In a recent history of St. Mary's County, Maryland, William Barton Smoot was listed as captain of the Lower Battalion of the county's militia during the American Revolution[96] and a William Smoot was recorded as a recruit for service in the War of 1812 by James Jarboe of Great Mills.[97] Mentions were made throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries of Smoot activities having to do with railroads, roads and schools.[98] The Smoot family also appears in the public records of Charles County, Maryland. Some family members migrated to Kentucky, others to Washington, D.C.[99] Although Jacob Gilliam Smoot of Georgetown, D.C., purchased 208 acres of property--Salona--in 1853, he also held property on High Street (now Wisconsin Avenue) in Georgetown from which he probably obtained income. His family spent winters in Georgetown. Smoot had attended Charlotte Hall Academy in Maryland and his son William was a graduate, in law, from Georgetown.[100] The Salona property was of a size and assessed valuation consistently greater than over half of the properties assessed in Fairfax County at the time. Smoot's personal property including several slaves, was also well above average in quantity and evaluation.[101] Sometime following Smoot's purchase of Salona, he bought two prize hunting dogs for a total of $5,000. The dogs later died from rabies. Smoot was interested in establishing a good herd of cattle so he purchased expensive registered Aberdeen Angus cattle prior to the Civil War. During the war, the cattle were appropriated and eaten by Union troops.[102] There were 50 cattle listed in the tax assessment in 1857, but the herd had dropped to 12 by 1860. In that year, Smoot was also assessed for 20 sheep and hogs. Gold, plate, silver, jewelry, kitchen and house furnishings were evaluated at $500, far above the average that year in Fairfax County.[103] The Smoots were a relatively well-to-do family. [Illustration: _The caption under this photograph reads: "The Battle Hymn of the Republic--'A Hundred Circling Camps.' The Fifth Vermont in 1861, with their Colonel L. A. Grant." From _The Photographic History of the Civil War In Ten Volumes_, pp. 154-155. The rock formation in the lower right hand corner can still be seen on Kurtz Road near Salona._] [Illustration: _The McDowell map of northeastern Virginia, 1862, showing the section including Fort Marcy, Langley, Lewinsville and the Smoot's "Salona" property._]