Smith Genealogy - Chatham Co., NC

Marty and Karla Grant

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Welcome to my Smith genealogy pages. Smith is the number one most common surname in the United States. My interest in this surname is limited to those in Chatham Co., NC in the 1700s and very early 1800s.

I have two other Smith lines in North Carolina and one in Tennessee. Check those out if interested.

My most recent Smith ancestor is my four times great grandmother, Esther Smith, born 1776 in Chatham Co., NC. She married Wilson Gilbert in 1799 in Chatham, an act that got her dismissed from the Quaker church, since he wasn’t a Quaker. They lived in Chatham until ca 1817 when they moved to Burke Co., NC in the region that later became Yancey County, then later Mitchell, finally Avery County. Wilson died there in the 1830s, Esther in 1850. Esther is a child of:

Daniel Smith, born ca late 1740s or early 1750s, possibly in Perquimans Co., NC, though that isn’t proven yet. He came to what is now Chatham Co., NC with his parents in 1759. He married Pleasant Chancey there in 1776. They remained in that county. He died in 1791, she in 1815. His parents:

Thomas Smith, born ca 1720s, perhaps in Perquimans Co., NC, though that isn’t proven yet. He married Esther, maiden name unknown, though I’ve seen her listed as a Sawyer in some trees, but with no documentation. They moved to what is now Chatham in 1759. They both died there sometime after 1768. His parents aren’t yet proven, but some undocumented online trees show him as a son of James Smith of Perquimans. More research is needed to determine where that comes from and if it is indeed accurate.

There is some good information on Thomas and Daniel Smith in the Quaker records in North Carolina.

Revised: February 17, 2023

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