*[Vielen Dank fuer die Blumen.]
The Smith families are extremely hard to trace in America because of the common name. I thought, though, that we might review the family of Michael Smith. He was from Gemmingen and the family is recorded in the departure list of 1717. Besides him (age 28), there was his wife Anna Margaretha (28), sons Hans Michael (5 ½) and Christopher (½), plus the in-laws who, are not named. Since Anna Margaretha’s father (a Sauter) was already dead, we presume the in-laws to be her mother and stepfather. Spotswood’s Headright List, gives only Hans Michael, Anna Creda, and Hans Michael. The son Christopher presumably died during the trip. The fate of the in-laws is most uncertain.
There were no more children in Virginia. So, the heirs of Hans Michael Smith, Sr., were only Hans Michael Smith, Jr. The son married Anna Magdalena Thomas, so all of the Michael Smith descendants have Thomas and Blankenbaker ancestors. Anna Magdalena was the daughter of John Thomas and Anna Maria Blankenbaker.
There were seven children of Michael and Anna Magdalena which we know by the deeds and church records. The son Adam was married twice, where the wive’s maiden names are unknown. The daughter Mary married Adam Barlow. Susannah married John Berry, Jr. Zachariah is said to have married, first, Anne Elisabeth Fishback, and, secondly, Sarah Anne Watts. John married Elisabeth Unknown. Anna Magdalena married John George Crisler. The daughter Catherine married John Marbes, but she was unfaithful to him and had at least one child by another man.
The sons Adam, Zachariah, and John all moved to Kentucky at a very early age. The route they took may have been by the Ohio River because Adam’s daughter married Abraham Thomas who was in southwestern Pennsylvania. Abraham tells that he went to Kentucky (Mercer County) by the Ohio River. The three sons have no records in Virginia after 1777. These last records are in the German Lutheran Church in Culpeper County.
Late in life, Michael Smith, Sr., disposed of most of his land, if not all, among his children. He then became a preacher in Pennsylvania and Virginia (this is my opinion, but it is buttressed by good circumstantial evidence). Muhlenberg speaks of him as a “free booter”. Around 1782 he undertook to become the minister at the Lutheran Church in the RRV but he was a failure and was kicked out. His skimpy education may have been a contributor to this.
*[Thank you for the flowers.]
(27 Feb 07)
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.