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| From my mother's SMITH family line: John Smith (1778-1860) and Jane (Wayne/Wain) Smith (1778-1863) | Source HERE |
In The History of Dearborn and Ohio Counties, Indiana : from their earliest settlement(1885), there is a short biography of my 4th great-grandparents John Smith (1778-1860) and Jane (Wayne) Smith (1778-1863). Both are considered some of the earliest pioneers of the State of Indiana, having emigrated from Thirsk, Yorshire, England in 1818. More information on the early settlers in Indiana can be found on the website for The Society of Indiana Pioneers.
Most of the genealogical information about John and Jane smith circulating online stems from a family history book published by Henry Nowlin in 1938 entitled John and Jane Smith Family. Anyone interested in viewing the original document on microfilm can request it through the LDS library HERE.
Here is an excerpt:
John Smith (1778-1860) was born at Thirsk, Yorkshire, England. He married Jane Wayne (1778-1863). In 1818 John with his family, including his wife, children and mother came to America and landed at Alexandria, Virginia. Later, they moved to Guilford, Indiana and farmed land there. His mother Elizabeth Brown Smith (1750-1823) was the sister of Christopher Brown (1766-1846) who also came to America and built many houses on Tanners Creek at Guilford. John and Jane were the parents of ten children. Six generations of Smith family members are buried in the East Fork Cemetery at Guilford.
...John Smith crossed the ocean in a sailing vessel and reached Alexandria, VA, in July 1818. Before leaving England for the unknown wilderness he had a tailor come to the house and make clothing to last for several years. In England salt was taxed and was a luxury. One of their first experiences was sending for a penny’s worth of salt, and the shop keeper gave the child a penny’s worth of salt without charge. They stayed in Alexandria some weeks, but found that their English knee breeches marked them as from the old country so they discarded the carefully prepared clothes, determined to be Americans and wear American clothes. He had a partner, a Mr. Belle, but left him and came out west. They crossed the mountains to Pittsburgh and there loaded their goods on a flat-boat and came down the river, reaching Lawrenceburg in October 1818, and came out to the English settlement near Guilford. He bought and built a log cabin about two miles north of Guilford on the NE Quarter of Section 12, Township 6 North, Range 2 West of the 1st principal meridian. After he had been here for a time he made the journey back to Alexandria for money he had left there. He was an expert horseman. During this trip he was in a storm of sleet so that when his overcoat was removed it stood alone.
The house they built was a double log house, each room about 18 x 20 feet, with a dark hall between in which was a stairway to a loft over each room. Each room had a fireplace, and two windows to the south. A porch ran the length of the house and was paved with stones set on edge. On the south side of the house was a walk with stones laid flat. He also built a log barn and paved around it with stones set on edge.
John Smith was of a pleasant, genial disposition and quite social; he was fond of music and an excellent singer. He, with his family, joined the Methodist class, known as Ewbank class, and were useful members of the church, and ably assisted in building East Fork Church in 1821
From page # 979 of The History of Dearborn and Ohio Counties, I noted the following about John and Jane Smith:
JOHN SMITH, one of the first settlers of Miller Township, came there from Yorkshire, England, in 1818, and settled near Guilford, on the east branch of Tanner’s Creek, there being ten children in the family. The family were of pure English blood, the ancestors tracing their lineage from the British island. Mr. Smith entered land (or purchased it from the government at $1.25 per acre), and resided upon the same until his death. William Smith, the eldest son, lived and died in Dearborn County. He married Ann Ewbank, and reared six children to maturity. He died in 1874; his wife in 1865. His son, David E., was born in Dearborn County in 1821; grew up a farmer; married Martha Grubbs in 1844, and reared twelve children to maturity, viz: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary L. Honor, Laura M., and Jarius (twins), Jonathan G., George M., Eva, Scott, and Ira C., all yet living. The father died in 1875; the mother still surviving in her fifty-ninth year. Mr. Smith was a thrifty farmer, owning 200 acres of land at his death, and an esteemed citizen. His son, William J. Smith, is elsewhere mentioned in this work.
Source Information: Ancestry.com. History of Dearborn and Ohio Counties, Indiana : from their earliest settlement : containing a history of the counties, their c [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Original data: History of Dearborn and Ohio Counties, Indiana : from their earliest settlement : containing a history of the counties, their cities, townships, towns, villages, schools, and churches, reminiscences, extracts, etc., local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, biographies, preliminary chapters on the history of the North-west Territory, the state of Indiana, and the Indians.. Chicago: F.E. Weakley & Co., 1885.
Their son George H. Smith (1813-1890) is my 3rd great-grandfather:
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| FamilySearch.org |
Early pioneers of Indiana...interesting!
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