SMALLWOOD FAMILY HISTORY

DESCENDANTS OF  COLONEL JAMES SMALLWOOD OF MARYLAND

Extensive research has been carried out into the descendants (and ancestry) of Colonel James Smallwood of Maryland, who wrote an interesting will in 1712 and died in 1714/15. The most exhaustive summary to be found on the net is on Ray Gurganus' site, which incorporates a searchable database of 3607 names (at 9 Jul 2006) including about 1600 Smallwoods.

Jean (Carter) Smallwood has recently produced a 536 page book, Smallwood and Carter Connections to Family Histories and Royalty, which includes 13 chapters on Colonel James Smallwood and his descendants. Copies are available from Heritage Books. Earlier research into this line appears in the book Some Colonial and Revolutionary Families of NC by Marilu Burch Smallwood.

Several descendant lines springing from the Charles Smallwood (c.1760-1823) who had settled in Beaufort County, North Carolina by 1790 were originally linked to this tree via Charles, son of James Smallwood and Catherine Clark, apparently in line with Marilu Burch Smallwood's book. However, the dates appear inconsistent (James and Catherine were having children in the 1790's), and it would appear that this Charles probably had his origins elsewhere.

There appear to be a variety of opinions on the origins of Colonel James and the distribution of his immediate descendants, and it would be helpful if some of the experts on this particular family could produce a summary of the various alternatives, and the informed research done to date. If anyone would like to have a first attempt at this (perhaps summarising some of the previously published research), we would be very happy to incorporate it into this page. Please e-mail any relevant material to Ian Hall.