Dorcas (Wilson) Smith (1805 - 1864)

Born 9 Feb 1805 in Monroe, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 11 Aug 1864 at age 59 in Seguin, Guadalupe, Texas, United States

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Biography

Paris & Dorcas Wilson were married 30 May 1827; John Wilson testified that Dorcas was over 21,

"My own Grandmother - a true lady born - Dorcas Wilson Smith, lamented the separation from her own mother, only sister and brothers - and the fact that she and her children were deprived of the advantages they could have had back in Virginia, over those in Texas. This, I doubt, for as her children were growing up, there was in Seguin, splendid schools, a male and a female academy, musical advantages and a class of cultured society, not improved on these days. ... ^[1]

"Grandfather Paris wanted to continue the trip to the coast where the Gold Fever - resulting from the discovery of that precious metal in California, struck the nation. Grandmother, Dorcas, said "NO." No farther west for her.

"A few instances of her experiences - when living in Iowa (Burlington) - she had to go to the river for water as Grandfather was away from home surveying, etc. The grass on each side of the path was taller than her head. Snakes were numerous and venomous, she put the children in ahead, she and her large Shepherd dog following and in the rear, theorising that the noise of the advancing children would rouse the reptile and if it struck, she or the dog would be the victim - which really happened, as one day the dog was bitten and died.

"Another time she saw an Indian lurking in the forest surrounding her cabin. She barred the door, put the children with herself and her gun then pulled the ladder up and lay over the trap door, ready to shoot should they attempt to break in. Next morning, a man three or four miles distant was found shot in the back of his head, as he was at his evening meal. These two instances prove that they indeed had to wage a war of eternal vigilance."

She was Scotch Irish

Sources

1. ↑ Carrie Wilson Smith Johnson, daughter of Robert L. Smith and Theresa Smith, daughter of Paris and Dorcas Wilson Smith, in a letter written in 1935.

John vogt and T. William Kethley, Jr., Giles County Marriages 1806-1850. (Name: Athens, Georgia: Iberian Publishing Company, 1985.;;), p 65.

• 1. John vogt and T. William Kethley, Jr., Giles County Marriages 1806-1850 (Name: Name: Athens, Georgia: Iberian Publishing Company, 1985.;;), 65, "Paris & Darcus Wilson 30 May 1827; b- Ezekiel Smith (John Wilson test. that Darcus is over 21).".
• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXLK-V17 : 9 November 2014), Darcus Smith in household of Paris Smith, Guadalupe county, Guadalupe, Texas, United States; citing family 150, NARA microfilm publication M432 (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:MXFL-7H7 : 30 December 2015), Darcus Smith in entry for Paris Smith, 1860.