Do you participate in Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun? Recently one of those activities asked us to use AI to get a research plan. My request to AI was to develop a research plan to identify the parents of my 4th great grandmother, Sally Smith.
Before starting to work the plan, a review of the known information is needed.
When Sally Smith married my ancestor, James Crawford, in 1799, she had two young sons: Henry Duggins born in 1787 and William Duggins born in 1794. It is Sally’s first marriage to Alexander Duggins in 1788 that provides the clue to Sally’s parents.
Duggins, Alexander, Jr., bachelor, and Salley Smith, spinster, January 22, 1788. David Duggens, surety. Consent of her mother, Ann Shoemaker.
Marriage Bonds and Other Marriage Records of Amherst County, Virginia 1763-1800. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1973) Duggins page 26
Not only does the record identify Ann Shoemaker as Salley’s mother but it indicates that Alexander Duggins also gave consent for Alexander Duggins, Jr. to marry. Other names are listed as those providing surety and as witnesses to the marriage: David Duggins, Milley Loving, Thomas Morris, Martha Goldsly.
Unfortunately, I don’t know much about Sally Smith’s first marriage to Alexander Duggins.
Perhaps learning more about Alexander Duggins will help me figure out th SMITH connections.