Valentine Smith (1823 - 1878)

Born 1 Jan 1823 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Malenda (Shinn) Smith — married 28 Feb 1850 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina

Descendants

Died 18 Sep 1878 at age 55 in Union County, North Carolina, USA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Debi Hoag [send private message] and John Elliott [send private message]

Biography

Valentine Smith, sometimes called William Valentine Smith, was born in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. While his gravestone indicates that his date of birth was 1 January 1823, he was enumerated on the 1850 Census at age 24 which would put his year of birth at 1826.^[1]

Valentine Smith served with the North Carolina Volunteers during the Mexican-American War
Service Started: Jan 22, 1847
Unit(s): Company C, First Regiment
Service Ended: Aug 07, 1848

Valentine served in the Mexican-American War as a Private with Company C, First Regiment of North Carolina Foot Volunteers. "Company C was called into service of the United States, at Charlotte, on the 22d day of January 1847. He was honorably discharged at Smithville, N. C., on the 7th day of August 1848."^[2][3]

Valentine Smith and Nelson Hough posted a bond on 22 February 1850 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, indicating there was no reason Valentine and Mary M Shinn could not be married.^[4] Family lore says they were married 28 February 1850. The couple was enumerated in the household of Thomas J Shinn in the same county on the 1850 Census. Over the next 25 years, the couple had 14 children:^[5]

1. Kaleb Smith (1850-1932)
2. Mary C Smith (1852-1896)
3. Roxanna/Rosanna F Smith (1853-1867)
4. William Butler Smith (1855-1928)
5. George Washington Smith (1857-1927)
6. Hester J Smith (1859-1864)
7. Alfred J Smith (1861-1880)
8. Liddia Smith (1863-1865)
9. Martha Emeline Smith (1865-1937)
10. Ella Amarantha Smith (1866-1951)
11. Laura Catherine Smith (1868-1941)
12. Jacob Smith (1870-1956)
13. Rosette Smith (1871-1947)
14. Ida Eugene Smith (1875-1957)

Family lore holds that Valentine went to California for the Gold Rush and was gone 3 years. While the matter is still being researched, there are several immigration records for a Valentine Smith arriving in New York City from Aspinwall during the appropriate time period with "miner" listed as the occupation.^[6]

Valentine's gravestone in the Smith-Baucom Family Cemetery, Union County, North Carolina, shows he died September 18, 1878. His estate, probated in Union County in 1879, includes documents that confirm the month and year of death. His widow, Mary M Smith, received a pension for his service in the Mexican War.^[7]

Research Notes

Look for Bounty Land that he would have been entitled to for serving in the Mexican War. Bureau of Land Management website

• Issued Warrant 59085 for land in Wisconsin which he deposited in the General Land Office. The warrant was patented by Increase A Lapham.
  • https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=1081-106&docClass=MW&sid=vc5bhwna.she
• Need to find Bounty Land file
• Need to find Widow's Pension file (see Mary Malenda Shinn)

Last Will of Jacob Smith signed in 1875 provides a record with evidence of potential paternal relationship between Valentine and Jacob

• "North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:37SQ-29FH-N39 : 21 May 2014, viewed 1 January 2021), Cabarrus > Wills, 1868-1888 > image 202-204 of 302; county courthouses, North Carolina.
  • Appointed sons A. H. Smith and Valentine Smith to be his executors
  • When the Will was presented at court following Jacob's death in 1883, only A H Smith was appointed executor. This would be consistent with Valentine having died in 1878.

Sources

1. ↑ Census, military pension, bounty land warrants, and contemporaneous legal documents use the name Valentine Smith. Sometime after 1897 his family began referring to him as William Valentine Smith.
2. ↑ Quote from Page 15 of Roster of North Carolina Troops in the War with Mexico. Valentine Smith appears on Page 16. His unit is listed as the '"C" 1" N C Vol Inf' on the Mexican War Pension Index card.
3. ↑ "United States Mexican War Index and Service Records, 1846-1848," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9MX-CVJR : 25 October 2017), Index > Smi-St. D > image 921 of 2478; citing NARA microfilm publications M616, M863, M1028, M638, M278, and M35 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
4. ↑ "North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPSS-4PBJ : 10 March 2021), Valentine Smith and Mary M Shinn, 22 Feb 1850, Cabarrus, North Carolina, United States; citing FHL File #102155810 > image 716 of 910 : 28 November 2018 (viewed 1 January 2021), North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History.
5. ↑ The 1850 Census shows them living in the household of Thomas J. Shinn in Cabarrus County. Marriage date found in the History of the Shinn Family on page 383. See the 1860, 1870, and 1880 Census records for information about the children. In Our Smith Family, Rosanna/Roxanna is listed as two separate children. No other records to date (3Jan2015) have indicated that the Rosanna on the 1860 census and the Roxanna buried in the Smith-Baucom Family cemetery are not the same child.
6. ↑ The 1978 Valentine Smith Reunion program is the oldest document found to date (3Jan2016) that mentions him going to California.
7. ↑ Probate Account Papers submitted to the Union County, North Carolina, Court on 27th February 1879. The label on the cover is Incorrectly dated 1877. The sixth image lists the heirs who received a portion of the distribution. It is noted earlier in the document that Caleb had received his portion prior to Valentine's death and was not entitled to a share.

See Also:

• Smith, Valentine Mexican War Index Card "United States Mexican War Pension Index, 1887-1926," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-25481-37701-42?cc=1979390 : accessed 29 December 2015), Smith, John - Usher, John P, v. 12 > image 244 of 4244; citing NARA microfilm publication T317 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• Roster of North Carolina troops, in the war with Mexico. Being the muster-out rolls of the First regiment of North Carolina foot volunteers: and Companies "G" and "I" of the Twelfth United States Infantry. Prepared, by authority of the Legislature of 1887, by Brigadier General Johnson Jones, Adjutant General of the State of North Carolina. Raleigh: Josephus Daniels, State Printer and Binder. Press of Edward & Broughton. 1887.

• Shinn, Josiah Hazen, A. M. (1849-1917) The History of The Shinn Family in Europe and America. The Genealogical and Historical Publishing Company. 1903. Copies of pages pertaining to Thomas Jefferson Shinn and his descendants sent to me by Pat McAlister.

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4BW-758 : 23 December 2020), Valentine Smith in household of Thomas J Shinn, Cabarrus, Cabarrus, North Carolina, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-16952-1653-66?cc=1849782 : accessed 3 January 2016), 116 - 6 Jul 1852-22 Jul 1852 > image 44 of 678 AND (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-16944-16660-16?cc=1849782 : accessed 3 January 2016), 140 - 23 May 1854-11 Jun 1854 > image 154 of 651; citing NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDD5-K8X : 18 February 2021), Volentine Smith, Union, North Carolina; Roll: M653_915; Page: 372; Family History Library Film: 803915; database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-25267-27751-40 : accessed 3 January 2016),

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWDQ-XZK : 29 May 2021), Valentine Smith, North Carolina > Union > New Salem > image 24 of 56; citing NARA microfilm publication M593.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCXT-L46 : 29 December 2021), M. M. Smith, New Salem, Union, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district , sheet , NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm .

• Valentine Smith Reunion - Fall 1975 Program. Original program in the possession of Martha Helms, Monroe, North Carolina. Copy made in 1995.

• Valentine Smith Reunion - Fall 1982 Program. Original program in the possession of Martha Helms, Monroe, North Carolina. Copy made in 1995.

• Valentine Smith Reunion - Fall 1988 Program. Original program in the possession of Martha Helms, Monroe, North Carolina. Copy made in 1995.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 18 September 2020), memorial page for William Valentine Smith (1 Jan 1823–18 Sep 1878), Find A Grave: Memorial #25287981, citing William Valentine Smith Family Cemetery, Union County, North Carolina, USA ; Maintained by DSM (contributor 46945108).

• Hinson, Mrs. Alice B and Rushing, Mrs. C. B.. "Smith-Baucom Cemetery." The Carolinas Genealogical Society Bulletin vol XIV, No. 3 (Winter 1977-1978): pp. 42-43.

• "Union County, North Carolina Estate Files, 1663-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-26822-35241-81?cc=1911121 : accessed 4 January 2016), Smith, Valentine (1877) > image 1 of 57; State Archives, Raleigh.

Acknowledgements

My thanks to the following whose work went before me and made my research easier:McGee-1611 06:28, 14 September 2016 (EDT)

• Hewitt, Kimberley, Secretary. Reed Family Genealogy, page 2. The Gold History Corporation (9621 Reed Mine Road, Stanfield, NC 28163)
• Kendrick, Virginia A. S., The Heritage of Union County, North Carolina: 1842-1992. Union County, North Carolina, USA: Carolinas Genealogical Society, 1993.
• Krimminger, Betty L; Wilson, James R. Seventh Census, Cabarrus County, North Carolina 1850. Southern Printing Company (Chapel Hill, North Carolina). 1985.
• Purser, Charles E (deceased) (Garner, North Carolina). Baucom/Smith Researcher. "Laura Catherine Smith's ancestors." Received 20 January 2001.
• Small, Otha Burris. 1986. Our Smith family and kin, 1775-1986. Monroe, N.C.: O.B. Small. P
• McAlister, Pat, Shinn Researcher, Russellville, Arkansas. 1999
  

  This profile is part of the Smith Name Study.