Mary SMITHSON b. 1712 in Pasquotank County, NC Married Jeremiah MURDEN

Notes On Mary SMITHSON:

RESEARCH: http://www.grin.net/~rickshay/smithson/newsletter/11.html
OLD HOMES AND GARDENS OF NORTH CAROLINA
compiled by Mrs. C. A. Cannon, Mrs. Lyman A. Cotton & Mrs. J. E. Latham
published under the auspices of Garden Clubs of North Carolina*

"THE OLD BRICK HOUSE"

Around the Old Brick House have gathered legends and traditions. There is one persistent story as old as the house itself, of a Lord MURDEN who sent his son to America: a land of lovely ladies, of jewels and satin gowns.
In 1712 Jeremiah MURDEN and his wife Mary, the daughter of Captain Thomas SMITHSON, bought land in Pasquotank [County, NC]. Thomas [SMITHSON] was a mariner and sailed the seven seas. In 1724 he married "Ann, the Greek" whom he had bought in a slave market in Turkey and brought her back to North Carolina to live.

Jeremiah's son Robert, inherited the "Manor Plantation". This he exchanged with Isaac STOKELY for land on which he built the Old Brick House, shortly after 1750. He became wealthy and powerful in Pasquotank County and the home he built has distinction and [historical] interest but in 1934 it was sold to the State [of North Carolina]. Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Jackson bought the house in 1936 and, better than legend, Mr. W. P. Jackson is a direct descendant of Thomas SMITHSON, the mariner.

According to legend, The Old Brick House was at one time the hide-out of Edward Teach, Blackbeard the Pirate. There was supposed to be an underground tunnel from the house to the nearby river that was used as an escape tunnel.

He married (2) Ann "The Greek". Thomas evidently bought Ann as a Greek slave in a Turkish Slave Market in Constantinople during one of his trading trips in his ship. She (Ann) supposedly was quite young, 10-12 years old at the time. She was given the name of "Ann" and taken to America to help in the home and care for Thomas' mother and young daughter, Mary. Thomas then took Ann as a wife and they became the parents of six children:

NOTE: After Thomas' death in 1744, Smithson's widow Ann married Christopher "Chartright" (Cartwright).

1727-1808

John SMITHSON was born 12 April 1727 in Pasquotank County, NC to Captain Thomas SMITHSON and "Ann The Greek". He married Dorothy SAWYER, b 1728, daughter of Thomas SAWYER. His will was dated 29 Sep 1807 in Pasquotank County, NC and he died 19 Jan 1808 Pasquotank County, NC.