Bill,

I do not have the name of Nancy's Chitty husband nor a marriage date or other information on him, but estimates are that they married ca 1821 in VA. I think some Ancestry Family Trees (AFTs) state specifically Grayson Co, VA, which could be accurate as there appears to have been some Chittys there, but I do not know their sources and AFTs are historically well known to be quite erroneous. (They aren't all bad, but you can't fully trust them, so take anything and everything with a grain of salt there).

The bulk of what I know about the Chitty connection is from 2 letters written by two different descendants that was passed down to me in part years ago. (I can no longer find the originals, it may have been through email, or somewhere in my mountainous disorganized files). But I did make notes on the relevant portions years ago in my database.

I take it (but do not know for fact) that these letters were written by descendants who were not themselves genealogists, so there are some smaller errors contained in them, as likely these were by memory only. But I think the basic story is probably true. I was working on this line a few months ago, and confirmed some of it, such as the Chattanooga connection - of Elijah Smith anyway (after 1830; about 1836-1837 - tax list there).

Here are my notes from my database on the Chitty connection as I received them, and with my own notes highlighting portions, if / where applicable:

From the Smith papers compiled by various sources, copies provided by Wayne Sewell on 1/5/2001 was the following letter.

The author and recipient both are unknown, but it was apparently written by a grandchild of James (Jim) Smith who married Mahala Catherine Pody. The letter was written on July 12, 1964.

"Grandpa Smith's brothers were Uncle Ben and Elijah; Bill Chitty was his half brother. I don't know his half sister's name. Grandpa's mother left her husband in VA and brought the two Chitty children on a horse to Tennessee. There she met and married Grandpa. Mable's grandmother was a Chitty. The Chitty's were prominent in VA. Chattanooga, TN was built on my great grandfather's land. He was Capt on a boat on the Mississippi.

Grandma Smith's Father came from Berlin, Germany. He was a Pody. Don't know about his wife; where she came from. Uncle Ben lived 5 miles this side of Fayetteville, TN; the top of a long hill.

Uncle Ben and Aunt Rosa had 3 children: Lindsey, Watty and Nannie. Watty never married.
He batched (?) in a small house and rented the big house.

Uncle Ben was a musician and sells organs. He fought in the war and was a prisoner in church, lived on meat stirred in water. Will Smith is Uncle Ben's first wife's son, Will and his wife Desie visited here. It is said that Uncle Ben traveled lots and hada second wife in Indiana and 3 daughters. One daughter grew up and wanted to find or see her daddy, so she came into Tennessee selling books and found him and told him who she was."

--------------------------BSF, undated note, but probably ca 2001-2003 (prior to 10/5/13; from other notes, at least some of the information From the Smith papers provided by Wayne Sewell of compiled (1989) information provided by Marie Smith, Rt 1, Box 1266, Clanton, AL 35045 (phone (205) 646-3273): "A Family Tree Names 'James Smith'" which I obtained and entered in part on 1/7/2001.

Other related notes, entered from this source:

From the Smith papers provided by Wayne Sewell of compiled (1989) information provided by Marie Smith, Rt 1, Box 1266, Clanton, AL 35045 (phone (205) 646-3273):

"A Family Tree Names 'James Smith'"

The Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775 with "the shot heard round the world", when Colonial troops clashed with British soldiers at Lexington, Massachussetts. After many hard battles, losses, heartaches and hardships, Great Britain gave up all hope of conquering the American Patriots and the War ended on September 3, 1783.

World Book Encyclopedia lists under major battles of the Revolutionary War----

Many Commanders of the American and British Forces as: Smith, Jones, Ferguson, Parker, Moultrie, Clinton, Lee, Cornwallis and Washington. However, none of the above have been documented as being the Patriots of any of the persons in this "James Smith Family Tree".

Captain John Smith (1580-1631) sailed in the squadron of three ships that established the first permanent English Colony in American in 1607 at Jamestown, VA. His busy life and his thirst for adventure lead him to America from England, to the Netherlands to fight the Spaniards, to Hungary to fight the Turks. Taken as a slave to Turkey, and escaped from a cruel master through Russia to Germany. He died in England in 1631. He was one of the first men to understand that a great Nation would arise in North America.

No attempt was made to join "Captaine" John Smith with this "James Smith" family but hearsay has it that: James Smith (Hanover Co, VA 1752) married a lady named Jinette (?) they ahd Patrick Smith who married Mary Lindsey?, they had Elijah "Lige" Smith (1801-1846) (*sic, 2nd copy states 1808-1846; not sure which is accurate) who married 22 Jan 1830 in Winchester, TN to Nancy Cornett Chitty (1804-186?). She left her husband in VA and brought her 2 Chitty children by horseback to Tennessee and married ElijahSmith. Chattanooga, TN was built on land owned by one of the great grandfathers. "Lige" and Nancy had a son named James "Jim", Mary, Elijah, Benjamin Franklin, and Newton Jasper Smith.

James "Jim" Smith b/16 Jan 1833-31 Jul 1914) married on 8 Dec 1852 to Mahala Catherine Pody (15 May 1835-2 Jun 1913). Mr Pody (father of Mahala) came from Berlin, Germany, but don't know who he married.

Mahala C Pody and James Smith had children from 1855 to 1873. Five reached adulthood.

-----------------BSF 1/7/2001

As to some known errors, the Podys were from Germany (originally "Bode"), but not Berlin specifically. Or at least, it was then known by a different name, though it could be what is today Berlin. Our Smiths are thought to be from a James, but not that James b/ Hanover Co, VA (1752 would be wrong, anyway as the Hanover Co, VA James was b/ 1760. There are 3 candidate James Smiths of 1830 Jackson Co, AL and as you can see from my prior posts, I have spent some time sorting them, including y-DNA testing my father. I think our Patrick is from James of Knox Co, KY (1/3 Cherokee) who married Nancy Mulkey, but I do *NOT* think Nancy Mulkey was my Patrick's mother. There is just too much evidence pointing to that James. Other than this one instance I know of no other source linking any of the 3 James to a woman named Jinette, so that wife is curious.

I cannot confirm that Elijah Smith was a boat Captain on the MS. That bit is also curious because I can find that he was in 1830 Jackson Co, AL in the same census as his father, my Patrick, but apparently moved with his Cornett in-laws (John) to Chattanooga (Hamilton Co) TN by 1836-1837 where he is in the tax list there. Ironically enough, my dad's y-DNA links my Dad's Patrick Smith most closely to a David Smith b/ 1789 TN who lived in Jackson Co, AL in 1838 who is known to be son of a Cherokee named James Smith. And there is a David Smith who would seem to be old to be my Patrick's son (Elijah's brother) in that same Hamilton Co, TN tax list next door to Elijah, along with an Alexander. And my Patrick named a son John Alexander. I wonder if the 3 could be related - maybe David and Alexander were brother to my Patrick and Elijah their nephew.

Now, if he was living in Chattanooga, he could not conceivably be a Captain on the MS River, so either the author misspoke and wrote MS River instead of TN River, or else he moved at some point and was a Captain on the MS River. I cannot find a clear connection to him living anywhere near the MS River though. He did seem to "get around" but only between central & East TN, NE AL and the Shelby / Coosa Co, AL areas.

Years ago, I "inherited" from another researcher or found my Elijah Smith's marriage to Nancy Cornett as 22 January 1830, Winchester, Franklin Co, TN, but I am missing that source.
I have a pretty good recall about my research and I would *swear* that I actually found that
in writing somewhere myself (even if someone else originally told me about it), but I cannot for the life of me find it now. One reason it sticks out is because, with so much controversy on my Patrick Smith and his father, I went back to the drawing board on his father and was not wholly convinced it *was* my Patrick in 1830 Jackson Co, AL. I found a Patrick Smith in 1830 Franklin Co, TN which seemed to "jive" with the Elijah Smith marriage, though the children in that 1830 TN census did not seem to match my Patrick's known children. So it could be that the date is right and the place is wrong. The letter writer insists they married in Chattanooga. But whether they married in Chattanooga, Winchester, or somewhere in between, it is clear that Elijah was in 1830 Jackson Co, AL and then Chattanooga by 1836. That isn't to say that he couldn't have met and married her first in Chattanooga, then moved to Alabama and then moved back to Chattanooga later.

If he married on 22 Jan 1830 (assuming the date is either right or close) in TN, then the 1 Jun 1830 Jackson Co, AL census for them could still work, of course.

It would seem also that the 1830 Jackson Co, AL census confirms two Chitty children, male and female that are not his - unless the male child was a Smith and forced a shot-gun wedding, but that seems to defy the letter writer's statements.

1830 Jackson Co, Al census; 4th range line:

Elijah Smith
1 male 0-5
1 male 20-30
1 female 5-10
1 female 20-30

I found an interesting post on the Cornett inheritance a few months ago:

http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.kilpatrick/69.104.213.21...

In 1850 Coosa Co, AL; Hatchet Creek, William Chitty is listed with his widowed mother, Nancy Cornett Chitty Smith as William Smith, age 22, b/ AL making him b/ 1828, before the presumed 1830 marriage of Elijah Smith to Nancy Cornett Chitty. The Alabama birth would certainly seem
wrong, but if they were deliberately (?) passing him off as a Smith by then, that may make sense.
(Who knows who the informant was that year; it could have been a neighbor or younger sibling).

However, in 1850 Coosa Co, AL there is also in a different household, a
William Chitty age 22 b/ GA (b/ 1828) married to a Matilda age 21. He is a lawyer and she was
Matilda Adaline Scott. They married 1849.

But if that was her son, how can we justify the William Smith b/ 1828 in her home?
Elijah Smith was not known married prior to marrying her. William Smith perhaps could have
been a nephew or other relative, but I have not found any candidates. The GA birth for Nancy's William Chitty would seem to only make sense if he was born say in that Lookout Mtn. area of GA / TN or it is just simply erroneous. He could be completely unrelated and coincidental to Nancy though.

In light of the 1850 Coosa Co, AL census where he seems to have been going by the name
(deliberately or in error) William Smith, it is entirely possible that he took the Smith name
as Elijah Smith would have been the only father he ever knew and it would also match the bulk of
his siblings. It was easy to do back in the day.

Of course, in reviewing my notes on the family, the other day, I found something that
got me thinking about the legitimacy of Nancy Cornett Chitty's marriage to Elijah Smith anyway. If, as stated, she just up and left her Chitty husband in VA and remarried in TN (Chattanooga or otherwise) shortly thereafter to Elijah Smith, then she very well may not have had a legal divorce to her Chitty husband. And that would make the Smith marriage void and her guilty of bigamy. Now, I have no knowledge that is the case, but the Elijah Smith probate seems to confirm that Elijah's
brother, Guy Smith, had the same concern. (And note that in 1850, no William Smith was given as heir, or any by the name of Chitty).

Elijah Smith’s death date is unknown, but was certainly dead by 25 May 1846 due to his probate records:

From The David Lindsey Family of Alabama (1953):
Coosa County--Oprhans Court Minutes, O.S, 1846-1855

May 25, 1846:

Guy Smith applies for Letters of Admr. on Estate of Elijah Smith, deceased.

Widow and next of kin and creditors refuse to administer. Granted.

Wm Stephens, John L McDonald, Wm Lindsey and John A Pylant and Benj Foscue appointed to appraise estate.

--------------
August 26, 1846:

Guy Smith petitions for sale of real estate and the Turnpike Charter of Turnpike Road belonging to said estate of Elijah Smith and further states that heirs of said decedant are:

James Smith, Elijah Smith, Newton Smith, Benjamin Smith, and Mary Smith--all minors.

Alfred G Hallmark appointed Guardian. pg 113.
------------
October 12, 1846
Guy Smith applies for order of sale of Turnpike Road belonging to said Estate of Elijah Smith from Rockford to Syllacogga according to previous notice. Opposed by guardian, Alfred G Hallmark. pg 119

----------------
November 16, 1846
Guy Smith petitions sale real estate of Elijah Smith, deceased:
E1/2 Sec 22, T24, R19
W1/2 Sec 23, T24, R19
NE1/4 NEW1/4 Sec 23, T23, R18
E1/2 NW1/4 Sec6, T22, R11
SE1/4 Sec 30, T23, R19
All W1/2 Sec 30, T23, R19 lies south of Hatchett Creek, Tallapoosa Land District.

States he cannot set forth the heirs of Elijah Smith, the legality of his marriage being questioned. Names of heirs by reputed wife or widow are: James, Mary, Elijah, Newton, and Benjamin, --all under 14.
Alfred G Hallmark, Appt Guardian.
-----------------------------
Feb 24, 1851
Creditors paid off by Guy Smith--rec'd payment in part--no mention is made of heirs.
Patrick Smith Claim $622.64 Received $376.69
Patrick Smith Jr Claim $23.75 Received $14.36
William Smith
James Smith
John Smith
Wm M Lindsey
--------------------------------------BSF 7/8/2001

Since there are so many questions regarding the Chitty connection, namely the name of the father, the sister, the father's ancestry and the marriage date, not to mention divorce, I suspect that
some of these questions can probably only be answered - or hope to be answered - by DNA testing. Have you considered that at all?

If a male Chitty descendant can be found of this line, that would probably help to ID the father via y-DNA testing of him. (He'd have to be of this line, male, and still carry the Chitty surname today).
If not, or in addition to, autosomal DNA testing can perhaps provide additional answers on identities. It won't help with dates necessarily, but it's possible even that could be answered if, say, the Chitty father remarried, fathered more children, and those descendants know about the marriage until wife Nancy disappeared, never to be heard from again.

I would love to know anything else you can add on the Chitty line, either Nancy's husband and her marriage and his ancestors, or from William "Bill" Chitty and his sister on down, or on Nancy's early history.

How do you connect to these Chittys?

Thanks

Briana
brianafelch @ me.com (remove spaces)
(No spam or forwarded, non-genealogy emails please).