Got this through the PML Service. Please note this is a two part message that I have cut and paste the more pertinent parts. There are a few references to Mary Agner Smathers and to Catherine Rough Agner's parents. ---Celia :o) Source: SMOTHERS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [SMOTHERS] Henry and John SMITHER/SMATHERS/etc. Descendants of William SMITHER and Anna Catharina ______? - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 1-William SMITHER (abt 1736-1823) sp: Anna Catharina _____? (-) 2-Catharina Barbara SMITHER (2 May 1764-) sp: _____? MILLER (-) 2-Elizabetha (Betsy) SMITHER (23 Nov 1770-) sp: _____? CRAIZLO (-) sp: William GRUNKLEN (-) 2-Johann Jacob SMITHER (7 Feb 1772-1815/16) sp: Katherine DEW (-) 2-Conrad SMITHER (9 Feb 1774-bef 1816) 2-Henry SMITHER (30 Oct 1775-14 Jun 1856)<<<<< 2-Mary Polly (Molly) SMITHER (abt 1779-) sp: John HARTMAN (-) 2-Susannah SMITHER (bet 1763 and 1774-Aug 1815) sp: John ROUGH (Sep 1763-) 2-Eve SMITHER (1780-) sp: John BASENGER (-) 2-Johannes (John) SMETTERS (17 Dec 1781-1825) sp: Mary AGNER (1776-28 Nov 1868) 3-Eisig (Isaac) SMATHERS (7 Feb 1804-23 Oct 1835) 3-Yorg (George) SMATHERS (9 Sep 1807-24 Jun 1894) 3-Jesse SMATHERS (19 Dec 1811-20 Feb 1879) 3-Levi SMATHERS (9 Sep 1817-WFT Est. 1787-1899) 3-Charlie (Charley) SMATHERS (21 Jul 1819-8 Dec 1906) 2-Margaret (Peggy) SMITHER (1786-) 2-Christina SMITHER (abt 1790-) sp: Jacob LENTZ (-) sp: Margaret LENTZ (-) 2-Teny Lentz SMITHER (aft 1809-) Mitzi Smetters <msmetters@ncweb.com> Visit our CyberHome at <www.ncweb.com/users/msmetters> Researching: SMETTERS (Smothers, Smethers, Smither, etc.), FRAMPTON, COMPTON, SHONKWILER, SATINOVER, TOVROG ========================================== > >Betty Ralph <bralph@HiWAAY.net> sent me some very interesting items about >Henry and John, sons of William SMITHER (b. abt 1736 in Pennsylvania) and >Anna Catharina). The material is from the Dec 1997 "Journal of the >Genealogical Society of Rowan County, North Carolina which was included the >stamped Smither Archives, 9510 Woodley Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910: > >page 159: > >"In Memory - Henry SMITHER (alias Smathers), who was the Senior Elder of >the >WNC branches of the Smathers family and who was known as the Sage of >Balsam, >died on June 14, 1856 at his Summit Home astride the Haywood and Jackson >County line. He was the second son of WILLIAM SMITHER II (1736-1823) who >migrated in 1774 from Low Hill Township, Northampton County, Penn., to >Rowan >County, N.C. where Henry was born the following year (1775). He was the >grandson of William SMITHER I, a person of British origin, who died in >Albany Township, Berks County, Penn., in 1760 leaving a Will naming his 7 >sons and 3 daughters. Near the end of the War of 1812, Henry and his >younger brother, John (wife Mary AGNER), migrated to Haywood County (which >then included Jackson). There they dropped their British surname (Smither) >and adopted the alias surname Smathers. Early Jackson County kin included >names: Fullbright, Snyder and Liner." > >Also on page 159 was the mention that Mary Hartman, Eva Barringer, Susanah >Rough, and Elizabeth Craiglow died during the 1807 Rowan Co., North >Carolina >death plague leaving a total of 22 children. They were the married >daughters of William Smither of Rowan county and sisters of the two Smither >brothers (John and Henry) who settled in Haywood Co. > >Page 160 has a newspaper clipping about Henry Smathers from "The >Mountaineer, Waynesville, N.C." (no date) saying about the same things. It >mentions ; that Henry moved to Lincoln County in 1809, that in 1814 he >became associated with the Fullbrights who were dealers in Haywood County >lands and encouraged his brother John and others from Rowan County to go to >Haywood where good land was becoming vacant and available at good prices; >and that his brother John who died 1825 was married Mary Agner. > >_____________________________________________ >Betty also sent me a list of William SMITHER and Anna Catharina's children. >It is similar to the one sent to me a while back by Steve SMOTHERS but I do >not know if the info came from the same sources: > >Descendants of William SMITHER >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- >--- >1-William SMITHER (abt 1736-1823) >1st wife: Anna Catharina _____? (-) > 2-Catharina Barbara SMITHER (2 May 1764-) > 2-Elizabetha (Betsy) SMITHER (23 Nov 1770-) > 2-Johann Jacob SMITHER (7 Feb 1772-1815/16) > 2-John SMETTERS (1773) <<<<<<<<<< > 2-Conrad SMITHER (9 Feb 1774-bef 1816) > 2-Henry SMITHER (30 Oct 1775-14 Jun 1856) > 2-Mary Polly (Molly) SMITHER (abt 1779-) > 2-Susannah SMITHER (bet 1763 and 1774-Aug 1815) > 2-Eve SMITHER (1780-) > 2-Margaret (Peggy) SMITHER (1786-) > 2-Christina SMITHER (abt 1790-) >2nd wife: Margaret LENTZ (-) (2nd wife of William SMITHERS > 2-Teny Lentz SMITHER (aft 1809-) > > >Note that this list has conflicts with the info in from the "Journal of the >Genealogical Society of Rowan County, North Carolina" cited above in regard >to Henry being the SECOND son of WILLIAM SMITHER . . . and his YOUNGER >brother, John (who married Mary AGNER). According to the descendancy charts >I have from Steve SMOTHERS and Betty RALPH, Henry is the THIRD son and John >is OLDER. > >Now, if instead of the17 DEC 1773 date, we use John's birth date of 17 >Dec >1781 as given by Sadie Smathers Patton in her book "Smathers from Yadkin >Valley to Pigeon River: Smathers and Agner families" (LDS CALL NUMBER: >US/CAN FILM AREA 145459 Item #4-published in 1954 in North Carolina) it >would work out OK--John would be born after Henry and thus be younger and >make Henry the second son. > >Patton's book shows that John was sometimes called Johannes. This could >mean >that Johann and John actually are the same person, but I doubt it if the >info provided from the magazine/journal is correct. Betty also has a wife >for Johann Jacob SMITHER (7 Feb 1772-1815/16): Katherine DEW whose name was >given to her by another researcher. With different birth dates, wives, and >death dates, it seems that two different men are involved. > >Perhaps the family used the German custom of sometimes given the same first >name to children, and then calling them by their middle name. This happened >in the earlier generation with George Nicholas (who was know as George) and >his younger brother George Jacob (who was know as Jacob). Since there are >wives' names for both Johan and John, they must be two different men. Note >that Johan has the middle name of Jacob, which I have not found associated >with the man called John. (I suspect that somewhere along the way somebody >transcribed Johan's date of 07/02/1772 as 17/12/1773 but accidentally >increasing some of the digits by +1 and then someone gave the date to John >since it did not fit Johan and that they did not have the date of John's >birth that Patton provided in her book. > >If you have not seen Patton's book, it has a lot a interesting info, >pictures, and insights into the family of John SMATHERS and Mary ANGER. It >shows pages from their Bible (everything written in German) with his name >as >Johannes SMETTERS. She only refers to them as SMATHERS coming from SMETTER >(or SMETTERS), never as SMITHER. The articles provided by Betty Ralph >refers to the Henry and John's line as from England. However Patton's book >asserts they were Germans who were originally from the Palatine area, who >probably migrated to England before coming to America. Since the family was >VERY German in all that they did in America (where they lived, who them >married, the language they used), it seems that their German background was >well established no matter where they originated. I have found no records >so far showing them as coming on any ship from England or Germany -- I >don't >know if we will ever know the place of origin for sure. >I hope to hear from some of your regarding any additional info, insights, >or >ideas regarding this connection with the North Carolina branch of the >family. > >Mitzi Smetters ><msmetters@ncweb.com> >Visit our CyberHome at ><www.ncweb.com/users/msmetters> > >Researching: SMETTERS (Smothers, Smethers, Smither, etc.), FRAMPTON, >COMPTON, SHONKWILER, SATINOVER, TOVROG > >