My 10th great,grandfather, Robert Boggus, is documented 1 April 1644 as living in the then newly created Nansemond county.

His paternal ancestors had operated an ordinary for at least three prior generations, however, it was his grandfather, Washington Smith, who inherited the Inn from his father Thomas, that was operating it, then known also as Somerton Inn, Saturday, 26th February, 1825 when Marquis de LaFayette paid a visit during his Congressionally invited tour of our then twenty-four states, on his way to spend the night at Henry Ramsay's Indian Queen in Murfreesboro, Hertford County, North Carolina.

Somerton Inn, now at 8442 Arthur Drive, remains today within Somerton Historic District, as one of its oldest structures as does his father's home at 8441 Arthur Drive and his Uncle James Edward's home at 8440 Arthur Drive.

Henning's family was probably the last Smith to operate the Somerton Inn before his father was murdered 13 September 1845 when Hunter Hill stabbed him in the heart outside of the Washington Hotel in Suffolk when Henning was but three years of age.

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Father: Robert Riddick Smith b: 16 JAN 1808 Nansemond County, Virginia.

Mother: Sarah Jackson Powell b: 13 MAR 1808 in New Kent County, Virginia.

Marriage: Virginia "Jennie" Wilson Norfleet, b. 10 SEP 1844, Suffolk, Nansemond County, Virginia; married: 13 FEB 1866, in Suffolk, Nansemond County, Virginia.

Census: 1850, age 7 Nansemond County, Virginia with widowed mother & two brothers.

Census: 1860, age 17 Suffolk, Nansemond county, Virginia with George and Fanny Godwin's household with Betsy and his two brothers, Washington C & Robt R,jr.

Census: 1880, age 36 Holly Neck township, Nansemond County, Virginia with wife four children.

Census: 1900, age 56 Holyneck District, Nansemond County, Virginia in son-in-law's household at 23 Bank street with wife & one son.

Census: 1910, age 66 Suffolk, Nansemond County, Virginia with wife & widowed daughter at 701 Bank street, a clerk, City Market House.

Postwar: Treasurer for Nansemond County, VA.

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Burial plot shared with baby brother's family and a niece Mary C Davis, in Block D, Lot 67 of Suffolk's 32 acre Cedar Hill Cemetery where their youngest paternal uncle had the Confederate Monument erected.

~ Above family info prepared in part by Bill Boggess when transferred November 2012 ~

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Company I, 13th Virginia Cavalry, Beale's Brigade, W.H.F. Lee's Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, C.S.A.

Residence: Nansemond County, VA.

Enlisted on 6/4/1861 in Suffolk, VA, he was mustered into Company G, 5th Virginia Cavalry (12 months 1861-1862), as a Private. (This company subsequently became Company I, 13th Virginia Cavalry.)

Present on all Rolls from enlistment until Absent, Horse Detail, on Sept & Oct 1863 Roll.

Present on all subsequent Rolls through end of war.

Paroled 4/21/1865.

The 13th Cavalry Regiment was formed in July, 1862, using the 16th Battalion Virginia Cavalry as its nucleus. The men were from Petersburg and the counties of Southampton, Sussex, Prince George, Surry, and Nansemond. It was assigned to W.H.F. Lee's, Chambliss', and Beale' Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia. The unit was active in the conflicts at Fredericksburg, Brandy Station, Upperville, Hanover, Gettysburg, Bristoe, Kelly's Ford, and Mine Run. Later it participated in The Wilderness Campaign, the defense of Petersburg and Richmond, and the Appomattox operations. This regiment had 298 men in action in Gettysburg and surrendered on April 9, 1865, with 10 officers and 78 men.