Person:John Smith (1006)

John A. Smith's parentage is currently unknown. However, the results of Y-DNA tests performed on male descendants of three of his sons, John, George and Jacob, show that he was most likely the brother or close cousin of William H. Smith, nephew or close cousin of Major Thomas Smith, uncle or close cousin of James Henry Smith, and close relative of Darius Smith(See Smith Family DNA matched grouping R-M269-88).

Given John A. Smith's known kinship to the aforementioned Thomas, he was likely a descendant of John Smith, a Virginia planter and emigrant from Bristol, England. Further giving credence to this theory, according to Dr. Roy Martin Smith, the oral tradition of the Smith family around Decatur and Henderson counties (largely descendants of John A. and Mary Lockhart Smith) maintained that the Smiths were "German." While there is no evidence to support this tradition, the family of the emigrant John Smith had been known in Virginia as the "Germantown" Smiths (in contradistinction with the "Pignut Mountain" Smiths and Governor Smith's family per Washington, John Marshall and Adams family connections), as there were three unrelated families of Smiths that had settled in and around Fauquier and Warrenton, Virginia. "German" could simply be a misremembering or corruption of "Germantown."

Decatur County, Tennessee : history and families, 1846-1996.:

John A. and Mary Jane Lockhart Smith

John A. Smith and Mary Jane Lockhart (1783-1867) came from North Carolina via Warren County, TN., and settled in Henderson County on the Perry County line, in what later became Decatur County, about 1819-20. They had the following children: Joseph, Jacob, Elizabeth, James, John, Mary “Polly”, Andrew Jackson, Prudence and George Washington (1823-1883).

George Washington Jr. (grandfather of writer) married Isabel “Monnie” Luton. Their four children who lived to be grown were: Daisy, Myrtle, George [Luton] and Myron (WW I veteran and champion sharpshooter).

Myron (May 2, 1893 – Nov. 18, 1928) married Narcia Ellison (Apr. 11, 1896 – Apr. 13, 1968)

Narcia taught school for several years; then worked in the County Court and for the office of Price Administration. She retired as director of Decatur County Welfare System. They had four children.

1. Trudell was a WWII veteran (July 27, 1921) and married Geneva Doran – two children, Myron Terrell (May 12, 1956 – Aug. 26, 1984) and Sheila Gail Moses. Sheila has a daughter Abigail Sharon.

2. Monnie (Sep. 18, 1922 – Mar. 15, 1982) married O. K. Lewis – two children, Phillip Christopher and Mark Ellison. Phillip married Linda Sims – two children Jennifer Marie and Julia Noelle.

3. Marie (Sep. 18, 1922) married Elva Kirk Richardson – two children, Priscilla Anne and Stephen Fred. Priscilla married Frederick M. Firkin – two children, Jonathan Dead rick and Rebecca Marie. Stephen married Cynthia Ann Camp – two children, Chelsea Ann and Andrew Kirk.

4. Melba (Oct. 17, 1926 – Nov. 15, 1993) married Fred Donald Wright – three children, Donald Myron, Wade M. and Linda K. Donald married (1) Barbara Garvin – daughter Amanda Lauren; married (2) Melissa Reed. Wade married Sandra Collins – no children, Linda married Tom Steger – two children, Clayton Nash, and Heidi Marie.

John A. Smith signed the petition to form Decatur County from Perry County in 1845. The Smith family consisted of farmers, schoolteachers, merchants, bankers, civil servants and hotel owners. The Smith Hotel stood for many years near where the bank now stands in Decaturville.

One of the Smiths in this family built Smith School House, just off Highway 69, near a Baptist Church. I can remember going to school there when I was a child. The benches were hand-made with square nails and pegs. I have one of the two original benches known to be in existence.

This family also built and gave the community a church called Smith’s Chapel. Mary Jane Lockhart Smith is buried in the cemetery there [Henderson County].

There are many stories that have been handed down through the generations that were told to my generation by my grandfather. Monnie recorded many of these stories before she died. They gave a good history of the times when Decatur County was first occupied by the settlers.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Find A Grave.

   John Austin Smith
   Birth: 1780
   Anson County
   North Carolina, USA
   Death: 1838
   Decatur County
   Tennessee, USA
   
   Children:
   1. John A. Smith 1800 NC
   2. Mary "Polly" Smith 1805 NC
   3. Elizabeth Smith 1807 NC
   4. Jacob Smith 1808 NC
   5. James H. Smith 1810 NC
   6. Joseph Smith 1811 NC
   7. Andrew Jackson Smith 1815 NC
   8. Leonard C. Smith 1819 NC
   9. Prudence Smith 1820 NC
   10. George Washington Smith 1823 TN
   
   http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=141898704