Carson Johnson - The Smith Family

Genealogical History of Some Carsons, Johnsons, and Related Families

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Chapter 21 - The Smith Family

Relatively (no pun intended) little is known about the Smiths. However, they are important, because Robert Elizabeth Smith married William Edwin Johnson and was the mother of Carl Eugene Johnson.

Roots in South Carolina

James “Jimmy” Smith was born about 1805 in South Carolina. He married Sarah Webb (?) probably about 1839. Sarah Webb was born about 1812 in Georgia. By 1840 the newlyweds were in Houston County, Georgia, where James “Jimmy” Smith was a farmer, and by1860, his property was valued at $2900. Neither James “Jimmy” Smith nor Sarah Webb could read and write, but some of their children could.

Children of James “Jimmy” Smith and Sarah Webb were:

Mary A. Smith (b. about 1840)
David T. Smith (b. about 1843)
James Smith (born about 1845)
Sarah T. Smith (born about 1847)
Needham F. Smith (born about 1851)
Thomas Bryant Smith
Robert Smith (born about 1854)
Billy C. Smith (born about 1856)

Of these children, Mary A. Smith, Needham F. Smith, and Thomas Bryant Smith are known to have attended school, and perhaps the other children did too.

A Contested Will

Robert “Bob” Smith, son of James “Jimmy” Smith and Sarah Webb, had a farm near the community of Elko in Houston County, Georgia. Shortly before his death, he married a widow, and left his estate to her. After he died, his brothers Thomas Bryant Smith and James Smith contested the will in court, but could not prevail. Robert and his wife are buried in Houston County.

James Smith and his wife had no children. They are both buried near Elko in Houston County, Georgia.

Thomas Bryant Smith, son of James “Jimmy” Smith and Sarah Webb, was born March 7, probably in 1851. About 1884, he married Louisa Raffield (born July 2, 1860, in Georgia). Thomas Bryant Smith owned a farm located about five miles northeast of Cordele, Georgia, in Crisp County, perhaps near Penia.

Louisa Raffield ’s parents may have been Raymond Raffield , born in South Caroina, and Margaret Davis , born in Georgia. Margaret Davis ’ parents were Raymond Nathaniel Davis and Margaret Cain . Louisa Raffield had two sisters. One married Jim Wright , the other was an old maid. Louisa Raffield died at the home of one of their sons, Pate Smith , in Barnesville, GA, on April 14, 1930.

He Lost the Will to Live

After her death, Thomas Bryant Smith went to live with another son, Harvey Smith , inLaGrange, GA, but lived only another ten days. He died March 24, 1930.

Children of Thomas Bryant Smith and Louisa Raffield were:

Robert Elizabeth Smith
Maggie SmithJackson Smith .
Pate Smith , who married Gladys Cremer .
Baker Smith .
Harvey Smith , who married Bertie Cornwell .
David Smith .

Maggie Smith, daughter of Thomas Bryant Smith and Louisa Raffield , married David Avera and had several children. In her old age, Maggie Smith lived in a nursing home in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia.

Pate Smith, son of Thomas Bryant Smith and Louisa Raffield , married Gladys Cremer. They had two sons, Johnny Lee Smith and Clarence Smith. Clarence Smith may have become an instructor at the University of Georgia.

Harvey Smith, son of Thomas Bryant Smith and Louisa Raffield , lived in La Grange, Georgia, where he worked in the textile industry. He married Bertie Cornwell. Harvey and Bertie had no children of their own, but they raised Hugh Cornwell, Bertie’s nephew.

Robert Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Thomas Bryant Smith and Louisa Raffield, was born August 18, 1886, in Dooly County, GA. She married William Edwin Johnson on November 26, 1905. (See Chapter 17)