This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: tunnelm1 Surnames: Daniel, Smith, Garrett, Waller, Bennett, Brown, Brockenbrough Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.daniel/2238/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Garrett Daniel married Clara Smith in Middlesex Co., VA around the 1740s, as I recall, and they had a daughter who was named Ann/Anna Daniel (note: Clara Smith also married George Blakey). In 1754, Colonel Maurice Smith, a brother of Clara Smith, became the guardian of this Ann Daniel. Does anyone have any idea what happened to this Ann Daniel (who, if anyone, did she marry)? There are some clues that suggest to me that this Ann Daniel and her unknown husband may have been the parents of a daughter named Winifred "Winnie," and that this daughter became Mrs. Winifred "Winnie" Bennett (the given name of her Bennett husband is not known). Mrs. Winnie Bennett (born about 1766-1770) married second to a James Owen in Middlesex Co., VA in 1798, and a Henry Garrett was the witness on that marriage bond. In 1799, Henry Garrett (who died about 1802) purchased some of the land that had belonged to Colonel Maurice Smith (who had died in 1795 in Middlesex). This land was then close to Millie Daniel's land. Perhaps Ann Daniel had married Henry Garrett (or one of Henry's close relatives). Mrs. Winnie Bennett had a daughter who was named Mary Bennett, and in 1805, Mary Bennett married a John Brown in Middlesex Co., VA. Around 1817-1820, John and Mary (Bennett) Brown appear to have become the guardians of a Smith infant/toddler who they renamed and reared as Smith W. Brown (my maternal gg-grandfather). DNA testing on a living male "Brown" decendant of Smith W. Brown clearly shows that he was actually a "blood Smith" versus a "blood Brown," and the DNA matches two living "Smith men" who were out of the same overall Smith family as the above-referenced Colonel Maurice Smith and Clara Smith (which "traces back" to the Alexander Smith who died in Middlesex Co., VA in 1696). If Mrs. Winnie Bennett and her daughter Mrs. Mary (Bennett) Brown were out of Ann Daniel (who was a daughter of Mrs. Clara (Smith) Daniel), then it would "make sense" that Mrs. Mary (Bennett) Brown would have been a "viable candidate" to have taken-in a Smith orphan by 1820. It APPEARS that Smith W. Brown was an orphan of Colonel Maurice Smith's only son who was named John Smith. It also APPEARS that this was the John Smith who married Sarah Waller around 1788. It seems that both John Smith and Sarah Waller were dead when one of their daughters named Sarah Waller Smith married a Mr. Brockenbrough in Essex Co., VA in 1823. I now suspect that John and Sarah were actually dead even before 1820, and that is why Smith W. "Brown" became an orphan around that time. Note: Mrs. Winnie Bennett also had a son, and that son was named Smith Bennett....hence, more evidence that Mrs. Winnie Bennett was probably a Smith descendant. Note: I SUSPECT that the above-referenced John Smith who married Sarah Waller was the John M. (Maurice?) Smith who appeared on the 1810 Lancaster Co., VA census. He no longer appeared there (or anywhere else, apparently) in 1820, so that supports the theory that he was dead by 1820. John and Sarah (Waller) Smith were living in Mathews Co., VA by 1799, but maybe they moved to Lancaster Co., VA before the 1810 census (there was no John Smith listed on the 1810 Mathews Co., VA census). If anyone has any information on the "life and times" of the referenced Ann Daniel, please let me know. Thanks! Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.