Thomas Smart ^{18,27,28,29,30}

  General Notes:

We have been unable to learn much about our ancestor Thomas Smart. We think he was born in Alabama or Tennessee, ca 1812-14. Through oral family history he and his sister, Elizabeth came to Arkansas to care for the minor children of his deceased brother, William Smart.

NOTE: Census records of 1850 show Thomas was born in Alabama and Elizabeth in Tennessee.

After arriving in Clark County in 1848, Thomas Smart, William's brother, married Rachel Crow on 14 December 1848. William's sister, Elizabeth Smart, married Rachel Crow's brother, William Crow, on 12 October, 1848. Both rites of matrimony were performed by the Crow siblings' brother-in-law, Abraham L. Weir, a Methodist Episcopal Church South minister, and the husband of their sister, Amanda Crow Weir. Amanda, Rachel, and William Crow's parents were Walter Crow and Margaret Hutchinson Crow of Okolona.

Thomas and Rachel Smart, in addition to being responsible for his brother's children, raised a large family of their own. Their children were: William Grover, Margaret Euphrates; Sarah Elizabeth; Mary Ellen; John Hampton; Talith Ann; Amanda Paralee; Thomas and Rachel Alice (twins); James Hamilton; and Harriet Alabama "Bama".

Thomas was a farmer in Clark County from 1848 until his death (the 1860 Arkansas Census shows his real estate valued at $3,000). His daughter Rachel Alice told how he made the family cross the street in Gurdon to avoid walking past some painted ladies, and each night after the dishes were done, the family gathered to listen to readings from the Bible. Indians would peek from behind trees at the family as they performed their chores.

Thomas married Rachel Crow, daughter of Walter Crow and Margaret Hutchinson, on Dec 14, 1848. (Rachel Crow was born about 1821 in Okolona, Clark County, Arkansas and died about 1880 in Okolona, Clark County, Arkansas.)