James Franklin Smith Sr Family
By Frances Fox
Taken from Ye Olde Ancestors, January 30, 1992
Written permission given by the New Boston Genealogy Society
to post this information to the Bowie County TXGenWeb site.



The oldest daughter of Warren Hooks and Elizabeth Roberts was Jane Nancy Hooks, 1825-1906.  She married James Franklin Smith Sr in 1843 in Franklin County, Alabama.  They came to Bowie County, Texas in the 1850's.  James Franklin Smith Sr was born in 1815 in Madison County, Alabama and he died before 1870 in Bowie County, Texas.  His father was John Smith Jr, ___-1886, lived and died in Lawrence County, Alabama.  His mother was Martha Ann Neighbors, 1892-1822.  James Franklin's grandfather was Sgt John SMith, 1754-1841, who served in the Revolutionary War from Laurens County, South Carolina.  Sgt John Smith's wife was Mary Long.  Martha Ann Neighbors's father was John Neighbors.  Sgt John Smith and Mary Long had 13 children.  One of those had a son, James Franklin Smith, who also came to Texas.

The children of James Franklin Smith and Jane Nancy Hooks are:
1. James Franklin Jr, 1844-1923, married Maggie Lucretia Christopher, 1849-1892, in 1868.  They are buried in the Hooks Cemetery
2. Vanita Carlessa, 1846-___, married Kennedy Wade Ball in 1866
3. George Warren Smith, 1848-1862, did not marry
4. Susan Coalman Elizabeth "Colie", 1849-1931, married David Scott Moore in 1870.  This family lived near Hooks, Texas

A book written by Earl Davis Smith was titled for his parents, John Tyson Smith and Nancy Melvina Skaggs.  Part of the book is about the Smith family and the other part about the Skaggs.  John Tyson Smith Sr was a County Judge in Gregg County from 1886-1898 and Gregg County, Texas School Superintendent in 1896.  Four of the Smith brothers (there were 13 children) were:
1. Nathan, born in Virginia in 1790, came to Harrison County, Texas in 1849
2. Jacob Smith, born in 1792, came to Harrison County, Texas in 1850
3. Joshua, born in 1796 in Virginia, came to Harrison County, Texas
4. Silas M, born in 1803 in Virginia, came to Harrison County, Texas with Joshua



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