A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for John Smith
WFT 137 # 299 says that John died about 1793, but that doesn't agree with the Parks manuscript, which says that Daniel and Martha (Davis) Smith (John’s brother and Margaret’s sister) had three children, and Daniel and all three children died in an epidemic along with their “Uncle John, and a large portion of the Smith family”. John dying relatively young in an epidemic could also explain why he and Margaret had only two children. Martha remarried to Brewer Reeves in April 1782, so if John and Daniel Smith Jr. died at about the same time in an epidemic it would have to be before that. If John was really present at the surrender of Yorktown in October 1781, as it says in the excerpt below (and the section of the book on Daniel Smith Sr. seems to say that Daniel Jr. was also at Yorktown), there isn’t much of a window between then and Martha’s remarriage. It seems like everyone wanted to claim to have been present at Yorktown, though, so we should maybe take that constraint with a grain of salt.
The marriage date is from WFT 137 # 299. Note that it is the same date that the excerpt below says John enlisted in the militia. Not sure if this date is reliable, but sources agree that the marriage was around 1776 anyway.
"Gleanings of Virginia History, An Historical and Genealogical Collection, Largely from Original Sources", by William Fletcher Boogher (Washington, DC, 1903), p. 338:
John Smith, Jr., son of Daniel and Jane (Harrison) Smith, born Nov. 30, 1752, in Augusta county; was commissioned March 14, 1776, ensign in the 4th Virginia Regiment; August, 1776, 2d lieutenant; Feb. 21, 1777, 1st lieutenant; resigned May 26, 1778. He was again commissioned 1st lieutenant Sept. 12, 1778, and was present at the surrender of Yorktown, Oct. 19, 1781. Married, ------, 1776, Margaret Davis.
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
Page generated on 31 October 2023