John Doyle was married to "Miss Smith" a descendant of Henry Smith, because Elizabeth Lee, Charlotte Conner, then later, Eliza Nichols and John D. Lee received property as heirs of Henry Smith.*1
Elizabeth's land being put in trust for Eliza Reed and John Lee.
Second page shows she received the land as an heir of Henry Smith.
John Doyle gave us the best clues as to his wife's identity. In the early 1800's the government decided to give land to people who had come to Illinois before 1783, were heads of families, and had made improvements to the land. John Doyle had come to Illinois prior to 1783 and was still living in the area and was able to give depositions about the residents who were making claims for land.
When he was asked if he knew a William Smith he stated that William Smith was a relation of his, that William had come to Illinois various times, had raised a crop on his father's land at the little village (St. Phillipe), and that William was still a young and single man when John Doyle had seen him at his father's in Kentucky in 1790.
Original deposition found in Illinois Archives in Springfield, Illinois. These were loose papers that were bound into a book. This had John Doyle's original signature.
Transcription of deposition done by Raymond Hammes.*2
A Smith man had to be found that was related to John Doyle or his wife, owned land near The Little Village, had a son named William, and lived in Kentucky. It seemed logical that the Smith man would be Henry Smith, but Henry did not own land near The Little Village and no Henry in Kentucky had a son named William. But there was a James Smith who owned many acres of land near The Little Village and lived in Mercer County, Kentucky.*3
Transcription of Cahokia Land record done by Raymond HammesMercer County was derived from Lincoln County, Kentucky in 1785 and in 1796 a part of it became Garrard County, Kentucky. Most of the records for James Smith are found in Garrard County. According to James' will in 1798, he had a son named William. *4
Last page of James Smith's will
Two historians in Garrard County, Kentucky have written extensively about James Smith. Fred Simpson, a descendant of James mentions that William was James' son and that James made at least two trips to Illinois. He also stated that James had a brother, Henry who was killed by Indians in 1789. *5
Forest Calico in his "History of Garrard County and its Churches," stated that James Smith, a Baptist minister, had been kidnapped by the Indians in Illinois and ransomed by William Smith. James had a brother named Henry who was killed by Indians on a trading expedition.*6
Henry Smith wrote a will which was probated in September 1789 in Lincoln County, Kentucky. In the will he named his living children. They were: Henry and Liberty Smith, daughters - Chloe Dial (Doyle) and Elizabeth Smith, Letty Duff/McelDuff and Sarah St. Ton/Santon (St. Ange) and a step-son Henry Garrett Smith, son of his second wife, Margaret. *7
In the division of Henry Smith's estate, part of the property and/or money was given to the following people: Chloe Dial's (Doyle) legacy was paid to her husband, John Dial (Doyle), John McelDuff (Duff) received his wife's legacy and Sarah Santons (St. Ange)received her own legacy. *8
Although James and William Smith lived in Kentucky and had property and traveled back and forth from Kentucky to Illinois, did the Henry Smith who had his will probated in Lincoln County, Kentucky have connections to Illinois? John Doyle's depositions again strengthened his relationship to Henry Smith and Chloe.
In November 1812, John Doyle gave one of his longest depositions stating the relationship between John Duff and Jean Baptiste St. Ange. He stated Duff and his Negro built a cabin on some land, but that he might have built it for St. Ange, because St. Ange was his brother-in-law. St. Ange was a married man, living on the east side of the Kaskaskia River in Smith's fort or station.*9
John Duff and J.B. St. Ange were brothers-in-law. They were married to Henry's daughters, Letty and Sarah. John Doyle was married to their sister, Chloe, explaining why he knew so much about their affairs. All three of them resided in Randolph County, Illinois.
John Doyle further strengthened his ties to Henry and Chloe Smith in a deposition given in 1809 explaining when he first came to Illinois, when he left Illinois, where he was for part of the time he was gone, and when he returned. He stated that he came to Illinois on the 17th day of September, 1781 and that he never left [Illinois] until the fall of 1789 and was absent about six years. He was at The Red Banks (on the Ohio River in what is now Henderson County, Kentucky) in May 1794. He was well acquainted with the people of Illinois previous to 1789 and after his return in 1796. [The never was not in Raymond Hammes' transcription creating some confusion.]
Original copy of deposition given by John Doyle regarding William Kelly. Found in the Illinois Archives in Springfield.
Transcription of John Doyle's deposition by Raymond Hammes. A key word was missed which makes the information confusing. *10
It is not coincidental that John Doyle left Illinois in the fall of 1789 and Henry Smith's estate was divided in September 1789. John Doyle received his wife's legacy at that time. We also know that he saw William Smith in Mercer County, Kentucky in 1790 as stated in a previous deposition.
Charlotte and Elizabeth were heirs of Henry Smith through their mother, Chloe Smith. Henry's will only listed property in Lincoln County, Kentucky. That property was given to his sons Henry and Liberty and his wife, Margaret. Henry's will stated that "all of the residue of my estate that is then left and not in this will given away be equally divided between my two sons Henry Smith* and my two daughters, Chloe Dial and Elizabeth Smith."*11
Since Henry's land in Illinois was not mentioned in the will, that is the land that Chloe inherited and passed on to her daughters, Elizabeth and Charlotte, after her death.
John Doyle was married to Chloe Smith, daughter of Henry Smith and cousin of William Smith.
*1
*2 Hammes, Raymond Henry. Declarations and depositions regarding land, taken at
1543598 Item 17, p. 129.
*3 Hammes, Raymond H. (Henry). Collection of
*4 Probate records, 1797-1923, Vols. A-D 1787-1820.
*5 Simpson, Fred Logan. Back of the Cane: Early
*6 Calico,
*
*
*9 Hammes, Raymond H. Collection of
*10 Hammes, Raymond H. Collection of
* I don't know if the copier missed
*
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