I need a favor. I copied a page from the book Virginia County Court Records, Deed abstracts of Richmond County 1695-1701 by the Antient Press (Spariacio). On page 101, the last item is a deed from William Smoot Sr to Dorothy Durham, wife of Thomas Durham. The final part of the deed is on the next page, page 102, which I failed to copy. The library where I found it is in another state. Would someone be so kind as to transcribe for me the final portion of the deed on top of page 102 including the witnesses and such (or scan it for me) so that I can complete my record?

I'd be very grateful. You can e-mail me offline at restes@comcast.net. Thank you so much.

Roberta Estes

I wish I could help you but I'm curious as to which William Smoot this is.

I descend from William Smute/Smoot 1596-1670 who was married to Grace Wood. They lived in Charles Co. MD. I descend from his daughter Alice who lived in Lancaster and married John Chynne. Always like to meet a cousin if you are from this same line.

Janean

Hi Janean,

Actually, I found my information and a lot more about the Smoot family at the 3 following links.

http://www.usgennet.org/family/smoot/va/richmond/richmond-1....

http://www.usgennet.org/family/smoot/book/001.html

http://www.usgennet.org/family/smoot/smootdur.htm

My own Smoot connection, if there is one, is through William Smoot born 1636 in York Co. Va. and his wife, Jane, who is the son of your William Smoot. William gave some land to Dorothy Durham, wife of Thomas Durham, for his great love and affection for her, but he does not say what relationship she is to him. It has been assumed for years that she is his daughter, but continued genealogical research casts doubt on this assumption as discussed in the links above. There is a question about whether Dorothy was really a Gilbert and a daughter of one of your William's children. Clearly she was somehow related, but exactly how remains a mystery.

Dorothy and Thomas Durham had a daughter Dorothy "Mary" who married Thomas Dodson. They had son George Dodson who moved to Pittsylvania Co. Va and had Raleigh Dodson who moved to what is now Hawkins Co. Tn. and had Lazarus Dodson who moved to Claiborne and McMinn Co. Tn. His son Lazarus Dodson lived in Claiborne County, then after he was widowed moved to Pulaski Co. Ky and died. His daughter married John Y. Estes about 1841 and the family continues to descend in Claiborne County in the Estes family to me.

Roberta Estes

So, the long and short of this is that I think I'm a Smoot, but I'm not exactly sure.

Dorothy is his sister.

Below is the Will of Alice Smoot Chynne Stretchley my 8th great grandmother and Dorothy is mentioned along with "cousin" Mary Dodson which obviously is Dorothy's daughter. Remember, they didn't use Niece and Nephew back then like we do now nor a few other relationship names. Brother or Step Brother could be brother in law, etc.

29 Aug - 8 Oct 1701 Lancaster Co, VA WB08:106. Will of Alice STRETCHLEY of Lancaster County, Parish of St. Mary’s White Chapel. To sister Dorothy DURHAM; my cousin Mary Dodson, as much black crepe as will make her a mourning suit; daughters Anne FOX, in lieu and full satisfaction of her portion left by her father Mr. Jno. CHIN and of the Legacy left her by her Father in Law Mr. Jno STRETCHLEY; daughter Catherine HEAD (HEAL?); son in law Capt. William FOX, sterling left him by my husband, Mr. John STRETCHLEY, sister Tomalin [sic] MARSHALL; son, Rawleigh CHINN. Wits: Joseph TAYLOE, Lewis PUGH, David SMITH.

will of alice stretchley- st. mary's white chappell, Lancaster Co. va.-oct. 1701
daughter- anne fox, given silver spoons -in hands of mr. thomas ellis, merchant in london
daughter- catherine heal- stock that is upon plantation of deceased husband john stretchley,also silver spoons and tumblers in hands of mr. thomas ellis
daughter catherine heal previously given wearing cloths, etc. "this being in lieu and full satisfaction of her portion left her by her father, mr. john chinn and of the legacy left her by her father in law(step father) mr. john stretchley
son in law, capt. william fox money in the hands of mr thomas ellis
one hundred pounds reserved for use of edward audley sister tomazin marshall
sister dorthy durham
cousin mary dodson( this is who i am researching)
son rawleigh chin money in the hands of thos. pemberton in leverpoole(liverpoole)
signed in presence of joseph taylor lewis pugh and david smith

Also, in one of these links you sent when whoever wrote it, they were describing the relationship between Ann Fox w/o William Fox with respect to William Smoot's deed to Dorothy and her children. They mistyped the mother of Ann Fox as Ann Chinn Stretchley...... who was obviously ALICE not Ann. So you have to be careful reading these typed reports because as I'm sure you well know, you get to typing someone's name over and over... like Ann Fox's and when you go to type her mother Alice.... you hit the A and your brain jams and you type ANN instead.

I tried reading through the SMOOT pages and pages and pages... what it appears everyone seems to be missing is Dorothy being the daughter of William SMOOT and Grace Wood. They keep using Dorothy's brother as the subject of interest as the one being the father.

William SMOOT the elder b.1596 d. 1670. I do not have Dorothy so far as a child listed, guess I just hadn't gotten it typed in yet but I do have Thomas, Richard, Elizabeth, Ann, Alice and William. Now could Elizabeth or Ann be Dorothy? with Dorothy being a middle name or Elizabeth or Ann being the middle name? I don't know. Could Dorothy be William's daughter by another marriage? I don't know. I haven't researched it enough NOR have I logged in all my information. But based on all will's and deed's I've seen so far.... she was definately Alice's sister. Remember, that SMOOT page was written in 1999 and does not appear to have been updated.

Here is ANN FOX's will

Her Will is dated February 9, 1725, and was recorded December 10, 1729 in Clerks Office, Lancaster County, Virginia - Will book no. 12, pg. 123

Item - I give to my Aunt Dorothy (SMOOT) Greenham, wife of Jeremiah Greenham of Richmond Co. Plantu, my suit of silk crape clothes and a suit of muslin head clothes - with apron, rufels and ---

Item - My will and desire is that my Mulatto girl name Mary which is now in possession of Jeremiah Greenham and my aunt Dorothy Greenham his wife remain with my Aunt Greenham until the said mulatto girl Mary shall rise to the years of twenty and one if my Aunt Dorothy Greenham shall live so long and in case my Aunt shall die before Mary shall come to 21 years then my will is that my niece Ellen Heale have ye said mulatto until she arrives to 21 years and at the expiration of 21 my will and pleasure is that mulatto Mary be free from all persons whatsoever.

I’ve just changed my e-mail to robertajestes@att.net. I’ve had months of issues with Comcast that they were unable to resolve, so the change, though difficult, was necessary. Please update your records.

I also have two alternate e-mail addresses that you can use if you ever experience bounced e-mails using my primary e-mail and those are:
Bobbi48114@yahoo.com
Roberta@dnaexplain.com

I’m trying to catch all my old messages, so if you receive this more than once, please forgive the inconvenience.

Thanks so much,

Roberta Estes