Copyright 1987-1997
By Dodie Elizabeth (Smith) Browning
All rights reserved
Special thanks to Lisa (Grimmett) Brown who assisted with Vital Statistics for Logan County. Special thanks to Lona (Workman) Smith now deceased, and to Jernenia Smith Fillinger for helping to gather information on the Denver Smith family and the Kermit Smith family. An extra special thank you to Jerenia (Smith) Fillinger for providing the picture of Grandpa Tom and Grandma "Lizy."
*** Child number 6 below -Harve Smith and wife, Synthia Ann (Workman) are my grand parents. ***
Thomas A. Smith and Ann Eliza Steele were my great grand parents. They both died when my father, Paris Smith was sixteen years old. Dad was very close to them both and remembered them well. He said that they loved each other very much and that he never heard them say a cross word to each other. They died nine days apart. Dad said that after Grandma Lizy's funeral that Grandpa Tom went to bed, refused to eat and died a week later. Dad said that he grieved himself to death. They both died at their home on Briar Branch of Harts Creek in Logan County, West Virginia.
Dad said that they were both healthy for their age and both active on the farm. He said that his grand mother fell over a bank and hurt her leg and died three days later. There were no doctors in the area and home remedies were the only medical treatment. It makes me wonder if maybe she had a blood clot, but we will never know. With Grandpa Tom dying just a week after her death, it seems possible that perhaps they both died of a virus of some kind. Grandma Eliza's death record shows that she died of "old age." She was 84 when she died, although her death record shows her age as 86. Grandpa Tom's death just over a week later, shows that he died of "flu." Did they both die of some unknown virus? Did they both have the flu? The middle of May is not what we usually think of as "flu season." Did Grandpa Tom actually starve to death in his grief for his beloved Ann Eliza? We will never know.
It was from the personal information that Dad gave me and an extensive search of public records that I was able to piece together the following history.
Ann Eliza Steele was born April 1840, in Tazewell County, Virginia. She was the fourth daughter and fourth child of Shadrack "Shade" Steele and his wife, Christina (Deskins) Steele. The family was living in what is present day Buchanan County Virginia, when Ann Eliza married Thomas A.(J.) Smith in Tazewell County, on 3 February 1864. Thomas A. Smith listed his parents as William and Sophia Smith. In-depth research revealed that his mother was in fact, Sophia VanDyke, the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth “Betsy” VanDyke of Tazewell County Virginia. Grandpa Tom and Grandma "Lizy" were probably married at the home of her Uncle Rezin Ratcliff Steele. This was the home that had belonged to Ann Eliza's grand parents, George and Rosannah Steele and her great grand parents David and Jane Fannin.
Ann Eliza’s death record shows her mother as Nancy Deskins, but that was apparently due to faulty memory of my great Uncle Shade Smith, or an error by the clerk who wrote the information. There are numerous records in both Tazewell And Buchanan Counties, Virginia, that document her mother as Christina (Deskins) Steele.
Tom Smith was born in Tazewell County, Virginia 12 March 1841. Family tradition dictates that Grandpa Tom had a hard life as a boy. It is not known whether his father died when he was young or if he just left Sophia with a young child to raise. Either his parents were never legally married or his (step?) father, William J. Lawrence was the same person as William Smith. There was a story passed down in the family that Grandpa Tom had changed his name when he left Virginia and moved to Logan County WV. I have found nothing to document this. He was shown as a Smith in every record except one.
His mother, Sophia VanDyke married William J. Lawrence in Pike County, Kentucky on 10 May 1846. John Smith and Abel Chaney signed the marriage bond of Sophia and William. The bond was dated 2 May 1846. The wedding took place on 10 May 1846. Hammon Williamson (Justice of the Peace) performed the ceremony. The marriage bond was returned 8 July 1846. (From Marriage Bonds of Pike County, KY-1822-1865, by Clyde Runyon, pg. 149; File number 886)
In 1850 the family was living in Wayne County, WV. The Census shows the family as:
William Lawrence, age 37- occupation, tailor
Sophia age 36
Nancy age 21
Thomas A.J. age 10
Based upon pure speculation from family “tradition” about a name change and the above Census record, we do know that Grandpa was shown in this record as a Lawrence. It is possible that William J. Lawrence was in fact William Smith and had changed his name for some reason. There were several men in the Tazewell VA/ Pike County KY area by the name of William Smith as well as in Logan County in 1840, but I was not able to find any records for William Lawrence, other than the marriage record and the census record. I have not been able to determine who Nancy (Lawrence) was.
More research needs to be done in Pike County records to try to find obscure records that might give us more insight on whether William J. Lawrence was the same person as William Smith. Pike County records do show that there was a William Smith who served in the Confederate Army and was later involved in the Hatfield- McCoy Feud. Grandpa Tom was said to be a second cousin to “Devil” Anse Hatfield, but to date I have not been able to document this information.
Family tradition was that Tom Smith was the grandson of Thomas Smith of Horsepen, mentioned in Ragland’s History of Logan County. Ragland’s history provided some valuable information and “clues” but he did not do documented research on the early settlers of Logan County, and his “history” was full of errors.
Since John Smith is documented in at least one record as the son of Thomas and Cally (Catherine Breeding ?) Smith, and the fact that he signed the marriage bond of William and Sophia, would most certainly imply a close relationship.
It is believed by this writer, that the wife of Thomas Smith of Horsepen. was in fact, Catherine “Cally” Breeding. There is a marriage record in Kanawha County, circa 1802 for Absolum Smith and Cally “Breader.” This is the only Smith marriage that I have found in searching marriage records in Virginia and eastern Kentucky for a Smith man with a wife named “Callie/Cally.”
When I worked on this in the 1980s, I was the only one researching the family of Thomas Smith of Horsepen. People took Ragland’s history for granted and somehow, undocumented information became known as “gospel,” Much information was passed back and forth that Thomas Smith was the son of Mary (Goff) Smith, who had been the wife of a deceased son of Ericus Smith of Russell County, Virginia One current researcher has confronted this, based on inhreritance law in Virginia at the time, and has documented to my satisfaction that Mary Smith, the wife of Ephriam Hatfield was in fact a Smith and was the Daughter of Ericus Smith and his wife Bridgett. If Thomas Smith of Horsepen was the son of Mary Smith before her marriage to Ephhriam Hatfield, then her Smith children were born out of wedlock. At this writing, we do not know if she was in fact the mother of Thomas Smith of Horsepen, as Ragland's history implies.
There was at least a ten year gap in records for Thomas A. J. Smith who was shown as a Lawrence in 1850. In 1860, he was back in Tazewell County, living in the household of his uncle, Reese VanDyke. No further record has been found for his mother Sophia, nor for William J. Lawrence.
On 29 May 1861, Tom had traveled from his home in Tazewell County Virginia to Wytheville, Virginia, where he was mustered into the Confederate Army. He was a Private in the newly formed Company A, 45th Virginia Regiment of the Virginia Volunteer Infantry, from Tazewell County, Virginia. This unit became known as “Floyd’s Guards.” He enlisted for a period of twelve months, under the command of Col. Henry Heth/Heath.
Everyone in the South thought the war would be over in less than a year, therefore, most enlisted for a period of twelve months. According to published accounts, most of the men did not like Col. Heth. They thought that he looked down on them because of their lack of education and their farming backgrounds, and considered them to be "lower class." They had enlisted under General Floyd, but by the time they mustered at Wyhteville, Heth had been placed in command.
Tom’s Military Record shows that he was present for muster from 29 May to 31 August 1861, and that he had received no pay for his service.
Tracing the activities of the 45th Virginia, we can get a pretty clear picture of Tom Smith’s activities during the War between the States.
They received their training at Camp Jackson, where in a short time, disease became rampant, and many soldiers died of disease. A number of soldiers were killed by their fellow soldiers during practice. By 12 July 1861, the 45th Virginia was ordered to the Kanawha Valley. There were 900 men in the Regiment, but 200 of them had to be left behind at Camp Jackson, due to illness.
On 10 September 1861, Grandpa Tom was admitted to the Confederate Hospital in Lewisburg. The records do not state why, but it must have been serious, because he was absent from duty for the months of September and October, 1861. The Regimental Returns state only that he was "sick in Lewisburg since September 10" [1861.]
Tracing the activities of the 45th Virginia, there was a skirmish with the 11th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, near Hawk’s Nest on 20 August. It is not known if Tom was involved in this skirmish, but he was apparently there and it was the first battle of the war for the 45th Virginia. They were on the way to Carnifex Ferry, about eight miles from Summersville, West Virginia.
On 10 September, at Carnifex Ferry, The 45th Virginia was engaged in battle with the 10th Ohio. The 10th Ohio opened the battle at about 2:30 P.M. According to my reference, THE 45th VIRGINIA by J. L. Scott (Copyright 1989 by H.E. Howard Co, Lynchburg, VA.) "the 45th Virginia, along with Captain John H. Guy’s Battery of Artillary, met the Federals with murderous fire.... . Colonel William H. Lytle of the 10th Ohio wrote that the fire had a paralyzing effect on his troops, my men falling around me in great numbers."
This was the day that Tom Smith was admitted to the Field Hospital at Lewisburg, where his Service record only states that he “was sick at Lewisburg” for over two months. This would be consistent with family “tradition” that Grandpa Tom was wounded during the War Between the States.
His first enlistment ended in April 1862, but apparently Thomas A. Smith believed strongly in the Confederate cause. On 20 April 1862, he enlisted for another three years. At this time, he received $40.00. The amount was supposed to be $50.00 per soldier. The Confederate States owed him a total of $100.00, but as history dictates, times were hard and there was not enough money to pay the soldiers, nor even provide basic needs such as clothing, shoes, nor even food at times.
From his service records, it appears that he received no clothing and no pay, except the $40.00, until the fall of 1864. At that time, his name appears on several receipt rolls for clothing. The exact type of clothing was not stated. He received clothing of some type on 9 November, 17 December, and 23 December, 1864. We can only hope that he received enough clothing and shoes or boots to keep him warm, because winter in the mountains can be brutally cold.
In order to fill in the details of exactly where Grandpa Tom was during the War and the activities of the 45th Virginia Regiment, please read the excellent book, by J. L. Scott referenced above. The book gives detailed information for all extant records for the 45th Virginia, including maps where all the battles took place. As with most printed sources, there will be errors. The book shows that Grandpa Tom was in a different Company, but that is a minor error. He was in fact in Company A, as documented by his actual Service Record. (A copy of his actual record was obtained from the National Archives by this writer.)
Ann Eliza Steele was a year or two older than Tom Smith. The marriage record listed his occupation as “Soldier” when they were married in Tazewell County Virginia on 3 February 1864. This is the first indication that Tom Smith went home during the war.
My father told me that both Grandpa Tom and Grandma "Lizy" were tall and had dark hair when they were younger. Tom was between six feet two and six feet four.
After the war ended, the young couple lived on Bearwallow Mountain in what is present day Buchanan County, Virginia. Their land was four hundred acres that was deeded to Ann Eliza by her father, Shade (Shadrack) Steele. Grandpa Tom worked as a farm laborer or “hired hand”. We can see this from a Census record in Tazewell County where he is shown in the household of Hans Calvert, while his family was in Buchanan County.
Apparently Ann Eliza was a favorite in her family and Tom was well liked too. Several of Ann Eliza’s sisters named daughters for her as well as sons for Thomas Smith.
Most of their children were born in Buchanan County, where they lived there until the summer of 1880. The family appears on both the Buchanan County Census and the Logan County Census for that year. From this information, we can determine that they went to Logan County sometime in the summer of 1880, probably right after the Census was taken. When I was just a little girl, I can remember my great Aunt Chris (Christina) telling stories about how she and the older children walked to Logan County through the mountains barefoot, when the family left Virginia.
Stories passed down in the family relate that Grandpa Tom got in “trouble” and traded the farm for a (gray) horse and piled what household goods they could take with them on the horse’s back. T he family supposedly left Buchanan County in the middle of the night because Grandpa was being accused of stabbing a man and left before the “law” came for him. I have searched court house records in both Tazewell County and in Buchanan County and found no record of this. Since this was about the time the infamous Hatfield- McCoy feud began, there may be some truth to this, because Grandpa Tom was supposedly a second cousin to Devil Anse Hatfield. The Smiths, as well as Ann Eliza's Steele's cousins, definitely had close ties with the Hatfields. The “trouble” may have taken place in Pike County, but I have not searched court records in Pike County. There is nothing in published accounts of the feud to indicate that Grandpa Tom was involved, so we may never know the full truth about what happened.
Kermit Smith, another grand son, reflected on a taped interview by his younger brother, Sherman Smith, that Grandpa Tom was always gone in the summer months when he (Kermit) was a boy. He remembered that Grandma Lizy and the children did all of the farming while Grandpa Tom was off working for other people to earn money for other necessities for the family. Kermit remembered that Grandpa Tom was always at home in the fall to help the boys chop enough wood to last through the winter. I would imagine that there was also butchering of hogs to have meat to last through the winter, as well as digging coal from nearby coal banks for fuel. Kermit's memories would be consistent with finding Grandpa Tom in the household of Hans Calvert (a tailor) in the previously mentioned Tazewell County Census, where he was shown as a farm laborer.
When the family first moved to Logan County they lived on Island Creek, not far from Ann Eliza’s uncle, Ralph A. Steele. The family rented for a time before they purchased land on Briar Branch at Harts Creek. The land was purchased in the name of Ann Eliza Smith. That was certainly not the norm for couples buying property. This could be a coincidence, but it tends to give credence to the family “tradition” that Grandpa Tom traded the farm in Virginia, because he was running from "the law."
There were some boundry disputes with the Tomblin family that I found in Logan County Court records, but the disputes were settled and the Tomblins intermarried with some of the descendants of Tom and Ann Eliza.
Ann Eliza (Steele) Smith died 13 May 1924 at home on Briar Branch of Harts Creek, in Logan County, West Virginia.
Thomas A. (J.) Smith died 22 May 1924 at 1:00 AM at home also. Both rest high on a mountain, overlooking the place they called home, in the family cemetery where descendants are still being buried.
I had not been there since I was small child, but was there in about 1993 or 1994. The mountain where they are buried is much steeper than I remembered. I was not sure that I could make it to the top and stopped several times to rest. There was still no road, and my first question to my cousin Sherman Smith and to another (much loved and much missed) cousin, Cole Gene Carter was, "How in the world do they get marble tombstones up this mountain; by helicopter?" They both laughed and told me that they still do it the old fashioned way with a mule or horse and a sled.
Once we got to the top of the mountain, it was well worth the climb to get there! The cemetery is a plateau that runs along the mountain top. It is very level at the top of the mountain. There was a panaramic view that was very beautiful and overlooked the entire valley. There were lots of trees and the ground was moss covered. It was like walking on thick plush, forest green carpet. I had hoped to get more information from their headstones, especially the exact birth date of Grandma Lizy. There was no further secret to be revealed.
The children of Tom and Ann Eliza (Steele) Smith: (Shown in Bold Print.)
1. Shade (Shadrack) Smith b. Feb.1865, Buchanan Co. VA. m.(1st) Mary Workman, 26 August, 1886 d/o Moses and Polly (Mullin) Workman (2nd) Leticia (Gruthers) Coleman, 6 July 1902 (She was a widow with one son. She was born in NC) They were divorced and he married a third time to Ella Doss. Uncle Shade and Aunt "L" had no children from their marriage. All are buried on Bulwark Fork of Harts Creek in the Shade Smith/Moses Workman Cemetery. The children of Uncle Shade and Aunt Mary were: 1(1)Rosa, b. March 1889, married John Fillinger 1(2)Malinda, b. March 1892
2. Christina Smith, b. October 1867, Buchanan Co. VA., married 24 June 1883, Green Jackson, They had no children of their own but raised several foster children.
3. Paris Smith, b. ca. 1868, Buchanan Co. VA. m. 16 August 1889- Martha Viola "Vi" Tomblin. Paris died of a gunshot wound circa 1900. The fatal wound was from the gun of a Deputy Sheriff. Paris and Vi had one child. ("Vi" remarried and had other children) The son of Paris and Vi (Tomblin) Smith:
4. Virginia Belle Smith, b. May, 1869, Buchanan Co. VA. m. 22 November, 1885 - Joseph Mullins. The children of "Belle" Smith and Joe Mullins:
4(1) Anthony Mullins, b. Sept. 1887, married Surilda Smith, d/o Bird and Martha (Bryant) Smith
4(2) John B. Mullins b.20 January, 1890, married Elenor, d/o Anderson Dempsey
4(3) Rhoda Mullins, b. January, 1892, m(1st)_____Baisden, m.(2nd) 3 September, Johnny Tomblin,s/o Allen and Sally (Hensley) Tomblin
4(4) Green Mullins, b. 21 (January? July?) 1894, m. Norma Baisden
4(5) Etta "Ettie" Mullins, b. May, 1896, m. Alfred Tomblin
4(6) Mason Mullins, b. 24 july, 1900 at Island Creek, m. Belle Dingess
4(7) Joseph Mullins, b. circa 1902, m. Janie Mullins
4(8) Christina Mullins, b. circa 1904, m. Troy Belcher
4(9) Elmer Mullins, b. circa 1906, m. Lilly Fannin(divorced)
4(10) Raymond Mullins, b. circa 1908, m. Lizzie Frye
4(11) Lena Mullins, b.ca.1910, m. Willie Mullins
5. Bird (Burdine) Smith, b. June 1871, Buchanan Co. VA, married 16 August 1889 Martha Bryant, d/o Alexander"Zan" and Judah (Hensley) Bryant. The children of Bird and Martha (Bryant) Smith:
5.(1) Surilda, b. July 1894, married Anthony Mullins,s/o Joseph and Virgina Belle (Smith) Mullins
5(2) Cora Smith, b. April 1900, married (1st) William Bryant (2nd) Floyd Harris
5(3) David "Dave" Smith, b. circa 1902
6. *** Harve(y)Smith-click here
8. Mary Ann Smith, b.July 1879, Buchanan County, VA. married 1 Nov. 1895, Logan Co. WV. Floyd Bryant, (b. Apr. 1861) s/o George and Elizabeth (Johnson) Bryant. The children of Mary Ann Smith and Floyd Bryant:
8(1) Thomas Bryant, b. Nov. 1896
8(2) Ollie E. Bryant, b Feb. 1899, married Cush Dingess
8(3) Florence bryant, b. ca, 1902
8(4) Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bryant, b. ca. 1903, married Lonnie Ellis,s/o Allen & Tilda (Vance) Ellis. (Tilda Vance was d/o Wesley & Sophia Vance)
8(5) Green Bryant, b. 3 Jan. 1904, Harts Creek, d. 25 March 1984, Boone Co. Memorial Hospital, married Patty Deskins
8(6) Frank Bryant, b. ca. 1907
8(7) Charley Bryant, b. ca. 1905
9. Catherine Smith , b. May, 1881, Logan County, WV, married 30 Jan. 1898 James Bryant, s/o George & Ollie Bryant. According to Denver Smith, they had four children, but I was only able to find one. Catherine died by 1909 and James remarried. To be updated shortly as we have new information. Oldest child of Catherine Smith and James Bryant: 9(1) Ann Eliza, b. Feb. 1899 married (Willie Curry)
10. Florence Smith, b. April, 1884, Harts Creek, Logan County, WV. buried in the family cemetery on top of a mountain at Briar Branch fork of Harts Creek. Florence died unmarried circa 1901-1902.
Thomas A Smith and his wife, Ann Eliza Steele have hundreds of descendants scattered to the four winds, but hopefully we will all meet someday for a joyous homecoming in our Heavenly home.
