Chasing the Past

One of my biggest brick walls, perhaps the biggest is James Cuddy Smith. On FamilyTree YDNA, my grandfather has 6 matches at 37 markers. On would think with over 10,000 matches at 12, that number would be higher!

One of these 6 matches is a descendant of Freeman R. Smith. He is often referred to as Freeman Rush Smith but I have found nothing to support this middle name.

In hopes of finding where James Cuddy Smith came from and who his parents are, I have started researching these six matches. Unfortunately, only two have responded to me or have any sort of traceable family tree.

With contact with a couple of folks who have worked on Freeman’s descendants, and my verification of their work, I felt good about my starting point.

What we knew:

Freeman was born 25 October 1814 in North Carolina. He lived for many years in Choctaw County, Alabama. When he first appeared in this area, it was Sumter County. He married in Sumter County and died in Texas 5 March 1883. I decided to take this information and determine where in North Carolina he came from.

Clue 1

One of the first things I found was a legal notice for a petition to sell real estate in Anson County. William A. Morris and wife, vs Anderson Smith, Allen Smith, Freeman R. Smith, George F. Smith.¹

This petition didn’t name who the real estate belonged to. But it did say that Anderson, George, Freeman, and Allen do not live in the state. With a little research, I was determined that William A Morris was William Airley Morris of Anson County who married Martha Smith. Martha was the daughter of William and Nancy Allen Smith.

Great! We have a North Carolina connection. But this did not prove it was the same Freeman R. Smith. So, I began researching the five men in this petition for sale.

Clue 2

My first clue was in Sumter County, Alabama marriages for 1838. Freeman R. Smith married Nancy Price, daughter of John Price in April 1838. Consent for this marriage was witnessed by F. R. Smith and G. F. Smith.²

A few weeks earlier, George F. Smith married Louisa Ann Price. Bondsmen for this marriage were F. R. Smith and George F. Smith.³

Clue 3

In 1840, John Price, George Smith, and Freeman Smith all live next to each other in Sumter Alabama.⁴

Clue 4

In 1841, Samuel Pond and wife sell to Wm. A Morris their individual share of the land belonging to the estate of William Smith.⁵ In 1841, they were still living in Anson County. By 1850, they were living in Sumter County, Alabama. At this point, Freeman and George were living in Choctaw. But remember, Choctaw was formed from the southern part of Sumter County and northern part of Washington County. Freeman and George were in the northern part of Choctaw and the Pond family was in the southern part of Sumter. Different counties, but they weren’t too far from each other.

By this point, I felt the indirect evidence certainly pointed to Freeman and George being the sons of William and Nancy Allen Smith of Anson County. Several deeds between William A Morris and other also supported these relationships.

Clue 5

George F. Smith died in December of 1871. Interestingly, a G. Frank Smith died in February 1872. Both men were lawyers in Choctaw County. In fact, they practiced together. George F was about 18 years older than G. Frank but he was not his father.

In 1850, an Anderson Smith is living in Jefferson, Arkansas⁶. According to this census, he was born in North Carolina but his wife and children were born in Tennessee. On 15 July 1845, Anderson Smith of Jefferson, Arkansas, appointed Miles W. Maske as his attorney to sell a tract of land in Anson County, NC.⁷ While this power of attorney does not mention any details of this certain tract of land, a power of attorney on the next page does. On 28 June, 1842, Allen Smith, of Marshall County Mississippi, appointes Miles W Mask his attorney to sell all his interest as one of the heirs of William Smith, decd, and a certain tract of land in Anson County on the waters of Lanes Creek. Both were proven in October Term of Anson County.

Clue 6

Because both Anderson and Allen appointed Miles Mask as their Attorney of Record, I looked into him. He was half brother of William A. Morris.

Conclusion

I believe there’s enough evidence to support the Freeman R. Smith we know to be an ancestor of the YDNA match is the son of William and Nancy Allen Smith of Anson County. Siblings are:

• Martha, wife of William Airley Morris
• Anderson
• Allen
• Moriah/Mariah, wife of Spratley Pond
• Sarah, wife of Samuel Pond
• Darling M.
• George F.

What do you think? Is there enough evidence to support this relationship?

Next steps

My next steps are to

• research Joseph Price, Daniel Smith, and John Smith who are on the 1820 census⁸ in Anson County near William Smith. Is Joseph Price connected to John Price of Sumter, Alabama? Is he a relative to the wives of George F. and Freeman R.? Are Daniel and John related to William?
• Find male descendants of Anderson, Allen, Darling, and George F. Smith to YDNA test.

See also:

• Smith Official Group Project at FamilyTree DNA
• Freeman Rush Smith at WikiTree.

Sources

1. “Petition for Sale of Real Estate,” Weekly Raleigh Register. 17 July 1837, page 4, imaged, Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/article/weekly-raleigh-register-petition-for-sal/149368466/ accessed 7 March 2025. ↩︎
2. Sumter County, Alabama, “Marriage Record White Book 1” 72 Freeman R. Smith and Nancy Price 11 April 1838: imaged, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9V2-S439?cc=1743384 : 7 March 2025), image 694 of 1235; citing County Probate Courts, Alabama. ↩︎
3. Sumter County, Alabama. Marriage Record p 68, George F. Smith and Louisa Ann Price, image 691 of 1235. ↩︎
4. “Sumter, Alabama, United States records,” 1840 US Census, images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YYN-SNDG?view=explore : Mar 14, 2025), image 776 of 1307; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. John Price, George F. Smith, F. R. Smith. ↩︎
5. Anson County, North Carolina, “Anson County Deeds Book 10 page 240; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89Z1-K978?cat=330384& : accessed 17 March 2025, image 162 of 967) citing Samuel Pond and wife to Wm. A. Morris. ↩︎
6. “Jefferson, Arkansas, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-67K9-PR6?view=index : Mar 7, 2025), image 15 of 85; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. ↩︎
7. Anson County, North Carolina, Record of Deeds, Volume 12 (1845-1849) page 21; imaged “Film # 007510443,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9Z1-VHFV : accessed 2 March 2025). Image 667 of 967. ↩︎
8. Anson County, North Carolina, 1820 US Federal Census, “North Carolina, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYTT-ZPP?view=explore : Mar 14, 2025), image 17 of 392; United States. National Archives and Records Administration. William Smith, John Smith, Daniel Smith, Joseph Price. ↩︎