Susannah (Darnell) Smith (1670 - 1761)

Born 1670 in Essex County, English Colony of Virginia

Wife of Augustine Smith — married 1690 in Virginia

Descendants

Died 1761 at about age 91 in Westmoreland Co., English Province of Virginia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mitch Watson [send private message]

Biography

Although several family trees suggest that "Susannah Darnell" or "Darnall" was the wife of Capt. Augustine Smith, others contest that identity, stating that Captain Smith's 2nd wife, married around 1700, was "Susannah Walters," daughter of a local ancient planter named Isaac Walters and his wife, whose name is not known.

One well-researched family genealogy, by retired University of Delaware professor, Dr. Thomas Hamm, states that a "Susannah Darnall married a later Augustine Smith," indicating that this is the source of these errors.^[1] No marriage certificate has been found for Augustine Smith but Dr. Hamm believes he married Susannah Walters in 1700. Their first child, Thomas Smith, was born in 1701.

To back his case that Augustine Smith's wife was "Susannah Walters," he cites her father, Isaac Walters', Will that was proven on Dec. 9, 1726, in Spotsylvania County, where he names Augustine Smith, Jr., presumably his grandson, as his Executor and one of his beneficiaries.^[2]

More local research is required. To date, no parents or birth records have been found for any "Susannah Darnell" or "Darnall" living in the late 17-early 18th Century in Virginia.

Regarding Augustine Smith's wife:

Augustine's wife was indeed named Susannah, but she was not Susannah Darnell:

From the Essex Co., Virginia Deeds and Wills Book no. 12, 1704-1707, pg 348-51. On 7 Feb. 1706/7, Augustine Smith of St. Ann's Parish, Essex County, sold 1162 acres in St. Ann's parish to Francis Gouldman. The land was part of a patent formerly granted to a Robert Beverley and then deserted, and was granted "unto Augustine Smith 16 May 1704". Susanna Smith relinquished her right of dower on 10 Feb 1706/7.

But the Susannah Darnell who married an Augustine Smith did so in Fauquier Co. in 1780, and therefore could not be the wife of Augustine Smith, son of Col Lawrence Smith:

From "Fauquier Families, 1759-1799", by John P. Alcock, Iberian Publishing Co., Athens, GA, 1994. "Smith, Augustine. . . . MB (marriage bond) 12/30/1780 to Susanna Darnell - bd Jesse Nelson", p. 323

There is nothing in the records of Old Rappahannock (Richmond), Essex, Orange or Spotsylvania counties that gives the surname of Susannah, wife of Augustine Smith, son of Col Lawrence Smith of Mobjack Bay.

Sources

1. ↑ Ham/m Genealogy on RootsWeb - Susannah Walters
2. ↑ Spotsylvania County, VA, Court Records, p. 41. Cited on Ham/m Genealogy on RootsWeb, listed in Note 1.

• John Frederick Dorman, abstractor and compiler, Essex Co. Virginia Records, 1706-1707, 1717-1719 (Washington, DC: John Frederick Dorman, n.d.), p. 10.
• John P. Alcock, abstractor, Fauquier Families 1759-1799 (Athens, Georgia: Iberian Publishing Co., 1994), 323.

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Darnell-9 was created on 06 August 2010 through the import of Lynch-Tree.ged.