John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 1374

The immigrant John Michael Smith, who came in 1717, was accompanied by his brother Matthew.  Hans Michael (to use John Michael's baptismal name) was three years senior to Matthäus (Matthew).  The family of Matthew is treated in Germanna Record 6, on pages 34 to 37.  It was not recognized in the original writing that Matthew and John were brothers.  In fact, their apparent lack of interaction in Virginia would even suggest that they were not related.  A few errors were made in the Germanna Record account.

The John Smith, wife Elizabeth, who had a child christened in 1777, was not a descendant of Matthew, but of J. Michael Smith, Jr.  The William Smith, son of John Smith, seems to be of English origin, not German origin.  The Record also suggested Michael Smith, Jr., the son of Matthew Smith II, had married Rosina Yager in 1791, but this was an error; it was Michael Smith, Sr., the son of Matthew II’s brother, Nicholas Smith, who married Rosina Yager.

The two immigrant Smith brothers, Hans Michael and Matthäus, were born in Gemmingen, and both were married and had children before they came to America.  Matthew had two sons, one born in Germany (Matthew, Sr.), and one born in Virginia (Nicholas), perhaps about 1718.  Nicholas, the younger son, married Magdalena Reiner, who was born 21 Sep 1720 in Schwaigern (Schwaigern is about two miles from Gemmingen), and who came in 1749 to America with her family.  The baptismal records at the German Lutheran church provide the evidence for the marriage of Nicholas and Magdalena.  The will of Nicholas was probated in 1797.

The issue of Nicholas Smith and his wife Magdalena Reiner, with minor uncertainties, is:

  1. John Smith, the first name in his father’s will, was born about 1752.  When this John made his will in 1821, he left all of his property to the children of his brothers, Nicholas, Michael, and Godfrey,
  2. Nicholas Smith, born approximately 1754-1756,
  3. Michael Smith, third son in the will, born approximately 1756-1758,
  4. Barbara Smith, possibly a daughter, as she appears in the church records, but it is not proven that she is a daughter of Nicholas,
  5. Godfrey Smith, born about 1764, as he was confirmed in 1782 at age 18.

Of course, one is suspicious when only sons are mentioned.  There may have daughters other than Barbara, who is not even a confirmed daughter.

The German research on these families was done by Johni Cerny and Gary Zimmerman.
(07 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.