FOWLER and GARCIA Family Trees:Information about Paulser Jr SMELSER
Junior Paulser Jr SMELSER (b. 1765, d. Bet. 27 Sep 1835 - 1836)
Notes for Paulser Jr SMELSER:Paulser SMELSER is listed in the Bedford County Personal Property Tax 1787 - List "B" as "not tithable, probably 16-21 yrs".His birth is estimated to be between 1766 and 1771.His name follows Catherine's (his Mother) on the list and precedes Stephen and John in consecutive order.
Paulser SMELSER migrated to Kentucky sometime after 1787.it is likely that he travelled from Virginia to Kentucky on the Wilderness Road.From 1775 to 1830, this was the primary trail through the Appalachian Mountains.In 1775, Daniel Boone and thirty ax men cut the trail from Block House, Virginia, on the Holston River, through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky.Until 1796, wagons could not use this trail and the only means of travel was by horseback or by foot.
After his arrival in Kentucky, Paulser married Mary GORDON in Mercer County on 06 Feb 1793.Mary (called "Polly") Gordon's parents were John Gordon and Elizabeth Davis.Paulser was named in Mary's Father's will, which probated in Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1797.Mary and Paulser had eight children, five sons and three daughters.
Paulser paid taxes in Mercer County, Kentucky, in 1795 on one Negro, two horses and six cattle.He is listed in the tax records of Christian County in 1800 owning two Negroes, three horses and two hundred acres of land.The land was surveyed in 1805 to be two hundred ninety five acres on the West Fork of the Pond River.
The 1810 census lists a "Paula SMELLER" (an apparent error in the transcription of the original records) in Hopkins County.This is notable because Paulser obtained land grants for two hundred acres on Clear Creek in Hopkins County in 1814.
Paulser paid taxes in Caldwell County in 1820 and in Hickman County in 1822 owning six Negroes and four horses.In 1823, he paid taxes in Calloway County, still owning six Negroes and four horses.He received a grant of four hundred eighty acres in Calloway County in 1826 located on the West side of the East Fork of the Clark River.This land is located about two miles North of what is present day Murray, Kentucky.
These tax and census records indicate a steady Westward movement of Paulser and his family until he reached an advanced age.Paulser died in 1835 and his will was probated in 1836 in Calloway County, Kentucky.
Three of Paulser's sons also migrated to Greene County in the late 1830's.William and Abraham remained in Greene County until their deaths, but the third Brother, Stephen, moved on to Ripley County, Missouri in the late 1840's.
Pearl MORROW'S extensive genealogical notes contain a passage about the SMELSER Brothers floating a raft down the Tennessee River to Paducah, Kentucky and then down the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois.One other researcher has heard this story from another source.It is theorized that from Cairo, they crossed the Mississippi and followed a military road down Crowley's Ridge until they reached the Walcott area.Whether all three Brothers came to Greene County together is not known.
More About Paulser Jr SMELSER:
Date born 2: Bet. 1766 - 1771, Bedford, VA, USA.359, 359
More About Paulser Jr SMELSER and Mary Molly GORDON:
Marriage: 06 Feb 1793, Mercer, KY, USA.
Children of Paulser Jr SMELSER and Mary Molly GORDON are: