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2014 4.pdf Davie Dossier, October 2014 page 1 DAVIE DOSSIER Issued by Davie County Historical and Genealogical Society Mocksville, North Carolina October 2014, Issue 4 RESEARCHING STEPHEN MORGAN SMITH Davie Dossier, October 2014 page 2 DAVIE COUNTY HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY President, Linda Leonard Vice President, Pat Mason Secretary, Pat Reilly Treasurer, Marie Roth Board of Directors, Claude Horn Dossier Editor, Marie Roth Webmaster, Marie Roth Our Website, www.rootsweb.ancestry.com.com/~ncdavhgs has these features: All the churches in Davie County Cemeteries in Davie County with locations Names on the War Memorial in Mocksville Index to Bible Family Records at DCPL Order blanks so you don’t tear up Dossier History of nine newspapers in Davie County Meeting Dates and Programs Guardian Accounts, Davie Co., 1846 -1859 Apprentice Bonds, Davie Co., 1829-1959 1974 booklet about old schools in Davie Branson’s NC Business Directories for Davie Co. Sources for black family history Another Website about Davie County genealogy and history: http://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Davie_County%2C_North_Carolina Meetings are on the fourth Thursdays at 7 pm at Davie County Library History Room. DCHGS PROGRAMS IN 2014: Jan. 23: Beginning Genealogy and Location of Research Materials in the History Room by Marie Roth Feb. 17 (Monday): 6:30; Library Auditorium; Library-sponsored program by Adam Miller, folk singer and autoharp player; songs and stories behind the songs; http://www.folksinging.org/ March 27: 6:30 book sale by Friends of the Library; 7:00: Civil War author, Brenda McKean, Blood and War at my Doorstep; http://www.bloodandwaratmydoorstep.com/ April 26: 10:00 am, Field trip to Tyro Plantation May 3: Come help with Daniel Boone Festival on the Square in Mocksville June 26: Lynn Rumley, mayor of Cooleemee, history and future of Cooleemee August 9, Saturday, in Winston-Salem, Annual Workshop of Yadkin Valley Historical Association; see description in next section September 25: Stan Clardy, songwriter, musician, playwright, actor and author from Sta tesville, North Carolina presentation about the Confederate Submarine H. L. Hunley and his book, "TimeLight, a journey into the past" October 11: Authors, Rev. Stephen Nicholas and Terry Downs, presented notes from their future book about researching Davie-native, Stephen Morgan Smith November 20: Marcia Phillips, preserving heirlooms This newsletter is dedicated to the research involved in answering a question about a former resident of Davie County. Hopefully, it will have some techniques to help you solve your own genealogy questions. The October 11 meeting had a program by the two authors of a book about this man. Davie Dossier, October 2014 page 3 STEPHEN MORGAN SMITH In January 2014, I received a communication from retired Moravian minister, Rev. Stephen Nicholas, of York, Pennsylvania asking for information about Stephen Morgan Smith. Rev. Nicholas and Terry Downs, an industrial researcher, are writing a biography of Smith (SMS). SMS was born in Davie County in 1839 and moved to Pennsylvania when he was about 20. He became a Moravian minister, served as chaplain in the Union Army, and then became an inventor/industrialist. I searched Heritage of Davie County, land records, census, slave census, agriculture census, business census, and Branson’s Business Directory. My school book contained one sentence about SMS. Photograph at right is from the Internet, http://www.ydr.com/history/ci_25957185/jim-mcclure-york-minister-became-worldwide-manufacturer-column Genealogy leads to many other subjects. For example, the ag census asks about hemp. To learn more about hemp, production, and uses, see http://www.historichomes.org/Farmington/History/AWorkingFarm/tabid/1372/Default.aspx . Rev. Nicholas asked if SMS’s father, John Wesley Smith, had slaves. To answer this question, I took info from the 1850 population schedule and also the slave schedule. I did the same checks on the 1860 two censuses. I listed John Wesley’s neighbors from population schedule and then compared it to the slave schedules. The names were the same for those with slaves, but John Wesley’s name was not listed as slave owner in either slave schedule. See example of 1850: Names of farmers from 1850 Ag census, followed by number of slaves in 1850 slave schedule: George Hardman, 4 Jacob Holder John Beauchamp, 1 James Beauchamp, 5 Antony Hodges JOHN W. SMITH Joseph Holder William Clouse, 8 Nathan T.A. Chaffin, 43 Andrew Hunt, 14 How to trace land records online: www.daviencrod.org; click the acknowledge button; click Scanned Index Books; at left click 1-Grantor [seller] or 2- Grantee [buyer]; at left, click year range; at left, type in surname after the field Human; at left, click surname. Look in first column for given names starting with A-H; second column I-O; third column P-Z. This will give book and page name. Type these numbers in fields at top right. If you can find the exact location, you’ll want to document that by providing latitude and longitude numbers. FindAGrave.com has a photo of SMS’s tombstone and also his father’s. There is much information included on this site. When you find information such as this, you will want to verify its accuracy, of course. One of the best sources is to interview people. When I wrote my 3 books and for information about Smith home places, I’ve had great results when I went to Bo jangles in Hillsdale and talked to the unofficial senior citizens’ club that meets there almost every morning. Davie Dossier, October 2014 page 4 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 Polly Dowdy Johnly S. Allen Samuel B. Ellis Hany Hall Samuel Benson John Rinick? John Barneycastle Henry Simmons Rufus Blackburn John Hanes Will Gullet Matilda Williams Louis Inscore William Clouse Samuel Benson Elijah Rinnick Thomas Holman N.A. Mock WIlliam Wood Zenos Foster Sarah Simpson John Call C.V. Lanier Osbun Clouse Mary Cunninham Leanor Cummings George Hardman Jacob Sheek, minister Thomas Clouse Nathan James Polly Young Jacob Holder Willy Baily John Shiver Albert King Ola Dennis John Beauchamp Robert Sprence Levin Sheek James Williams Jas. Barlow James Beauchamp George Sprouce David Hodges Richard Williams Dave Smith Antony Hodges A.W. Smith Terry Griffith William King JOHN SMITH JOHN W. SMITH JOHN W. SMITH JOHN W. SMITH JOHN SMITH Henry Lee Joseph Holder P. Jones Dilla Winters Frank Jenkins Fany Black Jackson West John Cheshire Sarah J. Wood John S. Smith Jas. K. Smith Giles Champlin Wilson Valch Mary Smith George Rickard Elijah Thomas John Hall Nathan Graves Eph. Morgan Shadric Foster Abram Allen William Clouse Ezecial Shapt? Thomas King James Beauchamp Margaret Austin John Heath Elvira Hall Wm. Whitaker Shade Bowden John Barnacastle John Jeffries W. W. Willson William Ward John Dunn Stephen Beauchamp Hendley Potts J. T. Cron? Ann Fry Eliza Dulin Davie Davie Mocksville Farmington Farmington Above is a table that shows John Wesley Smith’s neighbors in five years of census. There is not a lot of repetition for listing names which are in the order they were listed on the census. An interesting fact is how many women were head of the household. This would be expected after the Civil War, but surprising in years before that. This is only 19 families; not the entire county of Davie. I assembled this table to help figure out where SMS’s father’s farm was located, but it didn’t help much. In the 1880 column, there is Shade Bowden. His farm is noted on the 1887 Alderman map as just west of Bethlehem Methodist Church, listed as S.M. Bowden. Census year Women as head of household % 1840 6 6/19 = 31.6 % 1850 1 1/19 = 5.3 % 1860 1 1/19 = 5.3 % 1870 3 3/19 = 15.7 % 1880 2 2/19 = 10.5 % Davie Dossier, October 2014 page 5 1850 Agriculture Census for John W. Smith, Morgan Smith’s father # inventory unit description 2 30 acres improved land 3 181 acres unimproved land 4 500 $ cash value of farm 5 50 $ value of farm equipment 6 1 horse 7 0 asses and mules 8 2 milch cows 9 0 working oxen 10 6 other cattle 11 0 sheep 12 20 swine 13 100 $ value of livestock 14 45 bushels wheat 15 0 bushels rye 16 300 bushels Indian corn 17 0 bushels oats 18 0 pounds rice 19 0 pounds tobacco 20 0 bales of 400 pounds each ginned cotton 21 8 pounds wool 22 0 bushels peas and beans 23 10 bushels Irish potatoes 24 10 bushels sweet potatoes 25 0 bushels barley 26 0 bushels buckwheat 27 0 $ value of orchard products 28 0 gallons wine 29 0 $ value of produce 30 75 pounds butter 31 0 pounds cheese 32 3 tons hay 33 0 bushels clover seed 34 0 bushels other grass seeds 35 0 pounds hops 36 0 tons dew rotted hemp 37 0 tons water rotted hemp 38 0 pounds flax 39 0 bushels flax seeds 40 0 pounds silk cocoons 41 0 hhds of 1000 pounds maple sugar 42 0 gallons cane sugar 43 0 pounds molasses 44 0 pounds beeswax and honey 45 75 $ value of homemade manufactures 46 90 $ value of animals This is the 1850 Agriculture census for Morgan’s father which showed that they had a small farm. Davie Dossier, October 2014 page 6 STEPHEN MORGAN SMITH By Ann Sheek “Unraveling the Mysteries of S. Morgan Smith,” a country boy from Davie County, with very little formal education, who traveled north and achieved fame and fortune as an industrial giant. This was the subject in Davie Library by two York, Pennsylvania researchers/writers last Saturday. Smith was born in 1839 on a farm in rural Davie. He was the oldest child of his parents, John Wesley and Sarah Purdon Beauchamp Smith. Morgan Smith had a somewhat sketchy education in Cope’s School. His father had a mill on their f arm, and Morgan helped operate this. When Macedonia Moravian Church was organized in 1856, he joined, as did his mother. Records indicate that he actually preached his first sermon in 1854 at Cope’s School. In 1858, Morgan was recommended to study at Bethlehem, Pa. seminary. He did not complete the course of study there, because in two years, he was installed as a provisional pastor at York Moravian Church. Another three months passed and the Provincial Elders Conference ordained Smith as a full-time pastor. Although born a Southerner, and even though his parents and grandparents owned no slaves, Smith was opposed to slavery and preached his first abolitionist sermon in 1862. He served as pastor at York from 1861-1866. During this time, he married the church organist, Emma Fahs, and they eventually had six children. A pastor’s pay scale during this time in history was not the best. His annual salary was only $400 annually. At one point, he moved his family into a Fahs family home, and rented out the parsonage. By 1864, Smith chose to become a chaplain in the 200th Pa. Army, and gained approval from the PEC. His pay would be $100 a month, plus provisions. After the war ended, and Smith was discharged, he returned to the ministry and served a church in Dover, Ohio. He suffered from a throat condition, which was determined to be chronic bronchitis, and which might have been from breathing the black cloud of dust from the Ohio steel mill and blast furnace. The doctors advised this could develop into consumption. Due to this health problem, Smith left the ministry. He chose to turn to inventing as a career, and his first invention was the Success Washing Machine in 1870. He had observed his wife struggling with a scrub board and tub doing the laundry for their family of eight, and set out to make this chore easier with a wringer-type washing machine. In a partnership with his brother-in-law, John Fahs, the S. Morgan Smith Company was formed. Later, Smith sold the patent for the machine for $5,000. Other inventions that brought Smith fame and monetary success included the invention of a turbine water wheel. This was later bought and used in the Atlanta, Georgia area by Westinghouse. A waterfall there in Georgia was named Morgan Falls after Smith. Smith is credited for four or five existing companies in the York, Pa. area, each tracing their beginnings back to Smith. This Davie county native lived until 1903. His sons donated a generous sum of money to Macedonia Moravian Church in memory of their father, where their he had been one of the first members. The money helped build the existing old brick church building in the 1930s, and some of the funds are still available for the church’s operation. Records indicate Morgan Smith only returned to Davie County a few times after his departure. A few months after he was discharged as a chaplain from the Union Army, he was summoned home to his mother’s death bed in 1865. During this visit, he preached at both Macedonia and also at Bethlehem Methodist on the subject of the union of the country after the Civil War. This topic was not too well received in Davie, which had countless men who served in the Confederate Army. According to the two Pennsylvania Smith researchers, Morgan Smith, the genius industrialist, shaped York as a prime industrial city. Not bad for a country boy, with only a scant education. This was printed in the 15 October 2014 Davie County Enterprise-Record. Permission to reprint given by Ann Sheek Davie Dossier, October 2014 page 7 ORDERING BOOKS AND MAPS (Out of state residents don’t pay state tax when ordering.) Title Author Non-NC NC No. Cost Davie County.A Brief History, paperback James W. Wall, 128 pages $9.00 $9.39 The Boone Families in Davie County Wall, Howell Boone, Flossie Martin $8.00 $8.31 Davie County Marriages 1836-1900 Nancy K. Murphy $25.00 $26.55 Davie County Marriages 1901-1959 Nancy K. Murphy $25.00 $26.55 Davie County Cemeteries, a 2-volume set D.C. Historical/Gen. Soc. $55.00 $58.88 1850 Federal Census-Davie County Forsyth Genealogical Society $15.00 $15.68 1860 Federal Census-Davie County Nancy K. Murphy and Everette Sain $20.00 $21.16 1870 Federal Census-Davie County Nancy K. Murphy and Everette Sain $20.00 $21.16 Lagle Land Grant $8.00 $8.31 Hughes Historical, 1700's, drawn in 1977 $8.00 $8.31 J.T. Alderman, 1887 $6.00 $6.47 Wilson F. Merrell, 1928 $6.00 $6.47 POSTCARDS OF DAVIE CO. SCENES, (set of 8) $2.50 $2.50 CD of all issues Davie Dossier since 1987 $7.00 $7.39 TOTAL NUMBER AND COST Davie County Heritage Book, non-NC resident cost is $45; NC resident cost is $48.10. Make check to Davie County Heritage Book. Use DCHGS address below. The Historic Architecture of Davie Co., non-NC resident cost is $30; NC resident cost is $31.94. History of Davie County, hardback, by James W. Wall, 449 pages; non-NC resident cost is $30; NC resident cost is $31.94. Make check to Davie County Public Library. Use DCHGS address below. The Civil War Roster of Davie County by Mary Alice Miller Hasty and Hazel Miller Winfree incorporates biographical and military service sketches of 1,147 Davie County Civil War veterans. Non -NC resident cost is $60. NC resident cost is $64.26. Checks should be made out to M & M Books and sent to Mary Alice Hasty, 105 East Brick Walk Court, Mocksville NC 27028. Images of America, Davie County by Debra Dotson and Jane McAllister. 128 page book of old photos and descriptions. Order from Jane McAllister, DCPL, 371 N. Main St., Mocksville NC 27028. Make check to Jane McAllister. Non-NC resident cost is $26.99. NC resident cost is $28.69. History of Davie County Schools, 318 pages, by Marie Benge Craig Roth has photos, locations, longitude/l atitude, names of students, and teachers. There is an 18 page index of 3,222 names. A chronology describes the evolution of the school system in Davie. Make check to Marie Roth for $40.26 for non -residents and $43 for NC resident. Order: 27 6 Park Ave., Mocksville NC Davie County in World War One by Marie Benge Craig Roth has 670 biographies of Davie men and women who served, photographs, old letters, description of military bases, and extensive index. 400 pages. Make check to Marie Roth for $42.47 for non-residents and $45 for NC resident. Order: 276 Park Ave., Mocksville NC 27028 . Davie County Veterans’ Memorial, by Marie Benge Craig Roth has lists of all war deaths and biographies and photos of WW2, Korean, Vietnam, and Beirut Bombing deaths. Tom Ferebee’s 32 minute talk at the dedication in 1987 is included. $31.23 for non-resident and $33 for NC resident. Order: 276 Park Ave., Mocksville NC 27028. NEW: Remembering Davie County Protection and Service Personnel by Marie Benge Craig Roth contains biographies of the five law enforcement personnel who died on duty and also photos and descriptions of the monument erected in their memory. The monument also honors all first responders in Davie County. Order: 276 Park Ave.; total cost $17. Cana Connections, 201 pages, by Betty Etchison West; Life in Cana in the Thirties and Forties and Special People with Cana Connections. There are many biographies and photos of people and buildings. Order from Betty West, 3532 NC Hwy. 801 North, Mocksville NC 27028. Make check to Betty West for $35, which includes tax and shipping. Looking Back at Davie County II by Charles Crenshaw and Ron Smith. $45. Mail orders to Charles Crenshaw, 421 Park Avenue, Mocksville NC 27028 DCHGS, 371 North Main Street, Mocksville NC 27028 You are encouraged to send articles and queries to be published in this next issue. Send to DCHGSList@gmail.com Davie Dossier, October 2014 page 8 Davie county historical/genealogical society 371 North Main Street Mocksville NC 27028 If you would like to re ceive your Dossier as a PDF attachment in an E-mail instead of a paper copy, please send an E-mail message to the editor at dchgslist@gmail.com. Please state “E-mail my Dossier instead of mailing a paper copy” and include your E -mail address. This saves money, time, postage, effort, and paper. The number beside your name, above, shows the year for which you last paid $5 dues. Example: if you have a 13 by your name, you have paid dues through 2013 and owe us for 2014, or $5. MEMBERSHIP for a calendar year is still just $5.00/year. Life Membership is $100 per person. We are 501(c)(3) and dues are tax deductible. Below is a registration form for your use; checks, payable to the Society. DAVIE COUNTY HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY (DCHGS) Davie County Public Library, 371 Main Street Mocksville, North Carolina 27028 NAME ________________________________________________________________________ ADDRESS _____________________________________________________________________ E-MAIL ADDRESS ______________________________________________________________ Send my copy by E-mail instead of paper; yes, no