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Ann Thompson (widow) m. Nov 16, 1778 Anson Co. NC b. 1753? Anson Co. NC d. 1790? ?Natchez Dist. |
Thomas b. 1775? NC? d. |
Prestwood b. after 1775 NC? |
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1777 Map
of the Colonies, by J. Leopold Imbert showing the Carolinas and neighboring
territory of "Louisiane" and the rivers and settlements there at the time of the
Revolution. Map was reproduced and printed by the Museum of the American Revolution
from a map image at the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library. |
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On Nov 16, 1778, William married the widow of Richard Thompson, "late of Natchez,
deceased" [McBee, Book A. p. 10]. |
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Washington Co., previously Washington District, was formed by North Carolina in
1777 and extended west to the Mississippi River, mostly containing land inhabited
by five different tribes of Native Americans, but mostly Cherokee. In 1779, the
Cumberland Settlement was created by the granting of land by the NC government.
In 1783 this settlement was mostly contained in the newly formed Davidson Co. and
surrounded by Indian Lands, and Virginia and Kentucky to the North.
Map of
the Cumberland Settlements showing Forts, known as Stations, in present-day counties. |
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The Thompson family lived in a station in the Cumberland Settlement that was
about several miles south of the Bluffs Station.
Map of
the Cumberland Settlement in 1780. |
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William White, eldest son of John White, received
an original land claim in the Cumberland Settlement in Washington Co. but may never
actually settled on the land. This may be why
John Holloway was there in 1780.
The claim John Holloway attempted with a James Scott the year before on Long "Glady"
Creek (shown on
Map),
appears to be the same as Whites Creek which ran through the lands claimed by
Frederick Stump, William White,
Joshua Howard and
Absalom Hooper, and where
William's father John Smith lived. See
Topolographical Map
showing Whites Creek area Land Claims [Drake, p. 23 and map E7].
James Scott did receive a land grant but John Holloway never did. |
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Brother David Smith served as a private in the battles of King's Mountain (Oct 7, 1780),
Cowpens SC (Jan 17, 1781), and Euthaw Springs SC (Sep 8, 1781). |
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On Nov 26, 1781, the Natchez court "In pursuance of the memorial of Mary Smith,
wife of [father] John Smith, who acted as Lt.
during the Rebellion in this province, and
since sent to N.O. [prison], have left in power and possession of said Mary Smith
the plantation, one negro named "Solomon" aged 40 years, of the Mandingo nation,
29 head of cattle, 4 horses, 24 hogs, besides those running in the woods, of which
the number is unknown, all the utensils and furniture for the safety of all which
she has given Alexander McIntosh for
surety ..." [McBee, Book A, p. 10]. |
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In May 1782, William and his wife arrived at Natchez in a party of 4 "Individuos"
and 2 "Esclavos" [slaves] under the entry "Guillaume Smith, wife and children".
A total of 13 families
were recorded by Spanish authorities on Jul 6, 1782 as arriving
including the family of his older brother, David Smith. |
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On May 16, 1782 Thomas Ethridge made a
deposition to
the Natchez District Commandant,
Carlos de Grand-Pré, responding to
questions regarding the arrival of families on flatboats down the Mississippi River,
mentioning William Smith and the others. He said that the two slaves with
the William Smith family were a "stolen Negress and a child" [Farrell Family History
website]. |
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Map of
the Natchez District as it may have looked between 1779 and 1799. |
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On Jun 25, 1782, a Jeremiah Bryan, sold two and one-half arpents on St. Catherine's
Cr. in Natchez, "enclosed and with a cabin thereon, ... Consideration: $100, to
be paid in December next ensuing, which said land having been acquired by said
seller in virtue of a private sale made to him by William Smith in manner and
form common use among English inhabitants of this District" [McBee, p. 15]. |
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On Jan 9, 1783, William Smith and Ann Thompson, his wife, sold to
Thomas Green, 100 arpents, "on a place vulgarly
called Boy's [Boyd's] Creek", by grant thereof, with all buildings and fences thereon;
for $300 paid in cash" [McBee, p. 15]. |
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| Boyd's Creek became known as Cole's Creek. This part of the Natchez District was in Jefferson Co. after it was formed in 1802 (see present day map). | |||
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Father John Smith was released from the New Orleans
prison by Jul 5, 1784. |
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In Aug 1784, William and his brother James were both creditors of
William Dewitt and received cash from the
estate sale [McBee, Book A, p. 27. |
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On Sep 20, 1789, William bought a slave, mortgaged until Dec 1790. His brother
David Smith, was "surety" and both signed [McBee, p. 70]. |
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On May 20, 1791, William bought one of the 83 slaves imported in the Schooner
Governor Miro from Jamaica for which he paid $536 [McBee, Book B page 502,
p. 83]. |
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According to the 1792 Spanish Census for the Natchez District, several Smith
families were listed, including: "Guillermo" [William] on 500 arpents of land in Santa Catalina [St. Catherine's Creek area]. The family reported 7 white persons and 4 slaves. "Jaime" [brother James] on 480 arpents of land in Buffalo Creek [southern part of Adams Co.]. The family reported 5 white persons [3 children] and no slaves. "Juan Smith" was listed as a single man living in Bayou Pierre [future Claiborne Co.] but not owning the land [Adams Co. MGHN, website]. Another translation of the census has a "Juan Smith" household in Villa Gayoso [Jefferson or Franklin Co.] where a David Smith household was also listed, and another "Juan Smith" household in Bayou Pierre [MSGenWeb, website]. |
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Absalom Hooper had claimed land on Second Creek
in the Natchez District several years before
Joshua Howard, both in the 1770's.
The two also claimed adjoining land along Whites Creek in the Cumberland Settlement
in western North Carolina in the 1780's.
Absalom did not return to Natchez with Joshua in 1788. The 4th item of his
Will written in 1811,
listed an "old Sam" among slaves bequeathed to his son Absalom (Jr.), along with
"Smith tools", presumably originally belonging to the John Smith who earlier
lived on his land on Whites Creek. If Sam was the Natchez slave
Samuel, "belonging" to
John Holloway in 1781,
and being about 50 years old, he would have been about 80 when the will was written. |
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On Aug 19, 1793, William reported a death as a resident of Bayou Pierre [McBee, p. 278]. |
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Brother James married Sarah Phipps and they had 4 children born between
Mar 1, 1787 and Jan 1793. By early Jul 1794, James and Sarah had filed
"articles of separation" with the court in which the two oldest boys, named
"Prestwood" and John, aged 7 and 5, were to be apprenticed to William,
James' brother, to learn the "art of silversmith" until they reached the age of
21, during which time they would not "contract" matrimony and never be absent
without leave [McBee, Book E, p. 196]. |
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On Mar 9, 1804, William Smith was a witness to a land claim by the heirs of
Richard Goodwin on Bayou Pierre
[McBee, p. 517]. |
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Two Smiths are listed on Page 8 lines 16 and 17 of the
Claiborne Co. Tax Roll for 1810 as follows: William Smith 150 acres in W. Bayou Pierre (Spanish), no polls (taxable person) and 5 slaves. David Smith 200 acres in W. Bayou Pierre (Spanish), 1 poll and 4 slaves. A William Smith was taxed in 1823 for 1 poll and no slaves on 640 acres, and there was no David Smith taxed. |
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1895 Map
of Natchez from the Ancestral Trackers
website, shows the likely routes of the Second and Sandy Creeks in 1792. |
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William Smith "a citizen of Mississippi Territory, claims the preference in becoming
the purchaser of the United States of a tract of land containing 427 acres on a
branch of Big Black known as Commissioners Creek" [McBee, p. 525]. |
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After his second marriage, brother David Smith moved
his family, settling in Hinds Co. MS not long after that region was yielded by
the Choctaws. |
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Niece Aurelia Smith married Hiram George Runnels (1796-1857)
on Jun 16, 1823 in Hinds Co. MS. He served as Mississippi Governor from 1833-1835. Nephew Ben Fort Smith was the first Representative from Hinds Co. in the MS State Legislature. Aurelia and Ben Fort Smith were children of brother David Smith. |
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Sources: Adams Co. Mississippi Genealogy & History Network, "1792 Census for Natchez District (under Spanish Government control)", 2009, 1792 Census. "George W. Humphreys Bible", Claiborne MS Bibles, photostat of original bible, recorded 1957 by May Wilson McBee, in Mississippi Genealogy Trails, website. Genealogy Trails, Claiborne Co. (MS) 1810 Tax Roll, website, transcribed by Lee Kohler, updated May 8, 2018. Cumberland Compact, original document signed May 13, 1780, Washington County NC, website. Clayton, Prof. W.W., History of Davidson County Tennessee, reprod. 1971 by Charles Elder, Nashville TN. Drake, Doug, Jack Masters and Bill Puryear, Founding of the Cumberland Settlements, The First Atlas, 1779-1804, Warioto Press, 2009, pp. 23, map E7. Farrell Family History, website. Imbert, J. Leopold, map maker, Carte des Possessions Angloises... 1777, reprinted by the Museum of the American Revolution from map image at the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library. McBee, May Wilson, comp., "Land Claims", in Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Book F, p.21. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, pp. 8, 278, 517, Book A, pp. 10, 27, Book B, pp. 10, 83, Book E, p. 196. MS Dept. of Archives & History (MDAH), Jackson MS, rootsweb, Americans Arriving in Spanish-Held Natchez 1780-1790. MSGenWeb, Natchez District 1792 Census Index, comp. by Ellen Pack, Head of Household Index, transcribed and translated from Spanish. North Carolina Land Grants, vol. 2, at Morganton NC Library, p. 6, #1476, transcribed by Lisabeth M. Holloway Oct 9, 1987. Potter, Dorothy Williams, Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770-1823, Gateway Press, Baltimore MD, 1982, p. 342. Tuller, Roberta, "1777 Petition of Holston Men", in An American Family History, website, Amazon Services, 2020. "Virginia Troops in the French and Indian Wars", Va. Hist. Mag., 1:389, 1894. Wells, Carol, Natchez Postscripts 1781-1798, Heritage Books, pp. 101, 144-5, 151, White, Gifford, James Taylor White of Virginia and some of his descendants into Texas, Austin, TX, 1982. Veach, Damon, "Louisiana Ancestors", article in Sunday Advocate Magazine, Baton Rouge LA, Feb 21, 1982. |
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