John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 1370

[A reader requested more information about the family of J. Michael Smith, Jr.]  We think that we know the family of J. Michael Smith, because of the records of the land he gave away, in which he named his sons and sons-in-law.  (I do not know of a will or estate settlement for him, which is one of the reasons that prompted the previous note.)  The first three deeds were in 1762, when J. Michael Smith was about fifty years old.

The first deed (28 Jan 1762) was for love and affection to John Berry, Jr., and his wife Susannah, who is named as a daughter.  Then, on 15 Apr 1762, he gave land to his son-in-law, Adam Barler, to his son Zachariah Smith, and to his son Adam Smith.  J. Michael's wife, Anna Magdalena Thomas, signed all of these deeds, but she signed none of the following deeds.

On 31 Dec 1771, more land was given to Zacharias.  Also, land was given to his son-in-law George Christler, to his son-in-law John Marbes, plus a joint deed of gift to his son Adam, son John, and son-in-law Adam Barler.  On 16 Mar 1772, he gave more land to George Christler, more to his son John, and more to his son Adam.  Then, on 17 May 1772, he gave more land to his son-in-law John Marbes.

The children are:

  1. Susannah, who married John Berry, Jr.,
  2. Mary, who married Adam Berler,
  3. Zachariah,
  4. Adam,
  5. Anna Magdalena, who married George Christler,
  6. John, and
  7. Catharine who married John Marbes.

The sons all moved to Kentucky about the time of the Revolution.  They were very early there.  In fact, Zachariah furnished proof that he had raised a corn crop in 1776 in Kentucky County.

The land given to John Marbes does not name Catharine as a daughter, but the Hebron baptismal records furnish us the evidence.  In 1776, Catharine Marbes brought a child, Sara, for baptism and she admitted that her husband was not the father.  Rev. Franck cringed a bit at performing the baptism but he did do so saying, "Nevertheless, the child's birth is recorded."  At this baptism, the sponsors were Jacob Holtzclaw and his wife Susanna, and a Hoffman (first name illegible).  Sara was born 23 Jul 1776, and the mother brought the baby in for baptism five days later.
(02 Mar 02)

We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.