Double the Confusion: Elias Guess Smith and Elias Smith and Their Vaught Wives
Elias Guess Smith: 1775-1830
Hannah Vaught Smith: 1781-1842
While researching Elias Guess Smith, Bruce’s
third-great-grandfather, I was confused by the documents I was turning up on
Ancestry. In some of them, Elias was born in 1775, while in others his birth
date was calculated as 1778. And while most documents listed his wife as
Hannah, with the maiden name Vaught, a few showed his wife as Peggy Vaught. All
the documents were from Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, so I felt comfortable
attaching them to Elias Guess Smith. After all, what were the odds that there
were two Elias Smiths in one lightly populated county who were nearly the same
age, and who married women with the same surname? Ridiculously small, right?
Big mistake. There were definitely two different Elias
Smiths in Muhlenberg County, and I was forced to clean up the mess I’d made on
poor Elias Guess Smith’s records. So how did my confusion arise? What was the
relationship between these two Eliases and their two Vaught family wives? Or
was there no relationship at all? I had to figure it out.
I was able to verify that Elias Guess Smith married Hannah
Vaught in January of 1801 in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. According to
Findagrave and Family Search, Hannah was the daughter of Gilbert Fite Vaught
and Mary Martin, and was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on April 30,
1781.
The other Elias Smith married a woman named Peggy Vaught on
September 1, 1803. I was able to find Peggy on Family Search. Records there
indicate she was born Margaret Vaught on February 15, 1785 to John B. Vaught
Sr. and his wife Elizabeth Martin. John Vaught’s will names his daughter Margaret
Smith, and one of his executors was Elias Smith, so this all seems to match up.
 |
| Marriage record for Elias Smith and Peggy Vaught 1803 |
When I looked at the records for John B. Vaught, I
discovered he was the son of Christian Vaught and Annaetje Hannah Crum. He was
born in 1761, and was the younger brother of Gilbert Fite Vaught, who was born
in 1756. Assuming this information is correct, that means that the two wives of
the two Elias Smiths were first cousins; both were the grandchildren of
Christian Vaught. The women may have been double cousins, as the maiden name of
both their mothers was Martin.
Peggy Vaught’s husband, Elias Smith, was born in 1778,
supposedly to parents John and Mary Smith. The note on his tree entry in Family
Search reads “Not to be confused with Elias Guess Smith, who md Hannah Vaught
(cousin?), who also lived in Muhlenberg Kentucky, but had more children. This
Elias died before 1832.”
Despite the helpful direction from the Family Search wiki, I
was still quite confused. How were these two Eliases related, if at all? Were
the two first cousins, just like their wives?
 |
| Elias Guess Smith from Family Search |
I have been able to track down Elias Guess Smith’s lineage
through FamilySearch, where his tree entry has a PDF attachment providing a
summary of research on his life, parentage, and siblings. He was born to Peter
Smith and Jemima Simpson, Virginia natives who moved to Caswell County, North
Carolina. Elias and several siblings moved west to Kentucky, most settling in
Muhlenberg County, where he met and married Hannah Vaught.
 |
| Kentucky Land Deed to Elias Guess Smith |
This discovery led me to make more corrections to my Ancestry
tree. I had mistakenly listed his parents as a Capt. John Smith, married to a
Mary Sinnet, both of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Unfortuately, I have been unable to find this type of
valuable information for the second Elias Smith. There is only speculation that
he may be the son of a “John Smith” who may have been from Pennsylvania—perhaps
the Captain Smith I had incorrectly linked to Elias Guess Smith. If he truly is
connected to the Pennsylvania Smiths, there would be no familial relationship
to Elias Guess Smith, but it might have explained his connection to the
Vaughts, who also moved to Kentucky from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
However, it appears the two Eliases knew one another.
Obviously, since they married women who were first cousins, they knew one
another through their inlaws. In addition, there are references in the
FamilySearch research summaries to a land transaction between the two men:
Elias Guess Smith sold or transferred land to Elias Smith. The person who noted
the transaction speculated that this might indicate the two men were related.
However, at this point, I can find no evidence to support this hypothesis.
 |
| Elias Guess Smith headstone in Kentucky, photo from Ancestry |
I am glad that I was able to recognize my mistakes quickly,
enabling me to separate the records and lives of the two men named Elias Smith.
My mistakes proved serendipitous. If I hadn’t realized I had mixed up two Elias
Smiths, I probably would never have turned to FamilySearch, and would never
have found the resources that have given me so much information on Elias Guess
Smith’s parents and siblings.
Sources:
"United States Census, 1820," database with
images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBZ-3QT?cc=1803955&wc=3L7N-H81%3A1586986501%2C1586986804%2C1586984616
: 16 July 2015), Kentucky > Hopkins > Not Stated > image 22 of 24;
citing NARA microfilm publication M33, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and
Records Administration, n.d.).
History of Muhlenberg
Co. Ky. Pg. 222 Hazel Creek Baptist Church. Cem. Muhlenberg Co. Ky.
McDougal Cem. Will of James S. Smith-BL Death record James S. Smith -BL
Marriage record JS. Smith- BL Bonnie Lilywhite said there are marriage records
available. "Peter Smith some of his Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentuky
decendents" written by Pearl O. Smith. possesion of Nina Smith.
Note from FamilySearch: DEATH: will made 18 Apr 1793, proved
Oct 1797 Caswell Co,NC-I have copy !MILITARY: Rev War Private NC, by R.
Simpson.
Kentucky Marriages, 1802-1850, Author Dodd, Jordan. Record
from Ancestry.com
Peter Smith of
Westmoreland County, Virginia and Some Descendants. Abell, Richard Bender
and Smith, Wolmer L., 1996. Published for authors by Bookcrafters, Chelsea,
Michigan. Family History Library; http://www.familysearch.org
Smith, Peter of Caswell County North Carolina d-1797.pdf ,
by LeAnn Littledike
No comments:
Post a Comment