Gregg Bonner's Williams #2 Family
Gregg Bonner's
Williams Family #2
While I have hopes that this webpage will become developed more completely in the future, for now this Williams family only consists of one known generation. My Williams ancestor married into Smotherman, and my line of descent can be followed from there by checking out my Smotherman Family section (see "surnames" tab/link above).

What remains in the generation above this Williams-Smotherman marriage seems to be a lot of confusion and conflation. So this page will be, for now, almost solely devoted to an excursus on the parentage of the Mary Williams who married Lewis Smotherman.

The basic family structure, as supposed by many, for this family is as follows:

Editor's Note: The below excursus describes the difficulty in pinning down the name of the patriarch of the family. It is variously suggested that his name is James David, or James, or David, or William. I have changed my mind on this issue a number of times, but, based on the information I was able to discover during the course of my research related to writing this page, and equally importantly, the information I WAS NOT able to discover, it is my current opinion that the person identified as James David Williams does not exist, and that the true name of the patriarch of this family was instead William Williams. This is the name carried through from the Smotherman family lore. But the Williams family lore representations on the internet are more prevalent, and will be searched for more through search engines and the like. Therefore, it is preserved below, where it appears. However, I believe any interested reader would do better to substitute the name "William" where they now see the names "James David" in the below register report. {GGB}

James David Williams m. unknown [--?--]

children:
i. Benjamin Williams (1790-1876), m1. Stacy George, m2. Nancy Manley
ii. William Williams (~1790-1859)
iii. John Williams (~1795-1865)
iv. Enoch Williams (~1797-1873), m. Elizabeth Burrough Clanton
v. Nancy Williams, m. John G. Smothermn
vi. Mary Williams (~1793-1865), m. Lewis Smotherman

The patriarch's name is given above as James David Williams for the sake of convention only. There are, however, competing claims for the name of Mary's father. The most widespred claims that I have seen for his name include:

1. James David Williams
2. David Williams
3. James Williams
4. William Williams

I am going to present some items here that relate to people with these names, in an attempt to separate individuals, and to point out clear errors where they are evident. I am mostly going to do this without editorialization. I am just going to show facsimile of whatever documents I have seen, and perhaps include a few remarks here and there.

The first item is the Spence Bible. It makes claims about the earlier generations of Williams, and claims that the patriarch is named simply "David Williams".

The above image was digitally enhanced to clarify and enlarge.
To see the original digital version of this image,
see the "Bibles" section of this website by clicking the tab/link above.

But notice the following, from McBride:

From McBride:
"This is copied from Jim Williams' Family Bible [James
Irl Williams] by Mrs. H.H. Jones (Nora Westbrooks
Jones) February, 1963. Taken from notes of Nora W.
Jones."
While the Spence Bible shows the name simply as "David Williams", this seems to be at odds with the material presented in the Rutherford County history book. This volume draws a distinction between "David Williams" on the one hand, and "James Williams" on the other.

Rutherford County, Tennessee Pioneers born before 1800
Susan G. Daniel (2003), page 276.
(Courtesy A. Findlay)
6295.
David Williams
David Williams, b. May 27, 1754 in Orange Co., NC - d. ca Feb 1835 in Rutherlord Co. [his grave has never been located, but
his land was located near the Lytle and Maney plantations]. He applied for a pension Aug 23, 1832 in Rutherford Co. for
service on the NC line in the Revolutionary War. He was living in Orange Co., NC when he enlisted and lived there for 17-18
years after the War. He then moved to Rutherford Co. He served as Sgt in the 1st NC Regt. He stated he served part of the
time under his brother, Capt. William Williams. [RWP]. He was an early settler in Rutherford Co. having purchased tracts of land
from Capt. William Lytle ca 1800. In October 1802 he was named overseer of a road beginning at Cripple Creek thence to
Thomas Rucker's Mill with the following hands: Jesse Bean 6 hands; Simeon Miller, Jr. 2 hands; Col. John Thompson 2 hands;
Capt. William Lytle 3 hands; Capt. Thomas Thompson 3 hands; Capt. David Williams 2 hands. [Davidson Co. Minutes]. He
signed the petition requesting the formation of Rutherford Co. 10 Aug 1803. He was on the first panel called for Jury duty on
July 2, 1804 of the newly formed Rutherford Co. [Spence, p. 37]. He owned 250 acres on the 1809 tax list and was listed on
the 1810, 1820 & 1830 census for Rutherford Co. Some of his children settled in Bedford County. A road was ordered and
completed from the end of the street leading south by Jonathan Currin's in Murfreesborough through the range of lots sold by
Isaac Hillard to intersect the road to Nicholas Tilford's Mill at the ford of the creek to intersect the road at or near Williams's Mill
[David Williams], 1820 [RCM - 0-322-323; P-104]. He wrote his will [the original exists in the Rutherford Co. Court Oerk's
office] dated July 2, 1833 and probated Feb 1835, naming his CHILDREN: Elenor Williams; Ann Williams; Thomas Williams; Mary
Williams; Cicely Williams; John Williams; Joseph Williams; Ralf Williams; William Williams; Elizabeth Williams.
6310.
James Williams
James Williams, b. in Scotland 1758 - death date not known - Revolutionary War Soldier (Vol 3, p. 137). James Williams
purchased 200 acres on both sides of Stones River Aug 19, 1797 [RCHS Pub. No. 38].
It is easy to see how these two men, James and David, could be conflated. They were both evidently Revolutionary War Patriots, and presumably born about the same time, died about the same time and perhaps in the same county. This confusion only gets compounded when you take into consideration the entry in the Spence Bible. Furthermore, both men owned land on Stones River.

Will of David Williams (1833)
Courtesy - A. Findlay

Deed of James Williams (1807)
Courtesy - A. Findlay
The land in the above 1807 deed from James Williams to John Warnick can be traced from its origin as a Revolutionary War Land Grant.

"Genealogy" of James Williams's 200 Acres
Courtesy - A. Findlay

With the above information, it is possible to derive a graphic that depicts the placement of the 200 acres owned by James Williams within the original bounds of the Revolutionary War land grant (though the depiction of Stones River with respect to scale surely is over-emphasized).

James Williams's 200 acres
I have seen much of the above information repeated, but instead giving the name "William Williams" as the father. The only indication I can find of actual, historic persons named William Williams in that era, in that location, are the ones mentioned in the following estate sale (however, see the Hoover SAR application (below) for another man of the same name).:

Estate Sale of William Williams - 16 September 1834
Citation: Rutherford County, Tennessee Deaths & Estate Settlements, Volume 1, page 235 - taken from Rutherford County, Tennessee Record Book 9, page 165.
Courtesy - A. Findlay

Here begins the sub-excursus on the estate sale buyers list:

Names of buyers at the estate sale of William Williams, 1834
Name
Description
Nancy Owens
Perhaps the mother of the Sarah Owens who married Richard Williams 11 October 1830 in Rutherford County, Tennessee. This Richard Williams possibly being a son of this William Williams.
John L. Cooper
Relationship to Williams unknown but with known connections to Harris.
W. S. Puckett
William Spencer Puckett
James G. Williams
Grandson of William Williams by his son Benjamin Williams. Written usually as James Granderson Williams in family notes, but is more likely really James Granville Williams.
Francis A. Houchins
Probably Francis A. Hutchins. Relationship unknown.
Gravan Rogers
This is a mis-copy from the phonetic Granva, which is to say, Granville Rogers.
Thomas F. Bullock
Elsewhere given as Thomas T. Bullock, but here, and on the deed to Elizabeth Williams he is listed as Thomas F. Bullock. He married Frances Williams, probable daughter of William Williams, 13 June 1829 in Rutherford County (McQuischeon bond).
Westley Tucker
Wesley W. Tucker. He married Sina/Cina Caroline Williams, probable daughter of William Williams.
Charles Cossey, Jnr.
Charles Coursey, Junior. Unknown relationship, but William Coursey was enumerated consecutively with George Holden (see below) in the 1840 census of Bedford County. Probably is the son of Charles Corsey and Susanna (Toombs) Corsey (see 1850 census). Married a Manier and moved to Kentucky.
George Holding
George Holden. The Holden Family will have many interconnections with both Williams and Smotherman.
Thomas Sanders
Relationship unknown.
William Williams, Jnr.
Son of William Williams, Sr.
Dempsey Sutton
Relationship unknown, but the 1830 census of Bedford County lists Dempsey Sutton, William Sutton, Alexander Sutton, Richard Smith, and Enoch Williams in consecutive order.
Alexander Sutton
Probable son of Dempsey Sutton (see above).
Danl Evans
Daniel Evans married Elizabeth Williams 1834, Rutherford County (Hayes B. Snell, Surety).
Saml Gentry
Probably the Samuel Gentry who had just married a couple of months before to Mary A. Bailey. This Samuel Gentry had an older sister named Sina Gentry. His son Bill would marry a Smotherman. These Gentry are remote cousins of mine.
Thomas Smotherman
It is hard to know which Thomas Smotherman this is. Two of William Williams' daughters married Smotherman men.
Alsea Harris
Probably the son of Beverly Harris. There were many interconnections between the Harris, Smotherman, and West families.
Hugh Allen
Relationship unknown.
Enoch Williams
Son of William Williams.
If you research this family, you will probably come across a statement of family lore that goes something like the following:

James David Williams is claimed as patriarch
The Williams In Bedford and Rutherford counties think that James David Williams born
1758- died 1833 was the father of Enoch. James David Williams came to America at the age
of eight years In the care of a German couple. First settled In Westmoreland Co., Virginia.
Then on to Brunswick Co., Va., near Lawrenceville the county seat. His children were born In
Virginia. There were several children as the Williams were known to have large families.
They came to Tennessee, settled in Bedford and Rutherford Counties near Midland between
Murfreesboro and Shelbyville in the early 1800's.

Further, some places will claim that this German couple is Archibald Lingow and Martha (Cleveland) Lingow.

How would that work? If he was born in 1758, and came to America at age 8 (thus 1766), then how could he have been in the care of someone who wasn't even born for another 14 years?


Competing claims add to the confusion about the name of the patriarch.

Williams Williams is claimed as patriarch
"JOHN G. SMOTHERMAN was born in North Carolina in 1785. He was married (1st) about
1800 to Nancy Williams. Nancy (Williams) was born about 1790. daughter of William Williams,
a native of Virginia who came to Middly Tennessee by way of North Carolina. He died in
Rutherford Co in 1832. His children including Benjamin Williams (b. 1786) Nancy Williams
(above) Enoch Williams, and a Mary Williams (who married Lewis Smotherman).
Nancy (Williams) Smotherman died in 1847 and her husband, John G. Smotherman was then
married (2nd) to Leticia Grinage, on Apr. 30, 1848. She died before 1860 and he
died on Nov. 5, 1868. He and his first wife had five children that we know of.
Their ages span (1810-1818) suggests that there may have been others."
The above account is represented as exactly as I can do it. I am not aware of the origin of the material, but the text I have bears the following prefatory note:

This information was found at the Genealogy Library in Frankfort, Kentucky.
It was compiled by Eugene Radford Smotherman. His address is 1006 Shawnee Trail,
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601.

The Edwin Dewitt Turner Letter
Courtesy - C. Smotherman
Pages 1-3

September 2, 1962

Dear Eunice,

If I promised it, I forgot it till A. R. reminded me. I'm glad to give you all I've been able to pick up.

Do you know that our great, great Grandfather James Williams is buried on the old Bryant place west of Midland? The grave is almost directly in front of the Charley Coffee place which your father once owned. Old Mr. Bryant went with Papa and me in 1900 and showed us the grave. It was so grown up that you couldn't tell it, but he remembered the man and the funeral. That was in 1833, and Mr. Bryant was 80 years old, at least, at that time (1900). There was a sort of three-pronged tree grown up over it, but he knew the exact spot. He must have been there.

Great Great Grandpa Williams was born in Scotland in 1758 and came to this country at the age of 8 in the care of a German couple, friends of his family. At the age of 18, the War of the Revolution came, and I heard Grandpa Williams say he fought under Washington. Then married. I know nothing of his wife. I only know that he settled in what became Brunswick County, Virginia.

This county borders on the state of North Carolina. Lawrenceville is the County Seat. I went there, and looked at some old county records. I found that a James Williams had owned three or four places, probably at different times, and so did our Great Grandpa Ben Williams. I was on my way somewhere else and didn't have time to run it down. Brunswick was a part of some other county at that early date when it was still under a king, and I would have also had, to go to the original county to search the records there, and I didn't have time.

I do not know what other sons or daughters he may have had, but we know that he had our Great Grandpa Benjamin. I know little of his family except that he had your Grandpa Ben, and Grandpa James Granderson Williams, and Uncle Billy Williams who was the father of Cousin James Bell Williams, who always went dressed up in a blue suit and tie. He seemed to always have a lot of personal pride. He often came to see us. He took A. R. home with him a time or two and she would get homesick and he would have to bring her home. He was very fond of children. The only remaining offspring of his living, that I know, is Virgie. She lives at Concord. She has out lived four husbands, and has a fifth so I'm told. There is not historic value to some of these incidents I mention, but I think they add a little color or spice to a story--otherwise we would forget that they were human beings. Great, great Grandpa Williams, as I said, was born in 1758 and died in 1833 at the age of 75.

Our great Grandpa Benjamin was born in 1779 and died in 1875 at the age of 96. He had his original teeth and never had a toothache. I heard Grandpa say that if he needed a short nail and didn't have it, he would clamp a long one in his teeth and twist it off with his hand. He was said to have been a very powerful man. When he went anywhere that he had to cross a river, he would find a dry chunk or log, tie his clothes on it, plunge into the river with it, swim and push the chunk or log before him to the other side and redress.

I do not know when any of his children was born except my Grandfather, James Granderson Williams. That name, Granderson, is so typically English. Well, it could be as his mother was English-Stacey George of London, England. He was born May 2, 1812~died August 3, 1898. His wife, Phoebe Spence was born October 7, 1820, died March 7, 1897. I know of a Spence Bible which I want to ex- amine when I can and see what I can find out about Grandma. They were married in 1836. I have her darning gourd and two split-bottom chairs from their home-- also a curley cherry chest which was her grandmothers' making her my great, great grandmother. Its in, perfect condition and dates back to about 1775.

Grandpa told me that his father, our great Grandpa Benjamin, no doubt hearing there was big money in cotton, took him and one of the brothers-probably, Uncle Billy and walked from Virginia to Alabama. I've heard him say that they crossed the Tennessee River at Sycamore Ford. That is three miles from Rogersville, Alabama. I spent a night there years ago and next morning drove to this ford.

Well, they crossed and rented some land. There was a cabin on it which they occupied. Their father arranged with an old negro woman to do their cooking and laundering, and he went back to Virginia to wait till after the crop was picked and stored in this cabin in which they lived. When that time arrived, Great Grandpa Ben returned-late in the afternoon- the boys had not yet returned from the field. He built a fire and started cooking something. The boys returned about dark and saw the light in the cabin, and were alarmed. That had never happened before so they slipped up and looked through the cracks and when they saw their father-business picked up.......away up! They had a regular camp meeting. They hadn't seen him for three or four months and they were only 8 or 9 years old.

What a rough life pioneering was in those days! There were Cherokee and Shawnee Indians all over Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina; Choctaw, Seminole and Creek Indians to the south; all kinds of wild animals everywhere. Yet, I never heard of any of them being molested. There were plenty of wolves too. They were stout-hearted people in those days-sleep on the ground, etc.

Around 1823--I do not know definitely--they all came bag and baggage to this country and settled in the old "Leb" country, known as 'Link'. All lived and died there. Great Grandpa Ben lived with his son Ben, your grandfather, till he died. When he became very old, he would run away. When there was no one to stay with him during the day, they would lock him in the harness house, which was a little log house in the corner of the yard--and still there--I have a picture of it. Cousin Alf told me this. He said they all had to work on the farm daily, and that was the only way they could take care of him. Cousin Alf was 8 years old when he died. One of his granddaughters, I don't remember her name, but she died at Rockvale just a few years ago. She told how Great Grandpa got mad at her one day and chased her all over the orchard.

Now to the Turner side of the house: I got the following from Mr. Wheelhouse. He said that his family, and the turner family, headed by Little Berry Turner, came to this country from Petersburg, Virginia together. They camped


Page 4

out the last night at Crescent-on that flat rock because just over the bluff, there was a fine spring. I never knew that so I went and saw the spring to satisfy myself. Next day they drove to Center Grove and settled there.

The Williamses and Turners both from Virginia, coming about the same time and settling almost in the same vacinity--as near as Link and Center Grove. All that was in Bedford County then, and when the Courthouse at Shelbyville burned a few years ago, all the records were destroyed-so all that is lost to us.

As time went on, Papa met and married a Williams--my mother. Your Grandmother was sick a great deal so your mother spent some time at Grandpa Williams' home. Mama and Papa were living there then, so she, a Turner, met a Williams, your father, and married him. Our Grandmother Turner was a Clark--sister to Great Uncle Henry Clark, who could not read or write but made a fortune. He was a wizard at figures. He married a Poindexter of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a prominent family of lawyers.

Uncle Henry's wife's aunt, sister of her mother, married a Gentry and became the mother of Merideth P. Gentry, who was a noted statesman and won renoun as a Congressman. I've heard the old folks talk about him when I was a child.

These are random notes from memory. When I could have gotten the whole story, I was not interested. Too young to have any appreciation of it. That opportunity is gone forever now. Our family Bible is lost. I got the information on Great Great Grandpa James Williams from Aunt Lizzie Spence's Bible at Brownwood, Texas, when I was through there in January 1955, from the home of Sam Spence, Newton's son, and the only surviving member of the Spence family that I know. If I learn something of interest from any other source, I will communicate it to you.

I have put into this various incidents which are not of any particular value to your search, but they kind of humanize the story and bring back into focus the characters and their human sides.

Funny thing-I've never found anyone who can tell me where Great great Grandpa Ben Williams is buried. Even Cousin Alf nor his sisters could tell me altho-


Page 5

-ugh- both of them remembered them very well. He may have been buried in the hills where Grandpa once lived after he came here from Virginia, settled down, and married, and where he and Grandma, my two little sisters, Phoebe and Flora, and my little brother Jimmy Clay.

Well, if this sketchy note means anything to you, I am glad. lt is all I know, and don't know where to go to find out more.

Love to all
Ed

P. O. Sometime when you are in the City, get hold of A. R. (she knows how to get here) and come over to see us, and see my "Hobby Room " --a thing of my creation. I think you will like it. Frances is very enthusiastic and so is A. R.

This was copied by Gladys E. Harper on October 13, 1977 from a photo copy of the letter written by Edwin Dewitt Turner to Eunice Williams Holden. This copy was brought to me by Peggy Cranker on 12 Oct. 1977 when she and Sarah Goodwin came to compare Williams records with mine.

The typewritten corpus of this letter was converted by OCR and manually corrected by C. Smotherman, and then emailed to Gregg Bonner on 12 May 2012. Gregg then made a few minor corrections to residual OCR errors, and formatted it to the HTML you see here.
I should just add before I close that it was pretty rare for a person born in Scotland in the 1750s to have a middle name. My conclusion for now is that the name should be Williams Williams, and that the Spence Bible is in error. The names James Williams, David Williams, and James David Williams, upon attempt at documentation continue to appear to be phantoms, or else people of that name with no real indication that they are the same person (as opposed to people who merely share the same very common name). Meanwhile, William Williams has actual probate records which are the right time, place, and mention the right family names. In short, the 1758 Scotland origin continues to persist only as legend, and the William Williams origin, as suggested in the Smotherman records, is confirmed at every turn.

Some other errors should probably be addressed here as well. If you look on WorldConnect for exact dates for this James David Williams, you will see a claim of birth of 17 September 1757, and a date of death of 23 August 1832. First of all this would make it fairly difficult to imagine that he is the same person who wrote his will in Rutherford County (viz., David Williams), since he applied for pension on that date. I suppose it is possible that he applied the day he died, but that doesn't seem likely to me.

If you click the Ancestry hints on the WorldConnect file, it gives as a possible connection the SAR applications of two men; one is William Williams, and the other is James Williams. Both of these men are clearly unrelated (at least very closely) to our Williams man of subject. The birth and death dates are those of William Williams who was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, and died in Gallia County, Ohio. Clearly, this is not the man born in Scotland and died in Tennessee.

Courtesy - C. Smotherman

The other SAR application comes from James Williams with "correct" birth and death years, but seeming other data conflicting. This James (according to the application) married Zelia Norman in 1783, and had a son William (1785-1862) who married Polly Gannon. I think this is a North Carolina, then later Kentucky and West Virginia family, not a Rutherford/Bedford, Tennessee family.

Courtesy - C. Smotherman
Perhaps the proof that the father of Enoch Williams and the father of Mary (Williams) Smotherman are the same person will come in the form of DNA analysis. The Smotherman Y-chromosomal type is already known (see the Smotherman Surname DNA Project at FTDNA). And at least one sample of Williams Y-chromosomal DNA has been tested that derives from a person claiming descent from James David Williams, via his grandson James Granderson Williams. However, with autosomal testing in full swing, it should be possible to uncover relationships between the groups using the FTDNA Family Finder DNA test. One sample from a descendant of Mary (Williams) Smotherman is already in the testing pool...just waiting for someone from another of these Williams lines to test similarly.

Meanwhile, the Williams Surname DNA Project outlines the claimed DNA type for this present Williams family, and shows some DNA matches to other Williams men that may prove informative.

WILLIAMS DNA TYPE
DYS
3
9
3
3
9
0
3
9
4
3
9
1
3
8
5
a
3
8
5
b
4
2
6
3
8
8
4
3
9
3
8
9
i
3
9
2
3
8
9
ii
4
5
8
4
5
9
a
4
5
9
b
4
5
5
4
5
4
4
4
7
4
3
7
4
4
8
4
4
9
4
6
4
a
4
6
4
b
4
6
4
c
4
6
4
d
Value
13
22
14
11
12
14
12
12
11
13
13
30
16
09
10
11
11
25
14
19
30
15
15
17
17
Go to the Williams Surname DNA Project
(link opens new window, off-site; see Group 76)

There is something noteworthy in the DNA matches. Two of the DNA matches claim descent from one John Jackson Williams (1827-1878), who was the father of Spottswood Gardner Williams (1855-1884). There is lore in their families that they descend from Governor Alexander Spottswood. The information at Find-a-Grave for John Jackson Williams reads, "John Jackson Williams, born in Richmond of Virginia, moved to Livingston of Sumter County, Alabama. Here, he married Catherine (Kate) Bunn, daughter of Martha Bunn. Martha, a widow of North Carolina, also moved to Sumter County, Alabama."

The other match descends from a line of Williams who migrated directly from England to Australia. I haven't been able to contact him, so I can only decribe what I have heard through the grapevine from the other matches...and that's all I know.

William Williams Register Report
(five generations of descendants)
Last update: 27 July 2013