Malinda (Simmons) Smith (1796 - 1875)

Born 1 Jan 1796 in Georgia, USA

Ancestors

Wife of Basil Smith — married Apr 1814 in Putnam County, Georgia, United States

Descendants

Died 17 Apr 1875 at age 79 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Shari S [send private message]

Biography

Malinda Simmons was born in January of 1796 ^{[1] [2]} in Georgia^{[3] [4] [5]}. She was likely to have been born in Wilkes County in that state; her father bought land there in 1795^[6] and made a deed of gift to his children there in 1797 or 1798, naming Malinda as "Celinda".^[7] However, in all census and marriage documents, she is Malinda (or Melinda), and she is Malinda on both of her headstones. "Celinda" could be anything from a one-time error made by the clerk to a pet name.

Malinda married Basil Smith in Putnam County, Georgia, in 1814.^[8] Putnam was created from Baldwin County, where Malinda's father had appeared on the tax rolls in 1807 after selling the land in Wilkes County.^[6]

Malinda and Basil moved to Mississippi, perhaps to Pike County with other family members, based on most of their children born in the 1820s and 1830s recorded as being born in that state. They were in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, by 1840^[9] where they were then enumerated each decade until their deaths. Their graves are at Amiable Baptist Cemetery in that parish.

Children

Malinda and Basil had at least nine children as enumerated in the various census and marriage records of Rapides Parish, eight of whose names are known:

1. John
2. Patience
3. William
4. Sanders
5. Nathaniel
6. Ezekiel
7. Prudence
8. Joseph

The 1840 census for Rapides Parish, Louisiana, indicates three daughters for Basil and Malinda: one under the age of six, one between ages six and nine, and one between ages 10-14. Prudence accounts for one of these (having been born circa 1834). Patience was already married. It is unlikely that the youngest unknown daughter survived since she was not enumerated in their household in 1850. However, it's possible that a daughter born around 1826-1830 then married by 1850 and is now "hiding" in her spouse's household.

Note that this profile originally contained a link to the Lawreence/Stanley Family Genealogy Pages ^[10], a site that is now defunct, which was linked to a claim that Malinda and Basil had a son named Basil Jr. The basis for this claim is unknown.

DNA Notes

Many descendants of Basil Smith and Malinda Simmons have taken autosomal DNA tests. In addition to test takers automatically listed on this profile, some descendants who appear on triangulated segments for whom a GEDmatch ID is available include:

• Descendants of John
  • M084500 - via daughter Amanda
  • A393414 - via daughter Theodocia
  • ZQ2009839 - via son Benard
  • BP1329619 - via son Basil

• Descendants of Patience
  • A253303 - via son Josiah
  • WN8956754 - via son Josiah (different line)
  • T913814

• Descendant of Sanders
  • M063631 or A591883 - via son Sydney

• Descendants of Joseph
  • A456300 - via daughter Emma
  • A257419 - via daughter Emma (different line)
  • A862784/A724226 - (nephew and niece of A257419)
  • A099330/A904638 - via son Joseph

Sources

1. ↑ FindaGrave.com. "Melinda Simmons Smith". Photos of original headstones provided by descendant Brian K. Smith. These images were uploaded by Shari S to the memorial page, which now also includes photos of the modern headstone for Basil and Malinda. (The fate of the original stones is not known.) Note that the original headstone reads "Malinda Simmions, wife of Basil Smith" and that it only includes the month of birth, not the day. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14324924
2. ↑ AMIABLE CEMETERY - Rapides Parish
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJ8-291 : 9 November 2014), Malinda Smith in household of Bazil Smith, Rapides parish, Rapides, Louisiana, United States; citing family 407, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFP7-H66 : 30 December 2015), Malinda Smith in entry for Bazil Smith, 1860.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M87N-VS3 : 17 October 2014), Melinda Smith in household of John Smith, Louisiana, United States; citing p. 170, family 1464, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,027.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Simmons Family of Wilkes and Oglethorpe, Georgia. Author unknown, but PDF cites additional sources. http://daragon.net/genealogies/JOHN%20Simmons.pdf
7. ↑ Hancock, Georgia, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C95Y-29X4-T?view=explore : Oct 19, 2024), image 92 of 559;
8. ↑ Georgia, Marriages, 1808-1967. Bazzele Smith and Melinda Simmons. Putnam County. 8 April 1814. Transcribed record: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FWQN-KZL
9. ↑ United States Federal Census. 1840. Louisiana. Rapides Parish. Page 196. Link to image at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1840usfedcenancestry&h=1307785&indiv=try
10. ↑ Earnest Gene Lawrence Jr., Lawrence/Stanley Family Genealogy Pages, page for Basil Smith