Digging Up Your Family

Smith. John B Smith.

Back on July 8, 1876, on page four, the Spirit of the South newspaper (Rockingham, North Carolina) printed a small and humorous article that had been in several newspapers across the country:

Thirty years ago, a young man entered the city of New York in an almost penniless condition, and without a single acquaintance in the great wilderness of houses.  To-day, his name is known wherever humanity dwells.  It is spoken in every hamlet, is heard in every city, and is as familiar to the worker in the mines as his brother in the mills, and where language is known and ideas expressed, the name of this penniless, unknown and uncouth lad of thirty years ago is uttered.  It was John Smith.

Many genealogists have had the pleasure of tracking down a John Smith at some point, and I’m sure there are many who have a John Smith as their brick wall.  And for years (decades) in my husband’s family, John B Smith has been a brick wall.  Until two months ago.

I honestly cannot for the life of me figure out how I found John B.  Up until December no one was sure where he was buried, where he had died, when he had died, etc.  I wrote about him back in July of 2012 and now I can give further info on him!!!!

While I can’t remember how I came across it, my first discovery was John B’s place of burial and headstone!  (click here to go to his memorial on Find a Grave)

According to his headstone in Mount Olivet United Methodist Church Cemetery in Hunts Mill, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, John B Smith was born in 1822 in Brunswick County, North Carolina to parents William and Henrietta Smith.  John B died on November 2, 1898 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.

BUT, I had to check to make sure that was really him, right?  A quick search, and some speed-reading convinced me I had found the elusive John B Smith, husband of Harriet Grant, father of nine children (possibly ten, but one needs confirmation).

According to the Estate Records, Cases 638-757, 1865-1927; Chesterfield County, South Carolina Wills and Probate Records (1670-1980) on Ancestry:

John B Smith, case #640

…The undersigned respectfully shows to this court

That John B Smith died intestate at his home in said county and state on the 2nd Nov 1898 having a small personal estate of about the value of Fifty-five dollars… (5 Nov 1898)

Guardian Bond papers found in John B’s estate file mention the names of Daniel Labon Grant, Annie Jane Grant, and Loyal (actually Lowell) Tate Grant, the children of Henry Harrison Grant and Sarah Thomas.  Henry was the son of Jeremiah Grant and grandson of Malachi Grant.  As far as is known, Harriet Grant is the daughter of Malachi (I just need something as absolute to prove it to myself).  Also mentioned in the Guardian Bond are DB (Daniel Baity-sp?) and Flora A Grant.  DB happens to also be a son of Jeremiah Grant.

I can’t pretend to know why those guardian papers were in John B Smith’s estate file, as his name does not appear on any of them.  There is mention of claims to Jeremiah Grant’s estate in regards to the children, so I did go through his papers to see if John B’s name appears anywhere.  No luck.

ANYWAY, if the Grants appearing in John B Smith’s estate papers isn’t proof enough, considering he married a Grant who is related to those Grants, then I don’t know how else to convince a person.  And let’s not forget to mention the estate of John B’s brother-in-law. 

Moving back to John B’s parents, William and Henrietta Smith.  After I had posted found information on the John B Smith Descendants Facebook page, another Smith descendant took off with finding more information.  Isabelle posted:

Looks like William Smith was born c. 1789 and Henrietta was born c. 1795 bith in NC. The 1860 census shows them in North West District, Brunswick Co. William Smith b 1843 and Martha J. Wallace b 1844 are listed in the same house.

An Update on John B. Smith's parents and siblings:

As far as I've been able to find out so far, William and Henrietta Smith had the following children:

1) Christina Smith (born circa 1815)
- married Henry Wallace
2) Ann E. Smith (born circa 1820)
3) John B. Smith (1822- 2 Nov 1898)
- married Harriet Grant
4) Robert Smith (born circa 1829)
5) Elizabeth Ann Smith (Nov 1830 - 23 Apr 1914)
- married William Rothwell Skipper (10 Feb 1827 - 27 Nov 1910)
6) Morris (Mores/Moore) Smith (born circa 1833)
7) Joseph Smith (born circa 1835)
8) Martha Ann Smith (1838- 1 Feb 1918)
- married Joseph Champion (born circa 1832)

Tracing the boys and the eldest daughter is proving difficult, but I did find further information on Elizabeth Ann Smith Skipper and Martha Ann Smith Champion.

Elizabeth and William Skipper were parents to:

James Tucker Skipper (b 1853)
Rebecca Jane Skipper (1855-1929)
- married Noah Wellington Alford
William Albert Skipper (b 1857)
Sarah Jane Skipper (26 Mar 1859 - 26 Jul 1945)
- married Nathaniel Byrd
John William Skipper (1862 - 22 Jul 1879)
Isadora Skipper (1868 - Jun 1958)
- married William Franklin Alford
Charles Henry Skipper (28 Feb 1870 - 29 Jul 1926)
Rosa Lee Skipper (1875 - 21 Jan 1914)
- married (?) Potter

Martha and Joseph Champion were parents to:

Henrietta Champion (b 1855)
Humphrey Isaac Champion (15 Oct 1857 - 13 Jun 1934)
- married Ida Malpass (22 Nov 1872 - 15 Apr 1911)
- Six (6) children
Alice Catherine Champion (b 1859)
- married David James Byrd
Joseph Howard Champion (b 1863)
- married Martha Harris
- at least Two (2) children
Martha Jane Champion (1865 - 12 Sep 1938)
- married S. C. Griffin
Ellen Henrietta Champion (11 Apr 1867 - 24 May 1927)
- married Emmet Eli Parker (28 Mar 1870 - 23 Sep 1950)
- at least Three (3) children
Atlas Grandy Champion (10 Sep 1870 - 2 Jun 1962)
- married Mary Catherine Wood (4 Feb 1877 - 30 Jul 1947)
- Eight (8) children

Isabelle and I have spoken twice about all of this, and we both agreed that we need more valid sources.  However this is a start and hopefully it will help us go back further.

Because now the Smith brick wall is William Smith.

John B Smith

My husband’s 2nd great-grandfather John B Smith is, as my brother-in-law Bryan says, “a mystery surrounded by a riddle inside of an enigma”.  And he is quite correct.  There isn’t a lot of information about John B Smith, but maybe, just maybe, someone out there (a John B Smith descendent, perhaps?) will have a back bedroom full of information (fingers crossed!).  I’m going to touch on a few points related to known information about him, but then I am going to touch on a few speculative points that may or may not be helpful in figuring out where this guy came from.

 

My husband’s relationship to John B Smith:

My husband

Ashley Berrell Smith (his father)

Henry Thomas Smith, Jr (his grandfather)

Henry Thomas Smith, Sr (his g-grandfather)

John B Smith (his gg-grandfather)

 

The first record that can be found for certain for John B Smith is his marriage record.  On January 19, 1850 John B Smith married Harriett A Grant in Richmond County, North Carolina.  The only other information given on the marriage bond is that the bondsman was DD Morrison.  I really wish the bondsman could have been a Smith or a Grant!

I have searched and searched for John and Harriett on the 1850 census and I cannot find them anywhere.  I have searched all through Richmond County, North Carolina and into Marlboro County, South Carolina.  Unless my eyes are skipping over them I haven’t seen them.  Yet!  I’m still searching!

In 1860 I can find John B Smith on the census in Post Office Rockingham, Wolf Pit, Richmond County, North Carolina.  Oddly, though, Harriett is not on the census record with him.  John is listed as 35 years of age, male and mulatto (there is a reason for listing race, I promise).  He is shown as having been born in North Carolina and was a person over the age of 20 years who could neither read nor write.  He was a farmer, his real estate was worth $100 and his personal estate was worth $150.  His children listed in the household are: Malcolm (age 10 years), Martha (age 8 years), Eugenia (age 6 years) and Randolph (age 2 years).  There is another Smith family on this page consisting of father William, mother Elizabeth and children:  Isabella, Penelope, Elbert, Jane and Amanda.  This family is also listed as mulatto, so I wonder if William is possibly a brother to John B…or even an uncle, cousin, etc?

interesting side note:  Malcolm is Malcolm Randolph Smith and Randolph is Charles Randolph Smith. 

In 1870 the family is still living in Post Office Rockingham, Wolf Pit, Richmond County, North Carolina.  John B Smith is listed as such, age 48 years and white.  He is still a farmer with a real estate value of $100 and a personal estate value of $100.  Harriett does appear on this census (though I sure would love to know where she was in 1850 and 1860), age 36 years, white and born in North Carolina.  Her occupation is listed as “keeping house”, and it appears that she was able to read and write.  The children in the household are:  Eugenia (at home, age 16 years), Randolph (farm laborer, age 13 years), Gilbert (farm laborer, age 11 years), John (age 6 years) and Mary L (age 10 months).  On this page there are two other smith families listed.  The first, just above John B and family, is his son Malcolm and family: wife Mary and son Joseph.  The second is listed just below: a 56-year-old Lucy Smith living with Lucy Stephens and John Smith.  If the second family is related I do not know how (though it is possible that Lucy is a sister-in-law, perhaps?  or not related at all, I suppose).  And interesting thing to note here is that Malcolm’s family is listed as mulatto, even though his father’s family is not.

Once again John B Smith and family are found in 1880 living in Wolf Pit Township, Richmond County, North Carolina.  John B is listed as such, age 56 years and mulatto (again).  He is a farmer and the value of real estate and personal estate is not asked about on this census year.  This does tell us that not only was he born in North Carolina, but both his mother and father were also born in North Carolina.  Harriett (listed as Harriet) is shown as age 49 years and also mulatto.  Her occupation is shown as housekeeping (house wife),  states that she was born in North Carolina; and both of her parents were also born in North Carolina.  The children listed in the household are: Randolph (laborer, age 21 years), Gilbert (age 19 years), Mary L (age 11 years), Lucy (age 9 years), Henry (my husband’s g-grandfather, age 7 years) and Cornelia (age 3 years).  All of the children are also listed as mulatto.  The only other Smith family listed right around John B’s is, once again, his son Malcolm.  Malcolm’s family consists of himself and: wife Mary and children Joseph, Sarah, Hudson and Charlie, also all listed as mulatto.

These are all of the records that I am able to find on John B Smith.  Now for the fun stuff (the speculative stuff!):

Ok, we do not know who the parents of John B Smith are, but if that could be answered it would be fantastic.  Assuming that he was mulatto (whether that is mulatto from Freed People of Color or mulatto from Native American, I don’t know) then the first thing I would look for is other mulatto families in the area old enough to be his parents.  Well, I did that and I found an Ellen Smith, age 40 years, in Marlboro County, South Carolina (which butts up against Richmond County, North Carolina) who is mulatto.  But her husband is only 35 years of age.  Which means that if she were to be John B’s mother her husband wouldn’t be old enough to be the father.  So scratch that.  And except for a 32-year-old Neill Smith listed as mulatto in Moore County, North Carolina, I cannot find any others in the area, but there are plenty of mulatto Smith families across the state.

Now, the other thing to keep in mind is that Harriett is also listed as mulatto in the 1880 census.  It is assumed (probably correctly) that Harriett’s parents are Malachi and Penelope Grant, who in 1810 Malachi is listed as white, in 1820 listed as white, in 1830 listed as white, in 1840 listed as Free Persons of Color, in 1850 listed as mulatto and in 1860 listed as white.   The only problem that I can see with Malachi and Penelope being her parents is that they were both born in South Carolina and the 1880 census shows Harriett’s parents having been born in North Carolina.  Of course, amusingly enough there was a John and Penelope Grant in Wolf Pit at the same time, and about the same age as Malachi and Penelope, with John having been born in South Carolina and Penelope having been born in North Carolina, and they are also listed as mulatto. 

Pretty much I am at a loss on going back further in the Smith and Grant lines.  I don’t know when John B Smith, or Harriett for that matter, died or where they are buried.  But maybe someone out there will have the information we are looking for in order to figure out who John B Smith’s parents are!  I’m still shuffling through Civil War records, other war pensions and census records, wills and online Bible records trying to find something, anything, that will help with the research.

If you are a descendent of John B Smith and Harriett Lou Grant of Wolf Pit, Richmond County, North Carolina then pop on over to Facebook and join the John B. Smith Descendants group.  You can share photos and stories and get to know your cousins!