James Smith was probably called to Militia duty in mid March 1778 and we know he died on or shortly after 1 May 1778 (Battle of Crooked Billett Tavern, near Hatboro PA), so Mary must have been born after, say, Jan. 1777 and before Dec. 1778. (I would guess that Mary Irwin Smith married Charles Blair in the summer or fall of 1778, relatively soon after James Smith died in May of 1778, because their son James was born in 1779.) We don't know when Mary Smith Gealy died, but Mercer Co. Courthouse records show that she was living in 1838 when she and James sold Sandy Lake Twp. property to Luke Porter.
We believe James and Mary met after the Gealey and Blair families moved to now-Plain Grove Twp, now-Lawrence Co, then-Cool Spring/Wolf Creek/Slippery Rock Twp. in about 1798. (Now-Plain Grove was actually listed as Allegheny Co at the time, and the 1800 taxes are shown as being in North Beaver Twp. Prior to 1800 it may have been Irwin Twp.) Their farms were only a very few miles apart. It is possible that Charles Blair knew the Gealeys from the time of the Revolution because he and a James G. were apparently in the same Militia Company and Class in Rye Twp. in 1779 ); but they don't show up on the same active duty roll, and we don't otherwise have any evidence of an acquaintance prior to the move to Plain Grove. Blair probably moved to Plain Grove from Westmoreland or Huntingdon Co; Gealys came from Washington Co.


James was a tanner, farmer and businessman. They lived near the town of
Mercer until 1815, then moved to Sandy Lake Twp. near Sandy Lake, then moved to Shenango Twp. about 1839. James and Mary purchased a lot for speculation in the town of Mercer when it was laid out about 1804.[Gealy.FTW]
The family probably moved to Peters Twp., Washington Co. about 1789, and from there to now-Lawrence Co. in 1798. James Gealy and his brother Henry received 400 acres by warrant, adjacent their father, in 1798. The property was just east of US Rt. 19, about 12 miles south of Mercer Boro, in now-Washington Twp, now-Lawrence Co. They eventually patented the land in 1806. and had sold by about 1815. James married Mary Mills Smyth in 1800, after the Census. She was the daughter of Mary Irwin Smith and James Smith and step-daughter of Charles Blair, a neighbor. James opened the second tannery in Mercer Boro in about 1804. He and his brothers marched with the militia to Erie in the War of 1812, was active in the Presbyterian Church (Associate Presbyterian, Erie Presbytery, just north of Brownsville/ Sandy Lake Boro, in which he was an organizing elder in 1811), and held numerous public offices in Mercer Co. through the years. It appears from census, tax, and municipal records that James and Mary were in Sandy Lake Twp from about 1815 until the late 1830s.

James the Tanner G. (Militia, War of 1812) 1813Capt. Jas. Dennison's Co. or Capt. David Robinson's Co, Lt.Col. Hossack's 134th Reg. Served at Erie July and Aug. 1813 in Battle of Lake Erie.

[James] must have moved to Lawrence Co. (then Mercer Co.) about the time his father did, because he was married there to Mary M. Smith in 1800. Mary Smith was living with [her stepfather] Charles Blair, who had settled in the northern part of the township about the same time that John settled Gaylodge. He and his brother, Henry, patented 400 acres to the west of Gaylodge in 1806, named Mt. Gailey, but sold his share to either his father or his brother, John, before 1810. He probably moved to the Sandy Lake area of Mercer Co. shortly after the war [we believe about 1815

• Married: 1800 in Mercer (now Lawrence Co) PA

1. John Smith Gealy b: 1802 in Plain Grove Twp, Lawrence Co, Pa
2. George Washington Gealy b: 1816 in Pa
3. William J Gealy b: 1811 in Pa
4. James S Gealy b: 1806
5. Henry Gealy b: 1808
6. Barbara Gealy b: 1813
7. Margaret Gealy b: 1822