William Dunn "III" (a son of William Dunn "II" and Winifred Waters) appears to have married first to Lucy Smith (a daughter of Nicholas Smith....this was the same Smith family as the Colonel Francis Smith who married Lucy Meriwether and Ann/Anne Adams) and second to Diana unknown (the wife mentioned in the Will of William Dunn "III"....which was probated in Essex Co., VA in 1795, as I recall). I suspect that the odds are pretty good that the Mary Dunn who married a John Smith in Essex Co., VA around 1800 or so was a descendant of William Dunn "III." That Mrs. Mary (Dunn) Smith was apparently a daughter of the John Dunn who married Judith Edmondson, and that John Dunn could very well have been the son of that name who was mentioned in the Will of his father William Dunn "III." If anyone can confirm or refute these relationships, please post the relevant data here. Thanks!

Per another researcher, John and Mary (Dunn) Smith had sons named John Hancock Smith, Charles Smith, Samuel Smith and William Francis Smith. They also had a daughter who was named Mrs. Sophronia (Smith) Croxton, and she was the wife of the William Croxton who was a son of Carter Croxton and Nancy Dunn (and Nancy was a known daughter of William Dunn "III"). I seem to be able to find all of the referenced sons in some later records....except for Samuel Smith. Does anyone know what became of that Samuel Smith?

William Dunn "III" fathered a daughter who was named Winifred Dunn....and she was referred to by that name in the referenced Will (while Winifred's sister named Nancy was referred to by her married name of Croxton). I can't help but wonder, however, if this Winifred Dunn had been married to a Mr. Bennett earlier, and perhaps that husband was dead by the time the Will was written (assuming that Winifred had truly married that Mr. Bennett, versus having children with him out-of-wedlock). One of the sons of a Mrs. Winifred Bennett was named SMITH Bennett, and I can't help but wonder if he was named for the Nicholas Smith/Lucy Smith family (if that Mrs. Winifred Bennett was truly a daughter of William Dunn "III" and Lucy Smith....Winifred's age looks right for that to have been a possibility). Mrs. Winifred Bennett married again to a Mr. Owen/Owens in 1798, so her earlier husband (again, assuming that she had truly married Mr. Bennett) had probably died sometime before that....and maybe that unknown Mr. Bennett was already dead when William Dunn "III" wrote his Will.

A daughter of Mrs. Winifred (Dunn, perhaps???) Bennett was named Mary Bennett, and Mary married a John Brown in Middlesex Co., VA in 1805. That couple took-in a Smith infant/toddler (born about 1817/1818), and they named him Smith W. Brown....but Y DNA testing on a living male "Brown" descendant shows that he was a "biological Y Smith" versus a "biological Y Brown." It is interesting to note, however, that....per the DNA results....Smith W. "Brown" was NOT a member of the Nicholas Smith family, and Y DNA shows that he was instead a member of the unrelated Alexander Smith family (Alexander Smith was in Lancaster Co., VA by at least the 1650s). If Smith W. "Brown" was truly a son or grandson of John Smith and Mary Dunn, then he could have been a descendant of BOTH of the above-referenced Smith families (and if that was the case, then the John Smith who married Mary Dunn was out of Alexander Smith, versus out of Nicholas Smith, while Mary Dunn was a descendant of Nicholas Smith, via his daughter Lucy Smith).

Note: My autosomal (Family Tree DNA "Family Finder") DNA test shows a "distant match" to some people who have the above Dunn family in their ancestries. That could be a reflection that I am also a Dunn descendant (i.e., a common "Dunn biology" could be the reason for the "match"). The Smith W. "Brown" (who was actually a "Y Smith") referenced herein was my maternal gg-grandfather....and MAYBE the above Mrs. Mary (Dunn) Smith was his mother or grandmother.

Since I cannot seem to find any later records on the son of John and Mary (Dunn) Smith named Samuel Smith, I have wondered if perhaps he fathered a son at a fairly young age, and then died or otherwise had his son given to a relative (Mrs. Mary (Bennett) Brown, daughter of Mrs. Winifred Bennett....who was PERHAPS a Dunn descendant, as described above) to rear (as just one possibility in all of this). If anyone has any comments on the above "messy mix," please post them here. Thanks.