Ezekiel Smith was my eighth great grandfather. Ezekiel married Susannah Dingess, then they had Gertrude Smith. Gertrude married William Anderson Dingess, then had David Dingess. David married Mary Baisden, then had Flora Dingess. Flora married Carlos Harthhard Baisden, then they had my great grandpa Julius Baisden. Julius married Ruth Johnson, then they had my Mamaw, Connie Baisden/Marsh. Then, Connie married Boyd Workman (My dad’s dad). (familysearch) 

Ezekiel was a great adventurer. He left Viginia and took all of his family except one daughter. Her name was Gertrude Smith. He was born on October 19, 1781, near Pearisburg, Virginia (later called West Virginia). Smith was the child of Hannah Simms and Isaac Smith. He grew up with three brothers and four sisters. When Smith was born, Pearisburg had a population of less than 200 people. At the time the only reason people passed through the small town was because it was the head of the New River Valley Road, known as the Southern Trail. It was a path that connected the Yadkin River lands in North Carolina to the Great Valley Road (The Old Kanawha Trail) that led South and West into Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. (wikitree)  It wasn’t until 1808 when Pearisburg was founded and became Giles County.  

Later on, Ezekial grew up and eventually got married in February of 1802 to Susannah Dingess. Susannah was the daughter of J. Peter Dingess. The fathers of the couple knew each other very well. In the Revolutionay War, they fought together in Lafayette’s Corps at the 1781 Battle of Yorktown, Virginia. Ezekial became a part of the War of 1812. Ezekial was a private in Captain George W. Kemp’s Company of Virginia Militia. (Hmdb) Eight years later, the Smith family migrated from Virginia to Kentucky. 

In 1829 Ezekial and his sons were granted a contract by the United States Government to ferry Indians across the Mississippi River. Deed records in Guadalupe County show that Ezekiel and four of his sons received land grants from the government of Texas. (Familysearch) In the Army of Texas, Ezekial served as a soldier from 1837 to 1840.  According to “wikitree” A family historian at GenCircles tells us: “The first to arrive in Texas was Ezekiel Smith, who arrived in 1837 with his son, French Smith. His oldest son, Paris Smith, arrived in 1840 with his family and other relatives. Paris Smith and family traveled down the Mississippi River from Iowa where they had a store and ferry after arriving there from Virginia.” Ezekial and his son French, volunteered to ride with the militia from Gonzales, Texas to overtake the Indians and recapture the settlers.  

Most of these settlers along the Guadalupe were forced by Indians to retire to the town of Gonzales. By 1834 some were brave enough to attempt to make a home beyond this settlement, but we do know that Ezekiel Smith and his family took part in the Texas Revolution, and that the family were among the Colonists who fled before Santa Anna as he pursued Houston’s Army on the retreat to Buffalo Bayou and the battle ground of San Jacinto. The group found the Indians, this resulted in the Battle of Plum Creek on August 12,1840.  (wikitree)  

In 1842, at age 60, Smith was the oldest member in the Mier Expedition. Later in Texas, Smith participated in the Runaway Scrape, he was a hero of Texas. He survived being captured, put in prison, beatings, a long exhausting march to Mexico City and near execution by firing squad. (Wikitree) In 1843 Susannah Smith received a letter from her husband who was a prisoner. He wrote about suffering and hardships that he had to endure. He said he was in good health. He was released from prison in Mexico on September 16, 1844. 

 The old family Bible of the Smith family is in the Alamo, it has been placed there by Mrs. Dowdy, a granddaughter of Ezekiel and a daughter of French Smith. It was reprinted directly, the Bible is stereotyped by B.J. Collins, New York. No publicizing date appears on the title page. The Smith Family Bible is now in the Alamo Museum in San Antonio, Texas. The first thing in the family bible is “William G. WHITE was born April the 4th day in the year of our Lord,1817.” (familysearch) 

He died in Seguin, Texas on October 28, 1854 .There is a historical marker dedicated, Sunday October 13, 1996. The marker is erected over his grave at Riverside Cemetery, Seguin, Texas. (FreePages) Smith’s grave marker is near many other known people in the town of Seguin, Texas. People like Jonathan Douglas, Claiborne West, Timothy Pickering Jones, Samuel Millett, John F. McGuffin, Calaboose, and Campbell Cabin’s. Smith’s gravestone reads “A SOLDIER IN THE ARMY OF TEXAS IN THE MIER EXPEDITION 1842. BORN IN VIRGINIA, DIED IN SEGUIN, TEXAS OCTOBER 28, 1854, Erected by the State of Texas 1936” (FIndagrave)