SIMPSON - REID
By Mrs. T.H. Bowles
The excerpt on the Simpson - Reid
family of which Clarissa Harlow Reid Smith, wife of Colonel Maurice Smith, was
a member was taken from "Miscellaneous History of Hot Spring County, Vol.
III" (Malvern, Arkansas Library) pp. 88-90.
Richard Simpson, Sr. in 1727 was
granted 300 acres of land on South Run of Pohick Creek in Halifax County,
Virginia. He died between September 19, 1761, when his will was written,
and December 1762, when it was probated. His widow, Sarah, was dead by
August 1766. Their children were Moses, George, Elizabeth, Sarah,
Richard, Jr., Mary and William (as named in his will).
Richard Simpson, Jr. died in 1789 and
was survived by his widow, Mary, who was born in 1718 in Richmond County,
Virginia, was the daughter of John Kincheloe, Sr. and Elizabeth Canterbury of
Stafford (now Prince William County, Virginia. After John's death in
1746, his widow, Elizabeth, married Edward Emms.
Elizabeth Canterbury Kincheloe was the
daughter of John Canterbury, who died in 1716, and Ruth Williams, who was born
in Rappahannock County, Virginia. Ruth was the daughter of Roger Williams
and Joane "Jen" Frith. Jen married first Roger Williams and
they resided in Northumberland County, Virginia before 1665. After his
death she married second, Samuel Wills, and third, Lewis Lloyd. Jen was
the daughter of Nathaniel Frith, who died in 1676.
John Kincheloe, Sr. was the son of
Cornelius of Richmond County, Virginia. John's children were: Cornelius,
Daniel, Elizabeth, Mary, John, Jr., Wileman (a daughter who married John
Hoskins), Margaret and Sarah.
Mary Kincheloe married Richard Simpson,
Jr. and they were living in Essex County, Virginia February 8, 1767 when their
daughter, Keziah, was born. In 1857, Keziah Simpson Reid told the
following to her granddaughter, Annie Maurice Smith, an 18 year old girl:
"When Daniel Boone was enlisting
settlers to move to Kentucky, Richard Simpson, III, Keziah's older brother,
decided the future would be more profitable if he moved his family to
Kentucky. Their sister Sallie had married Nathaniel Hart in 1760 and the
Harts had lived at their country seat "The Red House" in Caswell
County, North Carolina from 1760 until their removal to Kentucky in 1779.
Nathaniel Hart and William Henderson bought Kentucky from the Cherokee Indians
in 1775. Captain Nathaniel Hart was killed by Indians in sight of Fort
Boonsboro on August 19, 1782. Children of Sallie Simpson and Nathaniel
Hart were: Susanna, 1761-1833, who married Isaac Shelby, first governor of
Kentucky; Mary Ann; Keziah; Chinoe; Nathaniel, who married Susanna
Preston; John; Simpson; Cumberland and Richard Green."
Keziah Simpson went with her brother
and his family to Kentucky and in 1873 married William Buchanon, who was killed
by Indians soon after their marriage. Keziah's siblings were: Sallie
Simpson, who married Nathaniel Hart; Bettie Simpson, who married Jesse Oldham;
Richard Simpson, III, who married Henrietta Williams; Lydia Simpson, who
married Richard Tate; Eda Simpson, who married William Nunn; Nancy Simpson, who
married Waddy Tate; Frankie Simpson,
who married Jerry Poston; and Mary Ann
(Mollie) Simpson, who married Tyree Harris as his second wife. Tyree
Harris was born April 8, 1728, son of Major Robert Harris and Mourning
Glenn. Tyree married first, Elizabeth Chapman. He was born in
Albemarle County, Virginia, but moved to Caswell County, North Carolina.
He and Mary Ann had a daughter, Lydia Harris, who married Robert Brown.
They were parents of Tyre (called Tary) Harris Brown, who settled in Tulip,
Arkansas. Tyre H. Brown married Martha Bethel, daughter of John Pinkney
Bethel and wife, Sarah Smith (died 1858) natives of North Carolina, but resided
in Shelby County, Tennessee many years. Tulip was called Brownsville for Tyre
Brown.
John Reid, a Major in the Revolutionary
War, was born April 16, 1748 and resided on the Holstein River in Washington
County, Virginia. He was appointed ensign in the Third Regiment commanded
by Lt.Col. John Montgomery. He immediately raised his quota of men, joined
the Regiment at Long Island on the Holstein, and served there from January 9,
1779, to January, 1781, during which time he acted as Adjutant and then as
Quartermaster. He also carried Expresses from Col. Evan Shelby, Arthur
Campbell and David Smith. He was under Col. Campbell in the battle of
King's Mountain and served as quartermaster with Col. William Campbell in the
battle of Guilford. (This information given on John Reid's widow's
application for a pension. File No. 26946)
John Reid had known Keziah Simpson
before her marriage to William Buchanon, and he and Mrs. Keziah Simpson
Buchanan were married on March 22, 1784 at Boonesborough, Kentucky. They
moved to Caswell County, North Carolina where six children were born to them:
1. Nathaniel Reid, born October 5, 1794.
2. John B. Reid, born September 16, 1796, died 1816.
3. Buchanon Reid, born May
15, 1799, died 1847 in Fayette County, Tennessee. One of his children
John Reid, went to Tulip, Arkansas in the 1850's.
4. Thomas Jefferson Reid, born September 5, 1801.
5. Amelia Reid, born September 15, 1803, died in infancy.
6. Clarissa Harlow Reid, born April 11, 1806.
John Reid died June 23, 1826 in Caswell
County, North Carolina and Keziah personally managed her estate for many years
after his death. During her latter days she drew a Revolutionary War
pension for his service. "King's Mountain Men" by White, page
213, says "John Reed enlisted in Washington County, Virginia, served as an
express; was at King's Mountain and Guilford and died in 1826. His widow Keziah
was allowed a pension. She lived at Tulip, Texas, age 82. Her only
surviving child was Mrs. Charles H. Smith."
Clarissa Harlowe Reid, born April 11,
1806, Caswell Co., N.C., married Maurice Smith April 28, 1830 as his second
wife. Maurice Smith was born June 10, 1801, son of Samuel Smith and
Elizabeth Harrison, married first Mrs. Martha (Williams) Hays and had two
children, Cornelia and Samuel. His children by Clarissa were: Elizabeth
K.; Annie Maurice; Lockie Lenore; Olin Derbin; Ashbury Warren; John Reid and
Mary K. Smith. Records of this Smith family are given in "Webb Smith
Kin of Dixie," a book at the Arkansas History Commission in Little Rock.
When Maurice Smith moved his family
from Tennessee to Dallas County, Arkansas in 1844, he brought Keziah Reid with
him. They came in ox-drawn "Carry All" wagons. She died
at Tulip in 1858 at age 92. The family Bible says she died Aug. 9, 1858,
but her tombstone gives her death as June 26, 1858. Maurice Smith died
May 14, 1871, and his wife, Clarissa, died September 29, 1874. All are
buried in Tulip Cemetery.
ARKANSAS GAZETTE, September 11,
1858: - Died. On the 9th Aug., at the residence of her son-in-law,
Col. Maurice Smith, Tulip, Dallas county, Ark., after a lingering illness of
many months, MRS. KEZIAH REID, in the 91st year of her age. She was born
in Caswell county, North Carolina, whither her parents, Col. Richard and Mary
Simpson, emigrated from Virginia at the early settling of that country.
At the age of fifteen she emigrated to Kentucky, with her brother-in-law, Col.
Nat. Hart and his family. They witnessed many of the difficulties of the
pioneers in that region - often she spoke of their conflicting scenes with the
savage Indians - of tent and fort life with Col. Boone, etc. A short time
after her removal to Kentucky, she was married to Mr. Wm. B. Buchanan, who was
killed soon after.... [She was left] a young widow in the western wilderness
[and] she preferred to return to her native place in Carolina, where some time
after she was married to Major John Reid, an officer in the Revolutionary
war. The writer has often heard her speak most familiarly of those
'scenes and times that tried men's souls.' Her husband was a sharer in
the battle of King's Mountain, Guilford Court House and other important
conflicts, side by side with Cleveland, Shelby and Campbell...." The
obituary mentions her move to Tennessee in 1841 and later, to Dallas County,
Arkansas, "following her beloved children in their westward
migration. In 1832 she united herself with the Methodist Episcopal Church
and evinced her faith by a Godly walk and conversation.... For the last
five years she was too feeble to attend the sanctuary; but she sought and found
frequent opportunities by converse with ministers...." Tulip, Ark., Aug. 27th 1858.
Clarissa H. (Reid) Smith wrote a "Record of my Father's Family";
Major John Reid was born April 16th 1748, died June 26th 1826;
Keziah Reid was born February 8th 1767, died August 9th 1858;
Nathaniel Reid was born October 5th 1794, died in infancy;
John B. Reid was born September 16th 1796, died May 5th 1816;
Wm. B. Reid was born May 15th 1798, died January 1847;
Thomas J. Reid was born September 5th 1801;
Amelia Reid was born September 15th 1803, died in infancy;
Clarissa H. Reid was born April 11th 1806.
