James Smith

Male, #3997, (say 1757 - 1818)

Birth*say 1757 James was born say 1757.1 
Marriage*say 1779 He married Agnes Scott say 1779.1 
Marriage*27 Jan 1790 He married Eleanor Barnett at Richmond Co., Georgia, on 27 Jan 1790.1 
Marriage*circa 1801 He married Agnes Culpepper at Georgia circa 1801. Children:
     1. John Smith, b. 1803, d. after 1860, m. Eliza Chewing
     2. Addie Smith, b. abt 1807, m. Benjamin Henderson.1 
Death*1818 He died at Wilkinson Co., Georgia, in 1818. 
Biography* James was married 3 times:
     1st wife. Not sure. It could have been an Agnes Scott. It may not have been. The birth of his sons, James and Alan, indicate they were already born by the time he married his second wife.
     2nd wife. Eleanor Barnett (her married name). Eleanor was wife of Jesse Barnett. Jesse died by 5/12/1789 and left her with 3 children - Linsey, Elizabeth, and Jesse. James Smith m. Eleanor 1/27/1790 in Richmond County, Georgia. Sept. 26, 1790, he applied for guardianship of the children in Richmond County. Was Eleanor deceased by then? Whatever happened, it looks like Elizabeth, Linsey and Jesse were raised as Smiths, along with his sons James and Alan from his first marriage.
     3rd wife. Agnes Culpepper. Children with her were John and Addie

Before James Sr. died, he became guardian for his brother John's daughter, Lucy. By the time Agnes died, Jesse Smith was not around. His name is not mentioned in Agnes' estate. So I'm not sure whether he died earlier or just left the family when he came of age and went out on his own. However, there is a Jesse Smith in the census of Wilkinson County.

So the final count of the children is 7: James, Allan, Elizabeth, Linsey, John, Addie and Lucy.

This accounts for all the signatures on Agnes' estate paper, except for one. James Smith, Allan Smith, John Davidson who m. Linsey, William Smith who signed for Eliz. who must have been a widow by then or else her husband would have signed for her, Jesse Ashely who m. Lucy Smith, John Smith, and Benjamin Henderson who m. Addie Smith. However there is also an Ephraim Hightower who signed the estate paper. Who did he marry? An unknown daughter of James' first marriage or did James and Agnes have a 3rd daughter we don't know about? Or did they take in and become guardians for another orphaned child?

Belinda Smith was always thought to be James and Agnes' daughter. But she wasn't. She was appointed executor to James Smith, Jr's estate along with a John Smith, most likely James' son. Which means she was either his daughter or his wife at the time of his death.

There was a very interesting comment about all the heirs - "They shared equally". Why would this even be said if all the children belonged to Agnes? So I take this to mean all the children were not born of her and James Smith. Not only that, looking at the census birth range on shows that James, Alan, Elizabeth and Linsey were born before James even married Agnes.

Another interesting thing to note. John was appointed executor of Agnes' estate. Reason? He was her only son.1 

Family 1

Agnes Scott (say 1758 - )
Child

Family 2

Eleanor Barnett (say 1767 - )

Family 3

Agnes Culpepper (4 Mar 1780 - 1823)

Last Edited 10 Dec 2007

Citations

  1. E-mail from Linda Aldrich, e-mail address to Lew Griffin & Warren Culpepper, 2003-2007.