Lieutenant James Smith

  General Notes:

James Smith joined the 7th Virginia Regiment at its inception early in 1776 as a Sargeant in the Company of Capt. John Webb. This company was led by Lt. Col. Alexander McClenahan under Gen. William Woodford. On Jan. 9, 1777 James Smith was promoted to Ensign and transferred to Capt. William Mosby's Co. By July 1777 he was transferred to Capt. Thomas Hill's Co. of the same regiment.

He spent the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge. Almost all of the officers of the 7th Regiment went on furlough to Virginia in late March, "To bring up recruits." He was listed as present on the muster roll for the month of June. From June to Sept., 1778, he was in the Major's Co. of the 3rd and 7th Virginia Regiment, combined. At the Rearrangement at White Plains, Sept. 14, 1778, the 7th Virginia Regiment was renumbered the 5th Regiment.

On Sept. 30, 1778, James was promoted to the rank of Supernumerary Lieutenant. The last surviving record concerning James Smith is a payroll for the month of May, 1779. He is on a list (National Archives) of veterans who served until the end of the war. For his service, he received a total of 3480 1/3 acres of bounty land by Feb. 12, 1807. This land was probably in Ohio.

  Research Notes:

The 1810 Federal Census for Granville, North Carolina records:
Name: James Smith
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10: 3
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15: 3
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25: 3
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over: 1 [James]
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10: 2
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over : 1 [Amy]
Number of All Other Free Persons: 4
Numbers of Slaves: 27
Number of Household Members Under 16: 8
Number of Household Members Over 25: 2
Number of Household Members: 45

James married Amy Pomfret, daughter of John Pomfret and Ann Hunt. (Amy Pomfret was born on 23 Jan 1761 and died after 1810 in Granville (Now Vance) Co., N.C..)