Kathy,

Thanks (and thanks also to all of the others who responded).  I had to 
laugh...because it IS the Smith and Brown families that I am researching! 
DNA testing on one of my mother's male Brown cousins proves that my mother's 
"Brown family" was actually a "blood Smith family"....versus a "blood Brown 
family."  This Smith family goes back to the Alexander Smith who was in 
Lancaster/Middlesex Co., VA by at least the 1650s.  It strongly APPEARS that 
when both John Smith and his wife Sarah (apparently Sarah Waller...daughter 
of Judge Benjamin Waller of "Williamsburg fame") in my "blood Smith" family 
died, their infant/toddler son was taken-in by John and Mary (Bennett) Brown 
(around 1818-1820).  John and Mary "renamed" the child SMITH W. Brown (born 
about 1817), and he was my maternal gg-grandfather (and he married Elizabeth 
Hill Garrett in Middlesex Co., VA in 1841).

Note: my grandfather was also named Smith W. Brown, and he is buried in 
Forest Lawn Cemetery in Richmond, VA.

Mrs. Mary (Bennett) Brown's mother was Mrs. Winnie (Unknown) Bennett, and no 
one is certain what her maiden name was, nor who her "Bennett husband" was. 
Mrs. Winnie Bennett (born circa-1770s) married second to a Mr. Owen in 
1798/1799, and a Thomas Bray provided surety, and a Henry Garrett was the 
witness.  Henry Garrett purchased some of the Smith land in Middlesex Co., 
VA in 1799 from the above John Smith, but no seems to know where Henry 
Garrett lived before the late-1790s.

The above John Smith had an aunt named Clara Smith, and Clara married a man 
named Garrett Daniel (by the way, no one seems to know why GARRETT Daniel 
had his given name).  Garrett and Clara (Smith) Daniel had a daughter named 
Anna Daniel (who was taken-in as a teenager in 1754 by John Smith's father 
Maurice Smith of Middlesex Co., VA...I believe that Clara had died by 1754). 
My "educated guess" is that Miss Anna Daniel was the mother of Mrs. Winnie 
Bennett, and hence, Mrs. Winnie Bennett and her daughter Mrs. Mary (Bennett) 
Brown were "blood Smiths"....and therefore, Mrs. Mary (Bennett) Brown was a 
"viable candidate" to have taken-in a "Smith orphan" by 1820.  There are 
some very dedicated Daniel family researchers, but unfortunately,  none of 
them has been able to determine what became of Anna Daniel (who did she 
marry (if anyone), where did she live later in her life, did she have any 
children, etc.)?

In addition to the daughter named Mary Bennett (who married John Brown), 
Mrs.Winnie (Unknown) Bennett had a son who was named SMITH Bennett (so 
Winnie was almost certainly "connected" to the Smith family in SOME way). 
Smith Bennett was involved in the estate of a John Bennett around 1820 in 
Middlesex Co., VA, and it APPEARS that this John Bennett had lived in 
"next-door" Essex Co., VA in 1810.  The only Bennett in Essex Co., VA on the 
1783 tax list had been an Elizabeth (Unknown) Bennett (probably the widow of 
a deceased Bennett man....and MAYBE the mother of Winnie Bennett's unknown 
Bennett husband...but that is just a guess).  There had been a William 
Bennett in Essex Co., VA in the mid-1750s (per a deed), and I note that 
SMITH Bennett named his first son William Bennett.

Note: Per my research, I am almost certain that the John Brown who married 
Mary Bennett in Middlesex Co., VA in 1805 also came from Essex Co., VA.  It 
APPEARS that his family "traces back" to the Francis Brown "I" who died in 
Essex Co., VA in 1691/1692.  It was this "Brown family connection" that I 
was trying to prove when I paid for my "male Brown cousin" to take the DNA 
test...but the results make it clear that we are actually "blood Smiths" 
versus "blood Browns."

Henry Garrett directed in his 1802 verbal will in Middlesex Co., VA to 
Thomas Bray (the same Thomas Bray mentioned above on the Bennett/Owen 
marriage bond, no doubt) that at least some of Henry's land was to be sold 
to Bartholomew Bristow at Henry's death.  It appears that this was the 
Thomas Bray who had married a Polly Bristow in 1789.  This Bray family might 
"trace back" to the earlier Thomas Bray in eastern VA in the 1600s.  In 
addition, Bartholomew Bristow's cousin Alexander Bristow also owned land 
next to the Smith land (and hence, also next to the land of Henry Garrett, 
after Henry bought his land in 1799).  Just like Miss Anna Daniel, we do not 
know who Henry Garrett married (maybe she was a Bristow, a Bray or a 
Daniel).  In addition to the 1802 verbal will mentioned above (where 
Bartholomew Bristow was to receive some of Henry Garrett's land), Henry 
Garrett also issued a DEED for some of his land to a Mary Garrett in 1802. 
I don't know who this Mary Garrett was.  I certainly suspect that Thomas 
Bray or Henry Garrett was a relative of Mrs. Winnie (Unknown) Bennett, but 
the exact relationship remains a mystery.

Note: I see that a later Bray man (born in the 1800s), who was almost 
certainly a member of the above Bray family, was named Joshua GARRETT Bray. 
As such, I would not be surprised if there had been a Bray/Garrett marriage 
"somewhere along the line."

By the way, if anyone on this board has access to the wills and/or deeds in 
Lancaster Co., VA, I would appreciate any information that you can find 
therein on the above-mentioned John Smith.  He was apparently the John Smith 
who appeared on the 1810 Lancaster Co., VA census (and he and his wife Sarah 
may have died there before 1820).  I plan to return to the LOVa to research 
the above in the near future, but if anyone has any information on this man 
and his family in the interim, please let me know.  Thanks!

In closing, everytime any family researcher thinks that tracing his/her 
family is difficult, just think of me.....I have to deal with "Smith" and 
"Brown,"..... plus an adoption!!!  LOL.

Bill 

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