John P. Smith (father of John J.) was at Valley Force during the hard winter of '77 with the Continental Army. Perhaps His family was Scotch-Irish originally from Ulster. John P. took his 100 acres as a Rev. War veteran in Edgefield, S.C. He and his wife Martha Jones had a son, John Jackson Smith in 1799 there. His friend Butler married Martha's sister, Mary Ann Jones. The sister's were said to be 1/2 Indian. The girls father was Seaborn Jones. In Hines County, MS John P. Smith acquired land and 65 Slaves. John P. and Martha had a son John Jackson in 1799. John Jackson Smith married his neighbor and first cousin Margaret Butler at 18 in Hines County, Ms. The John J. family was said to be conservative, church attending (Primitive Baptist?). John J. no mention of the word "Indian" regarding the family heritage. Daughter Emily Smith said she went to bed crying because of being made fun of because of Indian blood. Seaborn Smith's widow Nina Eastland Smith sent her granddaughter's (my Mother, Bernice Smith Davidson's) Aunts, Lila and May Smith to Nursing and Normal School. There was a passed down saying from Seaborn Smith -"you have to lie to be a lawyer," and his wife say was "I don't like these men".
