Tricounty Map – 1 (Jesse Page, William Smith Sr, John Smith Sr)

On 17 January 1764 Jesse Page and his wife Anne deeded 100A of their 517A grant to William Smith Sr of the county & province afsd (this being Johnston County, NC) (JoCo D1:163) for 5£. The deed was witnessed by Lodwick Tanner and Francis Payne. Lodwick Tanner is known to be a nearby landowner. He was living about 2 miles north of this grant, on the north side of Middle Creek.

This deed to William Smith Sr opens a ton of questions with respect to my research on my Smith genealogy.

With Richard Smith having been a chain carrier for Jesse Page in 1762, was Richard a relative, neighbor or hired to provide that service? It appears at this point that Richard may have been a neighbor but still possibly hired for the task.

There is an obscure deed that appears to have some bearing in answering the above question. On 14 February 1761 Nathan Nall deeded 100A to, “… John Smith of the parish, county & province afsd (St Stephens parish, Johnston Co., NC) living on Swift Creek and son of William Smith who now resides on Black Creek in the county afsd planter …” (JoCo A1:178).

If the William Smith in that deed is the same William Smith Sr of the Jesse Page tract then that could explain how Richard Smith appears in this area of Johnston. And furthermore, something to be examined at a later point is whether William is potentially the father of Richard Smith.

On 16 April 1765 Jesse Page deeded the remainder of the 1763 grant, 417A to John Smith Sr (JoCo Transcript1:120) for 10£ proc. This deed was witnessed by Robert Rowan and James Glasgow.

Research note: John Smith Sr did not have a child named William. However, John’s son John Smith Jr (known as Col John Smith, namesake given to the formation of the town of Smithfield) did have a son named William. This William was born ca 1760 therefore not the William Smith Sr mentioned above.