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ALIASES: James Smith, Cripple; James Smith, Little River; James Turner Smith

JAMES SMITH, Jr.  son of  James  Smith, Sr. and Sarah Turner, was born about 1752 in Pickawaxen Parish, Charles County MD.  Sarah Turner was the daughter of  James Turner and Kerenhappuch Norman of Spotsylvania, VA.   When James  Smith, Jr. was about ten years of age the family moved to Halifax, VA.  [VA Land Patent  37, P.214, 10 Sept 1767.]     In 1795, James Smith (Cripple)  filed for a pension based upon a musket ball shot to his thigh during the “Battle of  Guilford Courthouse” which occurred at Guilford Courthouse, NC, 15  March 1781.  Roll 2217-RevWar Pension & BLW Files, National Archives.  Virginia Military Records indicate James Smith joined the American Revolution cause in 1777 eventually serving for the “duration” of the war.  He was with Gen. George Washington and the 12th Virginia Regiment at Valley Forge;  fought at  Brandywine;  by 1779  was assigned to the ‘Southern Department’ and captured with the 2nd Virginia Continental Regiment at Charleston.  He returned to fight at the Battle of  Guilford Courthouse in March 1781 where he sustained a disabling thigh  wound.
 
James Smith  married on 4 May 1784 in Charles County Maryland, Constantia Ann Ford, [MD Marriages 1778-1800, Robert Barnes, 1979, P. 209].  Constantia was the  daughter of  Charles Allison Ford and Ann Chandler . [NSDAR Genealogical Records, Thomas Allanson, Lord of Christian Temple Manor, by Mary Turpin Layton,  1947, LDS-FHC, #929.273/A1/#1081.]  The family settled in Richmond County, NC by 1785.  Children of James  Smith, Jr. and Constantia Ford from Bible records on file with the DAR:  Anna Ford Smith (1785NC-1796NC); Richard Smith (1787NC-1808NC); twins - James Norman Smith (1789NC-1875TX),  Charles Allison Smith (1789NC-1851MS); and Elizabeth Ford Smith (1792NC-1802NC). The Smith family left Richmond County NC and moved to Maury County TN around 1807.  They settled in an area near Duck River and Ruthersford Creek.   Constantia Ford Smith died 24 February 1812 in Covington, TN. [DAR# 391242, Juel Meyer- Family Bible Records.]

 On 27 October 1816 during a visit to North Carolina, James  Smith married his cousin’s widow, Mrs. Lucy Marshall Turner, relict of James Turner.    In November 1817, James Smith returned to Maury County TN to settle his interests there and  return to Anson County NC.  He deeded to his son, James N. Smith, 100 acres on Duck River and Negroes: Mary, Kato, Queen, Nancey, Townley, Thomas and Hannibal. [Maury CoTN Deed Book G, P. 245,246,251.] The same day he deeded 100 acres on Duck River to his son Charles A. Smith along with Negroes: Mack, Frank, Jack, Nancey, Ally, Milly, and Calico.  Also to his granddaughter, Elizabeth Hungerford Smith one Negro girl named Jenny.   (Negroes Mack, Townley, Milly, Nancey, and Ally were devised to Constantia Ford by her father, Charles Allison Ford’s will. [Charles CoMD Wills, 1780-1791, P.96.] ) 

Late November 1817, James  Smith began his journey from Maury County TN back to  Anson County NC. On the way he fell ill and died 17 December 1817 in Asheville, NC just about 50 miles from home.  His will was probated 16 April 1818 with his widow, Lucy Smith and his son, James N. Smith as co-executors.  The will devised his remaining  Negroes: Asa, Anney, Amey, and Little Caesor to his yet unborn heir, Robert Benjamin Smith, (1818NC-?). [Anson CoNC Will Book 2, P. 152.]  (These Negroes came into James  Smith’s possession through the will of his sister, Mary Ward, d. 1816 Maury, TN. [Maury CoTN, Will Book B-1, P.26-27.] ) James (Turner) Smith is buried in the old Marshall Family burial ground on the Rocky River in Anson County North Carolina near where the PeeDee, Rocky and Little River comes together near the town of Norwood.


Sgt. James Smith Served in both Continental Army & Virginia Militia. Continental Army
service includes: Jan 26, 1777 enlisted in the 14th Virginia Regiment "on Continental
Establishment; Sep 11, 1777 was at the Battle of Brandywine; Oct 4, 1777 was at the Battle
of Germantown; Winter of 1777/78 was with General George Washington at the Valley
Forge Encampment (Jan 1778 hospitalized while at Valley Forge); Jun 28, 1778 was at the
battle of Monmouth; Sep 16, 1778 taken prisoner by the and later exchanged; Spring 1880
was involved in the Defense of Charlestown. Virginia Militia service includes: Mar 15, 1781
severely wounded at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse and service in his uncle, Captain
James Turner's, Militia Company, date or dates unknown.

From BENNIE LOU HOOK ALTOM’S “SMITH FILES.”
April 2002     Baltom@NovaOne.Net 

Additional information on the Smith Family of MD, VA, NC, TN,  may be found in the Memoirs of James N. Smith, Center for American History,  University of Texas at Austin.  Typed copy of the memoirs available at Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, TX and  University of Texas at Arlington Library; Dallas Public Library, Dallas, Texas; and Daughters of the American Revolution Library, Washington, D.C.  See also Early Families of Southern Maryland, Vol. VII and Vol. VIII, Elise Greenup Jourdan, 1998; Southerland Latham & Allied Families, 1931, Imogen Southerland Voorhees, LDS-FHC; and the following  Website: www.kerenhappuch.com.

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