MORE Y-DNA EVIDENCE & CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE LINKING
MY PATRICK SMITH TO KY JAMES (m/ NANCY MULKEY):

Again, I would love to discuss with any SERIOUS researchers.


Y-DNA SMITH EVIDENCE:

y-DNA evidence links my dad, Mickey Smith, via my ancestor Patrick Smith, to my closest match, a descendant of David Editon Smith, son of a "Cherokee Jim" Smith which seems to circumstantially match what we know of this KY James (1/4 Cherokee) m/ Mulkey.


MORE CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE OF PATRICK SMITH TO
KY JAMES SMITH m/ MULKEY (AKA "CHEROKEE JIM??") AND JAMES' KNOWN
DESCENDANTS:

Furthermore, I have started uncovering lots of other circumstantial evidence , growing by leaps and bounds, tying my Smiths to KY James (aka "Cherokee
Jim?") in many ways.

Recall that my Patrick Smith was NOT in 1809 Madison Co, AL MS Territory with his known father-in-law, David Lindsey, nor one of the previously alleged candidate fathers, Rev War Pensioner James (typically alleged, but unproven, married to Hannah Parker).

Prior to y-DNA testing my father, so before I got the results stating we do not match Brooks b/ 1766, presumed uncle of Brooks b/ 1796, I started looking for clues back in TN where I naturally thought Patrick was when his father in law, David Lindsey, moved by 1809.

Patrick's father in law, David Lindsey, was in Greene Co, TN in NE TN from 1785 to 1805.

But in 1805, David Lindsey moves to Claiborne Co, TN. Claiborne Co, TN borders what is now Whitley Co, KY, but was then Knox Co, KY, where James m/ Mulkey lived!

That puts Patrick, if a son of KY James Smith m/ Mulkey, within spitting distance of the Lindseys, to meet and marry his wife.

And I think this proximity to his Smiths, James m/ Mulkey, in 1805-1809, is the reason he did NOT move to Madison Co, AL MS Territory by 1809 with his father in law, David Lindsey, and thus why he is not there in 1809 when & where we expected him to be.

So as of Jan. 1809, Patrick Smith is not in Madison Co, AL MS Territory and we can also confirm that as late as Sep. 1809, James m. Mulkey WAS in Knox Co, KY as that is when / where James' daughter, Mary Polly Smith, married James Bradford Wright.

But both men, James m/ Mulkey and Patrick appear in Jackson Co, AL by 1830.

Now, here's one small catch. There is a Patrick R. Smith who shows up in Madison Co, AL records from about 1811-1819, and originally I thought this also might be my Patrick. However, I don't think it is him.

At no other time in my Patrick's life, until his death in 1870, was he EVER known to have gone by Patrick R. Smith. And as this was the only Patrick there at the time, he wouldn't have needed the designation to set him apart from others anyway.

But my Patrick had a son named Patrick, and Patrick Jr. had the middle initial B., not R. This would imply a good probability that Patrick Sr. also had the middle initial B, but that also is not guaranteed. Though they differentiate between Sr. and Jr., I have found many such cases where the father and son share the same first name, but not the same middle names and yet still go by Sr. and Jr.

But beyond that, I am pretty certain I tracked this Patrick R. Smith who moved after 1819 to somewhere in TN and then died pretty early on, well before my Patrick died in 1870. Just to confirm, I just checked my database, and found that Patrick R. Smith moved to Giles Co, TN (on the AL state line, not far from Madison Co, AL), but I found an 1829 deed that names Patrick R. Smith as the "husband of Susan Wells." My Patrick married Mary Ann Lindsey, and though we have no firm marriage record for the couple, there is no knowledge of any additional marriage, nor wife named Susan Wells, specifically. Besides, the whole reason we even expect to find Patrick Smith in Madison Co, AL at all, especially before 1830 is due to the proximity of his known father-in-law, David Lindsey.

So this seems to clarify that Patrick R. Smith CANNOT be my Patrick Smith.

GRANDDAUGHTER OF PATRICK SMITH LIVES NEAR KY JAMES (m/ MULKEY's) KNOWN GRANDCHILDREN AND CLAIMS KY TIES:

I've also found a granddaughter of Patrick, through his son, her father, Elijah, that lived in several places associated with KY James' known grandchildren; Benton Co, MS and Crawford Co, AR and then she died in OK Indian Territory (Tahlequah). This was Mary Jane Smith who married James (Jim) Kilpatrick (aka Kirkpatrick).

This was after she lived earlier in 1840-1860 or 1870 in Coosa Co, AL where Patrick died in Jan. 1870. I cannot find her in 1870, but suspect Patrick's death in 1870 and that of her father even earlier (ca 1846), could have spurred her to then move away (after Patrick's death).

In 1910 Crawford Co, AR, after years of saying her father, Elijah, was born in TN, she suddenly stated he was born in KY.

Why KY & why the sudden change?

WE have a reason for suspecting KY (via James m/ Mulkey), but why did she?

I think she always thought he was born in TN, as perhaps they lived there briefly prior to coming to Jackson Co, AL, (maybe even lived in Claiborne Co, TN itself). But when she moved near her Smith cousins (Shepherds, and Griffiths), they were older and remembered him being born or living as a young child in Knox Co, KY, or perhaps on the Claiborne Co, TN / Knox Co, KY state / county border.

TIES OF "CHEROKEE JIM" (AKA KY JAMES?) & MY SMITHS TO CHATTANOOGA:

One document on this Cherokee Jim, an affidavit by a Cherokee witness, for Cherokee Jim's granddaughter, Sarah Ann Smith Grider, claims another location where HE (Cherokee Jim) lived; Chattanooga, TN.

The witness who claimed that was born ca 1814, so the earliest this witness could have known or remembered Cherokee Jim (aka KY James m/ Mulkey?) in Chattanooga was maybe 1830 (which would make the witness around 15 years old at the time). We can assume not as early as 1820 because the witness would be about 6 at the time he knew him, not a reliable witness even with a stellar memory at that age.

But we think KY James / Cherokee Jim was obviously in that 1830 Jackson Co, AL census. So that means he was likely in Chattanooga AFTER 1830.

It is also AFTER that 1830 census when 1 of the 3 James Smiths disappears from jackson Co, AL as we go from 3 James there in 1830 to 2 in 1840 to 1 in 1850.

We know that in 1840, one of the 2 James b/ 1761-1770 that remains is the pensioner James Smith because on the 1840 Pensioner Census he is listed as living with son James P. Smith. There is only one pensioner in 1840 Jackson Co, AL.

Because James A. Smith, father of Brooks is there in 1830 (as James A.) and still there in 1850 (as James A., this time in the home of Brooks), then we can naturally INFER the only other James in 1840 was that same James A. Smith, father of Brooks.

In 1840, he is listed only as James Smith (no middle initial) though, probably because the KY James had moved away (probably to Chattanooga) and the pensioner James was living with his son, James P. Smith (a much younger man), so there was less cause for confusion between the men. James A. Smith, now going by just James Smith, would be the only James Smith as head of household of that age, now known simply as James.

We also know that pensioner James died in 1843, so that just leaves the father of Brooks, again, this census known as James A. Smith, still there in 1850 (in the home of Brooks).

That means it was must have been KY James m/ Mulkey who must have moved away between the 1830 and 1840 Jackson Co, AL census records.

Turns out that not only is Elijah's (son of Patrick) daughter, the same Mary Jane Smith (m/ James Kilpatrick) allegedly BORN there in Chattanooga (Hamilton Co, TN) in Jan. 1836, but I found Elijah on the 1836 & 1837 tax lists there!

These notes on Elijah's connection to Chattanooga (via having lived there and Mary Jane's birth) was hidden in my genealogy notes before I even learned of the y-DNA connection to a "Cherokee Jim of Chattanooga and Alabama." I found the tax lists after the fact.

And John Cornett, Elijah's father in law, also moved there about that time (before 1840) and both men, Elijah Smith, son of Patrick, probably grandson of Cherokee Jim (aka KY James m/ Mulkey?) and father in law, John Cornett, were also from Jackson Co, AL.

Incidentally, of the 3 James Smiths in 1830, John Cornett is living closest to the first James, the one I have pegged as being probably James m/ Mulkey. Then all 3 men, KY James aka Cherokee Jim, his presumed grandson Elijah, and Elijah's father in law, all seem to move around the same time (ca 1836-1840) to Chattanooga.

Speaking of the 1836 & 1837 Hamilton Co, TN (county for Chattanooga) tax lists, there are 2 Elijah Smiths, but one is listed next door to a David who is next door to an Alexander O. Smith and I think this is Patrick's son Elijah.

As my David Smith b/ ca 1818, son of Patrick would just be nearing adulthood, the David in 1836 & 1837 probably is not him, as that would only make him barely 18-19. (Legally old enough to own property via inheritance, unsure if old enough to be taxed, but generally not considered a full legal adult until age 21).

And as most men did not marry until the legal age of 21, even at that early date, and as my David did not marry until 1842 and in Alabama anyway, I doubt it is my David, son of Patrick.

However, he very well could be the David Editon Smith, the probable brother of my Patrick, that I y-DNA match who is the alleged son of a Cherokee Jim. If so, that would make this David Editon Smith the uncle to this Elijah, son of my Patrick.

I don't know who Alexander O. Smith is, but since my Patrick named a son John Alexander Smith, that Alexander O. Smith could be a brother to my Patrick and David Editon Smith.

There is much more evidence, circumstantial as it may be, tying my
Patrick Smith to KY James m/ Mulkey (aka Cherokee Jim?) than there is for
Brooks Smith.

All Brooks has going for him linking him to KY James m/ Mulkey is that both men are in the 1830 Jackson Co, AL census and one James, not necessarily this James m/ Mulkey, is living within about 12-15 pages of Brooks.

But there is plenty of cause for concern in thinking that James living nearest Brooks is even the KY James m/ Mulkey because there is still a 66% chance that is a wrong assumption and misidentification. And if you look at the other circumstantial evidence, that James would seem NOT to be the father of Brooks at all because his father would seem to be James A. Smith instead. And even still, James m/ Mulkey would seem to be the other James, the one living near Neeley on top of that.

And again, Patrick and Brooks both cannot be sons of the same man, at least if Brooks b/ 1796 was nephew of the older Brooks b/ 1766 as many think, because y-DNA seems to rule that out (since Patrick does not match Brooks b/ 1766 since a descendant has tested under that Brooks).

So I think KY James m/ Nancy Mulkey, albeit with a different first wife, was mother of my Patrick and the girls and probably also this David Editon Smith that I y-DNA match, if not also this Alexander O. Smith from the 1836-1837 Hamilton Co, TN tax lists (near Elijah and David).

And I think Nancy was a younger, second wife as she would then be in the home in 1830, but not of age to be mother to those children, and that still allows for the basic fact of her removal to AR on the 1838 Trail.

To date, no marriage record nor other evidence of her more precise dating has been found to confirm or refute her as being old enough to be mother of all those children, so all we have is the 1830 census which seems to refute it.

If you look also at the Wikipedia entry for Chattanooga, before 1838 it was known as Ross' Landing (named after John Ross) and in 1838, it was a Cherokee encampment to round up the Cherokees before sending them off on the Trail.

If James moved there ca 1836, prior to the removal, that could explain how Nancy Mulkey, his then wife, was so easily rounded up with the other Cherokees and removed vs. escaping detection in the backwoods of rural Jackson Co, AL.

Or if he went there about or after her removal, maybe either due to no choice or she was already removed?, say 1839 or 1840, since KY James was known (per descendants, including 1994 thesis writer, David Travillion Bunton, as an Indian trader, business could have been an incentive to move / live there.

But I think it was more probable he went earlier than the removal, so there by
ca or before 1836.


OTHER REPORTED VARIATIONS OF KY JAMES m/ MULKEY'S AND / OR
REV WAR PENSIONER JAMES' MIDDLE NAMES AND NICKNAMES (AKA JAYLOR, JAKE, AND ALFRED):

I have no idea where the "Jaylor Smith" name came from that is somehow linked to James m/ Mulkey and / or Rev War pensioner James (or both, due to the crossing of the two), nor to which James it truly belongs.

But as descendant / researchers of both James m/ Mulkey and Rev War pensioner James have seemingly misappropriated the A. initial for those James, due to crossing with the other (3rd) James, I am skeptical of the "Jaylor" name being associated with the correct James as well.

I would love to see a reputable source on this Jaylor name as I am skeptical of its accuracy, regardless of which James it belongs to.

I have never seen any of the 3 James listed as such in their known census or other records.

I have also seen the name Jake associated with one of the three and crossed in a like manner, so am equally skeptical of its accuracy as well.

And finally, somewhere along the way, James A. Smith became known as James ALFRED Smith, and a source for that middle name of Alfred is also not known.

I have only been able to confirm James A. Smith (for the father of Brooks - not presumably the one m. Mulkey), but not the name Alfred. I would also love to see a source for that name Alfred. That Alfred name could have come from Brooks' wife's line or Preston's wife's line.

Brooks b/ 1796, son of James A. Smith, had a son named Preston who did name a son Alfred, but that would be a huge assumption in assuming that James A. Smith's A. stood for Alfred, just because of his great grandson's name.

But Brooks' son Barton Brooks Smith, had a son named Albert, which could equally be what the A. middle initial in James' name stood for. So at best, there is a 50% chance the A. stood for Alfred, but a 50% chance it stood for Albert. Thus a 50% chance that the middle name Alfred is wrong.

Briana S. Felch
brianafelch @ me.com