SMART ROOTS - Immigration

Our family story is pieced together from statistical info and pertinent historical facts:

This history is fiction based on facts. These facts are not all proven nor are they necessarily corroborated. The purpose of this story is to paint as accurate a picture of their lives as possible from what we do know about them and their times. By putting this "straw man history" on the Internet, others are able to further speculate, investigate and discuss our family history, thereby finding any errors and flushing out details.

Scotland (1597 - 1650)

Little is know about our ancestors in Scotland or England. John Smart Sr. was born in Scotland in 1623. His father was also born in Scotland in 1597.

Where they lived is uncertain but (as shown on the Sir Name Page) the Smeartae come from the Northern Highlands. The Smart sir name first shows up around Aberdeen.

From Scotland to England (~1650)

John Smart Sr. went to England from Scotland sometime prior to 1663. His son, John Smart Jr. was born in Warwick, Middleton, England in 1663. This was presumably when John was a young man. Civil war and clan disputes in Northern Scotland were raging during John's youth. As a highlander, he was aligned with the MacKenzie Clan.

Brief Scottish History: 1603 (Union of the Crowns) - 1660 (The Restoration)

In 1603, England and Scotland were united when Queen Elizabeth of England died without an heir and Scotland's King James (son of Mary, Queen of Scots) also became King of England. James promptly moved to England where he ruled until his death in 1625. Charles I ruled until his execution in England in 1649.

Religious factions governed both realms, via Parliament, under the auspices of The Solemn League and Covenant, signed in 1643. With the First Civil War in England (1642-1646) monarchy was out of vogue in England.

The staunch Presbyterians of Scotland were opposed to the more liberal influences of the English Protestants. The Jacobites, seeing the rift between the Protestants, tried to restore the deposed Monarchy to affect a government more tolerant to the Catholic faith.

In 1646, the Clan MacKenzie Chief (the Earl of Seaforth) was still in possession of the Castle Chanonry of Ross [no longer exists]. James Graham the Marquis of Montrose laid siege to the castle and took it from the MacKenzies.

In 1649 a large force of Covenanters stormed Inverness Castle. Among the commanders were Thomas Mackenzie of Pluscardine. They opposed the authority of the current parliament. They assaulted the town and took the castle, expelling the garrison and raising the fortifications. Parliamentary forces led by General David Leslie forced the clans back into Ross-shire. However the MacKenzies left a garrison in Inverness Castle and Leslie withdrew to deal with a rising in the south. The MacKenzies retook the Castle Chanonry of Ross from the current Parliamentary forces. However, the Parliamentary forces, led by a Colonel Kerr, soon after took the MacKenzie's Redcastle and hanged the garrison.

February 5, 1649 : Scotland proclaims Charles II as King of Great Britain. The English had just thrown off the yoke of one king and had no wish to have another. This act, in effect, smashed the Union of the Crowns.

January 1, 1651: Charles II crowned Scottish monarch.

October 15, 1651: Charles II escapes to France/Holland.

1651- 1660: The Interregnum - Cromwell rules Scotland peacefully until his death.

1660: The Restoration - Charles II is restored to the throne and begins taking revenge on those, including the Marquis of Argyll, who humiliated him during his 18 months in Scotland.

Immigration to America (1684)

John Smart Jr. left England in 1684 during the Reign of Charles II at a period called the "Killing Time." At the age of 21, he came to Maryland at a time when southern plantations were being cleared and put into production by rich land-holders who were, in turn, backed by European investors and trading companies licensed by his Majesty, the King. Their hopes of producing significant marketable crops of cotton and sugar were only just beginning to come to some modest fruition. They hoped to reap significant profits from their investment in "The Colonies." But what they needed most at the time was inexpensive farm labor and honest hardworking agents to oversee the steady production of crops as well as improvements in these New World holdings.

Soon after stepping off the ship in Maryland, John sought out Joseph Reed, a man situated at the top echelons of the new world. Joseph held vast land grants from The King as well as serving as executor for estates belonging to some of the richest English investors.

John mater-of-factly presented his letters of introduction to this man of property and influence. Joseph immediately saw in John a man who could help him in his growing business enterprises. And as John got to know this New Englander and learned more about his ventures, he saw the situation his friends in in the Old World had suggested might be advantageous for John.

Joseph Reed's Land in Rutherford County, North Carolina

So, not long after his arrival in America, John was enlisted to care for some of Joseph's land holdings in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Either John came to America with significant assets or Joseph Reed rewarded him with them--or both. John managed to hold down a household in Philadelphia while commuting to Rutherford County where he oversaw the plantation operations for his prosperous benefactor who paid John by giving him large pieces of his vast land holding in Rutherford County.

John Smart and Joseph Reed remained close for the rest of their lives. John required little in Rutherford County that wasn't already there. The pioneer homes, as well as the furnishings for the home, were built from their forests. As things began to turn a profit, per his agreement with Joseph, John accumulated good farming land--enough for three consecutive generations to remained and prospered on their family land--to live their entire lives in Rutherford County. The closeness of the Reed and Smart families was to endure for many generations.