William Smith Sr., who was born on March 16, 1765, in Liberty County, Georgia, was my 4th Great-grandfather on my mother’s mother’s father’s side. But he was also related to my father. In reality, my parents were third cousins, something they never knew when they were alive. So, when doing my genealogy, things do get a little complicated at times.
So, who was William Smith? William was a Private in the American Revolution and in the War of 1812. He was granted 287 ½ acres of land in Washington County, GA for his Revolutionary War service in 1786. Washington County became Ware County. William was also a Justice of Interior Court of Ware County, GA.
He moved to Appling County, which in time became Clinch County in 1822 and settled on Red Bluff Creek, where he brought his large stock of cattle and began farming. Clinch County was named in honor of General Duncan L. Clinch, a brave soldier in the War of 1812 and the Florida Indian Wars of 1836-1838.
During the War of 1812, William served in the 1st Regiment of the Georgia Militia , which played a significant role during the War of 1812 as they defended American interests against British forces and their Native American allies. I also found that he played a fife for his regiment. I find that interesting, since I, too, play the flute.
However, William’s real occupation was that of pioneer minister in the Primitive Baptist Church. He along with several of my other relatives, like the Tomlinsons, the Parishes, the Howells, the Hardemans, the Lees, the Lightseys, the Morgans, the Monks, the Zeiglers and others moved from South Carolina, or North Carolina. Many of this group came from Barnwell, SC and migrated en masse. The Hardemens came from far away Virginia. After the Revolution they migrated to Georgia, where they had been given land or received land through a lottery system.
These people were not rich, although if you trace their lineage back a few generations, and find came from families that were fairly well off. But in Georgia they had one room log houses with hewn floors and wooden shutters for windows. There were blazing pine knots in the fireplace that served both for light and heat. And even in the summer when Georgia is hot and muggy with lots of flies, they still had hot fires in the fireplaces to get rid of mosquitoes. According to historian Judge Folks Huxford, these people were honest and hospitable and had, “the kindliest disposition to each other.”
At the time, many of the counties in Georgia were large and as time went on, they were split apart to form other counties. Lowndes County, which is home to Valdosta, was a much larger county. But, eventually several surrounding counties were cut from it like Clinch, Echols, Irwin, Ware, Coffee and Appling.
William Smith married twice. The first wife was Miss Mary Platt. They had four children. After the death of his first wife, he married Neter Stephens, whereby they had eight children, including a son, Manning Smith, who grew up to be an Inferior Court judge in Valdosta. He married Elizabeth Tomlinson and they had several children, including my great, great grandmother, Sarah or Sallie Smith Howell, who died in Dunedin, Florida, where I was born. After Eliabeth had died, Manning moved to Florida where he is buried in the Mount Zion cemetery in Hernando County in what was previously called Fort Dade.
I’ve spent a lot of time going to all of the cemeteries in South Georgia. Depending on the time of year, you have to wear snake bite boots and carry a machete because the Eastern Diamondback Rattlers and the Cottonmouths are prolific. This area is also very close to the famous Okefenokee Swamp, one of the most extensive areas of submerged land on the North American Continent.
In doing my family research, I found it interesting how much the county lines of Georgia moved over time. And even the state lines moved. Some years, I find these family members in the Georgia archives. Other years, they were in the Florida archives. And while they never moved from their homeplace, they managed to live in five different counties and in two different states. Talk about hard work for a genealogist!
At the time William Smith and family moved to South Georgia there were forests of giant trees everywhere and wild game was in abundance. No such wood is found there today. The timber industry is one of the largest employers of that area. One particular family Howell gravesite was purchased by a large timber company. My third cousin told me he remembered the day they came there with large machines, turning all the graves and headstones under. Eventually saplings were planted there. Today, it’s a pine forest.
There were also Indians. Creek or the Seminoles lived in the area before the white settlers arrived. In 1836, many small towns had stockades built around and inside the fort, small homes were built.
Of course, between the intentional burning of the Cinch County courthouse in 1856 by a resident who wanted to win his court case and the American Civil War where General Sherman destroyed everything in his path, records in Georgia are difficult to find. After the Civil War, the area was desolate. Rebuilding was slow. A good reference point is this: In 1860, the tax value of the land in Clinch County was $1.3 million. By 1868, just eight years later, the value of all the land was $445,000. It took until 1915, 50 years after the war, for the tax value to be just over $2 million dollars.
I will say this. If it were not for the valiant work of Judge Folks Huxford who interviewed everyone he could to protect the area’s history, shy of a few family Bibles, there would be no history of South Georgia. He published many books in the early 1900s, like this 10-set edition of the Pioneers of the Wiregrass and several county books. Today, for those searching for South Georgia records, the old school in Homerville is now the Huxford library. It houses family records and all that Judge Huxford collected, including all of his hand-written notes.
Information provided by Caron Myers.
