SOME SMITHS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
From the files of Theresa M. Hicks
Professional Genealogist
It
would probably be rare today to find two brothers
and/or two sisters in the same family who shared the same name, but
this was
not uncommon in earlier days. I don't know just how widespread the
custom was
earlier or exactly when it became unfashionable or, perhaps,
discouraged
because of superstition.
The
Landgrave Smith family had already confounded future genealogists with
the
several Thomas Smiths: the First Landgrave Thomas Smith (1648‑1694) who
married
first Barbara Atkins who died in 1687, and then Sabina de Vignon, the
widow of
John d'Arsens Seigneur de Wernhaut; and the Second Landgrave Thomas
Smith (ca.
1670‑1738) who married first in 1690 Anna Cornelia Van Myddagh and
second in
1713 Mary Hyrne (ca. 1690‑1776).
The
Second Landgrave Thomas Smith named two of his sons Thomas and
two of
his sons George. The first Thomas Smith, who married Dolly Dry
in 1709,
was born in 1691 and died in 1729. The second Thomas, who married
Susannah
Walker, was born in 1729 and died in 1782. The first George was born in
1693
and was deceased by 1730. He married twice‑- first to Rebecca Blake who
died in
1719 and second to Elizabeth Allen. His brother, George, was born in
1732 and
died underage and unmarried.
The
other children of Second Landgrave Thomas Smith were:
Anne Smith born 1695
died 1738 married (1) James Lawson (2) Benjamin Waring.
Barbara Smith born 1697
married by 1715 Edward Hyrne (of New Hanover, N.C.).
Sabina Smith born 1699
died 1734 married Thomas Smith, then Thomas Taylor.
Justina Smith born 1701
died 1743 married John Moore (of Cape Fear, N.C.).
Sarah Smith born 1702/3
married John Bowen.
Rebecca Smith born 1704,
died young.
Rebecca Smith born 1705
died by 1738.
Joseph Blake Smith born
1707, died young.
Mary Hyrne Smith born
1717 died 1758 married James Screven.
Margaret Smith born
1720, died young.
Elizabeth Smith born
1722 died 1756 married Thomas Dixson (who married then Emile
DeSaussure).
Josiah Smith born 1725
died young.
Edward Smith died young.
James Smith died young.
Henry Smith born 1727
died 1780 married Ann Filbein born 1736 died 1762, he married then in
1764
Elizabeth Ball born 1746 died 1787.
Benjamin Smith born 1735
died 1790 married 1759 Elizabeth Ann Harleston born 1742 died 1769;
married in
1773 Catherine Ball born 1751 died 1774; married in 1775 Sarah Smith
who died
1785; married in 1787 Rebecca Singleton (widow of Benjamin Coachman).
There
are two versions of the ancestry of Abigail Smith (1744‑1818) wife of
President
John Adams (1733/35‑1826), second president of the United States, and
mother of
John Quincy Adams, the sixth president. One is that she was the
granddaughter
of William Smith (1666/67‑1735); the other is that she was the
granddaughter of
James Smith (brother of Thomas Smith (1648‑1694). Abigail Smith
(1744-1818) was
born in Weymouth, Mass., the daughter of the Rev. William Smith,
minister of
the Congregational church there. Her mother was Elizabeth Quincy
(1721-1775).
[Encarta, copyright Microsoft Corporation and Funk & Wagnall's
Corporation]
An
early Charleston, South Carolina deed makes reference to a George Smith
who
executed his will in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and had a son, Archer
Smith,
of Goose Creek Parish, S.C. At that time, they believed that George
Smith was
possibly related to Landgrave Thomas Smith. He was! He was the First
Landgrave
Smith's son and brother of the Second Ladgrave. This George Smith was
born ca.
1672/74 in Exeter, England, and died 1753 in Philadelphia. He married
Dorothy
Archer who died in 1732; married (2) Sarah Pert, widow of Thomas
Grimball and
Samuel Screven; married (3) Mary (surname not known to this researcher)
of
Philadelphia.
It was
this George Smith who had a son, Josiah Smith (1704‑1781), who married
Elizabeth Darrell (1710‑1759). Their son, Josiah Smith, Jr., kept a
diary for
the years 1780‑1781 when he was one of the exiles from Charles Town
during the
British Occupation.
The
Landgrave Thomas Smith family intermarried with another family of
Smiths. And
from this union of the two Smith families, one Sabina Smith became the
grandmother of the famous Robert Mills.
Other
early settlers in the state included Abraham Smith who arrived with the
First
Fleet on the Carolina. Other passengers on this ship were:
Elizabeth
Smith, Thomas Smith, Paul Smith, and Thomas Smith (Smyth).
John
Smith (Smyth) arrived in S.C. by 10 March 1675. He had a grant of 1,800
on
Ashley River which included the later town of Dorchester and was dead
by 1682,
leaving a widow, Mary, who married Arthur Middleton, then Ralph Izard.
He is
not to be confused with another John Smith who was granted patents as a
"Cassique" in 1682. This John Smith had a wife, Ann.
Robert
Smith, born in Worstead Parish, County Norfolk, England, was the first
Episcopal Bishop of South Carolina. He married first Elizabeth Pagett,
then
Sarah Shubrick, and third Anna Maria Tilghman, widow of Charles
Goldsboro of
Maryland. The Right Rev. Robert Smith died in 1801 age 73. This was the
same
year that Mr. John Christian Smith, native of Wuerttemberg died at the
age of
50, having been a resident in this country for 30 years.
The
Rev. Mr. Michael Smith was a "missionary" to the Parish of Prince
Frederick, Winyaw in 1752. He left to go "north" in 1754, and when he
came back, there was some question about his marital status. In 1759,
his son,
Daniel, was carried to him in Cape Fear, N.C.
John
Carraway Smith, a native of N.C. was living in South Carolina before
the
Revolution and moved before 1791 to Savannah, Georgia. He married Ann
Deveaux,
widow of Dr. James Brown. John Carraway Smith and his brother, Aaron
Smith,
served in the American Revolution.
To try
to sort out these Smiths is not unlike trying to solve the Rubic Cube.
And in
the end, it may lead to another surname entirely. In 1837, some of the
children
of James Smith (1761‑1835) and Marianna Gough, petitioned to change
their names
from Smith to Rhett, so that "the name of Rhett, in the
grand Maternal line, now extinct, may be revived and preserved." Some
of
the family of Smith (now changed to Rhett) came to Columbia, S.C.,
where there
were several other distinct Smith families already settled in what
became the
greater Columbia area and others in Lexington and Fairfield Counties.
Stephen
Smith who lived on Cedar Creek had a wife, Mollie, who ived to be 115
years
old. Their son, Stephen Smith, married Mary Eve Hamiter. By this
marriage, the
Smiths became connected with the Turnipseeds, Ruffs, and DuBards.
And
then there were the Smyth Smiths. Bartlee Smyth married
Caroline Neyle.
He died before 1802, and she married later Nicholas Herbemont. Bartlee
and his
wife are buried at Trinity Episcopal (now Cathedral) Church in
Columbia.
Bartlee's father, Robert Smyth, died not long after his son. He owned
the land
on which the rectory of Trinity Church stood.
The
death of Dr. Thomas Stitt Smith is recorded in the records of St.
Thomas and
St. Denis Parish in 1734. He was, undoubtedly, the Thomas Stitsmith who
had two
tracts surveyed in what became Richland County. His widow, Anne,
married James
Pollard in 1735. By 1740, James Pollard and Anne were living in Cape
Fear,
North Carolina.
Levi
Smith, a native of Virginia, a Tory,, kept a store near McCord's Ferry.
The
Rev. Isaac Smith, a Methodist, preached in 1787 at Colonel Thomas
Taylor's in
Richland County.
Peter
Smith of Richland County named his wife, Sarah, in his will in 1797.
Their
daughter, Nancy, married Reuben Gill. Two of the Gill daughters married
Martins. Peter Smith's land adjoined that of Thomas Harwell's in 1784
on Gills
Creek. A portion of the Thomas Harwell land, located near what is now
known as
Lake Katherine, was reserved to be used as a cemetery for his
descendants. Some
of the surnames in the cemetery are: Daniels, Kelly, McDonald, Lorick,
Wilhalf,
Faust, Gilmore, Marsh, Dryer, Dreher, Devereux, Bowers, Campbell, Cook,
Jones,
Strange, Edge, Reed, Walker, Due, Barber, Perry.
Stephen
Smith came to South Carolina from Georgia in the late 1760's and lived
in
Orangeburg District (that part which later became Barnwell County). He
married
Martha Newman (dau. of Thomas Newman and Martha Shaw). Their children:
Sarah
Smith, married Thomas Galphin; Ann Smith married Richard Hankinson (2)
____
Lark; Eleanor Smith md. Stephen Collins, Stephen Smith b. 1776 d. 1840;
Henrietta
Smith md. _______ Robison; Elizabeth Smith b. 1786 d. 1788.
The
Bible of one Hugh Smith (1748‑1821) who married Elizabeth Anderson
(1766‑ 1823)
lists their children born between 1788 and 1798. He
may be the one enumerated in Georgetwon District, Prince
Fredericks Parish in the 1790 census.
There
were at least two John Smiths who were contemporaries in the area which
later
became Marion County. One of these executed his will in 1797 naming his
wife
Mary and children: Samuel, John, Mary, James, Ann (Nancy), Elizabeth,
Sarah,
Martha, Mourning, Cealey. The marriages of these children allied the
Smith
family with the Berrys, Deers, Watsons, Buckholtz, Tarts, Finkleas,
Maces,
Bryants, Harrelsons, Thomases, and Molloys/Malloys.
Jesse
Smith, born 1751, died 1826, at Longs in Horry County. His wife, Mary,
was born
in 1755. His daughter, Margaret Smith, married John Patterson; another
daughter, Sarah Smith, married John Reaves.
There
are numerous Smith families descended from William Smith who died 1819
in
Williamsburg Co., S.C.
Some
Quaker families of Smiths moved from Pennsylvania to South Carolina.
The
records of some of the descendants are in Bush River Monthly Meeting;
however,
they settled mainly in Union and Spartanburg Counties. Also in
Spartanburg,
there was the Smith family from Virginia who settled in the vicinity of
Glenn's
Spring. See Landrum's History of Spartanburg County. And, here
again, we
find that some Smiths changed their name. John Winn Smith had his name
changed
to John Winsmith.
Benjamin
Smith born in 1767 died in Laurens County in 1815. He married Malinda
Elizabeth
Mitchell, and this couple bought the Nimrod Mitchell Land Grant of
1768/69 on
Raburn's Creek. Their son, Benjamin Smith, Jr. became a Baptist
Minister.
The
Benjamin Smith family of Old Pendleton District is discussed in
Simpson's book
of that area. The Newton Nimrod Smith Bible went from Anderson County,
S.C. to
Bartow County, Ga., to Hamilton Co., Tenn.
Searching
for Smiths? They are ubiquitous! Not only that, they may be using an
alias! Or
maybe they didn't exist at all.
Thomas
Smith d. ca. 1650. Md. Joane Atkins of Chard,
Somerset, England (dau. of John Atkins). She md. ca. 1655 Aaron Atkins
who d.
1670. Family was Presbyterian. Thomas Smith and Joane were the parents
of I and
II. Aaron Atkins and his first wife were the parents of III and IV.
Aaron
Atkins and Joane Atkins Smith Atkins were the parents of V, VI, VII,
and VIII.
[See SCHM Issue of July 1927; also Vol. 30.]
I. The
first Landgrave Thomas Smith
(1648-1694). Came to S.C. 1684. 1690 Commission to Thomas Smith, one of
the
Caciques, appointing him Governor. In 1691, he was created a Landgrave.
In
1693, he was appointed Governor. Will 1692; codicil 1693. Bequeathed to
his
friend Colonel Joseph Blake of Colleton County his patent for Landgrave
"together with all the baronies, lands, privileges, and dignitites
therunto belonging." His Barony was known as Wiskinboo. His will
mentions
"instruments that belonge to Chirurgery and medicines" and
"brick house in Charlestowne cont: four roomes, one above another."
He d. Nov., 1694, age 46. Md. Barbara Atkins bapt. 1650 and d. in 1687.
In
1687/8 he was md. to Sabina de Vignon by the Rev. William Dunlap
[Collections],
the widow of John d'Arsens Seigneur de Wernhaut. She d. 1689. Thomas and Barbara Smith were the parents of
(A and B):
A. Thomas
Smith b. 1664/70 d. 19 May 1738,
bd. Goose Creek. Md. 1689/90 Anna Cornelia van Myddagh who d. ca. 1710
(a
Belgian, and kinswoman of Sabina de Vignon). He then md. in 1713 Mary
Hyrne b.
ca. 1690 d. 1776. Her will dated 1769. He was the Second Landgrave
Smith.
Children by Anna Cornelia numbers 1-10. Children by Mary numbers 11-20.
[See
Charleston Deed Book VV.]
1. Thomas
Smith b. 1691 d. 1729 or will
1730 d. by 1738 md. 1709 Dolly Dry:
a. Thomas
Smith d. by 1736
2. George
Smith b. 1693 bd. 12 Oct. 1730
of St. Andrew's d. intestate owned land in North and South Carolina md.
19 Mar.
1716 Rebecca Blake b. 1699 d. 1719. Md. 18 Dec. 1722 Elizabeth Allen
(dau. of
Andrew Allen): [See Charleston Deed Book TT.]:
a. Elizabeth
Smith b. 1724 d. inf.
b. George
Smith d. inf.
c. Anne
Smith b. 1726 md. the Rev. James
Edmonds
d. Jane
Smith b. 1728 md. Charles
Faucheraud
e. Sarah
Smith md. Charles Hill who d.
1751, then md. Benjamin Coachman who d. 1779:
(1) Ann
Coachman 1776-1791 md. Charles
Glover 1756-1817
(2) Benjamin
Coachman d. 1785 md. Rebecca
Singleton. She md. then Benjamin Smith (1735-1790). She d. 1814.
(3) Harriet
Coachman md. ________ Scott
(4) Sarah
Coachman md. Charles DuPont
3. Anne
Smith b. 1695 d. 1738 md. James
Lawson (will 1715 then of Maryland), then md. Benjamin Waring b. 1690
d. 1739.
[See S.C. Bay Vol. 2.]
4. Barbara
Smith b. 1697 md. by 1715
Edward Hyrne b. ca. 1694 d. 1750/58, of New Hanover, N.C.
5. Sabina
Smith b. 1699 d. 1734 md. 1714
Thomas Smith b. 1691 d. 1723/4 md. then Thomas Taylor: [See these
children also
in the line of Thomas Smith b. 1691 d. 1723/4; also as the
grandchildren of
Mary Hyrne Smith.]
a. Benjamin
Smith (1717-1770)
b. Thomas
Smith (1720-1790)
c. Ann
Smith d. young
d. Sabina
Smith md. Andrew Taylor
6. Justina
Smith b. 1701 d. 1743 md. 1719
John Moore d. 1729, of Cape Fear, N.C.:
a. James
Moore
b. John
Moore
c. Rebecca
Moore md. _________ Hamilton
7. Sarah
Smith b. 1702/3 md. John Bowen
8. Rebecca
Smith b. 1704 d. infant
9. Rebecca
Smith b. 1705 d. by 1738
10. Joseph Blake
Smith b. 1707 d. young
11. Mary Hyrne Smith
b. 1717 d. 1758 md. 1736
James Screven b. 1706 d. 1758:
a. Daughter
Screven (Elizabeth, Mary, or
Barbara) md. James Brisbane
b. Thomas
Smith Screven b. 1741 d. 1804
md. 4 times
c. James
Screven b. 1743 d. 1778 md. Mary
Odengsells (variant spellings)
d. Martha
Screven b. 1747 md. William
Baker
e. John
Screven b. 1750 d. 1801 md. twice
12. Margaret Smith
b. 1720 d. young
13. Elizabeth Smith
b. 1722 d. 1756 md.
Thomas Dix(s)on (will 1769). He md. then Emile DeSaussure. Of James
Island, St.
Andrew's Parish:
a. Elizabeth
Dixon
b. Rebecca
Dixon
c. Mary
Dixon
d. Thomas
Dixon
e. John
Dixon
f. Harriet
Dixon
g. Emile
Dixon
14. Josiah Smith b.
1725 d. young
15. Edward Smith d.
young
16. James Smith d.
young
17. Henry Smith
(inherited title of
Landgrave) b. 6 Aug. 1727 d. 8 Dec. 1780 md.
Sep., 1753 Ann Filbein b. 1736 d. 1762. Md. 1764 Elizabeth Ball
b. 1746
d. 30 Apr. 1787. Of Goose Creek:
a. Mary
Hyrne Smith b. 1755 d. 1756
b. Thomas
Smith b. 3 June 1757 d. 21 Nov.
1822. Of Westoe. Md. 23 Nov. 1775 Edith Smith b. 1755 d. 14 July 1812
md. 1815
Jane Morgan b. 1787 d. 1836:
(1) George
Henry Smith b. 1 Sep. 1793 d. 26
Aug. 1848, bd. Yeamans Hall. Md. (1) Maria Day d. 19 Aug. 1836 md. (2)
4 Oct.
1837 Eliza Fishburne Lockwood b. 22 Aug. 1815 d. 7 Sep. 1891.
(a) Thomas W.
Smith b. 1822 d. 1824
(b) Susan Mary
Day Smith b. 25 Dec. 1823 d.
27 Oct. 1871 md. 1 Feb. 1849 Thomas Postell Lockwood
(c) Thomas
Henry Smith b. 27 June 1840
(d) Elizabeth
S. Smith b. 8 Feb. 1842 md.
William Stevens Brown
c. John
Filbein Smith b. 1759 d. 1760
d. Anne
Filbein Smith b. 1761 md. John
Smith Waring, Jr. b. 1757 d. 1786. She md. (2) Henry Bonsall
e. Henry
Smith b. 1765 d. 1766
f. Son
Smith b. & d.
g. Catherine
Smith b. 1768 d. 1836 md.
John Ernest Poyas [John Ernest Poyas md. Rachel dau. of Daniel Bourget]
h. Elizabeth
Smith b. 1770 d. 1846 (Her
aunt was Mrs. Ann Waring b. 1754 d. 1826)
i. Judith
Ann Smith b. 1771 d. inf.
j. Harriet
Smith b. 1772 d. 1822 md.
Richard Scott
k. Mary
Ann Smith b. 1774 d. 1825 (Her
aunt was Mrs. Ann Waring b. 1754 d. 1826)
l. Sarah
Smith b. 1776 d. young
m. Jane Ball
Smith b. 1778 d. 1778
18. Thomas Smith b.
1729 d. 1782 md. 1751
Susannah Walker:
a. Mary
Hyrne Smith b. 1754 d. 1765
b. Edward
Hyrne Smith b. 1761 d. 1766
c. Robert
Smith md. Elizabeth Withers:
(1) Elizabeth
Smith md. _________ Cheeseboro
(2) Maria
Louisa Smith md. Dr. Samuel Cordes
d. Henry
Smith md. _______ Bealer
e. Susannah
Smith b. 1778 md. _______
Bruce, then md. Andrew Smiley
19. George Smith b.
1732 d. an infant,
underage and unmd. [See Charleston Deed Books QQ & VV.]
20. Benjamin Smith
b. 15 Sept. 1735 d. 22
July 1790. Md. 20 Dec. 1759 Elizabeth Ann Harleston b. 1742 d. 1769.
Md. 1773
Catherine Ball b. 1751 d. 1774. Md. 1775 Sarah Smith who d. 1785 (dau.
of
George Smith). Md. 1787 Rebecca Singleton Coachman (widow of Benjamin
Coachman)
who d. 1814: