From Middlesex County Virginia Wills and Inventories, 1673-1812 and other Court Papers by William Lindsay Hopkins: Maurice Smith... 8 May 1795/ 28 Sept. 1795... Son John Smith. Daughter Catey Smith. My four children viz Frances Webb, John Smith, Catey Smith and Patty Smith. Exors: Son John smith and Christopher Garland. Wit: William Robinson, Frances Lee and Nancy Parsons. This sounds like your man. Getting a copy of the original should help a bit. It is in Orders 1758-1767 Part 2 (Includes Wills 1794-1795) according to Hopkins. Bonnie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Davidson" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 1:45 PM Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Representatives of the Heirs > Bonnie, > > Thanks for your response. Per a man who has researched this family for > over 30 years, the "deceased man" (Colonel Maurice Smith) left a will in > the 1790s in Middlesex Co., VA, in which he left everything to his son > John Smith (but John was also deceased by 1822). Back in 1800, the son > named John Smith (and his wife Sarah) sold the land in Middlesex Co., VA > that had been left to him by his father Maurice. As such, other than > maybe slaves, I don't know what was left of Colonel Maurice Smith's estate > by 1822 (note: the chancery suit mentioned only the estate of the > Colonel...it did not specifically mention the estate of the son named > John....though that MAY have been considered to be "one and the same" by > 1822....but I just don't know). > > I have not yet found a will (if any) for the son named John Smith (who was > living in Mathews Co., VA, versus Middlesex Co., VA, when he sold his > father's Middlesex land back in 1800). Just recently, however, I found a > John M. (Maurice?) Smith (age 26-45) on the 1810 Lancaster Co., VA census > (with an apparent wife (also age 26-45) and several apparent children). > There are several pretty good clues that suggest that this John M. Smith > MIGHT have been the referenced son of Colonel Maurice Smith. I have not > had a chance to see if this John M. Smith died in Lancaster County (but he > did NOT appear on the 1820 census there), and if so, whether or not there > is a surviving will for him. > > Note: The man mentioned above who has researched this Smith family for > over 30 years never attempted to "trace" this "John Smith branch of the > family." > > The John Smith who was the son of Colonel Maurice Smith, as well as the > wife of that John Smith (apparently Sarah Waller), MAY have been deceased > by 1820, since they were almost certainly deceased when their daughter, > Sarah Waller Smith, married over in Essex Co., VA in 1823. A death by > 1820 would actually "perfectly fit" my "theory" that a couple of John and > Sarah Smith's youngest children were "taken-in" by John and Mary (Bennett) > Brown of Middlesex Co., VA by about 1820....and these children were > apparently "reared as Browns." DNA testing on a living male descendant > shows that my maternal gg-grandfather, SMITH W. Brown (born about 1817), > was a "blood Smith" versus a "blood Brown," and the living male "Brown" > DNA donor has DNA that matches two male "Smith DNA donors" who are out of > the same Smith family as Colonel Maurice Smith. The above Mary Bennett > (who married John Brown) had an apparent brother who was named SMITH > Bennett, so there was probably a "Smith connection" that led to John and > Mary (Bennett) Brown becoming the apparent guardians of a couple of "Smith > infants/toddlers" by 1820 or so. The 1820 Middlesex census showed John > Brown with four males and two females, who were ALL under the age of 10 > (plus an apparent wife). This was after the 1810 Middlesex census had > shown NO children in the home (and John Brown and Mary Bennett had been > married since 1805). > > Bill Davidson > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html