from “Family History of the Joseph Taylor, Jr. & Sarah Best Family”
by Shari H. Franke
Seraphy Temperance Taylor, or “Tempy”, as she was known by her family, was born in 1793, at Edgecombe County, North Carolina, the sixth child of Joseph Taylor, Jr. and Sarah Best. She grew up on the Taylor Plantation with a loving and close family. Tempy was about 15 years of age when her family left Edgecombe County, North Carolina for Warren County, Kentucky. It was probably a hard thing for a young teenage girl to leave the home of her youth and to leave close relatives and friends.
Temperance and her family arrived in Warren County, Kentucky in 1808 after a very hard journey. As she grew older, she met and fell in love with a handsome young soldier, Wiley Smart. The young people were married on 4 April 1813 at Warren County, Kentucky. Joseph Taylor, Tempy’s father, gave his consent and his bond.
Tempy and Wiley had two children in Warren County, and then about 1816 or 1817, they decided to leave Kentucky for the State of Illinois with his parents. They moved to Madison County, Illinois, where they lived for the rest of their lives. Seven more children were born in Illinois, for a good-sized family of nine children. The place where they settled in Madison County was later known as “Smart’s Prairie”.
The years passed quickly for this couple, for raising a large family required so much time. About 1843, Seraphy Temperance Taylor died at Madison County, Illinois. She was buried at the Smart Family Cemetery near Troy, Madison, Illinois, which is located in a field 1/2 mile east of Haegler Cemetery, 3 miles northeast of Troy.
Wiley Smart was born in 1789, in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. He was a son of Laban Smart (b. 9 Nov. 1758 at Franklin Co., N.C.-d. 28 Mar. 1840) and Susannah Simmons (b. 31 Mar. 1766-d. 22 Mar. 1838). Laban Smart was the eldest son of Peter and Sarah Smart. Laban served as a soldier during the Revolutionary War under General Morgan in the memorable Battle of Cowpens. His brother Amos died in the Army with camp fever soon after this battle. It was said that they were fighting side by side when Amos was wounded, and when Laban stopped to assist him, ‘he was told to continue on with the fight and not to stop, that Amos would be all right and for him not to be alarmed. Laban enlisted in the Spring of 1780 under Captain William Brickle and served under Colonels Allen, Session and Kinyon at the age of 22 years. He enlisted again in 1781, serving under Captain Jones and Colonel Linton and drew a pension in 1832, which ‘he applied for at age 74 years. Laban Smart lived in Franklin County, Edgecombe County and Chatham County, North Carolina. Laban and Susannah Simmons Smart moved to Tennessee for one year, then to Warren County, Kentucky about 1806 and then onto Madison County, Illinois in 1816. They settled there in Section 1, township 3, range 7 of Jarvis township. Laban continued farming until about 1838 when he lost his wife Susannah. They had raised a large family of ten children (all born in North Carolina) with whom the old gentleman lived until his death, some three years later. This family was one of the first settlers in this part of Madison County, Illinois. Almost all of Laban and Susannah Simmons Smart’s children came to Madison County, Illinois: Martha Smart and Isham Vincent; Wiley Smart and Temperance Taylor; Margaret Elizabeth “Betsey” Smart and Harden Warren; Peter Smart; Cynthia Smart and James Keown; Henry Smart, Jennie Jane “Jinca” Smart and Barabarry “Barbara” Smart. The two children who didn’t come were: Alsey Smart, the oldest son who remained in Warren, County, Kentucky, and a daughter Katherine Smart and husband Thomas Burchield who remained in Kentucky but came later on to Madison County, Illinois.
In about 1832, Wiley exchanged farms with Peter Long and then located on the Long farm, where he continued to reside until his death in 1856. Wiley and Temperance raised quite a large family, some of whom settled in Shelby County, Illinois; and others went West.
Wiley also served his country in the War of 1812 as a Private in Captain Stewart’s Company in the Warren County, Kentucky Militia. He worked hard all of his life and was a farmer. After S. Temperance’s death about 1843, Wiley married (2) 23 July 1844, Elizabeth ——- (Hignight), at Bond County, Illinois, who was a widow. She had been formerly married to Mr ——- Hignight, and they had several children, who Wiley raised as his own after he married their mother. Wiley and Elizabeth also had one son. on 25 October 1855, Wiley Smart died at Olive township, Madison, Illinois. He was buried at the Smart Family Cemetery, near Troy, Madison, Illinois. Elizabeth Hignight Smart died August 1856, shortly after Wiley. She is believed to be buried also at the Smart Family Cemetery, near Troy, Madison, Illinois. Wiley Smart and Seraphy Temperance Taylor’s children were: Amy, Sarah, Henry Green, Lucinda, Peter, Martha, Allen Taylor, Mary Ann and William R..
Wiley Smart and Elizabeth Hignight’s child was Alexander Wiley Smart.
Elizabeth Hignight’s children by her first marriage to Mr. Hignight were: James, Mary, Sarah, Moses, Peter, Catharine, Daniel, Rebecca and Nancy Ellen P. Catharine, born ca. 1832, married Peter Smart, son of Wiley and Temperance.
