We have a strong case of circumstantial evidence:
The DAR records have Edmund Thomas Richard Smoak of Branchville, SC (my G,G,Grandfather) based on an old newspaper article in the Orangeburg Times 1880 THE PATRIARCH OF THE FORK-WILLIAM SMOAK from the 1880's and reprinted in the 1930's. That article notes correctly that E.T R. Smoak of Branchville is his grandson. I have a copy of John Samuel Smoak's will that clearly states Edmond T. R. Smoak of Branchville as his son. My grandfather, John Gary Smoak, Sr. of Branchville, SC told my father and I about a story regarding John Samuel Smoak and an unmarried woman, which incensed his father, William and caused him to move with his wife Annie to Dalton County, GA. just before the Civil War. Annie died and is buried at the end of the Dalton, GA airport runway. John Samuel moved then to Dooley County, GA, down on the Flint River and lived there for the remainder of his life.