JAMES NORMAN SMITH (1789 NC – 1875 TX)

JAMES NORMAN SMITH (1789 NC – 1875 TX) - Biography

JAMES NORMAN SMITH, early Texas patriot and educator, was born 14 September 1789 at Richmond County, North Carolina. James had a twin brother named CHARLES ALLISON SMITH. The twins were sons of American Revolutionary Patriot JAMES TURNER SMITH (1752 MD – 1817 NC) and CONSTANTINA FORD (1760 MD – 1812 TN). CONSTANTINA was the daughter of CHARLES ALLISON and ANN CHANDLER FORD of Charles County Maryland.

JAMES N. SMITH's teaching career began in 1806 after the family moved to Tennessee where he met and married SARAH JENKINS 1812. SARAH was the daughter of American Revolutionary Patriot PHILIP JENKINS and ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD of Charles County Maryland. Before Sarah's death in 1820 JAMES and SARAH JENKINS SMITH had five children: CONSTANCE FORD, ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD, JANE CATHARINE, JAMES BROWN and BENJAMIN.

In 1825, JAMES N. SMITH married his cousin, ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD MOREHEAD, they had eight children: MARY MOREHEAD, SARAH ANN, CHARLES ALLISON, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, MARTHA JENKINS, JOSEPH MOREHEAD, SUSAN STOREY and THOMAS CRUTCHER.

In addition to positions of political and social leadership in Tennessee, JAMES NORMAN SMITH farmed, taught school and engaged in commerce. With the collapse of his business in 1839, he moved to Texas. In 1840 the family settled in Gonzales on Cuero Creek and was caught in the Great Comanche Raid. JAMES N. SMITH, at age 50 fought in his first battle at Plum Creek, 1841.

When the Mexican Army invaded Texas in 1842, Smith took his family to Mill Creek for safety. There he was joined by his daughter ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD SMITH CALHOUN who had been widowed in Tennessee in 1841. In November 1845, the family returned to their land on the Guadalupe. Elizabeth supported her family by teaching. She built a school at Clinton around 1846. In 1848, at Cuero, she married JOHN BARNHILL and had three daughters, MARTHA, SARAH and LYDIA.

When DeWitt County was formed in 1846, JAMES NORMAN SMITH made the original survey. He was elected County clerk and held that office until 1865. Before he died in 1875, Smith chronicled his life in a hand-written, four-volume manuscript. His PERSONAL MEMOIRS describe how he surveyed the DeWitt County lines using the old stock lock compass his father bought for him. Smith's PERSONAL MEMOIRS are currently in the Barker Library, Texas Archives, University of Texas at Austin. A descendant, THOMAS CALHOUN ANDERSON provided a typed copy of the MEMOIRS in 1981 which numbers 244 pages. A Texas Historical Marker in JAMES NORMAN SMITH's honor stands today at the First Presbyterian Church Cuero, Texas.

Submitted by: BENNIE LOU HOOK ALTOM
9966 GALWAY DRIVE
DALLAS, TX 75218-2821
(214) 327-9260

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