Brief Life History of Robert Sterling
When Robert Sterling Smith was born in 1794, in Granville, North Carolina, United States, his father, Robert Smith, was 28 and his mother, Sarah Moss, was 22. He married Margaret Jordan about 1815, in Campbell, Tennessee, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 4 daughters. He lived in Campbell, Tennessee, United States for about 10 years. He died after 1880.
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Family Time Line
Sources (6)
- Sterling Smith, "United States Census, 1860"
- Sterling Smith, "Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950"
- Sterling Smith, "United States Census, 1870"
Spouse and Children
Children (6)
+1 More Child
Parents and Siblings
Siblings (7)
+2 More Children
World Events (8)
1794 · Creating the Eleventh Amendment
The Eleventh Amendment restricts the ability of any people to start a lawsuit against the states in federal court.
1796 · Tennessee Becomes a State
On June 1, 1796, Tennessee became the 16th state.
1819 · Panic! of 1819
With the Aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars the global market for trade was down. During this time, America had its first financial crisis and it lasted for only two years.
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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