In the 1830s Roswell founder, Roswell King, encouraged fellow Presbyterians living along the Georgia Coast to follow him inland to establish a mill town along Vickery Creek and the Chattahoochee River. In 1838, the Smiths heeded King's call and left two struggling plantations along the coast. They gathered approximately 30 of their slaves and made the journey to over 300 acres of land situated north of the town square that would become their new plantation.
Archibald and Anne raised four children in their Roswell home, Elizabeth, William, Helen, and Archibald Jr. Both of their sons fought in the Confederate Army, and Willie, the eldest enlisted with the Signal Corps at the outbreak of the war. The family's letters from the Civil War period were collected into a book in 1988, by Dr. Lister Skinner and Arthur Skinner, entitled The Death of a Confederate. Willie's life was lost to disease not a month after the Confederates surrender. The war also had tragic consequences for the mill town of Roswell, though the homes were not destroyed, Sherman's Army would occupy the town. The Smiths along with the other founding families fled to other points in Georgia, not to return until after the war (www.findagrave.com)
Archibald Smith was one of the founding fathers of the town of Roswell. He was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1801, and married his cousin, Anne Magill in St. Marys, Georgia, in 1830. In 1838, after facing financial difficulty with two plantations along the coast, Archibald brought his family and 30 slaves to the Georgia frontier. Archibald was a staunch Presbyterian whose strict religious beliefs are reflected in the plain-style home that he built a mile from the town square. He was the only member of the founding families of the colony to remain a farmer. The cotton grown on Archibald’s plantation was used by the Roswell Manufacturing Company to produce Roswell Grey for the Confederate Army. Archibald Smith died in Roswell on January 3, 1886 (www.roswellgov.com). The family plantation in Roswell, Georgia is open for tours.
Ancestors in World Family Tree # 5738. Birth and death dates verified from grave marker, birthplace cited as Charleston, S.C. in World Family Tree, but Savannah on City of Roswell site (www.roswellgov.com)