Pharosima Hastings Smith: Part 2

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Pharo Smith

Update 12/21/14 to add graph of family tree and members living in Choctaw/Sumner/Webster County MS with Pharosima

In the previous post I covered where I began my investigation of “Pharo” Smith. In this post I will review how I connected her to the Hastin/Hasting family of Mecklenberg County, VA and later Spartanburg, SC.

It has been many years since I tripped over the revolutionary war pension filings related to one Absalom Hastings. The first time was before the genealogy site Fold3 really took off. I know this because the first time I read the scanned images of this incredible source (70 pages of written records from the early 1800s) I found them on Ancestry.com. It was completely from curiosity that I began to peruse the images. They are a really interesting historical artifact of that time.

By the time I realized there could be a connection to the Hasting pension filings, the records were moved to Fold3 (and thus the impetus behind my Fold3 account). What is so wonderful about the Hasting pension filings is the detailed record of his life, marriage and children.

Part 2: Pharo’s Family In South Carolina

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Pharosima Hastings Smith: Part 3

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Pharo Smith

In the previous two posts (Part 1 and Part 2) I laid out the back story of my wife’s 4th Great Grandmother – Pharo (Hastings) Smith. In this post I will review the search for Pharo Smith’s grave and how Ellen Herriman (a distant cousin) was able to physically locate and document the site.

Part 3: Pharo’s Final Resting Place Discovered

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Pharosima Hastings Smith: Part 4

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Pharo Smith

This is the final post in a series of 4 highlighting the story of Pharo (Hastings) Smith, my wife’s 4th great-grandmother and likely source of Native American heritage in her family line. It is more speculative than fact-based. It attempts to take individual facts and build a conclusion on the native roots of one Pharo (Hastings) Smith.

In the prior posts I covered:

  • Where this journey all began (Part 1)
  • How I connected Pharo Smith in Mississippi to the Hastins family of Spartanburg SC and Mecklenberg, VA. (Part 2)
  • Discovering Pharo’s final resting place in Carter County, OK (Part 3).

In this final segment I want to review the strong evidence of Pharo’s Native American heritage and which tribe I believe she could be from.

Part 4: Pharo’s Native American Roots

What’s in a name?

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John Jeffries Jr (28 Oct 1921 – 24 May 2014)

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JohnSmiling

By Alan John Jeffries

John Jeffries Junior passed away peacefully today (May 24th 2014) in Reston, Virginia. He is survived by his wife of 70 Years Corinne (Fleger) Jeffries; daughter Melinda Lasater; sons Alan Jeffries and Robert Jeffries; granddaughters Ashley Nikolic, Danielle Hedgepeth, Alyse Lasater, Jackie Jeffries, and Amber Jeffries; and grandson Sean Jeffries; and great grandson Cameron Hedgepeth; as well as many loving cousins, nieces and nephews.

This post presents a mini-biography of our father so others can learn about this great man.

Family Home Grafton

The Home John Grew Up In Now

John was born on October 28, 1921 in the wild and wonderful hills of Grafton, West Virginia.  His mother, Veda Pearl Shriver, can trace her family roots back to the early pioneers of this one time frontier of Virginia. His father, Virgil Luther Jeffries, also can trace his family back to the mid 1800s. In future posts I hope to explore the family histories of John’s parents. But today we focus on John.

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Elphinstone Part 1: Connecting Dr Gustavus Brown To Clan Elphinstone

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Elphinstone Coat of Arms

It took a lot of sleuthing and investigating, but I was finally able to identify the branch of Clan Elphinstone from Scotland that married into the Mitchelson and Brown families, from whence the Browns would land upon America’s shores in 1708 in the person of one Gustavus Brown. Dr. Gustavus Brown’s life story is incredible and worthy of its own biographical movie. But for the purposes of this topic, his story is a stepping stone for all those American families who can tie their ancestry back to this fascinating man and his royal Scottish roots.

Gustavus Brown’s ordeal in coming to America is briefly described in “Virginia Genealogies” by Horace Edwin Hayden, 1891:

When a youth of 19 he became a Surgeon’s mate, or Surgeon, on one of the royal or King’s ships that came to the Colony in the Chesapeake Bay, 1708. While his ship lay at anchor he went on shore, but before he could return a severe storm arose, which made it necessary for the ship to weigh anchor and put out to sea. The young man was left with nothing but the clothes on his back. He quickly made himself known, and informed the planters of his willingness to serve them if he could be provided with instruments and medicines, leaving them to judge if he was worthy of their confidence. He began his practice of medicine at Nansemond, Md. He soon gained respect and succeeded beyond his expectations.

How such random events (a landing, a storm, a hasty departure etc)  led to Scottish royal blood taking root in America is truly wondrous. Dr. Gustuvas Brown went on to become a wealthy and influential man, whose offspring married into other families who shaped this country and fought for independence. But those stories are for another posting.

This post begins with a family Bible handed down to Dr. Brown by his mother (who remained in Scotland, where Dr Brown briefly returned before settling back in America). In this bible are notations to his heritage. And one key entry provides the connection not only to Clan Elphinstone, but also to which branch [click to enlarge]:

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Elphinstone Part 2: Connecting Isobel Elphinstone of “Selims” to Clan Elphinstone

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Elphinstone Coat of Arms

In Part 1 of this post I laid out how a probable transcription error from the family Bible of Dr Gustavus Brown had made it difficult for his ancestors (like us) to trace back into a specific branch of the Elphinstone Clan of Scotland. Assuming this theory to be true, we can assume Dr. Gustavus Brown is descended from the Elphinstones of Selmys (a.k.a. Selims, Selmes, Selms). The question then becomes: can we find evidence of this connection with his grandmother Isobel Elphinstone – wife of George Mitchelson?

I believe I have. But first, a quick recap of the main branch of Clan Elphinstone is in order since it bears on the path of the Selmys branch as well.

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