After years of doing long-distance research on my Smith family of Owen County KY, and several trips to Frankfort and to various county courthouses, I am posting my family line here with a plea for any assistance, comments or clues.

Of my 32 3rd great-grandparents, Agnes (maiden name unknown) and her husband, surname Smith, are the only two I have not been able to identify. I started only with a note written on the back of my great-grandmother Eliza Smith's photo by her daughter Sidney: "Eliza was born November 15, 1853, Warsaw Kentucky, the daughter of Rhoda Baldwin and Joshua Smith. Smith lost his life in the Great Gold Rush of February 1854 on the California Desert supposedly by Indians. Kentuckians coming home immensely rich. All the wagon train destroyed. Eliza was then 3 months old."

I have several concerns about this little story, not the least of which is the "immensely rich" part! And I cannot reconcile the statement that he died on the way home, when his daughter in KY was only 3 months old. That doesn't seem to leave much time for him to leave a pregnant wife, travel probably to Missouri, join a wagon train to make the trek to California, get to the gold fields and "strike it rich", then be on the way home, in what would have to be less than a year's time. Even though his daughter could have been conceived as early as February 1853, the wagon trains would surely not have left Missouri for California until at least mid-spring. Then, as far as returning home, would a wagon train head out from California to return to Missouri in the middle of winter? So the time allowed for all these events would have to be well less than a year, if the dates are accurate.

Still, I wonder if any part of this story strikes a chord with other researchers who have Owen County male ancestors who disappeared from all records about that time? Joshua is not the only male member of his family who seems to have dropped off the face of the earth before 1860, so it could not be because of the Civil War.

Before I list Joshua and his siblings, here is the little I know about his parents. According to census records they were born either KY or VA. Agnes was born about 1800 but I don't know when Mr. Smith was born. I have searched and analyzed the census records for Owen and surrounding counties. In 1830 Owen County there are only one or two who could possibly be him, unless some of his children were farmed out. One is named John and one is named William. I have not made any progress on further identifying these two individuals. But it's possible that Agnes came into the county after her husband died, I just don't know.

I know Joshua's mother was named Agnes, based on a wonderful find at the Owen County courthouse a couple of years ago. After she died, her children wanted to sell her property to the youngest son, John W. Smith. But there was apparently an outstanding loan on the property, so in a Court Order book for 1861, I found a record of all her then-living children, with full names of some spouses, but just married surnames for some of her daughters, with no spouse mentioned.

So I know Agnes died before May 1861. There is a record of the deaths in Owen County in 1859 that includes an Agnes Smith. However she is listed as age 80, whereas my Agnes would have been only about age 60. My Agnes was a head of house in the 1840 Census for Owen County, but there was another Agnes Smith who was a head of house in Henry County that year, and the age range given for her indicates she was approximately 20 years older than my Agnes. Of course, the age could also be misstated on the death record.

*** Does anybody know who the Agnes Smith, living 1840 in Henry County, was? ***

The earliest record I find of Agnes Smith, mother of Joshua, in Owen County is in courthouse records from Feb. 1839, where she is ordered to produce evidence why her three middle sons Joshua, James and Alfred should not be bound out to neighbors William H. Smither, Nathaniel Searcy, and Lilburn Roberts. She apparently did satisfy the court because the binding our order was cancelled, but I cannot find the details behind that decision, which could explain what happened to her husband. Did he die, or were they separated or divorced? The fact that Agnes had a daughter said to be born in 1841 makes this an especially relevant question. That daughter's death certificate is the only one I've been able to find for this entire family. Unfortunately it lists her parents as "unknown".

Next, Agnes appears as head of house in 1840 and 1850 census records for Owen County. Although she obviously owned the land that her children sold in 1861, I could find nothing in the deed books to indicate how it was acquired by her. It might have been acquired by her husband before the formation of Owen County in 1819. The land is described as a "tract of land in Owen County KY, it being the same for which Agnes Smith dec'd held the title bond of Jno Boots heirs, the bond having been executed to Andrew Carter, containing fifty and one-half acres. . ." No location or other description is given here, but when John W. Smith and his wife Elizabeth sold the land on 28 May 1864 to George Smoot, the boundaries were said to be the lands of Madison and B. F. (or T?) Kemper on Clay Lick Creek.

*** Can somebody please help me locate this parcel on a map of Owen County? I believe it was in or near Gratz. If it can be specifically located, what county was it in before 1819? ***

Another "party of the first part" in the 1861 court proceeding was S. S. (Sidney Smith) Rowlett. I don't find a Smith connection in any posted Rowlett family histories, and I think he might be a clue to identifying my Smiths.

*** Does anybody know where Sidney Rowlett's middle name "Smith" came from? ***

I only know of one other descendant who has tried to identify Agnes and her husband. She is Ramona Kelley, a wonderful lady who has supplied me with much of the information I have about the two Smith children who married into the Hardin family. But much of what she and I have found is just speculation. Her family believes Agnes' husband was named William and that his son John W. Smith was named for him, because John was sometimes called "Bill".

At the KY State Archives in Frankfort, I located the record of a marriage between an Agnes ELLIS and a William Smith, which contains three documents"
a. "license obtained by certificate from the father of the within-named Agness C. Ellis and proved by the oath of Hervey ELLIS.
b. 8 Dec 1819 - permission given by Wm ELLIS, father of Agness C. Ellis, for marriage license to be issued to Wm Smith.
c. 10 Jan 1820 ". . . marriage shortly to be solemnized between the above bound William Smith and Agness C. Ellis, of the county of Fayette . . ." signed by William Smith and Hervey ELLIS.

*** Who is the William ELLIS who was still living in Fayette County as of 8 Dec 1819? ***
*** Who is the Hervey ELLIS also named? ***
*** Who is the William Smith, also living in Fayette county in 1819? ***
*** Does anybody know of an Agnes of any other surname who would have been born about 1800 (VA or KY) and who married a Smith in, or shortly before, 1820? ***

I have excluded these three:
a. Slone, Agnes who m. Smith, William 06 Feb 1819 Kentucky Floyd County, She had many husbands, and is documented living elsewhere.
b. Crognile, Agnes who m. Smith, Samuel 03 Sep 1822 Kentucky Logan County. She has other named children who are not of the Owen County Smith family.
c. Gilmore, Agnes who m. Smith, Elijah 26 Oct 1806 Kentucky Pulaski County. She is too old to be the Agnes living later in Owen County.

THE CHILDREN OF AGNES SMITH: Although the 1850 census indicates by using ditto marks that some of these children were born in VA, that is an error. They were apparently all born in KY. Most of the ages are only "best guesses" from census records.

1. Mary Ann (Polly) Smith (c.1820-?) m. Thomas DEMPSEY 16 Mar 1839 in Owen Co, bond Jacob Thompson. She was still alive in 1861, but he was either deceased or otherwise separated from her. But I cannot find either of them anywhere in the census records after 1840.

2. Susan C. Smith (c. 1821 - c. 1863) m. James S. SCHOOLER, date unknown, but they could be the James Schooler family in the 1840 census for Clark Co KY, living next to a Septimus Schooler. They apparently never had children, settled in New Liberty Twp., Owen Co, and Schooler remarried after Susan died, had 2 children by 2nd wife Mary E. Abbott: Martha and Frank. I could not find a marriage record in Owen County.

3. Eleanora Malinda Smith (c. 1822-?) m. a Mr. REASTOR/REASOR/RAZOR between 1850-1860. She was still alive in 1861, but he was either deceased or otherwise separated from her, as he is not named in the 1861 court record (same situation as Smith/Dempsey above).

She may have married outside the county, as I could not find a marriage record in Owen County. There is no indication she ever had children; she was single, living with mother Agnes in 1850 Owen Co; was married (name on census Keneaster) and living with the Schoolers in 1860. Her name is listed twice in the court document, once as "Eleanora Reastor" and once as "Malinda Reastor". She was the aunt of my great-grandmother Eliza Elinora Smith, who was also living with the Schoolers in 1860.

I cannot find any other information about her after 1860, and I speculate that she remarried. A John W. Locknane shows up married for the first time in the 1870 census to an Eleanora/Elinora who is the right age to be her, and there is an Eliza Smith living with them. I have never otherwise located my great-grandmother Eliza in the 1870 census, so this could be her, still living with her aunt Eleanora. I have not been able to get to Clark County to do research, but it is at the very top of my "to-do list". I have spoken on the phone with people at the library, court house and one cemetery, but have not learned anything else.

An interesting coincidence: the sister-in-law of Eleanor's brother Joshua, Susan Baldwin, married a Charles Reasor, dec'd according to an 1856 court document in Dearborn Co IN, Gallatin County KY. They had a son named Dallas Reasor, born KY about 1845. I cannot locate Dallas Reasor/Reesor after the 1860 census, where he and his mother are living in Warsaw.

4. George W. Smith (c. 1824-?). I speculate that he is the George W. Smith who m. Milly Ann Margaret Hammon on 3 Feb 1848 in Owen Co, marriage performed by Baptist minister Asa Cobb. If so, he probably died between 1900-1910 per census records. They lived in Lusby Mill and had many children (I have list). I searched for him in cemetery records at the library in Owenton, but could not locate him.

5. Joshua T. Smith (c. 1826-?) He was my 2nd great-grandfather, married Rhoda Ellen (Baldwin) Sparks in Warsaw, Gallatin Co KY 22 Oct 1851, marriage performed by Benj. Tiller. Rhoda was previously m. to John P. Sparks, son of James and Rachel (Petty) Sparks, grandson of Henry and Lucy (Clark) Sparks, all of Owen County. Joshua and Rhoda had one child, my great-grandmother Eliza. Rhoda died 11 Dec 1857 and is buried in the Old Warsaw Cemetery.

There is an Owen County deed that shows Joshua and Rhoda traveled to Mississippi soon after their marriage and, from there, instructed Rhoda's brother Hiram Baldwin to sell a parcel of land she had inherited from her first husband Sparks. Although Joshua is listed as one of the "parties of the first part" in the 1861 court document, family tradition says he died in Feb 1854, returning with a party of fellow Kentuckians, from the California gold fields. I have no idea whether this is true, but it's curious to me that so many of the male members of this family turn up missing in the 1860 census records! In any event, I have never located Joshua in a census record, and his brother-in-law James Schooler was appointed guardian of his daughter Eliza in 1861, shortly after the court document was recorded.

Joshua is also listed, apparently still living or at least no proof of his death, in a court document in Dearborn Co IN dtd 1856, the son-in-law of Rhoda's mother Mary Baldwin. So it may be he could not be declared legally dead until a certain period of time had passed, or it may be he and his wife separated and they didn't know where he was.

There is oral tradition in the family that Joshua Smith and/or John P. Sparks were riverboat men. They both traveled to Mississippi while married, with Rhoda accompanying both of them. Two of her three children by John Sparks were born in Natchez, Mississippi (in 1844 and 1846), and she was again in Mississippi with Joshua Smith when she sold the Owen County land 29 Mar 1852. I have not figured out what the MS connection was, but I did find a Joshua Smith, age 26, b. KY, raftsman, residing in a tavern, in the 1850 census for Vicksburg, Warren Co MS.

Another item of possible interest to researchers is this document I found at Galatin Co Court House:

"JOHN P. SPARKS TO BELT BRASHEAR
NEGRO SLAVE Rhoda AND HER SON GEORGE, FOR $622.24
20 Nov 1847

"This Indenture made and entered into this 20th day of November A.D. 1847 between John Sparks of Gallatin County thereof of the first part, and BELT BRASHEAR of the County and State aforesaid of the other part witnesseth that for and in consideration of six hundred and twenty-two dollars and 24 cents to him in hand paid the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged the said John Sparks hath this day granted, bargained, sold, aliened, conveyed, and by these presents doth grant, bargain, sell, alien and convey unto the said BELT BRASHEAR, his heirs etc., forever a certain Negro woman, a slave named Rhoda, about 24 years of age, and also a boy named George (son of the said Rhoda), about one year of age, who is also a slave, and both of them, the woman and boy aforesaid, now in the possession of the said John Sparks, to have and to hold, the said Negro woman Rhoda and Negro boy George unto the said BELT BRASHEAR and his heirs etc., forever - the said Sparks hereby warranting and defending the title to the said slaves to the said BRASHEAR, his heirs, etc. against the claims of all persons whatever. But this conveyance and indenture is made upon this . . agreement and understanding, that whereas the said John Sparks is justly indebted to the said BRASHEAR in the sum of six hundred and twenty-two dollars and 24 cents, as evidenced by a note for that amount due in six months from the sale therein and of even date of this indenture, and which note is also signed by Francis Baldwin and bears interest from the date thereof. Now if the said John Sparks or any one for him shall well and truly pay off and satisfy the said debts wherein the same shall become due and payable, with all accruing interest and all costs should any be incurred, then this conveyance is to be null and void, otherwise to be and remain in full force. In testimony whereof the said John Sparks hath hereunto subscribed his name, and affixes his seal this date above.
John P. Sparks

"Commonwealth of Kentucky, Gallatin County, Sct. I, John T. Robinson, Clerk of the County Court for the County aforesaid, do certify that this mortgage from John P. Sparks to BELT BRASHEAR, was on the 20th day of November A.D. 1847 "

1850 Slave Schedule Gallatin Co KY:
33 Male Black Bett Brashears Gallatin, Kentucky
22 Female Black Bett Brashears Gallatin, Kentucky - (could this be Rhoda? if so, age about 5 years off) jad 7/9/07
20 Female Black Bett Brashears Gallatin, Kentucky
3 Female Mulatto Bett Brashears Gallatin, Kentucky
2 Male Black Bett Brashears Gallatin, Kentucky - (this may be child George, son of Rhoda: jad 7/9/07)

In the 1860 Slave Schedule for Gallatin Co KY, Brashears owned only one slave a 50-yr old black male, and I don't know what happened to Rhoda and her son.

As there is no evidence that John Sparks owned property in Gallatin County, I believe the slave woman Rhoda and her son George previously lived on John Sparks' property in Owen County, possibly on the land he sold to John Long in Dec 1848, a 220-acre parcel located on the south bank of Little Twin Creek, bounded by lands of James Hayden to the east, Edw. Welch to the south, and William Scruggs to the west.

*** Can anybody help me pinpoint this location on a map of Owen County?***

6. James R. Smith (c. 1827-?). Nothing further known about him; he is named in the 1861 court document. He may be the James Smith who appears next to James Schooler in the 1850 census, "married during the year" to Nancy, but this is just speculation. There are several James Smiths in Owen County in the mid-to-late 1800s.

7. Alfred B. (for Beckenridge or Breckenridge?) Smith (c. 1829-?) Nothing further known about him, except he is age 21, living with mother Agnes in 1850 Owen Co, and he is named in the 1861 court document. I'm wondering if he could be one of the following?

1860 Census Mt. Vernon, Rock Castle Co KY:
Alfred B. Smith age 31, b. KY, with wife Mary, daughters Margaret, Tilla/Tilda, Nancy, Mary.

1860 Census Chester, Desha Co AR (less likely because of age variance)
A. B. Smith age 27, b. KY, occ: raftsman (like Joshua?)
His wife Martha is age 18 (b MS); they are living with planter E. D. Brown.

1880 Census Liberty Twp., Stoddard Co MO
SMITH, Alfred B. age 50 acute rheumatism KY KY VA
Martha wife 39, TN MS TN
Mary H dau 17, AR, KY TN
James son 15 AR KY TN
Samuel son 9 MO KY TN
Ebbie B son 7 MO KY TN
David A son 4 MO KY TN
Leroy son 2 MO KY TN

8. Margaret Smith (c.1833-?) She is living with Agnes in the 1850 census and she might be a daughter, but she is not listed in the 1861 court record. So she may have died before then, or she might be a more distant relative.

9. Nancy Jane Smith (c.1835-?0. She is listed in the 1861 court document, but I'm not sure whether she is a daughter or a daughter-in-law (possibly wife of James Smith).

10. John W. Smith, b. 5 Apr 1837, d. 26 Jun 1873 in Henry Co KY. He m. Elizabeth P. Hardin 19 Dec 1859 in Henry County, and they lived near Lockport. John was a Civil War vet, said to have been wounded on the first day of the Battle of Shiloh.

11. Elizabeth Smith, b. c. 27 Jun 1841 in Owen or Clark County; d. 23 Sep 1915 in Franklin Co KY. She married Nathaniel (Nat) Hardin 31 Dec 1857 in Owen County, by Baptist minister Lewis M. Sabin (or Salin?) Her marriage certificate says she was age 16, born Owen County, but her death certificate says she was born Clark County. Although I think Owen County is correct, because her mother was listed there as a head-of-house in 1840, the reference to Clark County is possibly significant, because it may indicate the family previously lived there, before the death of Elizabeth's father. Elizabeth is living with her mother in the 1850 census; she and her husband are named in the 1861 court document.

I know this looks like a lot of information, but when you really get into it, you see how little there is to go on. It's almost all about this one generation. I have descendants from George, John and Elizabeth, but except for Ramona, the one or two other descendants I've spoken with have no knowledge of the ancestors. In my own family, Eliza had several children and I have had contact with dozens of family members and the only things anybody remembers about Joshua Smith are:

1. The gold rush story.

2. Joshua had something to do with riverboat traffic; one says he was a gambler, one says a riverboat captain. I found an inventory of the estate of his wife Rhoda's first husband, John P. Sparks. One of the very few items listed was an anchor.

3. There is a distinct impression that Joshua's daughter Eliza had mixed blood. If true, this would almost surely come from the Smith side of the family, as her Baldwin ancestors seem to be very well documented. One cousin said she was told by her father that Eliza was a "Spanish senorita". Another cousin said she was an "Indian princess". These two cousins descend from different siblings, and neither one knew the other. A descendant of George whom I have corresponded with, but never met, relates a tale of Native American heritage and says one of George's daughters married and lived on Cherokee reservation in OK, but she never tried to register her line with the Cherokee Nation.

I sincerely thank anybody who can give me help.

Judy Davison