Davis Smith Plantation, Brent Georgia
Davis Smith (1791-1868) came from Laurens County, Georgia in 1824 and built this home outside of Forsyth, in a community later named "Brent." In 1850, when the Swedish soprano, Jenny Lynn, came to Charleston, South Carolina, Davis took his wife, Elizabeth, to Charleston, and they brought back a piano! This piano was the first piano in Monroe County, and was placed in one of the sitting rooms. Elizabeth played the piano, and sent her daughter, Jane, to Wesleyan Female College where she studied music. Jane, in turn, sent her daughter, Elizabeth (Lizzie) to Wesleyan, and Lizzie sent her daughter, Mary Brent Chambliss. Davis Smith was a planter, owning over 20 slaves, and planted cotton and other staples. He built a store where the plantation's vegetagles were sold. When Davis Smith died in 1868, his daughter, Jane Smith, resided in it with her second husband (the first one, Wesley Clements, did not come home from the war), Ty Brent. The photograph was taken about 1885.
Right-to-left: Ty Young Brent, aged about 38. Jane Smith (Clements) Brent, aged about 50. Their two young sons, Jack Innis Brent and Thomas Young Brent, standing, wearing Confederate uniforms. Her daughter, Lizzie Smith was already married.
Left, standing: Miranda Ann, aged about 20 years. Her mother, Miranda Ann Holland (seated), holding her grandbaby. Miranda was about 60 years old and her husband, Orlando Holland (ten years older than her) had died about 1880.
Right, rear: Sarah, a slave who refused to leave the family during the War Between the States, and died on the plantation.
Burial Site: Across the street, enclosed by a rock wall. Davis Smith's two young children by his first wife (Hannah Ferth) are buried there; his brother, Jeremiah Smith (born 1795), Miranda Holland, Jane Smith Brent, and others. Ty Brent died in the old Soldier's Home in Kentucky, where he was buried.
The house stood until about 1930 when it was torn down, and the field plowed under.
