A Brief History of the Atkins, Stewart, and Smith Families - New Page 1

Jacob K. 3/11/1834 Same 1904
John Andrew Smith wrote a Will in 1836 shortly before his death. Here is the text of that will:
Will Record A. page 47 in Lawrence County, Indiana and Probated December 9,
1836
I, John A. Smith, of Lawrence County, being in perfect mind and memory
knowing that all men are once born to die. After my kindness and best respects to
Human Nature, I do recommend my soul to the Benevolent Heavens and that my
body may be entered in common decent burial and as touching my worldly
property I do now give and bequeath all my worldly property to my wife,
Margaret Smith, so long as she lives, unmarried or so long as she is my widow
and after her marriage, or death the property is to be divided equally amongst her
children. Nelly Harris, I leave to her one dollar, Elias Smith, the same, William
Smith the same, John Smith, the same, Thomas S. Smith, the same. In testimony
whereof, I set my hand and seal, this 1st day of September 1836. John A. Smith
Witnesseth: David McIntire David Leatherman George Stringer
The last five individuals are his children by his first wife, Alice. Son Noah is not listed meaning
that he did not have Noah by his first wife, or he had died, or perhaps he had disowned him. He
also had a son Noah by his second wife. If the tables are accurate, then John Andrew was
fathering children well into his 70s.
There is also some evidence that John Andrew had a third wife, Margaret Allen, who he married
in 1788 and that there was another son Benjamin. This has not yet been proven.
John Andrew Smith was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. According to the obituary of his
daughter, Sarah, who was the last member of the Daughters of the Revolution in Missouri, John
Andrew Smith enlisted in Fauquier County, VA in August 1777 at the age of 23. He was a
private in Captain Elias Edmond’s Company, Colonel Thomas Marshal’s regiment of the
Virginia artillery. He was discharged on 27 August 1780.
According to the obituary:
“Her father (John Andrew Smith) was with Washington’s army during the terrible
winter at Valley Forge…..At one time, (he) became detached from a corps of
soldiers with whom he was doing duty and lost his way. Before he found his way
back to camp, he suffered severely with the cold and was so badly frostbitten that
he lost three of his fingers and all of the toes on his left foot. “
Thomas Shelton Smith continued the family line.
Thomas Shelton Smith
Thomas Shelton Smith was born in Virginia in 1794. It is believed that he was married twice.
His first wife was Nancy Farmer. Nancy was born in Randolph County, North Carolina, in 1794.
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