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Does anyone know if the William Backnell listed as a signator to the State of Franklin Petition in 1783/84 is related to William Becknell of the Santa Fe Trail fame?
We are working some strong circumstantial evidence that suggests there may be ties. Our Smelser line includes Josiah Gregg, also know as a substantial Santa Fe trader in his own right.
We believe at least one and possibly two of Josiah's brother's were on one or both of the first two Santa Fe expeditions with Becknell. Later in the 1830's Josiah Gregg headed up his own Santa Fe expeditions and chronicled them in "Commerce of the Prairies" which has been recently reprinted I believe.
A Smelser likely related to Josiah Gregg (his mother was Susanna Smelser) was also a signer of the State of Franklin petition. It is likely that either he (the Smelser who signed the State of Franklin Petition in 1783) or related family also moved to Saline County, Missouri and that they also were involved with the Mounted Rangers in Illinois in about 1812 (before moving to MO) and later in the Black Hawk War. Later this same Smelser line moves into Texas to assist as early settlers with family associations with the Houston line and well as the Daniel Boone line.
So, circumstantial at the moment but certainly the movement and the timing is very similar. The locations are almost 1:1 as well. Curious if this has come up before or if anyone sees anything of interest here?
John F. Smeltzer
Fort Collins, Colorado
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