Gwynn's Island Project
Smith Family Trees
Family trees for first Black landowner William SMITH & his son James Henry SMITH
This information has been uploaded to Ancestry and Family Search
The family trees include many other descendants than the Smiths
Click buttons to see files
Black Families on Gwynn's Island (1870-1920)
Click button to see list
Black Voters 1867
In 1866, Congress passed the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed freedmen’s legal rights and prohibited Confederate officials from holding office
Virginia failed to ratify the 14th Amendment, which led to the state being placed under military rule on March 2, 1867
Virginia comprised Military District No. 1. Its commander was ordered to register all qualified male citizens who were age 21 or older
The October 22, 1867 election was the first in which Virginia’s African Americans could vote
During the 1860s, District 3 was known as the Piankatank Township, which included Gwynn’s Island
Click button to see list
Black Burials
Deaths were generally not required until 1900
Click button to see list of death certificates for Black citizens from 1913-1920
Burial sites are not specific, but it is believed that "Gwynn VA" refers to a cemetery located behind the Keeble Cemetery
along Cherry Point Road, adjacent to Andrew Smith’s property purchased in 1909 from a Keeble descendant
The south boundary of his property is called “land now used as the colored cemetery"
“Hays” refers to the Black Church of the Rising Sun, built in 1897, named for Pastor John Hayes
Hayes lived adjacent to the church along what is now Gwynnsville Road
Any markers or headstones have disappeared
Census Records
The following census records will help you research Black families on Gwynn's Island from 1870-1920
Click links to see census documents
1870 -- Piankatank (Mathews) VA -- Gwynns' Island records on pages 1-8
1880 -- Piankatank (Mathews) VA -- Gwynn's Island records on pages 16-24
1900 -- Piankatank (Mathews) VA -- Gwynn's Island records on pages 1-11
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DYC9-DTY?i=10&cc=1325221
1910 -- Piankatank (Mathews) VA - Gwynn's Island records on pages 1-12
1920 -- Piankatank (Mathews) VA - Gwynn's Island records on pages 27-45
