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CPT William Smothers II

Birth
Monroe County, Indiana, USA
Death
19 Aug 1863 (aged 43)
Hallettsville, Lavaca County, Texas, USA
Burial
Hallettsville, Lavaca County, Texas, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
View Source
It is believed he was named for his grandfather William Smeathers, thus the II attached to his name & not that Smeathers was know as #I.

January term 1848. On the allegation and petition of William Smothers Administrator for Archibald [his brother and John Bate Smeathers Sr dec'd. It is ordered, and recorded by the court that the League of land known as John Smeathers league shall be divided into two parts or halves equable to quality and quantity. One half to the estate of Elinor Smeathers dec'd [lst wife] and the other half to belong to the heirs of John Smeathers dec'd and Elinor Smeathers half to be divided into three equal parts or shares equable to quality and quantity and to be drawn for and the third be drawn as Archibald's shall be divided into three equal parts drawn for by the heirs, and one third to be divided between John Jr, Tobies [Tobin] Smothers minor heirs of John Bate Smeathers Sr dec'd.
[From Sons of Dewitt Colony site]
William Smothers II and his younger [older]half-brother John Bate Smothers Jr were Lavaca River minutemen under Capt. "Black" Adam Zumwalt and participated in the company's response to the Ponton and Foley killings by Comanches on their way to Linnville and were with the company when the Comanches were engaged and routed at the Battle of Plum Creek. William Smothers may have been the "old Texan from the Lavaca" that daringly shot down one of the armored, gaudily dressed chiefs. [This I doubt as he was only 43yo when he was killed/shot, probably this 'ole Texan was his half brother John Bate Smeathers Jr]. This precipitated the rout of the Comanches by the settlers. William Smothers was one of twelve men from the Lavaca serving with Capt. Hay's Spying Company which ranged west of the Medina River watching for Mexican troop movements from the south into the Republic. He was in Capt Zumwalt's Company at the Battle of Salado which responded to Gen Woll's invasion of the Republic and capture of San Antonio in 1842.
William married 9 Jun 1844 Cynthia Kelly b 22 Jul 1822 Ind d 12 Jan 1889 Hallettsville)& was the daughter of John & Sarah Fisher Kelly.
1822—Cynthia Kelly daughter born 1822 gives Louisiana as place of birth
1824--Cynthia gives father place of birth as Pennsylvania and mother Missouri
1828-John Smeathers Sr and lst wife Elinor and children, William, Polly Ann and Arch came to Texas to Dewitt's colony. BEFORE he got settled on the grant of land, HIS WIFE ELENOR DIED AND HE WAS LEFT WITH THE 3 CHILDREN.
He had some trouble getting a certificate of title to the league of land promised to him by Dewitt. By May 6 1832 Dewitt had everything clear and John Smeathers Sr was granted a certificate of title to a league of land which consisted of 4428 acres. It was northwest of Hallettsville on and around Smeathers Creek, a fork of the Lavaca River. It was named Smeathers Creek after John Smeathers Sr who settled on the land near it.
The three children were William, Mary Ann Polly & Arch.
Arch died young-killed by Indians-Polly Ann married Elijah Kelly-William md Cynthia Ann Kelly, bro/sis.

Texas Marriages 1837-1973 Groom William Smothers
Bride Cynthia Kelly Marriage 18 Jan 1844 Gonzales Texas
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M59187-1 System Texas-VR

1850 Census
Wm Smothers 24 M Ind
Cynthia A 24 F La
Sarah J 5 F Tx b 1845
Archibald 4 M Tx b 1846
Mary Ellen 1 F Tx b 1849

1860 Lavaca TX Hallettsville Roll M653_1299 Page 185
William Smothers 41 1818 Indiana Male
Cyntha Smothers 38 1821 LA Female
Sarah Smothers 16 1843 Texas Female
Arch Smothers 14 1845 Texas Male
Mary Smothers 10 1849 Texas Female
Margaret Smothers 8 1851 Texas Female
[md John Alexander Clark son/Jno Clark 1793-1857 &
Margaret Lanham 1816-1891]
James Smothers 6 1853 Texas Male
John Smothers 5 1854 Texas Male
William Smothers 2 1857 Texas Male
Frank Smothers 1 1858 Texas Male

1860 Elected Sheriff Lavaca Co Tx May 1862 when the CW broke out Capt William Smothers organized a company designated as 12th TX Infantry and saw service in Ark and LA. He resigned May 7 1863 due to a back injury.

1863 he was killed in a shoot-out in Hallettsville & his monument at his grave has this date on it. Said he was killed in the line of duty but the shootout details remain a mystery.

William & Cinthia had 8 children
1Archibald 'AJ' b 1844 Lavaca Co m. widow Jennie Brown Rhodes),
2Sarah Jane b 1845 m. William D McGonagil,
3Mary Ellen b 1848 m. James A Bradley,
4Margaret Ann b 1850 m. John Alexander Clark II,
5James Ewing b 1852 m. Katie D Morgan,
6John Knox b 1854 never mrd,
7William T b 1856 m. Katie Thigpen,
8Frank Knox 1859-1935 m. Mary Ella Johnson

As described by author Paul Boethel in his works on the history of Lavaca Co TX the half-brothers William and John B Smeathers Jr were two of the more colorful characters in Lavaca Co politics and life throughout the latter part of the 19th century. William maintained two stores in Hallettsville and was a militant in having Hallettsville established as the county seat rather than Petersburg (early Zumwalt Settlement) to the south. When Petersburg lost the election for seat and refused to give up the county records, Smeathers formed a posse, seized the records in Petersburg and escorted them to Hallettsville to the temporary county seat buildings he had provided for the new officials. William Smothers was a "hell-raiser" who loved to drink and gamble and in 1850 operated a liquor store in Hallettsville which contained a pool hall and gaming room in the establishment, indicted at least 9 times for breaking local liquor laws and over 17 times for gambling. Multiple times he was either on the receiving or giving end of local assault cases, acquitted in some and paying fines in others. After all that he was elected sheriff in 1860 and active in recruiting companies of local men for frontier service as rangers and later the Civil War. He was in the freighting business and killed in a shootout with a Union agent 1863. His son AJ Smothers was Sheriff of Lavaca Co 1882-1888. The hard-drinking, hard-playing Butler, Kelly and Smothers "young bucks" were the source of extensive encounters with the law, both due to disputes among themselves and others which at times became violent and felonious in the Hallettsville area through the close of the 19th century, contributing significantly to the reputation of "The Free State of Lavaca."

His gravestone pic was kindly taken by our Smothers cousin living in Hallettsville, DO NOT delete this in memory of our ancestor killed, that is why she took the photo!
It is believed he was named for his grandfather William Smeathers, thus the II attached to his name & not that Smeathers was know as #I.

January term 1848. On the allegation and petition of William Smothers Administrator for Archibald [his brother and John Bate Smeathers Sr dec'd. It is ordered, and recorded by the court that the League of land known as John Smeathers league shall be divided into two parts or halves equable to quality and quantity. One half to the estate of Elinor Smeathers dec'd [lst wife] and the other half to belong to the heirs of John Smeathers dec'd and Elinor Smeathers half to be divided into three equal parts or shares equable to quality and quantity and to be drawn for and the third be drawn as Archibald's shall be divided into three equal parts drawn for by the heirs, and one third to be divided between John Jr, Tobies [Tobin] Smothers minor heirs of John Bate Smeathers Sr dec'd.
[From Sons of Dewitt Colony site]
William Smothers II and his younger [older]half-brother John Bate Smothers Jr were Lavaca River minutemen under Capt. "Black" Adam Zumwalt and participated in the company's response to the Ponton and Foley killings by Comanches on their way to Linnville and were with the company when the Comanches were engaged and routed at the Battle of Plum Creek. William Smothers may have been the "old Texan from the Lavaca" that daringly shot down one of the armored, gaudily dressed chiefs. [This I doubt as he was only 43yo when he was killed/shot, probably this 'ole Texan was his half brother John Bate Smeathers Jr]. This precipitated the rout of the Comanches by the settlers. William Smothers was one of twelve men from the Lavaca serving with Capt. Hay's Spying Company which ranged west of the Medina River watching for Mexican troop movements from the south into the Republic. He was in Capt Zumwalt's Company at the Battle of Salado which responded to Gen Woll's invasion of the Republic and capture of San Antonio in 1842.
William married 9 Jun 1844 Cynthia Kelly b 22 Jul 1822 Ind d 12 Jan 1889 Hallettsville)& was the daughter of John & Sarah Fisher Kelly.
1822—Cynthia Kelly daughter born 1822 gives Louisiana as place of birth
1824--Cynthia gives father place of birth as Pennsylvania and mother Missouri
1828-John Smeathers Sr and lst wife Elinor and children, William, Polly Ann and Arch came to Texas to Dewitt's colony. BEFORE he got settled on the grant of land, HIS WIFE ELENOR DIED AND HE WAS LEFT WITH THE 3 CHILDREN.
He had some trouble getting a certificate of title to the league of land promised to him by Dewitt. By May 6 1832 Dewitt had everything clear and John Smeathers Sr was granted a certificate of title to a league of land which consisted of 4428 acres. It was northwest of Hallettsville on and around Smeathers Creek, a fork of the Lavaca River. It was named Smeathers Creek after John Smeathers Sr who settled on the land near it.
The three children were William, Mary Ann Polly & Arch.
Arch died young-killed by Indians-Polly Ann married Elijah Kelly-William md Cynthia Ann Kelly, bro/sis.

Texas Marriages 1837-1973 Groom William Smothers
Bride Cynthia Kelly Marriage 18 Jan 1844 Gonzales Texas
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M59187-1 System Texas-VR

1850 Census
Wm Smothers 24 M Ind
Cynthia A 24 F La
Sarah J 5 F Tx b 1845
Archibald 4 M Tx b 1846
Mary Ellen 1 F Tx b 1849

1860 Lavaca TX Hallettsville Roll M653_1299 Page 185
William Smothers 41 1818 Indiana Male
Cyntha Smothers 38 1821 LA Female
Sarah Smothers 16 1843 Texas Female
Arch Smothers 14 1845 Texas Male
Mary Smothers 10 1849 Texas Female
Margaret Smothers 8 1851 Texas Female
[md John Alexander Clark son/Jno Clark 1793-1857 &
Margaret Lanham 1816-1891]
James Smothers 6 1853 Texas Male
John Smothers 5 1854 Texas Male
William Smothers 2 1857 Texas Male
Frank Smothers 1 1858 Texas Male

1860 Elected Sheriff Lavaca Co Tx May 1862 when the CW broke out Capt William Smothers organized a company designated as 12th TX Infantry and saw service in Ark and LA. He resigned May 7 1863 due to a back injury.

1863 he was killed in a shoot-out in Hallettsville & his monument at his grave has this date on it. Said he was killed in the line of duty but the shootout details remain a mystery.

William & Cinthia had 8 children
1Archibald 'AJ' b 1844 Lavaca Co m. widow Jennie Brown Rhodes),
2Sarah Jane b 1845 m. William D McGonagil,
3Mary Ellen b 1848 m. James A Bradley,
4Margaret Ann b 1850 m. John Alexander Clark II,
5James Ewing b 1852 m. Katie D Morgan,
6John Knox b 1854 never mrd,
7William T b 1856 m. Katie Thigpen,
8Frank Knox 1859-1935 m. Mary Ella Johnson

As described by author Paul Boethel in his works on the history of Lavaca Co TX the half-brothers William and John B Smeathers Jr were two of the more colorful characters in Lavaca Co politics and life throughout the latter part of the 19th century. William maintained two stores in Hallettsville and was a militant in having Hallettsville established as the county seat rather than Petersburg (early Zumwalt Settlement) to the south. When Petersburg lost the election for seat and refused to give up the county records, Smeathers formed a posse, seized the records in Petersburg and escorted them to Hallettsville to the temporary county seat buildings he had provided for the new officials. William Smothers was a "hell-raiser" who loved to drink and gamble and in 1850 operated a liquor store in Hallettsville which contained a pool hall and gaming room in the establishment, indicted at least 9 times for breaking local liquor laws and over 17 times for gambling. Multiple times he was either on the receiving or giving end of local assault cases, acquitted in some and paying fines in others. After all that he was elected sheriff in 1860 and active in recruiting companies of local men for frontier service as rangers and later the Civil War. He was in the freighting business and killed in a shootout with a Union agent 1863. His son AJ Smothers was Sheriff of Lavaca Co 1882-1888. The hard-drinking, hard-playing Butler, Kelly and Smothers "young bucks" were the source of extensive encounters with the law, both due to disputes among themselves and others which at times became violent and felonious in the Hallettsville area through the close of the 19th century, contributing significantly to the reputation of "The Free State of Lavaca."

His gravestone pic was kindly taken by our Smothers cousin living in Hallettsville, DO NOT delete this in memory of our ancestor killed, that is why she took the photo!


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