William Smith - Revolutionary Soldier

(I had originally posted this blog on February 7 and within hours, received a packet of information in the mail that changed the ancestor I was going to research.  So I removed the post to take some time with the new information.  I now feel confident that the information I received was wrong, so I’m moving forward with my original plan.)

I’m always surprised that no matter how thoroughly I think I’ve read some document, I always seem to find something new whenever I transcribe it or even when I try to plug information into some new format like a timeline.

I have confirmed my Smith line back to John M. Smith who died in Russell County, Kentucky in 1835.  Some researchers claim that John was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, but I can find no records that would prove this.  There is a William Smith who DOES have a pension file from Russell County, Kentucky.  So can I connect these two men? Normally, we research backward through time.  But since I can’t seem to get from John to William, can I try to work forward and prove that John is a son of William?

So far, I’ve had no luck with that.  Basically, I have 4 records or record types to rely on.  The pension file itself – which is 73 pages long, the will, tax records and deeds.  And I feel that I’ve found an amazing amount of information from those things, but so far, no connection.  But I’m not ready to say that John was NOT William’s son.  So I’ve decided to start transcribing and if I’m going to take the time to do that, then I’m going to post it on my blog!

So I don’t know how often they’ll appear, but they will appear!  And of course, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of commentary to add as well!  I’m going to start a “William Smith” category so that if anyone is interested in following the conversation, you can always click on that to see the entire progression.

So I’ll start with the card in the front of the Pension File.

Service: VA
Names: William Smith and Elizabeth
Number:  W9298 – B.L. Wt. 50890-160-55 (I believe these are Bounty Land Warrant Numbers.  Something new to research!)

Under “Contents”, it says. “born in Amelia Co, VA May 5, 1756 there (unreadable)  Mar Nov. 8 (unreadable) ’92 or ’93  Elizabeth Viar or Viah died Apr 15 1835 in Russell Co, KY.

Later in the pension packet, a summary letter written to a researcher says that several different dates of marriage were given: Oct. 16, 1787, 1790 November 8, 1792 or 1793 and I’m sure that’s part of the unreadable stuff.

This little card has parts that are very clear and easy to read.  The words under the “contents” are very faded and difficult to read.  I opened it in Photoshop and did what I could to read those words, and most were not difficult, but others would not come through.

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