, son of Peter Smith of Caswell County, North Carolina

Jesse W. Smith (son of Peter and Jemima Smith), born in 1785 in Caswell County, North Carolina.  In 1805, he was living in Henderson County, Kentucky.  Union County was formed from Henderson County in 1811, and very likely Jesse W. lived in that part which became Union County.

On June 20,1805, Jesse W. Smith, then of Henderson County, appointed his brother William Wigginton Smith, of Muhlenberg County, to act as his attorney “to ask, demand and sue for and recover of Richard Hornbuckle of the county of Caswell and the state of North Carolina, one of the executors of the last will and testament of Peter Smith, deceased (my father), all sums of money or property to which I am entitled as one of the heirs...of Peter Smith...or as one of the heirs of Elizabeth Smith, deceased, who was one of the heirs...of the said Peter Smith "

Jesse W. Smith would have been twenty years of age in 1805.  He probably married in that year and wished to come into his inheritance.

Deeds on record in Union County, Kentucky, state that he and his wife, Rebecca (said to be a native of North Carolina), sold land in Union County in the year 1821.  There were numerous other transactions in the years that followed.  Rebecca died before 1850, as the census report of that year gave Jesse W. Smith's wife as Mary J(ane); place of birth, Tennessee (in 1799 or 1800).  No children were then at home.

Jesse W. Smith was a farmer.  He and Rebecca were likely the parents of several children, but I can be certain of only three:

Mary Smith

Elias G. Smith

George Smith

In at least one of the land transactions recorded in 1838, Jesse W. Smith and his wife, Rebecca, and Elias G. Smith and Peter W. Smith sold 200 acres of land to Benjamin Bean. 

           

It seems logical to believe that Peter W. Smith was a son of Jesse W. and Rebecca.  He is not shown in the 1850 census for Union County, but a Peter W. Smith, age 32, was in Muhlenberg County in 1850.  One of his children was Jesse William Smith. 

There was in the Union County census for 1850 a family headed by John B. Smith, born 1810 or 1811 whose wife's name was Elizabeth. Among their children was a 3-year-old daughter named Rebecca.  The same census showed the family of Caswell Smith, age 42, whose wife was Pricilla.  I cannot help but wonder if these two men were sons of Jesse W. and Rebecca Smith. 

Moses F. Smith, son of James Simpson Smith

Moses F. Smith (son of James Simpson Smith) was born January 28, 1811, and died October 25,1840.  He is buried in the Hazel Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Muhlenberg County.

Two marriages are recorded for Moses Smith in Muhlenberg County.  Whether they were of two men or whether they were of one man who married twice, I have been unable to determine.  Perhaps some descendant of Moses F. Smith, son of James Simpson Smith, will be able to tell me.  For the sake of accuracy, I will detail as much information as I have found concerning both marriages.

Moses F. Smith, having been born January 28, 1811, would have been 20 years of age in 1831. The first marriage of a man named Moses Smith was to Elizabeth Ewing on May 19, 1831.  Moses F. Smith, son of James S., died October 25, 1840.  That would have allowed nine years and approximately five months for him to become the father of "three natural heirs" mentioned in his father's will.

I have searched the 1850 census for an Elizabeth Smith who would have been a widow, with three children, but without success. If Elizabeth Ewing was the wife of Moses F. Smith and became his widow, she could have married again by 1850.

The second marriage, referred to above, of a man named Moses Smith took place on July 27,1837, to Jane Wright (daughter of Pioneers John and Elizabeth Grigsby Wright--see Rothert, page 188).  On September 20,1842, one Jane Smith married Peter M. Smith. (You will recall that Moses F. Smith, son of James S., died October 20, 1840.)  The marriage index lists this man as Peter M. Smith, but the census reports beginning in 1850 show him as Peter W. Smith.  As I know how hard it is to read some of the old handwriting, I believe the man to be the same as Peter M. Smith for his is the only marriage to a Jane Smith around that time.

The 1850 census gives the family of Peter W. Smith in this manner:

Peter W. Smith                     32, farmer, real estate, $400

Jane Smith                            35

Cassandra                            11   (b. 1839)

Margaret E.                            9     (b. 1840 or 1841)

Jesse William                       6     (b. 1844)

John W.                                 4

Jerome B.                              2

Cassandra, age 11, and Margaret, age 9 in 1850, could hardly have been the children of Peter W. Smith.  They could have been the children of Moses F. Smith, with Margaret's birth taking place after his death.  But the third child is not accounted for.

Note that there is a period of three years between the birth of Margaret and Jesse William.  By the year 1860 there were these additional children:

           

George W.,                            age 8 (in 1860)

Emanuel J.,                           age 6

Alexander H(enry),              age 2

Presley Smith, Son of James Smith

Presley Smith was born in either Prince William or Fairfax County, Virginia.  His date of birth has not been ascertained, but certainly it was before 1749, for in that year he is mentioned in his father’s will.  He married Nancy Kincheloe of Fairfax County, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Wickliffe) Kincheloe.

William and Mary Quarterly 22 (W) (1) 186 states:

“One Nathaniel Wickliffe, late of Prince William County, Virginia, died intestate in Nelson County, Kentucky, in 1790 and his lands passed to his next of kin; namely, ...Presley Smith and his wife Nancy. ...”

Washington County, Kentucky, where Presley died in 1819, was formed from Nelson County in 1792.  It appears that Presley and Nancy remained where her inheritance was.

Other than the suit in chancery against the heirs of William Bailey Smith, mentioned above, very little has been found concerning Presley Smith.  Washington County, Kentucky, Will Book C, p. 235, lists the sale and purchase of his property.  At a court held on January 10, 1820, a list of sale of his estate was returned by Presley C. Smith and ordered to be recorded.

From other sources the names of Presley and Nancy Smith’s children have been learned.  They follow, with all the information available to me concerning them:

Elizabeth (Betty), born about 1773 in Fairfax County, Virginia; died after 1850 in Henderson County, Kentucky; married Elijah King on November 1, 1792, in Washington County, Kentucky.

Mary (Polly), born in Virginia; married Nicholas Ray.

Dorkiss (Dorcas?), married Mr. Grant.

Sarah (Sally), married Edmund Purdy on January 26, 1797, in Washington County.

Nancy, married Henry Purdy on March 13, 1793, in Washington County.

Jane, married Richard Burks.

Daniel James, married Lee Holland Aydelott on October 19, 1803.  Daniel bought land in Henderson County from William Bailey Smith in 1802.  It appears that he died in the year 1840.  Holland Smith's will was probated in Henderson County in December 1845.  The two children named in her will were Sarah Emily Smith and Tobiatha (Smith) Shaw.  Tobiatha married John Shaw on December 24, 1839.

John, (twin)

Peter W., (twin), Peter bought land in Henderson County from William Bailey Smith in 1802.

William.  Did not marry.  Died at age 76.

Presley C., married Sarah Burks on June 10, 1816, in Washington County, Kentucky.

Elias W., married (1) Margaretta Payne, on October 31, 1817, in Washington County; (2) Miss Lee.