Smith’s on the Florida Georgia Line

This map is annotated with observations of Smith men that migrated to this area of the Florida Georgia Line in the mid to late 1800’s. This mainly showcases Smith progenitors to this area of the country who are of different immediate family groups.

Now, there are hundreds of Smith’s that come and go within the map’s boundaries from about 1840 to 1900. However I wanted to just hightlight the below men. I might add additional individuals that meet the criteria as they are discovered. {click on the below map to see a larger version and then zoom in}

Blue – Represents Job Elbert Wilder Smith who lived in Lowndes County, Georgia for many years. He moved to the Tallokas area of Lowndes and is recorded there in the 1850 U.S. Census. By 1853 he has moved south into Hamilton County, Florida and joined his brother Jeremiah B Smith living near Jennings.

Yellow – Represents Jeremiah B Smith who moved into Hamilton County ca1848 as evident by the land deeds of that county.

Dark Orange – Represents Isaiah Smith Jr who can be found living in Jefferson County, Florida on the 1840 U.S. Census with 2 women who family researchers suspect may be his sisters. He returns to Houston County, Georgia by the 1850 U.S. Census and then by the 1860 U.S. Census he is found living in Manatee County, Florida.

Green – Represents Anderson Monroe Smith who first appears in the 1860 U.S. Census living near Tallokas. By 1870 he is found living in the Boston area and then in 1880 he is recorded living in Ways, Thomas County, Georgia. In 1990 he can be found living in Desoto County, Florida. Genealogy note here is that researchers have not been able to identify Anderson’s father. Interesting how close the green starts next to the blue. In 1850, Job Smith had 6 sons that were over 18.

Purple – Represents James Polk Smith who is found living in Madison County, Florida in 1870, then Brooks County, Georgia in 1880 and 1900 U.S. Census. Of note in purple is Daniel David Seay who is identified as the son of James Polk Smith but did not take the Smith surname.

The significance of this map is to show all these “progenitors” have something in common.

And that is they all share a Common Ancestor.

The three Smith men plotted within the two dashed circles share the same Y-DNA. This means that this particular piece of DNA is passed down on a male’s paternal line. So a male Smith 280 years ago gave his Y-DNA to his son’s who gave it to their son’s. This cycle repeats and repeats and repeats.

For reference, descendants for these three Smith’s match the authors Y-DNA. My line of Smith’s are living on the east coast of Florida just outside Daytona, during the mid to late 1800’s.

The Smith men plotted outside of the two dashed circles share the same autosomal DNA. This has been determined through paternal autosomal DNA triangulation. This is accomplished by identifying DNA shared matches among three different autosomal DNA test takers.

Test Taker (TT) 1 shares the same Y-DNA as the Y-DNA Smith’s identified above (green, purple, and orange). TT1 has an autosomal DNA match to a Control Test Taker (CTT). This is a test taker of a known Smith family group (i.e. the Smith’s living near Daytona), who was born in 1929.

TT1 has a autosomal shared match with TT2 who is a descendant of the yellow family group/progenitor. TT1 and TT2 both match CTT.

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Readers – if your aware of a Smith that is not part of one of these Smith family groups and that you think might have a connection to one of these groups and is a progenitor to this area of Florida and Georgia, please reach out to me and lets chat.