Thomas Smith, Sr
Birth: 1769, Virginia, USA
Death: Jan. 28, 1841, Sangamon County, Illinois, USA
Burial: Withrow Cemetery, Woodside, Sangamon County, Illinois, USA
This stone is so time-worn it is virtually unreadable. When the cemetery was read by Dr. Barringer in the 1970s, he deciphered the name and dates, and recorded them. In 1987, there was another reading, and those people couldn't read it at all. They included a reference to Dr. Barringer's reading in their listing. When this photo was taken, only parts could be read. We pieced together what can be understood with Sangamon County Probate Records and information from the 1876 History of Sangamon County, and believe this is the same man.
Thomas Smith moved with his parents to Washington County, Kentucky when he was young. There he was married to Elizabeth Peters, and their children were born. They moved to Madison County, Illinois in 1819, and then to Sangamon County in February of 1822, making them some of the very earliest white settlers there.
Their children were: Margaret, wife of Thomas Cummings; Richard, husband of Elizabeth Hart; Thomas, Jr., first husband of Mary Cooper; Hannah, who married Henry Whitlock before the family left Madison County and settled in Greene County; Elizabeth, who married Augustus Kirkpatrick and died in Camp Point, Illinois; John, first married to Jane Drennan and after her death to Rebecca Enochs; Ruth Smith, wife of Andrew P. Drennan; Mary "Polly", the second of William Withrow's five wives; Sarah, who never married and died about 1855 at 40 years old; and Samuel, who married his brother Thomas's widow, Mary Cooper Smith, and moved to Clinton, DeWitt County, Illinois.
Many of their children and grandchildren are buried in this cemetery with Thomas and Elizabeth.
Spouse: Elizabeth Peters Smith (1782 - 1852)
Children: Hannah Smith Whitlock (1800 - 1876); John Smith (1804 - 1888); Samuel Smith (1815 - 1880)
