Alabama Smith References, part II

Earlier today I found references to some Alabama Smith Revolutionary War Vets in Thomas Owen's Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama. Then as I was skimming through the rest of the eBook that is published on HeritageQuest online, I found an entry for Colonel John McCutchen of Jackson County, Alabama, a revolutionary soldier who died Jan 17, 1835. The entry for Colonel McCutchen included an article that was published in the Southern Advocate, Huntsville, Jan 27, 1835 that mentioned a meeting that convened to pay tribute to this fallen hero. At the meeting, Colonel James Smith was called to the chair and Major John B Stevens was appointed secretary. Resolutions to pay tribute were "resolved" and signed by James Smith, Chairman and John B. Stevens, Secretary.

Who was this Colonel James Smith? If he was important, then why wasn't he included in this account? There was an entry for James Smith of Jackson Co., AL who was listed on the 1840 Pensioners Census and living with James P Smith (p. 148). But this entry had no mention of him being a Colonel. Is this the same person?

Sources:

A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary Or Military Services: With Their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshals of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census, By United States Census Office. 6th census, 1840, United States Census Office, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Genealogical Society, Published by Printed by Blair and Rives, 1841. [This title is available as eBook on google books.]

History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Vol IV, Thomas M Owen, 1921. [This title is available as eBook on google books]

Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama: being a list of names, compiled from authentic sources, of soldiers of the American Revolution who resided in the state of Alabama, Thomas M Owen, 1911. [This title is available as eBook at HeritageQuest.com]

Colby Franklin Dennis Research

I went to the library today to pick up my photocopies of the Rasco book I ordered through Interlibrary Loan. They had another book I had ordered through ILL - Samuel Bell Maxey: Biography, by Louise Horton, 1974. I was puzzled because I didn't remember ordering the book and I had no idea why I ordered it. I used the search within all documents feature on my pc to find any "Maxey" references. I finally found it in a family tree genealogy report I had exported and saved on Dec 4, 2008. Evidently, my ancestor, Colby Franklin Dennis, had served under this Samuel Bell Maxey in the Civil War. I found notes I had copied in Colby's file in my family tree maker software which made reference to this. The notes made reference to Louise Horton's book about Samuel Maxey, a draft version; however, I was not able to find this exact book that supposedly mentioned my Dennis ancestor. This book I ordered through ILL was the next closest thing. Although this book did not specifically mention my ancestor, it did outline Maxey's journey through the Civil War, which matched up with the abstracted Civil War records that I copied from Ron Brother's online cemetery and death database. I was a bit disappointed that the book did not mention anything about my ancestor having gone missing or being a POW. I don't believe Maxey was as known for his Civil War service as he was his service in the Indian Territory or as a Senator of the state of Texas.

Alabama Smith References

Earlier today I found some information on the Cherokee Indian removal from the southern states and the Trail of Tears. I found information on John R. Gourd who testified that he knew James Smith, father of my ancestor David Smith, back in the old country and that they were of Cherokee blood. I could not find a connection between the two families, however. At least not in GA. I did find information on John Gourd's family and posted it here.

I decided to try and go back to what I knew: Richard Smith was born 18 Dec 1838 in Blue Cove Springs, Jackson County, Alabama. This was the same time that the Cherokee indians (the last tribe) were removed from the southern states. So a couple of possible scenarios presented themselves: (1) Richard Smith was born while his family was being removed and travelling along the Trail of Tears; (2) Richard Smith's family was originally from AL and they stayed there even though their kind was being removed. They might have chosen to live as white men instead of leaving their home.

I spent a couple of hours trying to find out if Jackson County, AL was along the Trail of Tears route. Although I could not find specific evidence that Jackson county, AL was along the Trail of Tears route, it is feasible that it was because Jackson County, AL is located in the northeastern part of the state, bordering both TN and GA.

I also tried to find this Smith family on the Trail of Tears and/or Native American Rolls, but did not have much luck. This can be addressed another time.

In my search for Jackson County AL history, I found a few references to a couple of Smith families in the A Census of Pensioners :

(1) James Smith was 81 years old (b. about 1759), resided in Jackson County, AL with James P Smith, head of house.(p. 148)

(2) John Smith was 77 years old (b. abt 1763), resided in Jackson County, AL with Larkin Smith head of house(p. 148)

(3) Rebecca Smith, 39 years old (b. abt 1801), resided in Jackson County, AL with Rebecca Smith, head of house(p. 148)

These three Smith families were also mentioned in Thomas Owen's History of Alabama & Dictionary of Alabama Biogrpahy, Vol IV. These entries referenced two other sources: Census of Pensioners and Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama.


(1) James Smith, Soldier of the American Revolution, 81 years old (b. about 1759), resided in Jackson County, AL June 1, 1840, with James P Smith, head of house (p. 1588)- Census of Pensioners, 1841, p. 148

(2) John Smith, Soldier of the American Revolution, 69 years old (b. abt 1771), resident of Madison County, AL, private in the NC Militia, enrolled on Sept 26, 1833 under Act of Congress of Jun 7, 1832, payment to date from Mar 4, 1831; annual allowance - $80. Revolutionary Pension Roll in Volume VIX, Sen. doc. 514, 23rd cong. 1st sess 1833-34. He resided in Jackson County, AL, Jun 1, 1840 with Larkin Smith (p. 1588), age 77 - Census of Pensioners, 1841, p. 148

(3) Rebecca Smith, Soldier of the American Revolution, 39 years old (b. abt 1801), resided in Jackson County, AL (p. 1588), June 1, 1840 - Census of Pensioners, 1841, p. 148

A Colonel James Smith was also mentioned in an article about John McCutchen in Thomas Owen's Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama.

Sources:

A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary Or Military Services: With Their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshals of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census, By United States Census Office. 6th census, 1840, United States Census Office, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Genealogical Society, Published by Printed by Blair and Rives, 1841. [This title is available as eBook on google books.]

History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Vol IV, Thomas M Owen, 1921. [This title is available as eBook on google books]

Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama: being a list of names, compiled from authentic sources, of soldiers of the American Revolution who resided in the state of Alabama, Thomas M Owen, 1911. [This title is available as eBook at HeritageQuest.com]

Smith Family Research

Today I was all by myself at work. I took this time to finish reading and summarizing the Cherokee Citizenship application of Sarah Ann (Smith) Grider. Sarah Grider and several of her children and grand-children, filed for citizenship in the Cherokee Nation in 1896. Their application was denied, even though another Cherokee council member testified that they were Cherokee by blood.

This application was very important because it listed Sarah's parents - David and Sarah (Gallymore) Smith - and her grand parents - Jim Smith on the paternal side and Jennie (Lee) Gallymore on the maternal side. Sarah (Smith) Grider was the sister to my ancestor, Richard Smith.

The cherokee council member mentioned above was one John R Gourd. He testified that he knew David Smith's father, James Smith, who was known as "Cherokee Jim Smith" in the old country. This testimony gave insight about how the Indians migrated from the eastern US to the Central US. He testified that he knew James in the "old country" that was "east of the Mississippi River." He said he saw James in Chattanooga TN and in AL, but that he didn't see him again after he arrived at OK.

I did some research on this John R Gourd to get an idea of where he was from and how old he was. I found him on the 1900 Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory census report as John Rattling Gourd, b. 1819 in GA. Both parents in GA.

I read up on the Cherokee removal from the east to the west and the Trail of Tears. Most Cherokees came from the western half of GA, mostly in the north, western 1/3 of NC, and most of TN. During the Trail of Tears of 1838-1839, most of them were rounded up at forts along the TN river. Most of GA, TN and NC Indians left at Chattanooga, TN and went across the state into AR. Another trail left from AL at the TN river. This group followed the river up into MO, then back down in to AR. Most of them followed one of these two routes. A 3rd route was by land up into North TN and MO, then back down into OK. Many Indians had already left their lands and settled in AR by 1817. In 1838, these indians were also forced to move into OK.

I got confused because I could not find an 1840 census report for either Indian Territory or OK. Were there any census reports taken for these removed Indians during this time? I did find various Native American Rolls that were taken over time on the accessgenealogy page.

John Rattling Gourd was born in GA, as were his parents, so I thought maybe he knew James Smith back in GA. However, James' son David Smith's 1850 AR Census report listed his place of birth as TN. I pulled all the James Smiths from the 1830 GA Census reports, printed all of the county formation details and highlighted the counties that were original Cherokee lands. I tried to match them up with the Gourd family, however I coud not find any Gourd families in the old nation. I was able to trace John Rattling Gourd to the family of Rattlinggourd Conrad and Mary Polly Toney; Evidently their children took Rattlinggourd as their surname - then it was broken up into "Rattling" as a middle name and "Gourd" as a surname. This family is outlined in the book, "History of the Cherokee Indians and their Legends and Folklore" p. 635. This book is available for full view at google books.