Smith, Samuel

   General Notes:

My great-grandfather Smith was Dutch what was called in those days a Black Dutchman. He lived in England and in 1768 at the age of 22 sailed the Atlantic Ocean for New York and came to W. Virginia near Jamestown. He hired to a farmer for 6 dollars a month where he stayed until 1780. He was very careful about spending money and. saved a goodly lot of his earnings. He fell in love with a pretty Irish girl and married at the age of 34. He put his savings in a home and began business of his own. In 1784 they had a son whom they named Samuel after his father. The baby was a healthy boy and started to school at the age of 6. Schools were scarce in those days but there was a fine school in Jamestown. Samuel's father hired the teacher who lived very close to the school to take Samuel in his home so he could go to school. He went three terms and learned to read and write and some arithmetic. In 1805 at the age of 21 Samuel was handsome young man. He loved the farm life and most of his time was spent in farming. In 1809 he married a farmer's daughter. He lived with father and mother two years but in 1812 moved to Nashville, Tennessee. He had two slaves that his father gave him; a man and a young girl. Being a farmer by trade he moved on from Nashville to Big Harpeth River and bought land west of the old bridge at Bellevue. He built a home and on 1822 he sold his home for a handsome profit having three children in his home: James, Sally and Willie.
He had bought three more slaves making him the owner of five slaves and he came to South Harpeth there on the Fernvale Springs are today and stopped with a man just below the Sulpher Springs and he told Grandfather Smith if he would buy a home he would help him build in order to have him for a neighbor. They built Grandfather a house and moved in the fall of 1822, on the S. Harpeth River. Grandfather had more children: Samuel, Dan, Abe, George and Emaline which was my dear mother. She was born in August 1822 being the youngest one of the family. Grandfather Smith died in 1838. Grandmother was left in good circumstances being left with 10 slaves and a goodly sum of money. She decided to have a sale and sell off what she did not really need. She sold 7 of- her slaves and much of the property. - The same amounted to a total sum of $10,000 and there were 9 children each child became heir of $900 each and grandmother kept the rest.
Grandmother Smith was a Jones, a full blooded Irish. Her parents came from Scotland, Ireland. Her name was Ollie. She lived to be very old and died in 1871.
This is a history of my grandparents on my mother's side of the family as near as I can give it according to what my mother recollects according to what her parents told her so I will close my few words.

J. D. Green

   Research Notes:

THIS IS POSSIBLY THE SAME SAMUEL SMITH:

Emigration Date 1768
Emigration Place England to New York
Occupation Immigated in 1768 via New York, hired as a farmer

Place: America
Year: 1767
Primary Individual: Smith, Samuel
Source Code: 8543
Source Name:
SMITH, CLIFFORD NEAL. British Deportees to America, Part 3: 1766-1767.(British-American Genealogical Research Monograph, 3.) McNeal, Ariz.:Westland Publications, 1981. 73p.
Source Page #: 62

   Events:

1. Immigration; 1768, New York.

   Marriage Information:

Samuel married A Pretty Irish Girl.