Nancy Branham Smith

Brief Life History of Nancy Branham

When Nancy Branham Smith was born on 26 January 1845, in Letcher, Kentucky, United States, her father, John Branham Smith, was 21 and her mother, Sarah Adams, was 20. She married James Madison Pigman on 30 September 1868, in Letcher, Kentucky, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 6 daughters. She lived in Magisterial District 1, Knott, Kentucky, United States in 1900 and Magisterial District 1, Knox, Kentucky, United States in 1910. She died on 7 November 1917, in Knott, Kentucky, United States, at the age of 72, and was buried in Pigman Cemetery, Wayland, Floyd, Kentucky, United States.

Photos and Memories (2)

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Family Time Line

James Madison Pigman
1848–1936
Nancy Branham Smith
1845–1917
Marriage: 30 September 1868
Sarah Pigman
1869–1950
Ellen Pigman
1871–
Alice Pigman
1873–1949
Frances Pigman
1875–1939
Owen Pigman
1877–1962
Ida Pigman
1879–
Flora Pigman
1882–1962
Van Buren Pigman
1884–1951

Sources (18)

  • Nancy Pagman in household of James Pagman, "United States Census, 1870"
  • Nancy Pigman, "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954"
  • Nancy Pigman, "Kentucky Death Records, 1911-1965"

World Events (8)

1846

U.S. acquires vast tracts of Mexican territory in wake of Mexican War including California and New Mexico.

1850 · 8th Most Populated State

According to the 1850 census Kentucky was the 8th most populated state with 982,405 people.

1865

Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

Name Meaning

English and Scottish: occupational name denoting a worker in metal, especially iron, such as a blacksmith or farrier, from Middle English smith ‘smith’ (Old English smith, probably a derivative of smītan ‘to strike, hammer’). Early examples are also found in the Latin form Faber . Metal-working was one of the earliest occupations for which specialist skills were required, and its importance ensured that this term and its equivalents in other languages were the most widespread of all occupational surnames in Europe. Medieval smiths were important not only in making horseshoes, plowshares, and other domestic articles, but above all for their skill in forging swords, other weapons, and armor. This is also the most frequent of all surnames in the US. It is very common among African Americans and Native Americans (see also 5 below). This surname (in any of the two possible English senses; see also below) is also found in Haiti. See also Smither .

English: from Middle English smithe ‘smithy, forge’ (Old English smiththe). The surname may be topographic, for someone who lived in or by a blacksmith's shop, occupational, for someone who worked in one, or habitational, from a place so named, such as Smitha in King's Nympton (Devon). Compare Smithey .

Irish and Scottish: sometimes adopted for Gaelic Mac Gobhann, Irish Mac Gabhann ‘son of the smith’. See McGowan .

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

Possible Related Names

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