6 Starke Smith was the youngest of the four surviving sons of Lawrence Smith; he was born about 1798, according to census data. Since he could not expect to inherit any land, he decided to justify the family name by becoming a blacksmith. He established his shop in the vicinity of Curdsville, in southern Buckingham County (now on US 15), about 25 miles southwest of his father's farm. His wife's name was Mary, but I don't know her last name. The 1850 census lists five of their children; there might have been one or two others who had left home by that time. Starke was still living in Buckingham County at the time of the 1870 census; I don't know exactly when he died.
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/families/smith_of_gloucester.htm
