SMITH FAMILY HISTORY
This is Martha Smith's
family. Martha is Manda Collins Thomas' mom
SMITH, Richard born
March 6, 1771 in Virginia and died November 28, 1836 in Kentucky.
Richard and his brother John were the only surviving children of William
and Betty "Eunice" Ritchie from England. After
the death of William, Richard and John moved to the unsettled land of Kentucky.
They left their mother in Virginia (Wilkinson Co.) to handle the plantations
which were left by their father. Some
say Richard came to Perry Co., Ky. by way of Pound Gap, about 1792. It
is believed to be known as the Daniel Boone Trail.
He first settled in the Lotts Creek area before
moving to Pigeon Roost on Troublesome Creek at Ary. According
to Henry P. Scalf in his book, "Kentucky, Last Frontier," Richard
owned 38.577 acres of land in 1796 through Eastern Land Titles.
Richard was a Primitive Baptist preacher for 45
years. Sam Smith’s family has his bible with Smith births and death records
dating back to 1816. He was said to have delivered hell-fire sermons then after
the service was over would be seen sneaking out back and taking a swig of his
whiskey. According to county court
records of Owsley Co., Ky. his brother John was appointed guardianship of him
early on. He is believed to have first lived in Owsley Co. before going to Perry
Co. An estate auction in Owsley showed that Richard Smith purchased the Family
Bible of John's.
He
married Elita “Alicia” Combs abt 1792.
She was born June 20, 1772. Note: Elitia's name was not either Nancy or Melissa (Dickey
Diary Interviews). Her "real"
given name was probably Alicia, but because she, and so many around her, were
illiterate, they and others spelled her name in a variety of ways. Combs
Research has chosen the spelling used by her children for her headstone, and for
Elitia Creek, which was probably
named after her. She died
March 11,1858 in Ary, Kentucky.
Richard was
reportedly the son of William Smith who was possibly from England and settled on
the east coast of Virginia.(Wilkinson Co) In
1792 Richard traveled through Pound Gap Virginia.
Making his way to Perry Co., Ky, he settled
in what is now Lotts Creek. Richard
and Alicia married abt. 1792 around the time they moved from Long Island
(Kingsport) Tennessee. This family
supposedly had fourteen children. Rev. Richard Smith was the Great Grandfather of
Bad Tom Smith who terrorized Breathitt and Letcher Co.'s.
They
were buried at Ary, Ky in present Perry, Co.
Richard was a minister of the Primitive Baptist church.
His will did not list all children as specific provisions were made only
for the youngest and two grandchildren with the name of Hicks.
Richard
and Alicia’s children were:
John and Syntha Stacy listed above were brother and
sisters
Elder Richard Smith,
Primitive Baptist Minister, is known to have been a resident of Sullivan
Co., Virginia/Tennessee as early as 1793 where we find him listed
(#35) in the Sullivan Co., Vir., S.W. Territory Company of Capt. Andrew BEATY,
under the command of Col. Gilbert Christian from 9/1/1793 to 12/31/1793.
(American Militia In the Frontier Wars 1790-1796, Murtie June Clark, Gen. Publ.
Co., Inc., 1990, p. 113). He is also listed (#29) with Moses Smith (a name found
later in Clay Co., Ky.) in the Washington Dist. Militia Hawkins
Co. TN Mtd. Inf. Regt. Commanded by Stokely Donaldson Esq., in Lt.
Thomas Mitchell’s detachment for the protection of Gen. Robinson and the
inhabitants of the SW Territory (p. 163). He in listed with 1 white poll in the
1797 Sullivan Co., Tenn. tax list. The William Smith listed in the 1796 Sullivan
Co. tax list may have been his father since this entry shows two white poles
with no Richard listed. Richard's presence in Sullivan as early as 1793
indicates that it was possible he met and married Alicia Elitia Combs in
Sullivan Co. and that several of their older children were born there as well.
Richard Smith was born 5 Mar. 1771 in Virginia and died 28 Nov., 1836 (Record
#6). His birth and death dates are taken from his cemetery marker, and his
nuncupative will confirms his date of death (Record #2).
There is continuing discussion regarding Elitia's date
of birth and whether she was the daughter of Nicholas Combs or the
step-daughter. If she was born 20 June 1772 as inscribed on her cemetery marker
(Record #6), then she was likely a step-daughter as we now know that Nicholas
"Danger" Combs was born 1761-1764 If an error has occurred with the
inscription, as can often be the case with refurbished cemetery markers, etc.,
then she may have been born about 1780 as suggested by her 1850 Perry
Co, KY census record. If the latter is true, then she could be the
daughter of Nicholas Combs who was enumerated as the head of his household in
1782 in Shenandoah
Co, VA. Andrew Combs did refer to Elitia as his aunt in his interview
with Rev.
Dickey. But Old Danger Nick never defined her as a daughter in any
deed transaction as his did with his other four children.
Please note; however, that
she died on 11 Mar. 1858 at the age of 86 per her KVS death record which only
lists her mother Nancy Grigsby as parent and does not name Nicholas Combs. Her
age at the time of death confirms a 1772 year of birth.
If one looks at the beginning and ending dates of birth for her children which
spanned from possibly as early as 1795 to 1823-25, a range of thirty (30) years,
she likely was born later than 1772; otherwise, her last child Elizabeth was
born when she was 52 or 53 years of age. If she had children for 30 years, one
might think she married early and began having babies when she was quite young.
There probably is no way to resolve the age issue.
To my knowledge, there is no suggestion that Elitia was not the mother of all of
Richard's children. Their eldest child was named William, which may have been
after his grandfather William Smith (per Smith researchers and DRS). The second
child was named Thomas, a Grigsby name, likely from her mother Nancy Grigsby
Combs' line.
Richard and Elitia had
fourteen children that lived to maturity. It is quite remarkable to have
fourteen children but to have all of them live to maturity in those early times
is nothing short of a miracle. Richard and Elitia must have had some spectacular
genes. One might assume they took special care of their children when they were
young. They were: William, Thomas, Martha, Nancy, James, Nicholas, Samuel,
Kesiah, Mary, Lorenzo Dow, Joshua, Isaac, Cynthia, and Elizabeth. Thirteen
children are clearly documented in one deed (Record #1). William, the eldest, is
not proven by record, and the identity of the parent of grandson Nicholas Hicks
has yet to be solved.
Richard mentioned a grandson Nicholas Hicks in his will (record #1), but I have
no information as to who this grandson may have been. A grandson named Hicks
suggest he was the son of a daughter. No record has been found of a daughter
marrying a Hicks. More research is required to identify this grandson.
It is interesting to note that only two (William and Nancy) of Richard and
Elitia's 14 children intermarried with the Combs families, certainly a departure
from the pattern of Elitia's relatives.
SMITH, Nicholas was born ca.
1806 in Kentucky, in what became Clay Co. when that county was formed. Nicholas
married first Nancy Arta Artie” Johnson, the daughter of Thomas Johnson his
wife Philadelphia "Delphia" Carter (documented d/o of Henry Carter of
Wilkes Co., NC). It is believed that
the Nancy in the 1850 and 1860 census records was a second wife. Nicholas Smith
is included in a list of the children of Thomas and Delphia Johnson wherein
their son George Washington Johnson paid each child $200 for the property that
had been patented by Thomas Johnson. More research is required to determine the
identity of Nancy his second wife. He was the son of Rev.
Richard Smith & Alicia Combs. They
married August 3, 1830 by Rev John Smith.
Notes: Lived on Ball Fork and
later moved to Carter County, Ky
Nick and Artie’s children were:
Nick’s oldest
son Andy, and other members of the family are buried on Softshell on the high
point of the property of Christopher Columbas Slone. He and his wife lived at the mouth of Mine Branch (where
Claude Thornsberry now live) Nick’s
wife Artie was the daughter of Thomas Johnson from Wilkes Co. North Carolina.
He married Adlephia Carter in 1805 in Wildsboro, North Carolina.
They settled on Breeding Creek and raised their four children.
(Information on “Danger” Nicholas Combs,
father of Alicia Combs, wife of Richard Smith)
Nicholas was probably born in Frederick Co, VA
since land records place his father in that county in 1758, and his grandfather,
Mason Combs, Sr., was already there by 1751. That he was born after 1759 is
documented by his 1783 Shenandoah Co, VA sworn declaration that he was under 21
in 1781 or 1782.
He was apparently deceased by Jul 1859
(missing from 1860 Census and Mortality Schedule), and at the time of his death
(1856-1859), was over 100 years of age according to the Dickey Diary Interviews
of two of his grandchildren, Margaret "Peggy" Combs Lewis and John S.
Combs. Although both their interviews indicate that Nicholas d in 1838, it has
been subsequently documented that other dates in the interview of Margaret Combs
Lewis were "off" by twenty years (see 1857-1858 below), which, if also
true of the death date of Nicholas, would likewise move his year of birth to
1757 or 1858.
1772-1781
(probably) Frederick, Shenandoah,
Augusta or
Rockingham
Co, VA. Married: Nicholas Combs, Sr. and Nancy Grigsby.
Nicholas' marriage is documented by the 1898,
Hazard Perry Co, KY Dickey Diary Interview of his grandson, Andrew who stated:
"... My grandfather married Nancy Grigsby... Thomas Grigsby.. brother of my
grandmother..." The pre-1773 date for the marriage is based on Nicholas
having been father of Elitia Combs, w/o Richard Smith, as stated by Margaret
Combs Lewis in the Dickey Diary; however, see also discrepancies re Elitia's
age, which may advance the marriage date to as late as 1781 (1780 birth of his
son, Jeremiah).
It is likely that Nicholas'
"conversion" from Tory to Patriot took place in the same manner as
that of the "half-hung" Tory, William Combs (probably uncle or cousin
to Nicholas) of Surry Co, NC in 1778-9; i.e., Nicholas was caught 'red-handed'
and offered the opportunity to "take the oath" and enlist (clearly a
preferred option to that of being being hung). Moreover, the above and other
depositions indicate that Nicholas was still a Tory as late as August of 1780,
and Nicholas' own Revolutionary War pension declarations indicate that he
enlisted only four-five months later:
Nov-Dec 1780 Surry Co, NC. According to
Nicholas' own declarations in his Revolutionary
War Pension File, he enlisted in Surry Co, NC (Fort Shelby per John
Hacker) abt 10 months' before the end of the War (see next) in the company of
William Terrell Lewis, Regiment of Col. Martin Armstrons. This is further
confirmed by the Dickey Diary Interview of his grandson, John S. Combs, who
stated: "...Nicholas Combs, my grandfather, was a soldier in the
Revolutionary War. Several of his brothers were in the same war. I can't tell
which ones were in the war, they may all have been in it..."
19 Oct 1781 Shenandoah
Co, VA According to Nicholas' RW pension declaration he was in
Shenandoah when Cornwallis was defeated. He also states that he was discharged
in North Carolina shortly thereafter, but either this is in error (there does
seem to be some confusion abt his discharge) or he immediately removed from
Surry County as by:
1782 Shenandoah Co, VA Personal Property Tax
Lists. Both Nicholas and his brother, William,
are listed, Nicholas with one white poll and two horses.
Nov 1782 Both Nicholas and his brother,
William, and their maternal grandmother, Wilmouth (George) Harding are charged
with non-payment of taxes. Nicholas later proves to the Shenandoah court that he
was underage at the time.
1783 Shenandoah Co, VA. Nicholas is missing
from the Personal Property Tax List, but included on the List of Inhabitants
(State Enumeration) with 3 white souls (wife Nancy, daughter, Elitia, and son,
Jeremiah C.?). His absence from the PPTL may indicate that he was in
Rockingham Co, VA this year (see below).
Note: Josiah
H. Combs' Combes
Genealogy states that "if this Nicholas is identical with
'Danger Nick', the census data would indicate that there was only one child in
the family at the time…however, it is known that 'Danger' had at least two
children at the time: Nancy (or Alicia) and 'Chunky Jerry', three or four years
old." He ascribed this to carelessness; however, according to author Harry
M. Strickler in Massanutten, Settled by the Pennsylvania Pilgrim, 1726, The
First White Settlement in the Shenandoah Valley (Bookmark Press,
Knightstown, IN 46148, 1978), discrepancies occurred in the Shenandoah lists in
that some of the enumerators did not include the head of household in the 'white
souls' figure (See also 1785 List of Inhabitants).
1784. Shenandoah Co, VA Personal Property Tax
List. Nicholas is listed with one white poll, one horse and two head of cattle.
He may have also been the same enumerated on the 1784 Rockingham
Co, VA List of Inhabitants (State Enumeration) in 1784 with 6 white
souls, 2 dwellings, and 2 other buildings (not yet researched).
1785 Shenandoah Co, VA. Again, Nicholas is
missing from the Personal Property Tax List, but this time is included in the
Shenandoah Co, VA List of Inhabitants (State Enumeration) -- in the same
district as, and adjacent to, the "Powell Valley" Combs (from Monmouth
Co, NJ),listed with 4 white polls, 1 dwelling and no out buildings (His brother,
William, is in another district, with the Hardings).
Note: Nicholas
is keeping "strange bedfellows" this year; i.e., he is at Powell's
Fort with the New Jersey Combs, not with Stafford Families (See Shenandoah Co
for additional detail). The
Combs’ Genealogy states only, "Another
Virginia census, 1785, shows that Nicholas had moved farther up the South
Fork of the Shenandoah, or rather into what is now called (Powell's) Fort
Valley, on the present Passage Creek… extreme eastern edge of the present
Shenandoah County, about ten miles from Woodstock… listed with families known
to have been living in this locality at the time…" He makes no mention of
Nicholas' proximity to this apparently unconnected Combs family, some of whom
were also later in Sullivan
Co, TN at the same time as Nicholas. This is the last record found of
Nicholas in Shenandoah.
1786-1795 (No Records listed). Nicholas Combs
has not only disappeared from the Shenandoah Co, VA tax lists, but is nowhere to
be found in any VA County Personal Property tax lists in 1787. Nor has he been
located on extant NC, KY (then VA) or TN (then VA & NC) tax lists (which
include numerous "burnt counties").
1796-7 Sullivan
Co, TN. Nicholas Combs is listed on the 1796 Sullivan Co, TN tax list
-- with a possible second Nicholas Combs, each with 140 acres and one white
poll, and one with a single black poll. It is considered highly probable,
however, that this was a duplicate entry for one (not two) Nicholas Combs, as it
is significant that the 1797 Sullivan Co, TN tax list includes only one Nicholas
Combs, and although there is a later Nicholas Combs on the 1812 Sullivan Co, TN
tax list, he was a "non-resident" land owner with 140 acres,
confirming Dickey Diary statements about the Combs of East Kentucky having
property back in Tennessee that they did not sell when they moved to KY.
Nicholas' grandson, Andrew Combs, for example, stated in 1898: "... My
grandfather lived at the Long Islands of Holston River [Sullivan Co, TN], a good
while. He and my father [Jeremiah] went there several times... I have been at
the Long Islands of Holston myself... They went back to Tennessee... There is a
island in the river a mile or two long, just below Bluntsville..."
1804
(and probably earlier) Floyd
Co, KY. Nicholas had entered 400 acres, land that would become part
of Clay Co, KY when it was established. This early entry also confirms Andrew
Combs' Dickey Diary Interview when he stated: "... My Grandfather Nicholas
Combs came first. He built a cabin and left his wife and went back for
provisions etc... My grandfather was detained on his first trip back to Long
Island of Holston and he feared his wife would starve or die before he could get
back but when he came up to the point of the mouth of Carr, he helloed and she
answered him. His heart leaped with joy at the response. The deer were all about
the cabin but she did not know how to shoot. The women were not marksmen. I knew
my mother to kill bear and deer. the old Combses were property plenty. They
owned slaves..." Andrew's brother, John S. Combs also confirmed Nicholas'
early arrival in Kentucky, stating that Nicholas "... came to Kentucky
early in the settlement of Kentucky. He lived and died near where L.D. Combs now
lives in Perry County..." Nicholas' granddaughter, Margaret Combs Lewis
added: "Nicholas Combs, one of the original eight brothers who settled in
Perry County from Holston River, Virginia... My father, Nicholas Combs, told me
that when grandfather first came to Perry he went to Carr to get some wheat to
sow from old William Cornett..." (Kentucky land entries confirm that
William Cornett had entered land in then-Floyd County in 1803. Moreover, Thomas
Cody (s/o William
and Sinai Stacy Cody) refers in his deposition on behalf of the Rev.
War Pension Application of William
Cornett to he and his father having come upon the Cornetts during a
hunting trip in 1804, and to having been at the wedding of William and Mary
Everage Cornett in Sullivan Co, TN in 1796. At the time (1804), the Codys were
living adjacent to Nicholas' paternal uncle, William, and his wife, Seth Stacy
(sister to Sinai Stacy Cody) in Russell
Co, VA on Crabtree Branch of Moccassin Creek, North Fork of the
Holston River.
1807 Clay
Co, KY. The land of Nicholas was in that part of Floyd which became
Clay, and Nicholas is listed on that county's first tax list in 1807,
continuously until the formation of Perry Co, KY from Clay in 1820-1821 (Two
Jeremiah Combs are also listed on this census, one probably Nicholas' son, but
see also Floyd Co, KY and Early
Jeremiah Combs of the Southern Frontier.
1810 Clay Co, KY census. Nicholas appears with
both he and his wife listed as born pre-1765, on the same census page as John,
Shade, Mason and William Combs, as well as Robert HICKS (h/o Winnifred
Combs Hicks Sumner), and John Williams (m Nicholas' daughter,
Rebecca). Two young males, one under 10 and the other under 16, are also in
Nicholas' household. One was probably his sons, Nicholas, Jr. (b ca 1793), and
Samuel (b 1799).
1820 Clay Co, KY. Nicholas again appears on
the Clay Co, KY census, this time as "Nicholson" Combs, with he and
wife each listed as b pre-1775 (eldest category), and no others in their
household. They are listed on the same census page as Henry Combs, Jr. (s/o
Nicholas' brother, Henry, Sr.), Elijah Combs, Sr., and Nicholas' sons, Nicholas,
Jr. and Samuel (and probably the Jeremiah also on that page).
1824 Perry
Co, KY. Nicholas resided in that part of Clay Co, KY which had become
Perry in 1820-21, and in 1824, Nicholas Combs, Sr. deeded land in that county to
four of his known children, Nicholas, Jr., Jeremiah, and Samuel Combs, and
Rebecca, wife of John WILLIAMS.
7 Nov 1825 Perry Co, KY. Nicholas Combs and Henry
Combs (Sr.), both of Perry Co, KY, jointly declare that they are the
brothers of Rev. War. Pension Applicant, John
Combs, also of Perry Co, KY.
1830-40 Perry Co, KY. Nicholas is listed on
the Perry Co, KY census as age 60-69 (b 1760-1770); and Nancy as age 70-79 (b
1750-60). In the 1830s are yet more deed transactions, and in 1840, Nicholas is
listed on the Perry Co, KY census as age 70-80, and Nancy as 80-90.
Jan 1842 Perry Co, KY Deed Book B, page 270.
Nicholas Combs, Sr. deeds land on Ball's Fork / Troublesome Creek, to James
Ritchie, "His X Mark".
14 Nov 1845 Perry Co, KY. Rev. War Pension
Applicant Nicholas Combs of Perry Co, KY declares that he is 85 or 86 years of
age (b 1759-1760).
20 Nov 1845 Perry Co, KY Deed Book B, page
385. Nicholas Combs, Sr. deeds land to [his son], Nicholas Combs, Jr. 40 acres
on North Fork, KY River for $40; County Clerk signs on 23 March 1846 [?]
10 Apr 1847 Perry Co, KY Deed Book B, page
412. Nicholas Combs, Sr. & "his wife, Nancy" deed land to Nicholas
[their son] Nicholas Combs, Jr . "His X Mark" and "Her X
mark". "I, Jesse Combs, clk of the county court for the county ------,
do certify that this deed from Nicholas Combs, Sr. and his wife, Nancy Combs, to
Nicholas Combs, Jr.
28 August 1849 Perry Co, KY Deed Book B, page
459. Nicholas Combs, Sr. &
his wife, Nancy, deed land to
Nicholas Ritchie. "In witness thereof, the said Nicholas Combs, Sr., together with Nancy Combs, his wife,....". "His X mark" and
"Her X Mark (S)".
Note:
The above two records are of particular importance since they confirms that
Nicholas Sr. was same who m Nancy Grigsby.
Jan 1850 Perry Co, KY Deeds. Nicholas Combs,
Jr & Betsy Combs, his wife, who hereby relinquishes her right of dower in
and to the lands conveyed in this deed...."
Note:
This record is also of particular importance since it confirms that Nicholas Jr.
was same who m m Elizabeth "Betsey" Combs.
Jan 1850 in Perry Co, KY, Nancy
[Grigsby] Combs, married, age 96 [b ca 1754], born VA, died of a cold
after a 30 day illness. (US Census Mortality Schedule, 1850, Perry Co, KY)
1850 Perry Co KY Census. District 2, HH#22: Nicholas
Combs, age 86 [b 1762-63], Farmer, 4000 b VA. In the adjacent household (HH#21)
are his son, Nicholas, Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth, and in #19, his son,
Jeremiah.
Note:
The $4,000 value is also confirmed by Andrew Combs' Dickey Diary Interview
statement that: "…the old Combses were property plenty. They owned
slaves... My grandfather was the richest of all the Combses. All had negros and
a great deal of property…"
1853 Perry Co, KY Deed Book C, page 200.
Nicholas Combs, Sr. deeds land to James RICHIE, for $50 "His X Mark".
Sep 1856 Perry Co, KY. Nicholas is still alive
as of Sep 1856, based on correspondence in his RW Pension file.
1857-Jun 1859 Perry Co, KY(?). Died: Nicholas
Combs, Sr. Although the Dickey Diary Interviews of John S. Combs and Margaret
Combs Lewis state that their grandfather d ca 1838, he is documented as having
been alive at least until 1856, and apparently deceased bef Jul 1859 (1860 Perry
Co, KY Census and Mortality Schedule).
According to the Dickey Diary Interview of
John S. Combs: "My grandfather Nicholas Combs lived to be 101 or 2 or 3
years old. He is buried near L. D. Combs. I was grown when he died. I was
married, just married, had no children (He looked at his Bible. J.J.D.) was Feb.
28,1838. My father had two brothers, one sister..."
Margaret Combs Lewis' interview states that
"my grandfather, Nicholas Combs, died in 1837 or 1838;" however, her
interview also states that she was born in 1820 or 1822 and that she was
"nearly grown" when Nicholas died; however, the 1850 Perry, 1860 Clay,
and 1880-1910 Leslie Co, KY census enumerations document that Margaret was born
ca 1841 (1840 or 1842?). If her age being "off" by twenty years
affected the dates in the remainder of her interview, then Nicholas d in 1857 or
1858 - a full twenty years later, with Margaret having been 16-18 years of age
at the time; i.e., "nearly grown."