VA Gov George William Smith and the tragic Richmond Theatre fire of 1811

(From Debra)

Attention all of you Virginia family members!

The son of our Fifth Great Uncle Colonel Meriwether Smith was once the governor of your state.
George William Smith (born 1762), son of our great uncle Meriwether Smith, was elected Virginia's 17th governor in 1811.

His story is amazingly tragic, however.

He was elected governor in late 1811.  Three weeks into his term, he and other dignitaries attended an event at the Richmond Theatre on December 26, 1811.

During that event, the Richmond Theatre began to burn, the fire forcing everyone to evacuate.  Governor George William Smith made it safely out of the burning building.
Then he realized that his young son, who had also attended the theatre event that night, had NOT gotten out of the blaze.

The frantic father ran back into the theatre to find his son. Governor Smith never made it back out of the burning building, although his young son did escape the inferno. George William Smith perished there in that burning theatre, along with so many others.

His ashes and those of the other victims are buried underneath a marble monument at Monumental Church in Richmond, Virginia.
 
His term as Governor of Virginia lasted three short weeks.

 

John Smith T. ---- the dueler

(From Debra)

Francis Smith, the Younger or Junior [1749-1812] ---our 4th Great Grandfather----married Lucy Wilkinson.

Their third child was our ancestor----Ebenezer Smith [1779-1837].

However, the second child of their marriage was the interesting one:  John Smith T.
John Smith T.----that is the way he wrote his name, as a way of distinction, as he called it----had quite a reputation.

John Smith T. was a noted duelist and is said to have killed 12 or 13 men in his various personal encounters.

In John F. Dabney's Personal Recollections, there is supposedly a sketch of him, along with the story of his dueling mastery.

He had extensive land grants, according to United States Land Grant Records, in Missouri, where he lived and died.

By the way, he evidently won every duel, because he died in his bed as an old man on his estate just below St. Louis, Missouri.

So, that means our 4th Great Uncle was a duelist.

Francis Smith, Last Will and Testament, Part 2 (final part)

There is actually a little bit more in this will, but I'm selectively posting here.  This post will be the last regarding this will.  This was all handwritten, of course, and Debra typed it all up for us.  I found it extremely difficult to read the written text.

(Coninued)
Item, I give devise and bequeath to my son William Smith all my Land in the Neck adjoining the Land wherein I now live, beginning at White Oak Corner on the Lower Five of the Road heading to Lowry’s Ferry, and parting my Land and that of George Clayton’s, thence down the road to a forked Red Oak, another corner between my Land and said Clayton’s, thence along a line of Trees marked by myself in the presence of my two sons Meriwether and William, Mr. Thomas Adams, Mr. Henry Vaps, John Edmondson, Jr., and John Webb to a White Oak at the Head of a Branch where the road crosses, thence down the said Branch, according to its Meanders, into the Beaver Dams, to the line between Lowry’s and myself, thence down Lowry’s Line to Young’s Line, thence along Young’s Line to Cauthorn’s Line, thence along Cauthorn’s Line, the several courses to the Lands of William Young, and from thence up Young’s and Clayton’s Line, to the White Oak began at, to him and his Heirs for Ever

Item, I give to my friend Thomas Adams, a Mourning Ring of the price of two guineas.

Item, I give my Books to be equally divided among my three sons Meriwether, Francis, and William.

Lastly, I constitute and appoint my Loving Wife Executrix and my son Meriwether Smith and my Friend Thomas Adams to be Executors of this my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all Other Wills by me heretofore made, and do declare this my Last Will and Testament.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my Hand and affixed my Seal this fifth day of March, Anno Dom. 1760

Signed, sealed and declared by the Said Francis Smith as his Last Will and Testament in the Presence of

Rob. Grier

John Well

Fra. Jones

John Doby or Daily

At a court held for Essex County at Tappahannock on Monday the 15^th day of March, 1762.

This will was presented in Court by Meriwether Smith and Thomas Adams, gent., the Executors therein named who made Oath thereto according to Law, which being also Proved by the Oath of Francis Jones and John Daily, two of the witnesses thereto it is admitted to record and on the motion of the Said Executors and their performing what the Laws in the Like cases require, Certificate is Granted them for obtaining a Probate therein in Due Form.

Francis Smith - Last Will and Testament, part 1

Reading wills

Legal language today is sometimes hard for the layman to follow.  Reading wills from the 1700's is hard for a modern day person to follow.  Oh my goodness, the details they wove into their stories!  Over the next few days I will share excerpts from the will of Francis Smith (senior), who was our 5th great grandfather.  

FRANCIS SMITH LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

Virginia Wills and Probate:  The Will Book, Volume II (1757-1762)

In the name of God, Amen.

I Francis Smith of the County of Essex of Parish of South Farnham [Virginia], being in perfect sense and memory, do make known, constitute and appoint this my last Will and Testament, in manner following.

I desire my body be buried in a decent way, at the discretion of my Executors, herein after named, trusting to the merits of my blessed Saviour for the salvation of my soul.

Lend to my loving Wife Ann Smith the use of half of all my Lands, at the Lower Church in South Farnham Parish, to be laid off for her on the North side the main road running thro’ the said Land, and the following Slaves (to wit): Sambo, Harry, Will, Dorus, Lance, Judy, Will the Son of Judy, Phebee, Rose, Sarah Daughter of Rose, and Chloe Daughter of Old Phebee.I also give to my said Wife, the use of my riding chair and Horses, also my young horse called Buck, and my Sorrel Mare, thirty head of cattle, my Cart and four Oxen now in use on the Plantation, twenty head of Sheep, all my flock of Hoggs on the said Plantations at the Church, my Looking Glass in the Chamber over the Hall, a Dressing Glass which stands in the Lower Chamber, two of my best Beds and Furniture, two Black Walnut Tables, one dozen Chairs now standing in the Hall, all my Plates and China, half the Kitchen Furniture, and my Black Walnut Desk, also my share and part of the reversion of the Estate now held by Mrs. Adams in New Kent County, in lieu of her Dower in the Estate of her late Husband Mr. Ebenezar Adams late of the said county deed for and during her natural Life in full Satisfaction and Compensation of her Right of Dower in my Lands, Slaves, and Personal Estate, and after her Decease, I give and devise the Slaves abovementioned, and their future Increase, Horse, etc., to be equally divided among my three children Francis, William , and Ann, and their heirs for Ever.

(To be continued)

Calfpasture, Cowpasture, and Bullpasture, Virginia

In my post about Thomas Adams, I said that he lived in an area called Calfpasture in Virginia. It s interesting how the area got its name.

From wiki:

The Indians had named the river Walatoola, which means "winding waters", describing the great bends in the river. However, when British settlers arrived in the 1720s they named it the Cowpasture.

There is an interesting story about how the Cowpasture and neighboring rivers the Bullpasture River and Calfpasture River came to be so named. It is said that the Indians once had stolen a herd of settlers' cattle and were driving them westward into the mountains. The calves naturally tired first; they were left behind at the river which is now the Calfpasture. The cows were driven on farther, but they, too, had to be abandoned, the valley in which they were left became the valley of the Cowpasture. The bulls, being somewhat hardier, were still able to continue westward; they finally were left at the river which is known as the Bullpasture.

6th Great Uncle Thomas Adams

We believe that Thomas Adams was our 6th Great Uncle. An important man of his time, Thomas Adams was a signer of the Articles of Confederation.  He lived in Virginia, in what was called "the Calfpasture". He had no children, and his place of burial is unknown. We want to find it, though. I'm on the case. 
Here is a drawing of Thomas, and a photo of our grandfather, Oswell Scott Smith.

German G7 grandfather

Excerpt from Debra's email:

The is the forefather of Comfort Delilah Prather, the woman who was our great grandfather Smith's mother.)

Here is the story of how this great x 7 grandfather of ours got his name. You will LOVE this!

A family named WEISSGERBER sailed from Nassau Siegen, Germany, and arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 31, 1750.
They settled in Culpepper County, Virginia.

Since no one in the American Colonies could spell or even understand the pronunciation of the name WEISSGERBER, his name was recorded as "WHITESCARVER."

So he is one of the reasons our DNA test shows we have German blood. His wife, our G-7 Grandmother, was German, also----Anna Catharina Wuest.

From WikiWorld:

Tillman Whitescarver

Tillman Whitescarver migrated to America from Germany August 31,1750, bringing with him his wife Anna Cuntz and children, Anna Maria, Harman, and Anna Cathrine. They came from Niederndor, Nassau-Siegen, Germany and landed at Philadelphia. From there they went on to Culpeper County, VA. His German name was DILMANUS WEISSGERBER and he was born March 20, 1713. Upon arrival in American, his name was changed to an English-sounding name Tillman Whitescarver; On May 13, 1752, he was granted 329 acres of land in Culpeper County, VA, on the fork of the Crooked Run. Tillman died in Culpeper County in 1782.

10 children under the age of 12

Here is an excerpt from an email that Debra sent out recently, in case you missed it:

Recently, as I continued my never-ending ancestry search, I came across an 1870 federal census with some interesting info about George Snelling Butler, our Great Great Grandfather (Mama's Grandpa Butler's father).

For all of us parents who have at times felt exhausted by having and raising our children, check this out:

Great Great Grandfather George Snelling Butler (age 50) married a 20 year old woman, Mary Ann Richards. Their wedding was in 1856. Just 14 years later, here are their children and the children's ages as listed on the 1870 census:

David Edward (Ned) Butler     age 12

Elizabeth Butler                       age 11

Patrick Henry Butler                age 10

Ellen Augusta Butler               age   9

James Thomas Butler             age   7 (our great grandfather)

Simeon Clayton Butler            age  6

Joseph Butler                           age 4

Martha Butler                            age 2

Benjamin Franklin Butler         age 1

Susan Butler                             age 4 months

Lemon pie!

This was one of the sweetest things I've come across. It's a book with a lemon pie recipe from one of mother's ancestors.   As I told Debra and Peggy, now we know where mother got her lemon pie talents from!
 Click here for lemon pie recipe

Our first post

Welcome!  Those who come here are interested in finding out how we got here!  Debra has already done so much research on our ancestry. But I know there is much more to be done. I am her private detective.  Make no mistake tho, she is the boss and the genealogical brain of this process. (I am the boss in everything else, so, haha!)

Peggy suggested that we create a blog. I thought about a private Facebook page..... but then realized that a blog would make this easier to follow, and also might be a little more accessible to the family.  As we find out interesting little tidbits about our ancestors, we can post a short blog entry to tell you. You can come and read all of the posts whenever you want to.   You can make a comment on a post and ask questions or give your thoughts anytime.  

Debra continues to map out our lines. It is fascinating and the detective part of it has me hooked!