The following is founder of Clan Smith Society, Emery
Smith's history as he wrote it about his own ancestors.
For more information about the Clans in Scotland in general and about the
ancient Smiths in particular (including more forebears of Alfred Smith) we
direct you to another interesting article by Emery Smith, click HERE.
Descendants of Alfred
Smith, born in the central highlands of Scotland
Alfred Smith was born in the central highlands of Scotland. The records
show Strathblane. The Smiths lived there for about 400 years, however, all the
clans of Scotland had Smiths making it very difficult to trace any one Smith
clan.
Records have it that Alfred arrived in this country at the age of twelve. In
1841, arrival is at Vague. In the ships' records in Charlestown, SC they
show twenty-one children landed in the years 1840-1845. No names of parents,
listed as (babes in arms). In 1841, records show thirty-four arrivals from
Scotalnd and Ireland with an A. Smith listed with a "P" at the end
of all names. At that time they were either Printis or Prisoners of the Crown,
sent here to rid Scotland and Ireland of them. Some were given to the person
of persons who paid for their passage. The ships fare was paid for by the big
land owners that had land grants from the crown. Of which was three Williams
men and one Elizabeth Williams. The boys were granted land by age. 7,000
acres, 14,000 acres, 21,000 acres and the girls, 7,000 acres. One of the
Williams girl's land was about ten miles up Ashley River out of Charleston,
SC. What is now Middleton Place. With the Williams girl placed in
the tomb with Middleton and his wife. One the grounds near the old home
that was burned during the Civil War (middle 1800s), rebuilt and part still
stands.
One of the boys was in southern Virginia. He owned twenty-one thousand acres
at Goschen, Virginia. He was known as the "Cock" of Goschen,
about twenty miles northeast of Jamestown, Virginia. Another was between
Wilmington and Red Springs, NC with the McMillian clan of Raeford, N. C. as
neighbors. (No records in Fayetteville or Raeford, N. C.) One of these
three brothers had a son named Benjamin Williams. He bought the Alston
property in upper Moore county, 2,500 acres. He was known as the first
Governor of Moore county. He was the first Governor of North Carolina for four
terms and helped start the University of North Carolina. His brother nicknamed
(Governor) Greene Williams looked after the land and slaves. He also
raised sheep, cattle, horses, and cotton. In 1801, he had 50
slaves. Most all were bought in Fayetteville, N. C. He also had 41
acres of cotton. In 1803, he had 200 acres of cotton worth over 30
thousand dollars, just north of Carthage and near Howard's Mill, which at that
time was a wool carding mill (about 1800-1830). Governor Benjamin
Williams died in 1814. His son Benjamin Charles inherited most of the
old home land in 1828.
Governor Greene Williams and his wife, who was a Tucker, lived in that area,
with small farms that he looked after. Noah R. Williams, his son, was on
one side of Brown's mill and Alfred Smith on the other. All of this was
Williams' land. Alfred Smith owned no property. From where the location
was of Alfred Smith it appears to be open range country, too rough and hilly
for farm land. So it is believed to be for sheep, cattle, goats, and
hogs. Governor Greene Williams was about three miles away from Smiths
with Noah R. Williams between.
Alfred SMith married Rowan Gordon of the Gordon clan of middle Moore county in
about 1854-1855. He raised his family in the hills of upper Moore county
near the line of what is now Montgomery and Randolph counties. There were
eight children: five boys and three girls. The oldest girl,
Christine Gordon (Smith) was born to Rowan Gordon before she was married to
Alfred Smith. The first born child to Rowan Gordon before she was married to
Alfred Smith. The first born children to Rowan and Alfred Smith was on
April 5, 1856, which was James Smith. His second son, George, was born
in 1859. The war at that time was raging between the North and South.
He left his wife and three children in May of 1860. He went to
Wilmington, N. C. Arriving June 12, 1860 and started working in a salt
factory. This salt company sent salt up from Wilmington, N. C. to
Fayetteville, N. C. by boat. Then up the Morganton Road, Plant Road, and
the Yadkin trail by wagons. When they returned with their trade of
hides, grain, cotton, wool, tan back, and animals, they had a successful
business.
Alfred smith had some kin people in the salt factory in Wilmington. He
was sent with word that if any able body young man who wanted work and hadn't
been drafted by the army to come to work there for the salt company.
They could use all the wagons, horses, and men they could find in upper
Cumberland territory and at Wilmington to trade in salt.
Alfred Smith, Levi Williams, Addison Tucker, Alfred Williams, Will Garuer, and
two of the Hussey boys were in the same bunch that left together arriving
about the same time in Wilmington. This way they through they could miss
the army. They would have work and be able to keep in touch with their
families. On September twelvth, 1862, they all left Wilmington because of the
war. They stayed in hiding up and down Cape Fear River and the Bear Creek
settlement near their homes for three years getting what they could from their
families. They had caves on Cabin creek and Bear Creek when Joseph E.
Johnson surrendered to Grant at Durham station on April 18, 1865. After almost
starvation in the winter of 1865, from Sherman's order issued on January 19,
1865, which was to collect all the provisions that could be mastered together
from all the people in that area north of Fayetteville in the Cape Fear
basin to the Pee Dee river plateau and assemble it at Fayetteville on the Cape
Fear and Pee Dee rivers and at Cheraw, S. C. to take cattle, horses,
cotton, wool, grain, and whatever provisions were available. This left
all the families in destitute conditions.
Noah R. Williams and his father, Governor Greene Williams had a cave with some
food stored in it such as grain, wheat, corn, dried fruit, salt meat, and some
salt the summer of 1865, at hand, which saved their lives, with no crops and
no cattle. They saved nuts, acorns, locust, persimmons, and whatever
they could get. Winter of 1865-66 and summer of 1866 they planted what seed
they had to start live over again.
In 1870, Alfred Smith and Rowan Gordon Smith had their sixth child, Emery
Smith, Sr. Noah R. Williams, A. D. Tucker, Hussey, Lineberry, Garner,
Allred, and all their families and the neighbors on small farms helped each
other and had made their homes and farms back to a better living condition
after the war years.
These families had close ties. All worked together and had the same
religious beliefs. The children grew up close by each other. About
all the education at that time was in the Williams' family, which was a must
for all the Williams children. Handed down by their grandfather and
great-grandfather both had good educations. They made each child learn
the three R's with each child taking so much time on each thing until they had
it perfect. The whole Williams family at that time in history was above
the average family in wealth and land. They were not Scottish, but of Welsh
nobility with grants of land from the crown of England. Each child was
given land if a son. All received a dowry of money, a loom, and some
farm animals to begin a life with when they married and left their mother's
and father's home.
The two sons of Alfred Smith and wife, Rowan (Gordon) Smith were Noah Smith,
born 1864 and Emery Smith, Sr., born 1870. Both married sisters:
daughter of Noah R. Williams and wife, Judith (Garner) Williams in the early
1890-1891. After harsh words from the Williams family saying that the
Smith boys without any education or any land to make a living on could not
support their daughters, this was settled by the girls getting their dowries
from their side of the family. They left upper Moore county and came to
Montgomery county about twenty miles away. They came to Clan Campbell at Dave
Campbell's mill near Drowning Creek. There they bought small tracks of land
just below the mill run from Dave Parson. With the dowries of their
waives, and hard work in the turpentine business, dipping the sap of the pine
trees and boxing the faces of the trees, the two brothers, one on one side of
the mill run and the other on the other side of the mill run, began to prosper
and grow with their children. Noah with his wife, Hasletine
(Williams) Smith, born 1865, had a family of nine children. Emery
Smith, Sr. with his wife (Alice Ebell (Williams) Smith had a larger
family of thirteen children. All lived to be grown with the
exception of one, which lived only a few weeks after birth. Each family
with sons to help with the work began to buy more land and to expand their
farms. The men were taught the three R's by their wives. The mothers and
fathers began to send their children to schools which were very scarce at that
time. Lexie E. Smith, born 1893, the oldest son of Emery went to a
boarding school near Seagrove, N. C. at the "Why Not" mines
school near the Why Not mines. Schools began to get more numerous
after that around the area, and all went to school. Some to
business schools and colleges in different places.
This compiler asks all who receives this privately distributed history
of the Alfred Smith Clan to inform him of their own insights, study or
interpretation of historical events as affects the clan Smith. I ask
those who can lend information on their own personal genealogy to please do
so. This will be compiled along with any all the information that I now have
to be made into an overall book. With each direct descendant, his or her page
thereby making as correct as possible the genealogy of the last 150 years of
the Alfred Smith direct descendants of Clan Smith. Let us not do things
halfway but with all of energies and knowledge of information serve our future
generations so they may know of their clan Smith and their noble heritage. Be
it good or bad each and everyone has that privilege to walk upright before God
and his fellowman and say I was a part of the past. This way maybe I can be of
help to the future Smith's unborn.
Fraternally yours,
Emery Smith, Jr.
540 North May Street
Southern Pines, North Carolina 28367