The Youngs & Smiths of Fleming, Bath, and Nicholas Counties in Kentucky and Indianapolis, Indiana

Welcome to my genealogy page. My name is Nina Young-Bennett. The surnames I am researching are Gaskins, Young, Smith, Saunders, Story, McKnight, Burns, McBee, Potts, Rogers, Davis, and Foster.

I am a product of the YOUNGS, of Bath and Fleming Counties; and the SMITHS, of Nicholas and Fleming Counties in Kentucky. During my grandfather's era, he and all three of his brothers ended up establishing roots in Indianapolis, Indiana. Their only sister settled in Middletown, Dayton, and then Cincinnati, Ohio. Many of the SMITHS took up residence in Middletown and Dayton, Ohio. It is believed that there is still a contingent in Kentucky. The GASKINS descendants are not known. I am focusing my search for them in the northeastern counties of Kentucky, where they are last listed in U.S. Census records.

My Maternal Genealogy Line
My father's mother, FLORA E. SMITH, was born in Sherburne, Kentucky in 1900. Her father, ANDREW JACKSON SMITH (b. 10/25/1860; d. 8/5/1946), was born in Nicholas County, Kentucky. It is known that he had been a slave, but was freed as a child. By occupation, ANDREW was a horse breeder. Her mother, ANNA BELL SAUNDERS (b. 2/27/1872; d. 5/11/1949) was born in Sherburne, Kentucky. Although Andrew's parentage is not currently known, Anna Bell was one of at least five children of OLIVER SAUNDERS (d. 9/6/1910), known as "Pappy Oliver", and CATHERINE SAUNDERS (d. 8/29/1901), known as "Mammy Kate." To the extent of my knowlege, Anna Bell's siblings were ROY SAUNDERS (who married a woman named NINA; offspring unknown); ELLIOTT SAUNDERS (who had no wife and children and settled in Nogales, Arizona); MARY LIZA SAUNDERS (who married JOE McBEE and had three children: ROBERT McBEE, ELIZABETH DUDLEY, and HATTIE GREENE); and LUCINDA "CINDY" SAUNDERS (who married a gentleman named POTTS; offspring unknown). Besides my grandmother, her siblings were HORD SMITH (d. 1967 in Gary, Indiana; had one son: HORD BURNS); MONROE SMITH (b. 1/12/1911; d. 8/1981; married NINA STALLWORTH and had 12 children); GUNO SMITH (b. 4/13/1908; d. 2/7/1926); HENRY RICHARD SMITH (b. 12/2/1897); LOUIS SMITH (b. 3/27/1893; d. 8/23/1948 in Washington, D.C.; married to REBECCA; had one daughter, ISABELLE SMITH); ALLEN EARL SMITH (b. 9/20/1895; d. 11/29/1941; had daughter VIRGINIA ALLEN SMITH (b. 7/2/1927) and ANDREW RICHARD SMITH (b. 6/20/1930); OLLIE D. (b. 3/19/1903; d. 1/16/1904); JAMES ORVILLE SMITH (b. 2/15/1905; married a woman named SARAH); and CORA SMITH (b. 2/25/1891; married a man named STORY and settled in Middletown, Ohio; had three sons and five daughters; one daughter, FLORA STORY married a man by the name of PAUL McKNIGHT and they had four sons).

My Paternal Genealogy Line
My father's father, DAVID E. YOUNG, was born in Flemingsburg, Kentucky in 1900. My grandfather had three brothers (ROBERT MURPHY YOUNG, WILLIAM D. YOUNG, and CLIFTON SMITH YOUNG) and one sister (MARY LOU YOUNG; b. 12/7/1886, d. 1986). The children were born to ROBERT D. YOUNG (b. 10/28/1861 in Bath County, Kentucky to LEWIS YOUNG d. 2/9/1907 and MARY JANE YOUNG d. 1/4/1904) and PAULINE GASKINS (b. 12/10/1864 in Flemingsburg to MAHALA GASKINS (d. 12/6/1901). At the time of the 1880 Census, PAULINE (recorded on the census as "PAULINA") was 13 years old. Her mother, MAHALA, was 56 and listed as MULATTO. The others living with them were LILLE GASKINS (21), BETTIE GASKINS (18), BELLE GASKINS (11), married daughter, NANNIE SMITH (24), her husband, WARNER SMITH (27), and their son, TOM SMITH (1). I would like to know what happened to the offspring of my great-grandmother's sisters. I would also like to determine the identity of their father. There is an entry for a SQUIRE K. FERGUSON (d. 4/14/1903), along with MAHALA's name in the family bible. MAHALA died 12/6/1901. Although I am familiar with the descendants of all of my great-uncles, not a lot is known about those of my GREAT-AUNT MARY LOU. She married a man named JOHN GALLEN DAVIS on 4/19/1906. They had a daughter MARJORIE DAVIS (b. 1/13/1907; d. 3/1986 in Cincinnati, Ohio. MARJORIE was married to a man named ROGERS and the whereabouts of their children, if any, are not known. JOHN and MARY LOU also had a son, WILLIAM DAVIS (b. 10/13/1910). We don not know if he is still living, ever married, or whether or not he had any children. I would love to establish contact with any surviving family members and exchange information to fill in the blanks of our heritage.

If any of this sounds familiar or you think we have a connection, you can contact me at ninab1234@aol.com

Thank you for visiting my webpage.