I’m going to try to keep this simple. I want to make sure it’s clear that I’m not related to Henly Garrison Smith.

Some of this information I have found on Ancestry.com, some of it I have received from descendants of Henly Garrison Smith. My communication with them has been an effort to sort out the confusion between Henly Garrison Smith and James H. Smith who married Ester Akins.

I want to be clear: I do not believe Henly Garrison Smith was a son of James H. Smith who married Ester Akins and Susannah Chapman.

As of 8/22/2016, I know that Laurence Smith who married Margaret Allison was an agnate of Henly Garrison Smith, but I can not say for certain that Henly and Laurence were closely related.

My primary reason for this claim is that Henly Garrison Smith is not found outside of either Anderson, Anderson County, South Carolina or Elberton, Elbert Co, GA before 1860. We know he was in Elbert Co, GA in 1857 because that is when he married Martha Decker Taylor. In 1850, James H. Smith who married Ester Akins lived in Pickens Co, SC and then later they lived in White Co, GA in 1860. Henly is no where near either of these two counties. Anderson, Anderson County, South Carolina is distinct enough to not be considered Pickens Co, SC.

Additionally, in researching a Harvey J Smith who married an Elizabeth Dorsey, we find a James H. Smith and Elizabeth Poe living near Harvey J. Smith and David Dorsey. Henry Bascum Smith, Harvey’s son, can be found as a 10 year old boy on the farm of David Dorsey. [edit: corrected Henly to Harvey]. Harvey and Henly are suggested to be brothers, but I can find no evidence of this in the census records.

A further note about David Dorsey, he can be found in the 1830 North Carolina census living next to an Anney Smith.

Next, I want to present the handwritten letter that many of his researchers claim to be irrefutable evidence of his ancestry.

This is my attempt at a transcription of it with commentary.

–BEGIN–

Henly G. Smith’s father was named James and ran a mill about 3 miles from what is now known as Toccoa, GA. James was a Revolutionary Soldier, Henly a confederate veteran as were his brothers Perry, Francis, Laurence, and Harvey.

[NOTE:] Immediately, I notice that there is no way Henly’s father could have been a solider during The Revolutionary War. The math just does not fit. Henly was born 1830-1832. Let’s say that if Henly’s father, given every benefit of the doubt, was 16 years old at anytime between 1776 and 1783. That means he would have had to have been born between 1760 and 1767. If that is the case, Henly’s father would have been, at his youngest, 70 years old when Henly was born. This is highly unlikely. I will say that Henly being a confederate soldier is true.[/NOTE:]

Donnie Albince(?) Crawford was the great grand daughter of Mr. Gregg for whom Gregg Shoals on Savannah River was named. Gregg was a native of Ireland, marrying there to a woman named Skagg; their daughter married Tommie Turner, and their daughter Catherine married Benj. Crawford and became the mother of Donie.

[I believe this above section is factually correct.]

The old Gregg home is on the Savannah River in Gaines district about 3 miles down Pickens creek from the old Wm Taylor home. James Smith, the grandfather of Wm. J. Smith had 7 brothers who were all Revolutionary Soldiers.

[NOTE:] Again, I highly doubt the claim of all of Henly’s father’s brothers being veterans of The Revolutionary War. I feel that mentioning the RevWar at the end of the Gregg narrative of the letter breaks the flow of the narrative.  [/NOTE:]

[LINK:] I believe this page contains the Taylors that are related to Henly’s Taylor kin  Please independently verify the lineages on this page. Notice there are Smiths listed. I could be wrong.[/LINK]

William Taylor came from Orange County, VA to Elbert Co, GA in the year of 1796 and settled one(?) mile west of the Savannah River on Pickens Creek building a log house that stood until 1926 when it was burned. This is now the property of Mrs. O. E. Smith, the great-great-granddaughter of the original settler, by marriage.

[NOTE:] Just for clarity sake, let’s map this out. Let’s look at Elbert Co, GA around 1796.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gatttp/maps/formationmap.htm

Notice that Elbert borders Franklin County in 1796.

I can find a William Taylor in the tax lists for 1800 Franklin Co, GA but not Elbert Co, GA. This could simply be a census or tax jurisdiction discrepancy. I feel from the above description for where William Taylor settled, he is definitely the William Taylor mentioned  as having settled on “the north fork of the Broad River”. I could be wrong, so please double check me. I’ve been told I’m incorrect, but not exactly why.[/NOTE:]

In this house in 1802 was born Jesse Taylor, son of William Taylor and grandfather of William J. Smith whose death is recorded in this book.

[Accurate. Where’s the rest of the book?]

And to this house came Donie Crawford, to live as the bride of William J. Smith in 1880.

Henly G. Smith, the father of William J. Smith, was born near Pendleton, SC in 1830, migrated to Habersham Co, GA in boyhood, and came to Elbert Co. in 1856 as a stone mason, and doing some work for Jesse Taylor, fell in love with his daughter Martha and married her that year and W. J. Smith was bron of them in 1858.

[NOTE:] Henly’s civil war records show that he was specifically born in “Anderson, Anderson, South Carolina” [/NOTE:]

Jesse Taylor, Martha’s father married Ferbe Decker in 1823 in Gaines District, Elbert Co, GA.

William Taylor was also a revolutionary soldier and great uncle of Robert and Alf Taylor of Tennessee. President Zachary Taylor was a cousin of William Taylor both reared in the same county of Orange in Virginia.

[NOTE:] The above Taylor webpage states that William Taylor himself was not a RevWar vet, but his father was. I can agree that President Zachary Taylor’s family was from Orange Co, VA. What I can not agree on is that the aforementioned William Taylor of the North Fork of the Broad River is of the same yDNA line as Zachary Taylor. Please note that there are quite a few yDNA lines, and quite a few of them have William Taylors in them. President Zachary Taylor’s line has been identified via yDNA.[/NOTE:].

–END–

What I wish to show on this page is how the accuracy of the information in the handwritten letter is questionable. I will agree there is some truth to what is written, however.

In summary, I can find no connection from Henly Garrison Smith to Harvey J Smith (other than this letter and a yDNA match of genetic distance of 2, one of the markers that differ being DYS19) who was a son of a James H. Smith and Elizabeth Poe. I can find no link for Henly Garrison Smith to White County or Habersham County, Georgia. The handwritten letter is questionably accurate in it’s details.

I will periodically update this page with more findings. Perhaps the correct parentage of Henly will emerge. Currently, I believe him to be related to a Larkin, Drury, and Jesse Smith of Elbert Co, GA who lived near a Roach family.

I stand by my critique of this letter as it is partially factually inaccurate.

Chris