This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Stephens, Smith, Clark, Hebert, LeBlanc Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/kEB.2ACI/344.1.1.1.2 Message Board Post: Hi, I've been looking into my Stephens line and have been in contact with two ladies who gave me the following information. Julia Stephens Smith is the wife of James Taylor Smith. She is the daughter of William Stephens and Rachel Clark. She is the sister of my great great grandfather, John Vachell Stephens. The following is an email I recieved from Donella Hargrave and Dana Hudson and in it they are trying to explain the "sideways" research that they have done to find out family history. It's a bit convoluted but good research. From Donella Hargrave: no I did not make copies of the (William Stephens’) succession. i don’t work and there is not much money to spend on extras like courthouse papers the cost of documents are $.75 a PAGE and alot of these old succession are nearly 20 pages long. So I go and try to take notes on what I want and at the time i was looking for the paperwork that stated that Julienne Stephens was deserted by her hubby, Pierre Dudoit. There is a book available at the Abbeville library (not Kaplan library which is where I live closer to) which is called the Burnt Remnants of Vermilion Parish compiled by Harvey Adams, Harvey is an uncle of one of my classmates. (remember Kaplan is small town!) anyway abt 20 or so years ago Harvey went through each burnt page and made some general notes from them. This he put into a type of index and published it. that is where I learned of Julienne Stephens Dudoit being deserted by her hubby. He (Harvey Adams) does have William Stephens and the children he lists are Elizabeth Stephens m to Silas S. or S. Bradshaw (with a note "Texas") Rachel Stephens, deceased, m. John Collins, she died apr 1850, John m Irene LeMaire and Josephine Trahan, Julia Stephens m. Pierre Dudoit. I have that William m Rachel d/o Francis Clark and Rachel melon they lived here in Vermilion parish south of Perry on the east side of Bayou vermilion. I believed that the James Clark neighbor would have been a relation to his wife, the brother (or Uncle?) of Rachel, doesn't the ages fit? Also I think I told you the relatives listed in succesion of W. Stephans were Holstein and Jackson Choate. Well Esther Clark daughter of James (son of Francis and Rachel Melon)and Ester Comstock married John Choate, Jr. I believe Holstein and Jackson were sons of John Choate and Esther Comstock. If not they were nephews at least. Holstein Choate married Mary Jane Lee the daughter of Mark Lee and Rachel White. Rachel Clark that married the Lee also lived in that area and there is a marsh island named after Mark Lee. In the burnt remnants that I actually saw on film there is no order but I did see what appeared to be different batches of pages labeled “the succession of Rachel Stephens. “ I am sending you my 2 gedcoms. named Keisa and Keisa theory. Keisa is my daughter. the theory one is the one where i tried to connect James T. Smith to the Smith line and the Whites. there are 2 smith lines one Silas Smith who later settled in Texas after leaving his Mom in La near Perry's bridge and the other is the Smiths who lived in New Iberia William Smith and Prudence Bonner. there daughter Elizabeth (Smith) has records at church stating she is from the Bahama Islands. So Dana and I have called her Bahama Mama for clarification. since Silas also had a sister named Elizabeth we did find a site listing landowner in bahama islands. there is Clarks there too. back in 1790ish Dana and i have come up with this: Some thoughts on James Taylor Smith: For several years, I have been researching the Sagrera-Cessac families and the "maiden" lines: Charles Cessac was married to Amanda Smith. Amanda Smith was the daughter of James Taylor Smith and his wife Julienne Stevens. I reached one of those brick walls when it came to James Taylor Smith and his family. The information I had came from census records and The *Burnt Remnants Records of Vermilion Parish compiled by Harvey Adams. Here is some of the information I had: in the 1860 census James age 31 is living with his 3 daughters Sarah age 9, Elizabeth age 7, Martha age 5. He lived only one household away from his wife Julienne. She was living with her children from her first marriage (she was abandoned by her first husband Pierre Dudoit). In 1880 census, James T. Smith and Julienne are together with his daughter, Martha and her son, Frank and their 7 children. In 1900, James Taylor Smith states he was born August 1827 his father from Mississippi, Julia his wife, 9 of her 10 children are living born Sept 1833 and married for 40 years. Living with them are 2 of their sons, a granddaughter and Frank Wallace, cousin born July 1866, single. I found in the Burnt Remnants records that James Taylor Smith married Emily Hargrave, the daughter of George Hargrave and wife Sarah Celeste Harrington. It also states that the 3 girls are the daughters of James Taylor and wife Emily. Then I began to wonder whom this Frank Wallace, the cousin, could be. The Wallace family was the family that lived between Julienne and James Taylor Smith in the 1860 census. According to the Burnt Remnants, Franklin Wallace was the son of John Wallis (Wallace) and Adelaide Pierce. John Wallace died in 1868. Another Wallace, William and his wife Nancy Smith were also listed in the remnants. William died in 1852. The notation listed his heirs and "Familly Meeting at Perry's Bridge: Smith, Nicolas Young, Robert Johnson". I really thought the connection between James and the Wallaces was through William's wife Nancy Smith but was unable to find information on Nancy. I began to trace the Wallace family using *Father Donald Hebert's books: Southwest Louisiana Records. I found that John and William Wallace were brothers and their father was Whittington Wallace and their mother was Lucy White. John and William are the great grandsons of James Taylor White and his wife Elizabeth Pou. I thought it curious that there be a James Taylor White and I was looking for the ancestry of James Taylor Smith. I was unable to make any connection and checked out several James Whites on the rootsweb.com. Then I posted a message on the website's message board and I found some help. *Dana Chapman Hudson a descendant of James Taylor Smith was also looking for his ancestry. Dana Chapman Hudson had been wondering about James Taylor's family too. She encouraged me to go search the courthouse for any bit of information available. I found his succession! James Taylor Smith died 1902. According to the document at the Vermilion Parish courthouse in Abbeville, his children from his first marriage wanted to be considered administrators of his estate along with their husbands: Sarah = Mrs. Uriah Stansbury, Lizzie = Mrs. King George Choate, and Martha = Mrs. Dermas Toups. These girls also claim that Julienne was never married to their father and therefore the children of Julienne's with the last name of Smith are not the rightful and legal heirs of James Taylor Smith. There are 5 pages of testimony included with the succession. This testimony was given on 10 Nov. 1904. Julienne testified that she was indeed legally married to James and that said marriage took place in Abbeville, near the old courthouse. Justice of the Peace A.J. Curney performed the marriage. The marriage took place in 1860 shortly before the start of the Civil War. Julienne testified that she was born Sept. 9 1833 in Vermilion Parish. It was further noted that the courthouse records were consumed in a fire in 1885 and that her marriage documents would have been destroyed along with all other legal document in the Vermilion Parish courthouse. She claimed that her marriage, which may have taken place in 18 August of 1860, was documented in her father's bible and written by James Taylor himself. Other entries in the bible were the birth dates of their children: Augustus, Francis Marion, GeorgieAnna, Henry, Amanda, and James Gradney. (Not listed was Laura Anne). Another b! ible was brought as exhibit "C". This one Julienne identified as James' own bible. This one also had entries written by James stating their marriage date and the birth dates of their children. She also stated that they (James and family) lived in Cow Island for a short time and that she had know James all of her life. Julienne also told that she was divorced from Dudoit. He had left for Illinois and that she had gone to meet him for a short while but had returned to La. and got a divorce. Burnt remnants of her divorce documents were shown and identified. She told how people had gossiped around the area saying Dudoit had another wife. She was told he had another wife in France at the same time he was married to her. A few other witnesses were called to testify. One was Celeste Harrington, who was their neighbor in Cow Island. She did not know whether they were indeed married or not but that they lived as man and wife, and James treated the children by Julienne the same as he treated the girls from his marriage to Emily. Laura Anne, his daughter testified that the bible was her father's bible. (A summons was issued to Ernest Broussard, with the notation <one arm>. This the Ernest Broussard who gave his name to the Cow Island School.) The other 2 witnesses were Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Johnson. The summons identifies Mr. Johnson as Short Johnson, a very old acquaintance of James Taylor Smith. Robert S. Johnson gave his age as 79 on July of same year (1904). When asked if he knew James Taylor Smith, he replied that they were half brothers and were raised together. He also stated that the couple had been together for 40 or more years. During the time they were together, Mr. Dudoit was no longer around because he had run off. He told the court that people talked about James and Julienne. It was mostly their family who commented on their marital status insisting they were NOT married. But Mr. Short Johnson felt it was really none of his business and never talked to James about the situation. He even said that he and his wife lived for a year with Julienne and James about 3 or 4 years after Julia and James got together. Johnson said James never introduced Julia as his wife but as his "old woman" the way man folk refer to their wife. Mrs. Johnson also gave nearly the same type of testimony. James treated both sets of children equally and they lived as man and wife. Th! e matter was settled with a compromise between the 2 groups of heirs. Once we learned that Robert S. "Short" Johnson was a half brother to James Taylor Smith, we tried to trace his family lines. There was no help from Hebert's books. We found biographies online about several Smiths who were prominent in Texas history. Dana and I found Silas Smith, Sr. Silas owned land between Widow Wallace (Lucy White) and St. Claire section of Bayou Vermilion. This puts Silas' land at just south of Perry's Bridge. Silas left this land to his mother while he went off to Texas and War of 1812. When she died, his sister Elizabeth Smith called Madame Johnson lived there. Elizabeth was married to Robert Johnson the son of Robert Johnson and Mary Short of Pennsylvania. (This according to Judge Brashear) The interesting part of the story is that when Silas went to Texas he got lost. His group decided to camp along the bayou he had traveled for awhile to rest and determine where they were, when along came an old friend: James Taylor White. Silas decided to settle n! ear James Taylor White in chambers County, Texas. James Taylor's sister was the Widow Wallace- Lucy White, and they are grand children of James Taylor White married to Elizabeth Pou. So now we have 1.a family of Smiths, 2. Family with a James Taylor and 3. a Robert Johnson and Short! But how do they connect? Dana has access to actual census images online and found James Taylor Smith and his 3 daughters living in the household of Amos Hartley and not in their own house in 1860. In 1850, she found Amos Hartley age 35 living in the house of Thomas Pullen with wife Joanne age 42. Their are also Robert Moss age 21, Henry Moss age 15, and Harrison Moss age 13, and George Pullen, 4years old. In 1870, she found Robert Johnson, his wife Celeste, and their children. But also listed in his household was Sarah Moore age 67. In 1850, there was Sarah Wallis (Wallace?), widow age 49 and 2 young men: Robert 25, laborer, and James, 21, laborer. Who are these people and how do they all tie in together? Thomas Pullin from England married Joanna Hartley, widow of Alfred Moss. She had several children for Moss and some of them are listed above. Joanna was the daughter of Joshua Hartley and Lucy White. There we go! Widow Wallace again! *The History of Vermilion Parish Louisiana, published by the Vermilion Historical Society (fondly called "the Red Book") has an article titled "Pullin Family" (page 255). The author, Ms Nona Butaud, tells that Joanna had a half sister named Sally Wallace, daughter of Whittington Wallace and Lucy White. Sally married a Smith and a Johnson and had 2 sons. ("It was said that Sally raised cattle, rode horse, rounded up and branded her own cattle".) In the entries referring to Sally in Father Hebert's books, she is listed as Celestine, Sara Ann, or Sara. As Sarah Ann she married in 1817 to Nathaniel H. Moore, son of John Moore and Esther Humes recorded at New Iberia church and at St. Martinville Church. She is also listed as being the wife and widow of John Johnson married 3 March 1832 and widowed by succession dated 14 Nov 1839. Both documents recorded at the St. Mary Courthouse in Franklin. But that is too late a marriage date for Robert, who was born ca 1825, or is it? Could ! it be a misprint in Hebert's Book? And could it really be married 3 March 1822. and widowed 1829? Dana and I believe that we have found the mother of both Robert Short Johnson and James Taylor Smith: Celestine Sara Ann Wallace. For some unknown reason the census taker recorded them as Moore's in 1850 and she is called Sarah Moore in census of 1880. But we don't know whom the fathers of Robert Johnson and James Taylor Smith. Could Robert Short Johnson be named after the couple Robert Johnson and his wife Mary Short from Pennsylvania? And is James Taylor Smith named after Sally's uncle and her great grandfather James Taylor White? Can anyone help solve this puzzle? Thank you, Donella Hargrave now this is Dana's version which she posted to message board: Who was James Taylor Smith? We know he was born Aug 1827 ( this according to census Vermilion parish 1900), maybe in the Attakapas region of Louisiana. We know he had a 1/2 brother named Robert S. "Short" Johnson. We know he married Emily Hargrave and by 1860 Emily was dead and James and his three girls were living with Amos Hartley on the 1860 Vermilion Parish LA census. By 1862, (according to 1870 census, Henry, his oldest child with Julia born ca 1862) he was married to Julia Ann Stephens Dudoit, daughter of William and Rachel Clarke Stephens. We believe James' mother was Sarah Ann Wallace, daughter of Whittington Wallace and Lucy White. We believe this Sarah was born July 1797 and married Nathaniel Moore in1817 at New Iberia Church. Whatever happened to Moore, she later married James Taylor Smith's father. A short time later she married the father of Robert S. "Short" Johnson, this according to the Vermilion Parish History Book. We know that Robert is a half brother of James from testimony he gave in James' succession on 1904. In 1850, Sarah Wallace Moore Smith Johnson is enumerated as "Widow Wallace" and she has James and Robert "Moore" living in her home. In 1860, Sarah is 61 and living next door to her is Amos Hartley ( Lucy White married 3 times 1 Whittington Wallace, 2 Josiah Hartley, 3 John Clark. We know of 2 children born to Lucy and Josiah Hartley: Joseph and Joanna) Her mother, which is also next door to her son James. In 1870 Vermilion, Sarah is living with her son, Robert Johnson and his Famil! y, listed as Sarah Moore. We are almost positive now that James T. is the son of Sarah Wallace which would make him the grandson of Lucy White Wallace Hartley Clark. I found succession of Joanna Hartley which lists James T. Smith and his half brother Robert Johnson as relatives at family meeting. by the way this Lucy White married John Clark the brother to Rachel Clark and therefore, a Bro-in-law to William Stephens i know what you mean about missing opportunities to research. i did a little when i was younger to help my Dad but it was his pet project and i did not want to take over. but now i love research and practically live for it and Dana and i realize we enjoy more the the thrill of the hunt. so since sept when I met Dana i have not entered my notes into the gene program instead I have folders full of notes and theories of how people are connected!!! or at least how jJames T. Smith is connected to certain family lines. Terry Larson <mncajun@charter.net> *Dana Chapman Hudson, Dana <THudson763@aol.com> *Donella Hargraves, Donella Labry <Donellabry@aol.com> *The History of Vermilion Parish Louisiana, published by the Vermilion Historical Society (fondly called "the Red Book") has an article titled "Pullin Family" (page 255). The author, Ms Nona Butaud. *Father Donald Hebert's books: Southwest Louisiana Records. *Burnt Remnants Records of Vermilion Parish compiled by Harvey Adams.