What happened to Jonas Smeeton?

[ShaunJ]

On the subject of slavery - have you seen this 1850 census slave schedule which has "James Smeiton" owning a slave in Columbus, Ga ?  https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/8055/images/GAM432_93-0394

[ShaunJ]

You probably have this already - Jonas Smeeton from Leicester visiting Niagara Falls in September 1848:  https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/8055/images/GAM432_93-0394

[ShaunJ]

At some point he was resident in Toronto - this publication is from 1857: https://tinyurl.com/yyvfsm7g

[zumaro]

Thanks Shaun - I haven't seen either of these links before. Your link to the Niagara reference is a repeat of the slave one sorry. Could you post that again please, as I can't find it anywhere in ancestry with my search skills sorry!

The Toronto link must be him - so we have extended our knowledge a year, which is excellent. I find when people go to Canada however, the researching gets much harder alas. Still we know he is both alive and still called Jonas Smeeton.

Not sure about that slavery link - James Smeeton brother to Jonas, seems to stay safely in England as a tailor, dying in 1866. But Smeeton is not that common a name, and two of them in the same town might be related.

[ShaunJ]

Sorry about that - this is the Niagara Falls Museum visitors book for September 7, 1848: https://niagarafallsmuseums.ca/discover-our-history/barnett-guest-register/81638/smeeton-jonas

[zumaro]

That is remarkable - how did you find this Niagara reference!? I am very impressed. This is obviously Jonas enjoying himself in New York, free from Debtor's prison, before heading to Georgia in 1849.

[ShaunJ]

how did you find this Niagara reference!?

I did a Google search for "Smeeton Jonas"

[zumaro]

Those "" make a big difference... I (re)learn an old trick. Thanks again!

[ShaunJ]

Just logging this link to Georgia Historic Newspapers for future reference https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/