Overview

The Joseph Smart Sr. Families of Rutherford County, North Carolina is the seventh book of genealogy and history written by the two contemporary researchers, Dennis C. Martin and Cynthia Y. Whited. Accumulated over two decades of detailed and extensive research, these seven archives of past events and family histories offer a compelling study in to the lives and former times of many people from western North Carolina, and are sure to be the main source of reference for many years to come for those seeking information regarding their Carolina ancestors. While all the chronicles written by Martin and Whited contain broad and expansive information about hundreds of family surnames and relatives who lived in western North Carolina from the 1700s up to the 1940s, the author's main focus in this beautifully illustrated work is a more comprehensive account of the Joseph Smart Sr. family and descendants, complete with revealing personal sketches, nostalgic photographs, and extended ancestral lineages reaching back to the mid-1700s.The Joseph Smart Sr. Families of Rutherford County, North Carolina contains much of what is found in Volume II of This Too Shall Pass . . ., yet this separate edition contains a more in-depth and sweeping study of the Smart families -- those that remained in Rutherford County, and those that moved west and carried on the family's pioneering spirit. In this book the authors trace the Smart families through the blood lines of Joseph's children and grandchildren by presenting many fascinating stories, such as intriguing accounts of inter-marriage with the Cherokee Indians, incredible sagas of hardship and sacrifice, heartbreaking details of ghastly and gruesome accidental deaths, and heinous tales of cruel hangings and cold-blooded murder. Also included in this volume are two pictorial narratives that both describe and illustrate the discovery and restoration of the Old Joseph Smart Hamrick Family Cemetery, and the recording and documenting of those known to be buried in its hallowed grounds. If you happen to be among the legion of individuals who trace your roots back to the Carolina Piedmont, this cradle of family evolution, it is highly probable that you will find mention of your ancestors within the covers of this book, and the other works of these authors. You will find The Joseph Smart Sr. Families of Rutherford County, North Carolina, as well as the other six publications by these authors, plentifully supplied with attractive illustrations and easy to read stories about our, and your, Carolina kinfolk.