Mitzi......then we should just place Smither on the other side of Schmetters and then after Schmetter bec thats the way it happened apparently. None of us can prove any Smither that came here. We dont even know for sure WHERE Wm Smither was born, Eng or Pa or whereever, we just know he died in PA and we CAn NOT prove who his father REALLY is either....so to say we were a line of Wm Smither then Schmetter/Schmedder due to his wife baptising all the kids as such..and many and various records even some census use this sp....then it fanned out to Smither [s], Smeathers, Smathers, Smothers....so now would you agree with that? and did it not also fan out to Smetters and Smethers.......correct me please if this in correct, thanks, Nena Since the Smothers name, at least in our line appears to trace back to Smeathers to Smathers to Smithers to Schmetters or Schmedders.[Smither [s]....this is really a good site to figure out why the German way sometimes used for instance, Jurg or Anna or Maria so often in front of more than 1 child in the family. Nena _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus

Nena, As you said, we may never know where these lines began. Below are a few of my notes regarding the origins the the Smither/Smether/Smothers/etc. line. Mitzi <msmetters@ncweb.com> Visit our CyberHome at <www.ncweb.com/users/msmetters> _____________ From: <SScanfish@aol.com> To: <msmetters@ncweb.com> Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2000 10:44 AM Subject: Family line "Tradition and records states that William Smithers was English in background and his marriage a German woman, Maria Katharina Jeaky, was frowned on (she spoke no English). So they went to live in her community of Pennsylvania. "William Smither was zealous of his Welsh heritage and insisted that the surname Smither be included for each child in his will. He state that his children were using invalid German aliases due to the influence of his German wife Maria Catharina Jeakey (Jackel). "This shows he probably had knowledge of his heritiage. His will was signed with an X. . . . it notes that the last name is Smither and not Smithers. Smither being a Welsh name. "Steve Smothers" Also from Steve Smothers: "My family is from William Smithers ) (actually William Smither). William Smither (#2) m. Maria Katharina Jeaky (b. Germany?) frowned on..(she spoke no English)..so they went to live in her community of PA. They had many children: John, Willia, Aaron, George, Jacob, Christian, Anna-Eliabeth, Susanna, Mary, Valentine (He married in VA and became a Smathers). "These children grew up reading,writing and speaking German. When the boys were old enough to learn English only one son wrote his name Smetters.(the way a German would)...the rest used Smothers or Smethers. "John Smither [father of George Nicholas] was about the third generation of his family in America. Four Smither men, named John, William, George, and Thomas arrived about 1650-1670 from Whales and landed in Virginia. Descendants were found in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Steve Smothers did not supply sources for this information nor connection evidence to show that the John Smither of this entry was related to the four men from Whales. "The official Pennsylvania-German society records do not list the names Schmetter, Schmethers, Smethers, Smetters, Smothers, Smither, Smathers, Smuthers or any other variation as attributed to a Palatine or German family that imigrated that imigrated to Pennsyvania. "Steve" ________________________________________ From: Patty Matthews<Gene-pool@webtv.net> To: <msmetters@ncweb.com> Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2000 6:47 PM Subject: William Smither "I have recently come across some information that has my Jacob Smethers coming to America from England in 1767 along with a brother Robert, who settled in Delaware. I have yet to investigate it, and I will keep you informed. It is information that came from a family Bible. I am trying to locate the person with the Bible to see for myself. It was supposed to have been written in the early 1800's by Margaret Rittenhouse Smethers, wife of Lawrence Smethers, and passed down to my gg-grandmother, Lawrence's daughter, Margaret Smethers Thoma. From there, it has been passed to Margaret Scott, daughter of Margaret Smethers Thoma's son Edwin. "Patty"