Ebenezer Smith and Remember Ellis

Ebenezer Smith's Poem

Click here to view a poem written by Ebenezer Smith.

Antique Furniture

Transcription of the label on the back of an antique mirror restored by Tom Johnson:
This Glass was Mrs Lucy Shepardson, Old Ebenezer Smith second Wife,
She was Born in Seventeen Hundred and Forty
Died in Eighteen Hundred And Eight"

Source: Johnson, Tom (Thomas Johnson Antique Furniture Restoration, Gorham, ME), Rescuing an Antique Mirror - Thomas Johnson Antique Furniture Restoration, YouTube, 11 Mar 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTBnHT_Ldlg, last accessed 27 Apr 2023. Transcription made my me (Michelle Boyd).

Town Records

Name:    Irena Smith
Birth Date:    4 Jul 1757
Birth Place:    Ashfield
Father's First Name:    Ebenez[e]R
Mother's First Name:    Remember
Source:    Vital Records of Ashfield

Name:    Keziah Elmer
Birth Date:    12 Apr 1788
Birth Place:    Ashfield
Father's First Name:    Sam[ue]L
Mother's First Name:    Elizabeth
Gender:    Female
Source:    Vital Records of Ashfield

Name:    Preserv[e]D Smith
Birth Date:    25 Jun 1759
Birth Place:    Ashfield
Father's First Name:    Ebenez[e]R
Mother's First Name:    Remember
Source:    Vital Records of Ashfield

Name:    Jemima Smith
Birth Date:    18 Mar 1761
Birth Place:    Ashfield
Father's First Name:    Ebenez[e]R
Mother's First Name:    Remember
Source:    Vital Records of Ashfield

Name:    Rhoda Smith
Birth Date:    29 May 1762
Birth Place:    A
Father's First Name:    Ebenez[e]R
Mother's First Name:    Remember
Source:    Vital Records of Ashfield

Name:    Diathenea Smite
Birth Date:    12 Mar 1763
Birth Place:    Huntstown
Source:    Vital Records of Ashfield

Source: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Massachusetts, Town Birth Records, 1620-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.

Name:    Irene Smith
Spouse:    Isaac Alden
Marriage Date:    18 May 1780
Marriage Place:    Ashfield
Source:    Vital Records of Ashfield
Full text:    Irene and Isaac Alden, May 18, 1780. Intention not recorded.

Name:    Edward ANNABLE (Anabel, Anible, Annible)
Spouse:    Miss Jemima Smith
Marriage Date:    24 Nov 1782
Marriage Place:    Ashfield
Source:    Vital Records of Ashfield
Full text:    Edward (Annible), , and Miss Jemima Smith, both of , Nov. 24, 1782. Intention not recorded.

Source: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Massachusetts, Town Marriage Records, 1620-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.

Name:    Ebenez. <Smith>
Christening Place:    HADLEY, HAMPSHIRE, MASSACHUSETTS
Birth Date:    04 Oct 1734
Father's Name:    Chiliab Smith
Mother's Name:    Sarah
Indexing Project (Batch) Number:    C73736-3
System Origin:    Massachusetts-VR
GS Film number:    186152
Reference ID:    p 26

Source: "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCQH-9ZD : 4 December 2014), Chiliab Smith in entry for Ebenez. <Smith>, 04 Oct 1734; citing , p 26; FHL microfilm 186,152.

Name:    Keziah Elmer
Gender:    Female
Birth Date:    12 Apr 1788
Birthplace:    ASHFIELD,FRANKLIN,MASSACHUSETTS
Father's Name:    Samuel Elmer
Mother's Name:    Elizabeth
Indexing Project (Batch) Number:    C50165-1
System Origin:    Massachusetts-ODM
GS Film number:    974.42/A1 V2N

Source: "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5N9-VNS : 4 December 2014), Keziah Elmer, 12 Apr 1788; citing ASHFIELD,FRANKLIN,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 974.42/A1 V2N.

name: Remember Elles
gender: Female
birth date: 01 May 1735
birthplace: Easton, Bristol, Massachusetts
father's name: Richard Elles
mother's name: Jean Elles
indexing project (batch) number: I00973-2
system origin: Massachusetts-ODM

Source: "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCCG-M8Z : 4 December 2014), Remember Elles, 01 May 1735; citing Easton, Bristol, Massachusetts, ; FHL microfilm 1,059,951.

Name:    Ebenezer Smith
Event Type:    Marriage
Event Date:    01 Jul 1756
Event Place:    Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, United States
Gender:    Male
Spouse's Name:    Remembrance Allis
Spouse's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Gender:    Female
Reference ID:    Vol 1 Pg 251
GS Film Number:    186146
Digital Folder Number:    007009216
Image Number:    00151

Source: "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHT2-3KP : 4 November 2017), Ebenezer Smith and Remembrance Allis, 01 Jul 1756; citing Marriage, Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 186,146.

Town: Ashfield
Surname: Smith
Ebenezer, Eld., s. Chileab Sr. [q. v.], ____. [Entered by deposition.]
Ebenez[e]r [int. Jr.] of Hawley [int. of A.] and Keziah Elmore of A., May 17, 1792.
Ebenez[e]r, Eld., of A., and Miss Lucy Sheperdson of Guilford, int. May 26, 1796.
__, w. Eld. Ebenezer, Oct. 14, 1814, a. 78 y. 5 m. 13 d., C. R.1. [Esther, G.R.7.]
Irena [dup. Ireene], ch. Ebenez[e]r and Remember, July 4, 1757 [dup. in Huntstown].
Irene and Isaac Alden, May 18, 1780.* (*Intention not recorded.)
Preserv[e]d, ch. Ebenez[e]r and Remember, June 25, 1759 [dup. in Huntstown].
Jemima, ch. Ebenez[e]r and Remember, Mar. 18, 1761 [dup. in Huntstown].
Rhoda, ch. Ebenez[e]r and Remember, May 29, 1762, in A.
Diathenea [dup. Diathena, ch. Ebenez[e]r and Remember], Mar. 12, 1763, in Huntstown.
Obed and Rhoda Sears, both of A., Aug. 29, 1793.
Surname: Annible
Edward (Annible), Lt., and Miss Jemima Smith, both of A., Nov. 24, 1782.* (*Intention not recorded.)
Surname: Merrill
Jesse and Rhoda Smith, both of A., Feb. 21, 1790.

Town: Montague
Surname: Harvey
Moses, Capt., Jan. 17, 1795, in his 72d y. "All these my 4 sons dead in 3 months and 2 days; not any of my family left except my wife and one daughter." G. R. 7.
Surname: Smith
Ebenezer, "Elder," of Ashfield, and Esther Harvey, wid., of M., int. Dec. 27, 1808.

Source: Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2010).

Name:    Ebenezer Smith
Gender:    Male
Spouse:    Remembrance Allis
Marriage Date:    1 Jul 1756
City:    Deerfield
County:    Franklin
Source:    Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0760648 & 1887384.

Name:    Ebenezer Smith
Gender:    Male
Spouse:    Lucy Sheperdson
Marriage Date:    26 May 1796
City:    Ashfield
County:    Franklin
Source:    Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0902896.

Name:    Ebenezer, Jr. Smith
Gender:    Male
Spouse:    Keziah Elmore
Marriage Date:    17 May 1792
City:    Ashfield
County:    Franklin
Source:    Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0902896.

Name:    Mrs. Esther Harvey
Gender:    Female
Spouse:    Ebenezer Smith
Marriage Date:    27 Dec 1808
City:    Montague
County:    Franklin
Source:    Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0766948.

Name:    Irene Smith
Gender:    Female
Spouse:    Isaac Alden
Marriage Date:    18 May 1780
City:    Ashfield
County:    Franklin
Source:    Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0902896.

Name:    Jemima Smith
Gender:    Female
Spouse:    Lt. Edward Annable
Marriage Date:    24 Nov 1782
City:    Ashfield
County:    Franklin
Source:    Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0902896.

Source: Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp. Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850.

Name:    Remember Elles
Event Type:    Birth
Birth Date:    1 May 1735
Birth Place:    Easthampton, Massachusetts
Father Name:    Richard Elles
Mother Name:    Jean

Name:    Ebenezer Smith
Event Type:    Marriage
Marriage Date:    1 Jul 1756
Marriage Place:    Deerfield, Massachusetts
Spouse Name:    Remen Brance Allis

Name:    Obed Smith
Event Type:    Birth
Birth Date:    6 Apr 1770
Birth Place:    Hawley, Massachusetts
Spouse Name:    Rhoda

Name:    Rhoda Sears
Event Type:    Birth
Birth Date:    1 May 1771
Birth Place:    Dennis, Massachusetts
Father Name:    Daniel Sears
Mother Name:    Priscilla Sears

Source: Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).

Page 18
Ruben Elles, son of Richard & Joan Elles, born 5 Nov. 1728
Benjemin Elles, son of Richard & Joan Elles of Easton, born 26 Sept. 1730
Benjemin Elles, son of Richard Eles of Easton, died 17 Nov. 1730
Mary Ellis, daughter of Richard & Jean Ellis, born 28 March 1731/2
Remember Ellis, daughter of Richard & Jean Ellis of Easton, born 1 May 1735
Jean Eles, daughter of Richard & Jean Eles, born 11 Nov. 1737
Matthew Elis, son of Richard & Jean Ealis, born 19 Dec. 1739

Page 19
John Elis, son of Richard & Jean Elis of Huntstown, born in Dearfield [no date]

Source: Maltby, John A. (trans.), Easton, Massachusetts Vital Records Transcription, 2002, http://home.earthlink.net/~lilymaltby/easton_vital_records.html, retrieved 6 May 2013.

Name:    Eunice Welles
[Eunice Wells, Weles]
Gender:    Female
Birth Date:    May 1764
Birth Place:    Colchester
Parent:    David
Parent:    Mary

Source: Ancestry.com. Connecticut Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.

Biographical Sketches of Richard Ellis

Page 15:
Among the first settlers in Ashfield and even in the same neighborhood where Richard made a settlement, the Baptists were the first to organize their church and erect a meeting house, and from that time to the present that denomination has held a leading part in the religious sentiment of that part of the town of Ashfield. Three-fourths of a mile north of Richard's house was located the meeting house of this sect, and from that time to this that locality has been known as "Baptist Corners." The first minister located there was Rev. Ebenezer Smith, who married, in 1756, Remember, the second daughter of Richard Ellis.

Page 17:

FIRST GENERATION.

(I.) RICHARD ELLIS Born, 1704; Died, 1797
(2.) JANE PHILLIPS " 1709; " *1760

Married in Easton, Mass., in 1728.

SECOND GENERATION.

CHILDREN OF RICHARD AND JANE ELLIS

4. Reuben Ellis                                                        Born, 1728;               Died 1786
6. Benjamin                                                           "      1730;                   "    1730
7. Mary                                                                      "      1732;                   "     ....
9. Remember                                                           "      1735;                  " 1795
11. Jane    " 1737;                  " 1832
13. Matthew                                                             "       1739;                  " ....
15. John                                                                    "       1742;                  " 1827
17. Hannah                                                              "        1750;                  "    1839
19. Caleb                                                                 "        1754;                  "    1813

The first six of these children were born in Easton. The record is found in the handwriting of Mrs. Ellis' father (Capt. John Phillips), who was town clerk. He adds to the above the following : "John Ellis, son of Richard Ellis of Huntstown, born of his wife Jean in Deerfield." Hannah was probably born in Huntstown, (afterwards Ashfield,) as her parents resided there at that time. Caleb may have been born there, or elsewhere, as it was about this time that the French and Indian war began, when all the settlers left Huntstown, and went to the older settlements east and south for three years. See Appendix, Note I.

Names or dates with this mark (*) may not be exactly, but are very nearly, correct.

Page 18:
...
(9) REMEMBER ELLIS......................Born, 1735; Died, 1795

(10) Rev. EBENEZER SMITH............" 1734;         " 1824

Married in Deerfield, in 1756.

THEIR CHILDREN— All born in Ashfield.

34. Irene Smith..............................Born, 1757; Died, 1834
36. Preserved " ............................." 1759;         " 1834
38. Jemima " ................................" 1761;         " 1835
40. Rhoda " .................................." 1762;         " 1837
42. Ebenezer, jr. " ........................." 1766;         " 1855
44. Obed " ...................................." 1770;        " 1828
46. Richard " ................................." 1774;        " 1800

Pages 72-74:
(9.) REMEMBER ELLIS SMITH, fourth child of Richard was born in Easton, May 1st, 1735. She was about ten years of age when her father settled with his family in Ashfield, where she lived the rest of her life. July 1st, 1756, she was married to Elder Ebenezer Smith, a son of Mr. Chileab Smith, Sr., the third settler in Ashfield. The following account of their marriage, found in the records of the Smith family, has been sent to the writer. "There being no minister or magistrate at Ashfield at the time, on the wedding day the groom took the bride behind him on horseback and guided by marked trees rode from Ashfield to Deerfield to have the ceremony performed. His father Chileab Smith went before them on another horse with his gun to guard them from the Indians. She was reported in the family as a person of uncommon worth."

She died at Ashfield, Sept. 15, 1795, aged 60 years. She had seven children. Her husband

(10.) ELDER EBENEZER SMITH, was born in South Hadley, Mass., Oct. 4th, 1734, and died in Stockton, N. Y., July 6th, 1824. He was a Baptist minister, began to preach when 19 years of age, and was ordained Aug. 20th, 1761.

When a young man he served in the army in the French and Indian War, and assisted in building a fort around his father's house, which was a resort of the neighborhood against the Indians for about three years. After the death of Remember Ellis, his first wife, in 1795, Elder Smith married Lucy Shepardson, June 15th, 1796. She died Oct. 5th, 1808, aged 68 years. Jan. 5th, 1809, he married Esther Harvey, and she died Oct. 14th, 1814, aged 78.

Elder Smith was a pure and noble man and was held in high esteem by all who knew him, and he was extensively known throughout New England and New York. Elder Supply Chase, of Detroit, Mich., a Baptist minister now over 86 years of age, says: " Elder Ebenezer Smith's is one of the sanctified names in the Baptist denomination." Both he and his father, Chileab Smith, were pioneers in the Baptist faith in western Mass. The persecution they suffered on account of their religious belief was almost incredible. This extended over a course of about ten years and required them to make repeated journeys to the General Court at Boston for redress of their grievances. Their orchards were torn up and lands sold to pay tithes for the support of other churches than their own. Warrants for their arrest on fictitious charges were issued, but in each instance they were completely vindicated. A year before his death Elder Smith wrote quite a full account of his ministry and trials, extracts from which may be found in the Appendix.

Elder Ebenezer Smith was a son of Chileab Smith, Sr., who was born in South Hadley, Mass., in 1708, and he, Chileab, was a son of Preserved Smith, who was born in 1679,who was a son of Preserved Smith, born Jan. 27th, 1637, and the latter was a son of Rev. Henry Smith, of Wethersfield, Conn., who emigrated from England in 1636. In crossing the ocean they encountered such violent storms that all hopes of their reaching land was lost. However they were providentially preserved, and having a son born on the voyage, they gave him the name of Preserved, which has been a frequent name in the Smith family in every generation since.

Mr. Chileab Smith, Sr., was a very positive character, and the most noted man in Ashfield's history. On account of a schism in the church at Weathersfield, Conn., a large portion of the congregation removed to Hadley, Mass. Years afterwards another schism took place at Hadley, when Chileab moved to Ashfield in 1750 — then called Huntstown. At the age of 80 years he was ordained a Baptist minister by his sons Elders Ebenezer and Enos Smith. At the age of 85 he married his second wife. He died in Ashfield in 1800, aged 92 years. His first wife, and mother of his children, was Sarah Moody. One of his sons, Chileab, Jr., was born in Hadley in 1742, and died in Ashfield in 1843, aged 100 years and seven months.

Elder Ebenezer Smith was a minister of the gospel 72 years, and preached 10,920 sermons, and rode one horse over 25,000 miles. He preached in Ashfield nearly 40 years. When 76 years of age he made a visit to Cayuga County, N. Y., where several of his children had settled. He made the trip on horseback and was gone 120 days, and preached as many sermons as he was day's gone. At Throopsville, Cayuga Co., N. Y., he preached to the settlers there in the hollow of a large buttonwood tree* which held an audience of 32 persons. From this as a beginning the Baptist church there was founded.

His last sermon in Ashfield was "delivered May 22, 1815, before a large assembly." He was then in his 81st year. The sermon was printed and reads like a good, old-fashioned, strictly orthodox discourse. The next year he removed to Stockton, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., where his son Ebenezer, Jr., had settled in 1815. Every Sabbath thereafter, until his death, he rode his horse to, the place of worship. He died at the house of his son Ebenezer, Jr., July 6th, 1824, aged 89 years, 9 months, and two days, in the full vigor of his mental powers, and as full of honors as of years. While he deplored his lack of educational privileges in his youth, he knew the advantages of early education and his eldest son. Preserved, and youngest son, Richard, went to Brown University, where they graduated. He raised seven children, and a year before his death estimated his posterity then living at 100 souls. Personally Elder Smith was about five feet eight inches tall, thick set and dark complexioned. For an account of his children and their descendants, see Nos. 34 to 46. For a more full account of the Smiths of Ashfield, see Appendix.

*I was at the tree in 1813. There was a door on one side.
— Letter from Aaron Smith, 1850.

Pages 90-98:
Children of Remember Ellis Smith, (9), and Elder Ebenezer Smith, (10), of Ashfield, and their husbands and wives.
Grandchildren of Richard Ellis. From Nos. 34 to 46.

(34.) IRENE SMITH ALDEN, was born in Ashfield, July 4th, 1757, and died March 16, 1834. She married Isaac Alden, of Ashfield, who was a lineal descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Muggins, who came over in the Mayflower in 1620 and whose courtship has been immortalized by the poet Longfellow. The latter left a numerous posterity in Massachusetts. Several, of them were residents of Ashfield in early times. One of these was John Alden, whose farm was on the north side of the road opposite Reuben Ellis' farm. This John Alden died about 1840, a very aged man. He was probably a brother of Isaac Alden, mentioned above.

Irene and Isaac Alden had nine childen, one daughter and eight sons. The daughter married Dr. John Rathburn.

(36.) Rev. PRESERVED SMITH, eldest son of Elder Ebenezer Smith, was born in Ashfield, June 25th, 1759. He died Aug. 15th, 1834, in Rowe, Franklin Co., Mass.

When 16 years of age, at the beginning of the Revolutionary war, he entered the army and served five campaigns as a soldier. He was under Gen. Gates and present at the surrender of Burgoyne.

He was early imbued with a desire to obtain an education, and began preparation for college under the instruction of Rev. Mr. Hubbard, of Shelburn. For some time he taught school in the winter and worked in the summer to procure means for study. He entered college in Providence, Rhode Island, and graduated in 1786. Soon after he commenced the study of theology with Rev. Mr. Emerson, of Conway, Mass. In 1789 he settled in the ministry in Rowe, and in January the following year he was married to Miss Eunice Wells, the youngest daughter of Col. David Wells, of Shelburn.

Although his parents were the strictest Baptists, and he was reared under this influence, he began his ministry as a Congregationalist. In 1804 he resigned his charge in Rowe and the next year settled in Mendon, Mass., where he preached to two societies or churches for several years. This double duty he found too great a tax on his energies and on a unanimous invitation from the church in Rowe he returned there in 1812. About this time the Unitarian controversy began, and from his love of free inquiry and independent habit of thought he investigated the subject fully. The result was that he became openly a Unitarian, although he preferred the name purely of Christian to that of any sectarian designation. He was a minister for forty-five years.

He had two children, Rev. Preserved, Jr., and Royal. The latter died early in life, about 1820. The eldest, Preserved, Jr., was born in Rowe, Aug. 1st, 1789, and died in Greenfield, Mass., in 1881, aged 92 years. Like his father he was a Unitarian minister and preached in Warwick, Franklin Co., nearly all his life. He had his faculties unimpaired up to the time of his death. He remembered well, and often related an interview which he had when ten years of age with his great-grandfather, Chileab Smith, Sr., who died in Ashfield in 1800, at 92 years of age — a remarkable
event of two lives covering a period of 173 years. He had three children: Preserved, Jr., who now resides in Dayton, Ohio; Fayette, who is a lawyer and judge in Cincinnati, O., and Eunice Wells Smith, who married Rev. J. F. Moors, a Unitarian minister who resides in Greenfield, Mass., where he has preached for twenty-five years.

(38.) JEMIMA SMITH ANNABLE, second daughter of Elder Ebenezer and Remember Ellis Smith, was born in Ashfield, March 18, 1761, and died in Marcellus, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Feb. 13th, 1835. She married Lieut. Edward Annable, of Ashfield, Nov. 24, 1782 and had a family of eleven children. She was a very pious woman, devoted to her family and of rare qualities of mind and heart. She had a good education for one of her times, and it was said was a natural mathematician and could solve problems in arithmetic and algebra mentally with more rapidity and ease than most persons could with figures. She was a great bible student and critic, and understood doctrinal points thoroughly. Her children were all born in Ashfield, except Fernando C., the youngest, who was born in Aurelius, Onondaga Co., N. Y., and he is the only one living at the present date.

(39.) LIEUT. EDWARD ANNABLE husband of Jemima Smith was in his day one of the most noted men of Ashfield. He was born in Barnstable, Mass., June 22, 1753, and when nine years of age his father, Samuel Annable, Jr., settled in Ashfield. He was a large man and of commanding presence. At 18 years of age he entered the Revolutionary army and served seven years without a furlough.* He was at Bunker Hill, Saratoga, Brandywine, and at the winter encampment at Valley Forge. He commanded the company which relieved Gen. Anthony Wayne after the surrender of Stony Point, May 31, 1779, and was with that officer when it was recaptured July 15, 1779. He was one of Andre's guard at his execution, and often dwelt on the brave deportment of that unfortunate officer. He said that when Col. Schamel told him to speak if he wished to say anything, Andre raised the handkerchief from over his eyes and said: "Gentlemen I wish you all to bear me witness that I meet my fate like a brave man." His arms were tied so slightly that with some difficulty he could raise the handkerchief from before his eyes.

Lieut. Annable married and settled in Ashfield. His father was Samuel Annable, Jr., and his mother Desiah Dimick, sister of Molly Dimick (16). Samuel, Jr., was born in Barnstable, Mass., 1717, and died in Sempronius, N. Y., about 1806. His father, Samuel, Sr., was a descendant of Anthony Annable and his wife Jane who came over in the Anne** in 1623. Anthony Annable was a prominent man, and much in public life. He died in Barnstable, 1674. He had six children, one of whom, Samuel, born 1646, married Mehitable Allyn in 1667, and died in 1678. He had four children. His son John, born 1673, married Experience Taylor in 1692 and had five children. Samuel, son of John, born 1693, was the father of Samuel, Jr., of Ashfield and grandfather of Lieut. Edward Annable.† A more full account of the Annables will be found in the Appendix.

The children of Lieut. Edward Annable and his wife Jemima, were Dimick, born Sept, 1st, 1783 (died in youth); Mehitable, born Dec. 31st, 1784; Annar, born June 29th, 1786; Alcemena, born March 30th, 1788; Rhoda, born Jan. 5th, 1790; Desire, born Jan. 6th, 1793; Abby, born April 10th, 1795; Dimick, born Nov. 10th, 1798 (died in youth); Isabella and Remember (twins,) born Aug. 28th, 1801 ; Fernando C, born Dec. 24th, 1805. All born in Ashfield, except the last who was born in Aurelius, Cayuga Co., N. Y.

*Lieut. Edward Annable's patriotism was of a high order and came from patriotic ancestors, although his father was at the opening of the Revolution a prominent tory. In Freeman's "History of Cape Cod" is found the following record: "In Barnstable, June 26th, 1776, Thomas Annable and 22 others issued an address to the citizens of the town of Barnstable urging them to aid the Independence of the Colonies. At a town-meeting held a short time before this, the tory element was in a majority and voted to do nothing to aid independence. Mr. Annable and the others protested in the following language: 'And we request that this Protest may be entered on the town book to let posterity know that there were a few in this town who dared to stand forth in favor of an injured and oppressed country, and that it is a matter of great grief to us that the Cause of Liberty is treated with such indignity by some of the inhabitants of the town of Barnstable.'"
*The Mayflower in 1620, Fortune in 1622, and Anne in 1623, were the ships which brought the Pilgrims to this country.
tEdward Annable's brothers and sisters were Barnabas, David, Thomas, Mehitable, Polly (73) and Bethia.

...

(40.) RHODA SMITH MERRILL, was born in Ashfield, May 29th, 1762, and died Feb. 21st, 1837. She married Jesse Merrill and had three children, all daughters.

(42.) EBENEZER SMITH, Jr., fifth child of Elder Ebenezer and Remember Ellis Smith, was born in Ashfield, April 1st, 1766, and died in Cassadaga, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., May 24th, 1855 aged 89 years.

He married Keziah Elmer, or Elmore, of Ashfield about 1791, and had seven children. She died in Cassadaga, March 17th, 1870, aged 93 years. The Elmers were one of the early families in the settlement of Ashfield. Mr. Wilson Elmer, a nephew of Keziah, died there in 1885 an aged man. For his second wife he married Mrs. Amanda Ranney Richmond, widow of Elijah Richmond, an enterprising citizen of Ashfield, who died about 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Elmer were married about 1875, and lived a short distance easterly from the old church at Baptist-corners, the Chileab Smith neighborhood. Mrs. Elmer died in 1884. She was a daughter of Jesse Ranney, who raised his family on the old farm of Reuben Ellis,

Ebenezer, Jr., moved with his family from Ashfield to Chautauqua Co., N. Y., in Oct. 1815. Several families from the Ellis neighborhood in Ashfield went with them, namely: Philip Phillips, Israel Smith and Daniel Whitmore. This was just about the close of the war of 1812 and the country was very new and the roads bad. They were over a month on the way from Ashfield. Mr. Smith purchased wild lands, made a clearing and built a log house. He was a farmer by occupation and a scholarly man. His knowledge of the Bible was very thorough, so much so that he was known as the "Concordance." There was not a passage of Scripture that he was not familiar with and could turn to readily. He was a Baptist, as were most of his descendants.

His children were Aaron, born 1792; Quartus, 1796; Fidelia, 1798; Gerry, 1803; Rebecca, 1808; Ebenezer and Keziah (twins,) 1813.

...

(44.) OBED SMITH, sixth child of Elder Ebenezer and Remember Ellis Smith, was born in Ashfield, April 6th, 1770, and died in Stockton, N. Y., Oct. 17th, 1828. He married Rhoda Sears, of Ashfield. Their children were, Priscilla, Obed, Aretus, Keziah, Daniel, Irene and Preserved.

(46.) RICHARD SMITH, youngest child of Elder Ebenezer and Remember Ellis Smith, was born in Ashfield, June 20th, 1774, and died in Ashfield May 8th, 1800. He was a physician, and never married.

He was a graduate of Brown University at Providence, and was a very scholarly man. He was very proficient in astronomy and mathematics, and it is said once wrote an almanac.

All these families — children of Elder Ebenezer and Remember Ellis Smith— settled in Central and Western New York early in the present century, except Rev. Preserved Smith, their eldest son, who lived and died in Rowe, Mass.

Page 287:
The first regular church formed in the town was of the Baptist denomination. It was constituted July, 1761, consisting of nine members. In the following August Rev. Ebenezer Smith, the eldest son of Chileab Smith, was ordained its pastor. In May, 1768, Nathan Chapin and seventeen others sent in a petition to General Court setting forth that they belonged to the persuasion called Anabaptists, and praying to be exempted from the taxation for the support of the Congregational ministry. This petition, after repeated and persevering efforts, during which the petitioners were subjected to many trying scenes, was at last granted. It is to be regretted that there should ever have been occasion, in this land of enlightened liberty, for such a petition as this. Nothing would seem to be more reasonable than that any religious denomination demeaning themselves as peaceable members of society, should enjoy free toleration in the exclusive maintenance of their own order. Our fathers fled hither that they might enjoy liberty of conscience in matters of religion. But it must be remembered, by way of apology for any seeming inconsistency in their legislative acts, that for a long while after the settlement of Plymouth the people of this land were very generally of one and the same denomination; hence their laws had respect to this particular denomination alone; and when in the process of events other sects sprang up, they were not so careful, perhaps, as enlightened Christian charity would have dictated, in so modifying their statutes as to give equal toleration to all who might conscientiously differ from them. Hence, in the tardy revision of the laws to meet the exigencies of the times, there were, without doubt, insulated cases of what would now be universally pronounced religious intolerance and oppression. But those were days when free toleration in the things of religion were but imperfectly understood. The progress of nearly a century has thrown much light on this subject; we have occasion to thank God that we have fallen on better times. Let not the errors of those years of comparative darkness, long since gone by, be revived and handed down as a matter of reproach or recrimination between Christian brethren differing only in modes, and all enjoying, to their full satisfaction, liberty of conscience and equal toleration. For a long number of years the kindest feelings have been entertained between the Baptist and Congregational churches in this town.

In 1798, after a ministry of thirty-seven years in this town, Elder Smith was dismissed from his pastoral charge in good standing. He soon after removed to the western part of New York, where he continued to labor in different places until he reached the age of 89. He died at Stockton, in the County of Chautauqua, N. Y. Mr. Smith, though not favored with early opportunities for a systematic education, is represented to have been a man of strong native powers of mind, thoroughly orthodox in sentiment, and an acceptable preacher. [See (10) page 71.]

Pages 338-352:
BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND TRIALS OF ELDER EBENEZER SMITH, OF ASHFIELD, MASS.— WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.

[Elder Smith was a son in-law of Richard Ellis, of Ashfield. For an account of him see page 71. The manuscript from which the following article is printed was sent the writer by Dr. A. P. Phillips, of Fredonia, N. Y., whose wife is a great granddaughter of Elder Smith. See page 98.]

"Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul."
"One generation shall praise Thy works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts."

[David.

Having been requested to write some of the experiences I have met with in my life, I did not conclude to do it until I received a letter from a much esteemed friend in which was the following: "I read your letter at the meeting of our Missionary Board, and the members expressed a wish that you would commit to writing the most remarkable circumstances of your life, and the observations you have made from time to time relative to the cause and church of Christ. You have outlived most of your cotemporaries; of course, you have more experience of the ways of God than many of your junior brethren; you have also experienced many trials which most of us have been exempted from. I hope, dear sir, while your health and powers of mind hold out, you will devote a little of your precious time to this labor of love, for the good of the cause and for the benefit of those who may follow after you."

Upon receiving this letter I thought it my duty to enter upon the work, concerning which, I would observe that I am now almost eighty-six years old, and I have nothing to write from but my memory, but I shall be careful not to write anything but what I am sure is the truth. Perhaps, in writing what was said many years ago, I shall not always use the same words, but I shall be very careful to give the true sense. — Stockton, Chautauqua Co. , N. Y., Aug. 29, 1820.

I was born in South Hadley, Mass., October 4, 1734. There was but very little schooling for anyone in my young days. I went to a woman's school a little while and learned to read, and afterwards to a man's school and learned to write, which was all the teaching I had except what I received at my father's house. I could read pretty well, could write so as it might be read, and had a knowledge of arithmetic sufficient for the business of a common farmer, but never saw a grammar till I bought one for my own children.

In my seventeenth year my father removed to Ashfield. There were but two families in the town before him. I had serious impressions on my mind when very young and, by turns, throughout my youthful days; at times would be light and merry with my mates, but never went to what was then called a frolic. After we removed to Ashfield [then Huntstown] my father proposed to the neighbors to meet together on the Sabbath for religious worship; they assented, and my father took the lead in the worship. I was under deep concern of mind until in the month of March, 1753 (I do not remember the day of the month, but the place where and the time of the day — between sundown and dark), as I was looking to God alone, as a poor, guilty sinner, I was enabled to give myself into the hands of a just God, and a peace and joy followed which I never knew before.

I cannot tell of such views of the flames of hell, and of Christ hanging on the cross as I have heard others relate, but my understanding was led to see the holiness of God's law and my utter inability to do anything to recommend myself to Him; and I also saw the infinite fullness of the Savior's merits — that pardon could be had through His atoning blood, and justification through His spotless righteousness. And this is all my hope; whatever becomes of me at last, I can only plead: "God be merciful to me, a sinner;" and I believe it will be infinitely safe to be in this way.

I now began, as opportunity offered, to speak of the things of God. In the course of the summer my mind was led to particular texts of Scripture that would open to my view. This one often came to mind: "As every man hath received the gift, so let him minister the same;'' but I am but a child; how can I speak to those who are so much older than I? To this self-questioning the answer would return: "As every man hath received the gift," followed by "Lo, I am with you." So I labored along under these trials until November. On the 29th day of that month I was called upon in such a manner that I could no longer refrain, and attempted to preach unto the people. From that day to this — sixty-seven years next November — I have endeavored to improve and to speak forth the truth according to my ability. I must now begin to relate some of the trials in my experience.

The next summer after this beginning I was requested to go and preach in another town. A great number assembled to hear; the minister of the town, and another scholarly man who had just begun to preach, were present, and they both remained seated during prayer. The minister several times interrupted my discourse, but the rest of the people behaved orderly. After the meeting the minister asked me what a butler was. I answered: a "cup-bearer." He said I used the word "butler" instead of "buckler," in my discourse. I cannot say but I might have made such a slip, and a few years afterwards my utterance at the time alluded to was ridiculed in the public prints by him. A further example of the minister's treatment of me was as follows: In praying for the ministers of Christ I used these words: " That they may stand in their lot."' In his talk after the meeting he asked: "In what lot must ministers stand in — home lot or second division lot?" His whole conduct was in this line of mockery. I have ever been grateful that through the goodness of God I was enabled — young as I was, and among strangers— to go through with my discourse.

Soon after this the war of 1756 broke out, and for two summers we were forced to leave town from fear of the Indians. I was called to go into the army for about three months, and then we built a fort [at Ashfield or Huntstown] and had some men sent to guard us. So we lived in the fort in the summer for three summers, and in our own houses in the winter. We were in a broken situation at that time, but I still continued to preach, when there was time for it.

I was brought up to believe that sprinkling infants was baptism, and never had much thought but such was right, until I was married and had a child of my own, then I thought more about it. I had never seen a Baptist nor a Baptist's writings. I heard there were Baptists, but they were spoken of as a deluded people, and my further inquiries about the ordinance of baptism led me to conclude that the subject was left in the dark — there was nothing certain about it, and I might accept what my father had done for me, and let that go for my baptism; but I could not get my own children baptised. O what blindness!

In April, 1761, a Baptist elder came into town on business. Inviting him to my house, I desired him to tell me how he came to be a Baptist, and I found that he was settled and unshaken in regard to that ordinance, whereas I had thought that nobody could be certain whether he was right or not. After discovering that one could be established in regard to that ordinance, I came to the determination to search carefully at once as to what was right, and I can truly say that I could not find, then nor since, that I had the least choice but to accept the truth; and this Scripture came to me with great solemnity: "Let God be true, and every man a liar." I went to my Bible; I read no other book; I said nothing to any man till I had become settled beyond doubt, that believers in Christ, and none other, had any right to that ordinance; and that to be buried in the water, and raised out of it, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is the only Gospel baptism.

And now I was brought to see the reason why I was so long in the dark about that ordinance. It was because I let the traditions of men be of weight in the balance with the word of God. And I am persuaded that every true believer in Christ that reads the Bible, if he has but a single eye, will let that doctrine of Antichrist — that sprinkling infants is baptism — go, and embrace the pure ordinance of Christ; delivered to the saints; for Christ saith: "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light;" and He will fulfill His word.

Making my mind known to my friends I found some who had a desire to be baptised; and I knew of but one elder on earth that we could apply to, and he was sixty miles away; but I went to him with my errand, and he came, with one of his brethren, and baptised seven one day, and one the next day; and there was one of that elder's members who had moved into the town a little before; he joined us, making our number nine. We formed a church, the elder gave us the right hand of fellowship, and administered the Lord's supper.

It made a great tumult among the people. Such a thing was never heard of in that part of the country before. All manner of evil was said about us; and we a feeble band and no friends near us. But he that is a sanctuary to His people through His grace we were enabled to keep our ground, and the church gave me a call to be ordained and to become their pastor. We sent to the same elder (60 miles), and to another elder (90 miles), and to a church that had no elder (90 miles), they came, and I was ordained August 20, 1761.

From this time the Lord carried on His work, and additions were made to the church. One thing that took place a few months after my ordination I will mention, as perhaps it may do good: There came a young man from a distance of ninety miles, in order to be baptised. He went to meeting with me, but when it came time for him to tell his experience he was so dark in his mind that he could not do it. I pitied the young man, and took him with me to my house. After some conversation, I told the young man that I could tell what the difficulty was with him that kept him so in the dark: You live near one of the elders that attended my ordination; some of his church live in the same town with you, and you could not bear to take up the cross or be baptised among your old acquaintances, so you come up here into the woods to be baptised and shun the cross. He freely confessed that to be the very reason of his coming, and he soon had such light and comfort in his soul that he decided to return home and be baptised among his own people. The next I heard of him he was baptised and preaching the Gospel, and became a worthy minister of Christ.

If we mean to be Christ's friends we must deny ourselves and take up the cross.

When I was ordained above half the people that were then in the town were agreed in it and attended my ministry; but, the war being over, the Pedobaptists [believers in infant baptism] came into the town, and in 1763 they settled a minister. There were 300 acres of land for the first minister who settled in the town. They took all that and did not let me have one foot of it. There were 300 more, the use of which was for the support of the minister, which was rented out to the utter exclusion of the Baptists. The General Court made a law that all the land in town might be taxed to pay the Pedobaptist minister and build their meeting-house; and if any did not pay, the land could be sold to obtain the tax. We sent a petition to the Court for relief, and, not being heard, we all agreed that we would not pay the tax, let what would come of it. In the month of April, 1770 they came forward with a tax of £507 for their minister and meeting-house, and began selling our lands. They sold about 400 acres in all — ten acres of my home lot, that were worth ten dollars an acre. The man came with a surveyor and a band of men, to measure it off. My little son, about four years old, came crying to me, saying: "Father, has the man come to take away our land?" I saw the man next day, who told me to go and put up half the fence between us and he would put up the other half. I replied: no, there should be no fence put there; if he had a mind to sue me for the land I would stand trial, and see who had the best right to it ; but come on it he should not — and I have never seen his face since. To be short about the matter, I went five times to Boston to try to get that law repealed, but failed in my errand. Other trials of those trying days are worth mention : One day, when Col. Dexter and some other members of the Court desired to see my ordination, the record was shown him; he read it over and said: " This looks like an ordination ' according to the pattern shown in the mount.'"

Once, when the matter was being debated in Court, Col. Bowers said he would "not call it highway robbery, but if such things were done on the high seas, he would call it piracy."

One morning I went to see Col. Tyler. He was unable to go to the Court that day, but he wrote a letter for me to carry to Dexter, to have him help me, and in the letter he said: "They are devilishly oppressed.''

Discoursing with a number of the Court one day, one of them said: "Suppose eight or ten Baptists go into a new town and settle a minister, and then the other order are not able to settle a minister without the Baptists' help, must they do without a minister because there are eight or ten Baptists there?" I replied: " The Court allows sixty proprietors to every new town. Now ten Baptists go in and settle a minister, and the fifty cannot settle their minister without the ten support their own minister and help the fifty support theirs, too. Do look at it!"

While these things were going on there appeared an article in public print, said to have come from a minister residing near Ashfield, in which the writer says: " It is a common observation that the Baptists in Ashfield will not stick at any falsehood, to serve their purposes;" and to prove his charge, he says that we say in our petition to the Court: "there are £507 pounds raised for the minister and the meeting house, whereas £100 were for highways. ' A heavy charge; to come from a minister, too, and from one that lived near us. I thought it time to appear in my own and my brethren's defence. I sent to the Clerk and got a copy of the vote for raising money, and went right down to Boston and put an answer into the same paper, just four weeks after the other article appeared.

I said, in my answer: "We did in our petition say that the sum of £507 was raised for the minister and meeting-house; then, he adds that '£100 was for highways,' which is a notorious falsehood. That £100 was raised for highways I well knew, but it was no part of the £507 for the minister and meetinghouse; and, to satisfy the public, here follows a copy of the votes, attested by the clerk, that said £507 are for the minister and meeting-house and £100 for highways.'' I heard no more of that charge.

The last time that I went down to the Court at Boston, one of the men who sold our land also went down to meet me there. The Court chose a committee of five men, with Col. Brattle as their chairman. We pleaded our cause before them and left it for them to make their report. Col. Bowers told me that his affairs were such that he thought he must go home. I desired he would stay till the committee reported. He replied that if his going would be any damage to me, he would stay if it cost him £100. Accordingly he did stay. I cannot tell the very words of the report, but the substance of it was, that in the sale of our lands there was nothing unjust, but all was right and we had suffered no wrong; and, notwithstanding all my friends would say, the Court accepted the report. Thus were we left by an act of the Government in the hands of our neighbors, who might tax and sell just as much of our land as they pleased. This looked like a dark day, but I had this for my support, that there is a 'God in heaven that governed the affairs of men.'

By the help of some friends the matter was sent over to the King. This was in April. The King's order came the same year, in October. I suppose there were but three men in the country who knew it had gone to the King, till his order came, by which order he overthrew the sale under our law, and put a stop to their taxing us any more. This was "good news from a far country," and rejoiced the hearts of my afflicted brethren.

Perhaps the reader will ask how I was exercised in mind by the trying circumstances of these times. I can say that I viewed them to be of the providence of God — that He cast my lot where it was, and that it was the cause of truth that I was callad upon, according to my ability, to defend; and being in the path of duty I had God to go to; and, having His fear before my eyes, creatures vanished from sight; that I felt under obligations to speak my mind plainly, before high and low. At that time there was much said about liberty, and the people in this land was complaining of Britain's oppression. One day, when I was discoursing with a number of the members of the Court, they pleaded for their right to tax the Baptists, and that they could not support their ministers without the Baptists' help. I say the truth — I lie not; my spirit was stirred within me; not with anger, but with an abhorence of such tyranny; and with a zeal for the cause of truth, and to defend my oppressed, brethren, I told them they were calling themselves the sons of liberty and were erecting their liberty poles about the country, but they did not deserve the name, for it was evident all they wanted was liberty from oppression that they might have liberty to oppress!

I was told that the man who went down to meet me before the Court said to his neighbors, after he came home, that "Elder Smith would speak the truth, let the consequences be what they would."

In those days of trial I received many favors from my brethren in and about Boston, which I have not forgotten. But they are now mostly all, if not all, gone home to glory, I trust; while I, poor and unworthy, yet continue in this vale of tears. that I may be enabled to be faithful unto death. But to return to my narrative:

The brethren in Newport sent a request to me to come and see them; and a little after the King's order came into the town, and we had gained my brethren's liberty, I went to see them.

As I was on my way home I met one of my acquaintances, in a town where I intended to tarry over the Sabbath, and he told me that since I had left home they had sent out a warrant to take me for counterfeiting money. I told him I never was afraid to travel the King's highway, and I should not turn out for that noise. He said they would take me as soon as I got home, or before. I went on to where I intended to put up. When my friend saw me come in, he said: "Are you here? I just now heard that you were in Springfield jail for counterfeiting money!" I told him it was not worth while for me to say anything about it, for people would reply that if I would counterfeit money I would deny it; but you know that I am not in Springfield jail, because you see me here.

He sent out to let the people know that I was come. I did not see but there came as many to hear me preach as ever before when I had been there. As I went on my way home there was a great stir about the affair, but I got home the day I meant to, and they never showed me the warrant. May God have the glory.

[It is astonishing to what indignities the Baptists were subjected during these times, especially Mr. Chileab Smith, Sr., the father of Elder Ebenezer Smith. Mr. Smith was the third settler in Ashfield, and was the most noted resident of the town for thirty years or more. He was an ardent Baptist, and was ordained into the ministry when 80 years of age. He died in 1800, in his 93d year. In the year 1771, in the midst of the persecutions mentioned above, it was reported that he "had put off a bad dollar" upon a Mr. Pike, a resident; and although Mr. Pike said that "there was no truth in the report,'" Mr. Smith was arrested and taken before the Judge of the Court at Hatfield, twenty miles away. Ten witnesses were summoned and no evidence was found against him, yet the Judge was very insulting, and held him to bail in a sum so large that he supposed Mr. Smith could not procure it, and hence could be kept in jail a few months. The result was, as he himself stated, that "he was greatly injured in his health and lost most of a winter's work." It turned out that his arrest was mainly due to the fact that smoke was seen, by jealous persons, to issue from the chimney of his shop on Sundays, where he had built a fire to warm those who came to his house to attend meetings— Baptist meetings for several years being held at his house. Previous to this, his orchard had been torn up and twenty acres of his best land sold, to pay taxes to another minister and for building the meeting-house of another denomination." His house was searched; and when he went abroad about his lawful business his track was pursued, to see if they could not find some evil thing done by him.' His people were taunted with the saying: " When the negroes get free, then the Baptists may,"' &c. In all the trials to which these people were subjected they were fully vindicated; and the verdict, finally, of all who ever knew Chileab Smith, Sr., the champion of the Baptists, was: "that he was as honest a man as ever lived." He never wavered in his faith or purposes, and could have gone to the stake with as much heroism as any martyr of old. He was the human embodiment of that inspiration which at Baptist Corner gained for religious freedom one of the greatest victories in the world's history. Yet, for one of the present time who looks over these "rock-ribbed and sterile hills," now mostly deserted, the wonder is, how these hardy pioneers gained a bodily subsistence, even. The name and fame of Chileab Smith, Sr., should be perpetuated forever among men, and a monument erected to his memory on the sanctified ground of Baptist Corner. Some future generation will do this. — It may be said that the odium which was sought to be cast upon the Baptist people by other denominations continued for thirty years later, until the time when that great missionary, Adoniram Judson, was sent out from Massachusetts to India in 1812 to convert the heathen. On his passage to that country he investigated Baptist doctrines, and soon after his arrival announced his conversion thereto. This was the end of the persecution of the Baptists in this country, the humiliation of their opponents being complete. See page 324.]

And now they took another method to annoy me: They put me into the civil tax three years going; made up the tax and put the collection thereof into the hands of three collectors. One of them called on me to pay. I told him I should not pay, and forbade his taking anything of mine; I agreed not to go out of his way, so that he might take me if he would, but meddle with my property he must not. Before he distrained on me another Elder in the county was taxed in the same manner, who sued the town for his right, in the Supreme Court at Northampton, and gained his case. These three collectors were present at that trial, and never again called on me to pay the tax.

Concerning this affair I would make the following remark: The assessors who made up the tax were under oath to proceed according to law. The law forbade taxing a minister of the Gospel, and the only way they could tax me without violating their oaths, as they thought, was by denying that I was a minister. Had I paid the tax when it was demanded I would seem thereby to have acknowledged that I was not a minister, and thus have brought reproach upon my calling, my people and the cause of God. These considerations moved me to refuse to pay the tax; the money was only a trifle, but the honor of God required that I should not wound His cause or give occasion to the adversary to rejoice. I fully expected when I refused payment that my property would be levied upon, and my escape from loss or annoyance was due to the judgment of the court in the case of the other elder. It appeared to me a providence of God in my behalf that the case was tried just at this time, and that the three collectors should have been present at the trial and have been convinced that they had no right to collect a tax from me. Such things do not come by chance. To God be the glory!

But I turn to relate things of a different nature: Though our adversaries had lost the power to oppress us, they yet manifested their spite by all manner of reproaches and evil-speaking, and the ministers would try to prejudice the people against the Baptists. One instance I mention: A man belonging to the Pedobaptist Society desired me to go and preach at his house. I passed the house of the minister on the way to my appointment, and the minister, seeing me, set out to follow me, keeping a distance behind, so as to avoid speaking with me. He came into the house a little after my arrival and began to reprove the man for inviting me to preach at his house without leave from him. The minister displayed much heat of spirit, but I thought it prudent not to interfere between them, and sat silently by. When, however, the people had assembled, I spoke to the minister and told him the time for worship had arrived. He arose and said: " If you will go on, I charge all my people not to stay to hear you," and went out. As he was going these words came to my mind, which I repeated so that he might hear:

"Why should the nations angry be?
What noise is this we hear?
The Gospel takes away their gods,
And that they cannot bear."

One man followed the minister; all the rest remained throughout the service.

But Jesus is King upon the holy hill of Zion, and notwithstanding all the rage of the devil and antichrist. He carried on His own work and the church increased; another church was formed in New Salem, and I was sent for to baptize a number in Chesterfield — I suppose the first ever baptized in that town — and soon there were enough to form a church. I was soon after called to baptize in Colerain, and a church was gathered there; another church formed in Montague ; another in Leyden; a second church was formed in Colerain; another rose up in Charlemont, and I had the happiness of assisting in ordaining elders in five of these churches. O what hath God wrought in my day! Glory to His holy name!

When the Pedobaptists found they could not stop the work of God by oppression nor reproaches, they turned to flattering. "Come, let us all be one; we allow your baptism to be good; we can commune with you, why will you not commune with us?" And a number of their ministers invited me into their pulpits to preach for them on the Sabbath; and it so happened that I went into my own county town, where I was born and brought up — South Hadley — and their minister being away they requested me to preach for them. That was a good occasion for me to preach the Gospel of Christ to my kinsmen according to the flesh, and to those who had been my neighbors from my infancy. What will be the fruit of that day's labor I must leave till the Lord brings it to light.

In these times of flattery there came three persons to me from a town adjoining, where they had no minister — men who had been acquainted with me a number of years and had often been to my meetings — to see if I would not go and be their town's minister. They offered me a good salary and consented to my baptizing in my own way all that so desired; but also to sprinkle infants for them who requested it, and so to commune with them. I suppose these men were really honest in their own minds, and thought that baptism was such a nonessential thing that we might compromise. I thought that if they had ever felt the power of that word: "Let God be true, and every man a liar," they would not have made such a proposal to me. I told them I could not sell the truth. I pitied them, for they were men for whom I had a high regard, and they appeared to be really grieved that I could not grant their request.

This brings me down to the year 1795. And now, to look back and see what the Lord has done in thirty-four years, when we were but nine in number, surrounded by enemies that would gladly have rooted us out of the world if they could, and the nearest of our Baptist brethren sixty miles from us, but now with churches all around us, but a few miles away, and elders ordained with whom I could take sweet counsel; verily, it is all of the Lord, who hath said: "A little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation; and the Lord will hasten it in his time."

In this year I was called to part with the dear companion of my youth, who had been a partner with me in many joys and sorrows, through more than thirty-seven years; and now, being left alone in the world, I took a journey into the new country, starting the first of November, and being absent six months, traveling and preaching in the new settlements where there were no churches nor ministers of any order. From the middle of December to the middle of March I preached as many sermons as there were days, and was so favored, "through the good hand of my God upon me," as never to have missed an appointment in all my journey, and I trust "my labor was not altogether in vain in the Lord." I reached home the last day in April. After a while, in 1796, I was married again, to one who was truly a helpmeet to me, with whom I lived over twelve years. In the year 1798, the church having another elder ordained, I requested a dismission, which the church granted in January, and thereafter I preached where Providence opened a door. There was a Church newly organized in a town then called Partridgefield, containing two parishes — the first is now called Peru, and the second Hinsdale; they will be called by these names in what I have further to say. The Baptists lived in both these towns, in June they sent two brethren to request me to come and see them. In response I preached to them and administered the Lord's supper. They were a church of eighteen members, and desired me to visit them again with a view of settling among them, and in the course of the summer I baptized a number there — one a man about 80 years old. Some of the townpeople had said they thought Elder Smith would not baptize children, but I baptized one child, though he was not so young but that while he lived — which was a number of years — he was an honor to religion, and his wife as well, who had been baptized before. They brought forth fruit in old age, to show that "the Lord is upright, and there is no unrighteousness in Him."

In November I removed into that town, joined the church and became their pastor. Here new trials awaited me that I had not thought of. The people in Hinsdale were building a costly meeting-house, which was about half completed at the time of my settlement. They had sold the pews in advance, and were paying the costs of erection from the proceeds of these sales. Very soon one of the building committee came to me saying many who had engaged pews had moved away without paying therefor and the cost of the building was to be met by a tax upon the town, and suggested that the Baptists should thus help to build it and have the use of the house part of the time. We considered the matter and replied that such measures would not accommodate us and we declined to accede to them; they might build and enjoy the full fruits of their work, which was the same privilege that we asked for ourselves.

Upon this they voted to lay a tax upon the town — Baptists and all — and made up the tax roll. To give an idea of the burden upon the Baptists it may be mentioned that one poor man who had no land, but supported a large family by his daily labor and had only one cow, was taxed ten dollars in one tax, besides other small taxes; and others were taxed in like proportion to their means. When the money was called for the General Court was sitting in Boston; it was in the month of February, in the year 1800. The brethren desired me to go down to Boston and see if I could get any help for them. Setting out on Thursday morning, when the weather was so cold that some travelers I met would not encounter it, I made thirty miles that day. The next day at about 9 o'clock it began to snow, and a northeast wind as severe as any I ever experienced blew directly in my face, yet I pursued my way for another thirty miles before putting up for the night. The third day I made six miles over an unbeaten track before breakfasting. As the people began to break the road I went on and passed out of the town of Worcester as the clock struck twelve. I rode until nine o'clock. The next morning I came to a guide-board, a few rods from where I had tarried for the night, which said: "38 miles to Worcester." I write this that others may know what I have gone through to help my brethren when in distrees. I went into Boston on Monday, put in a petition to the Court setting forth our distress and praying for help, and they chose a committee of both houses to look into the affair. When they came to meet and consult upon the matter they said we were free by the law of the State, and there was no right to tax us, though they did not see as that Court could help us; our remedy for such oppression should be sought in the civil courts.

I became acquainted with a number of dear friends in Boston from whom I received no little kindness, for which I here record my thanks and wish them the best of Heaven's blessings.

When I came home they began to seize my brethren's property and sell it at vendue. One man whom they carried to jail desired me to go with him, and take advice of a lawyer, which I did. The advice was to pay the tax and sue for its recovery, as there would be no advantage in remaining in jail. I assisted that man in counting out upwards of sixty dollars for one tax, to enable him to get out of jail. Then one of the brethren sued the town for his money. I was called upon to attend the court. As an incident I may relate that the lawyer for the town, during his plea began to disparage me. He had spoken but a few words in that vein before he was interrupted by the first judge of the court; who said: "Gould (his name was Gould), you had better let Elder Smith alone; he is a man of as good credit among his own people as Dr. Stilman, of Boston. Don't let me hear you ran on against Elder Smith here." I could not but rejoice at the goodness of God, that He should move the heart of such a man, at such a time, to defend me from reproach, for the court-house was very full of people.

The Court gave judgment in favor of the Baptist, and the town appealed to the Superior Court. When it came to trial at that court the judges said the case had not been brought in the lower court according to the forms of law, which ruling turned the case against the Baptist and involved him in $100 costs. This was a distressing day for my poor brethren, left, as they were, in the hands of their oppressors by the highest tribunal of the State.

At their desire I went down to Boston again, to see if I could get any information as to how to proceed for relief. I found that by taking the matter up in my own name there was a prospect of gaining the case. When the town learned that I was going to take it up they offered to pay back half the tax, and the Baptist agreed to that and so settled the matter; thus they got half the tax and $100 court charges of the Baptist, as unjustly as if by highway robbery; and this to build a house for the worship of that God who says: " I hate robbery for burnt offering;" aye, by those who call themselves the church of Him who said to His followers: " All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets." "Be astonished, ye Heavens! and amazed, Earth!" Inasmuch as the town, by paying back half the tax, plainly confessed that they had been unjust, and restored the half only from fear that otherwise they might lose the whole.

But my labors in defense of my brethren did not end here; I had still another trying scene to go through. Part of my brethren lived in Dalton, where a minister was about to be settled. A farm was bought for him for $1,300, and for this sum and the minister's salary the Baptists were sought to be taxed. I went there and requested that my brethren should be let alone. "No," they said; "if they can escape by law they may, otherwise we shall tax them." I put a short account of our persecutions in the public print. A writer undertook to answer it, and charged me with falsehood. By town records attested by the clerk, and writings received from inhabitants of the town of the Pedobaptist, I proved his article to be a complete libel. I never heard more of my alleged falsehood, nor did the writer attempt to reply. Who he was I never knew.

He said: "If the Baptists in Dalton think they are exempt from paying taxes to the minister, let them try it in the courts; but they dare not try it." As the judges of the Supreme Court had said that the minister must sue for the money because those who paid the tax could not recover it, I thought I would venture to "try," notwithstanding that writer had said I dare not.

The town authorities said I had better sue for one man's tax; that if I got the case for one they would pay the whole, and such a course would diminish the costs. Accordingly, I sued before a single justice, who gave me the case. They then appealed to the County Court, where I also won the suit and the bill of costs against them, which was $30. The town's agent advised me to let the costs lie over, for they intended to carry the case to the Supreme Court, and if the decision went against me I would have to refund to him. I replied that I knew that as well as he, but as the town had had the use of the money, I believed it right for me to have it now, and so the bill must be paid.

They took it to the Supreme Court by what was called a writ of error. It came up for trial on Tuesday. The court met in the afternoon, discussed the matter till sundown, when the judges said they would consider it until morning. But what an afternoon it was to me! The court-house crowded with people, and no faces known to me except those of the members of the court; and by all that the judges said, it looked as if they intended to turn the case against me. I went to my quarters with the sole consoling thought that there was a God in heaven that disposed of all events on earth. But little sleep visited me that night. In the morning I went to the court-house to see my attorneys, one of whom said it looked as though the decision would be against me. The other said he had talked with the judges after the court broke up, and was inclined to believe that I should win the case. This was all my encouragement till the afternoon of Saturday, when the Court gave their judgment — and gave it full in my favor, which put a stop to taxing the Baptists in that part of the State.

After I was ordained parties came to me to be married and I married them, whereupon a great outcry was raised. Some said they would complain of me, and there was £50 fine. It went on a few years; I married when applied to, and the threatenings continued. At length I was told that they had carried a complaint to the grand jury at Springfield, but could get nothing done. During my residence in Ashfield nothing more was heard on this subject, but after my removal to Hinsdale, going to court one day I met a neighbor who said he should enter a complaint against me for marrying people. I replied: "Very well, you may complain of me and I shall continue to marry, and we will see who holds out the longest. " After further conversation, I remarked that it was my intention to act up to my profession before all mankind; it was well known that a settled minister had a right to marry and I professed to be one; should I refuse to perform the ceremony when called on it would be a virtual denial of my profession; so you may complain, and I will marry.

I saw one of the grand jury after they had completed their business, who said that the man had entered his complaint to them, but that they would not entertain it. This ended the whole matter.

Let me here remark, that I have lived in the world and dealt with my fellow-men almost seventy years, and never had so much difficulty with any man in my own private concerns but that it could be settled quietly without a mediator. But, in defending the liberties of the Baptists in the State of Massachusetts I have had as much law, and perhaps more, than any man in my day. It seemed to be laid upon me in the course of God's holy providence, and through the good hand of God upon me I have always obtained the right. Sometimes matters would look exceedingly dark, yet it was so overruled that the enemy did not triumph over me. O the marvelous goodness of God!

And now, that through the good hand of God my brethren were free from oppression, I thought it best to leave them, and they gave me a dismission from the pastoral care of the church and a recommendation, but a request to continue my relation with them as a member. In November, 1807, I moved back to Ashfield, and in the course of the seven following years met with nothing in my religious life uncommon to Christians generally. I continued to preach where Providence opened the door, made one journey up to the new country of eight weeks' duration, buried my second wife, married again, and buried my third wife in October, 1814. Being now left alone in the world, in 1815 I set out on a journey, spending sixteen weeks in the new settlements in New York State, traveling and preaching. And the land was not a wilderness, nor a land of darkness to me; I enjoyed much of the Divine Presence, and have reason to think my labors were not in vain in the Lord. Though I had not the care of any particular people, I was called to preach somewhere the chief part of the time.

In 1816 my son desired me to accompany him to a permanent residence in the new country. I therefore spent the summer making farewell visits to the churches and people with which I had formerly been associated, preaching and endeavoring to confirm the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith. The visiting finished, I set out on my journey the 10th day of September, having many calls to preach during my progress, insomuch that my destination was not reached until May 27th, when I found I had traveled 1,600 miles, preached 149 times, assisted in one ordination, attended one council where a church was under some trials, attended the Lord's supper three times, and about twenty other religious meetings.

When arrived at my new home I found a small church had formed just previous to my arrival, which I joined; and there has been a number added to it, and four new churches raised up a few miles distant. There is a large field for labor in this wilderness, and though I am old and feeble, truth appears at precious as ever. There are many errors and false doctrines in the world, yes I am at rest, because I believe truth will finally prevail over every error; and it is a comfort to me that God is raising up witnesses for the truth that may stand when I am laid in the grave. Oh, in looking back through the years since I was called to be a witness for the cause of God, and against the doctrines of Antichrist in the face of a frowning world, I cannot but rejoice at the overwhelming goodness of God, who has carried me through so many trials; that He should so care for a poor unworthy worm, and suffer me to live to see the churches of Christ on the right hand and on the left. I exhort all to keep on the side of truth and trust in God; we have nothing to fear; let us bear a faithful testimony against the mother of harlots and all her daughters, and never cherish the thought of a confederacy with Popish errors. Oh, that all the world would come out of Babylon, that they be not partakers of her sins and receive not of her plagues. The day will come when every plant which our Heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. May the Lord hasten it in its time.

                                                                                  Still has my life new wonders seen
                                                                                     Repeated every year ;
                                                                                  Behold, my days that yet remain,
                                                                                     I trust them to Thy care.
                                                                                  The land of silence and of death
                                                                                     Attends my next remove;
                                                                                  O may these poor remains of breath
                                                                                     Teach the wide world Thy love!

                                                                                  By long experience have I known
                                                                                     Thy sovereign power to save ;
                                                                                  At Thy command I venture down
                                                                                     Securely to the grave.
                                                                                  When I lie buried deep in dust
                                                                                     My flesh shall be Thy care —
                                                                                  These withered limbs with Thee I trust
                                                                                     To raise them strong and fair.

When the above was written I thought of concluding, but on further consideration a little more will be added.

I never gave much weight to dreams, but about the time of beginning the land suit with Dalton I had a dream that I will venture to relate: It was that the Lord ordered me to lead the tribes of Israel out of Egypt to the land of Canaan; I thought the Lord spoke to me plainly, as we read he spoke to Moses. I got the tribes together and we set out on our march, but had not gone far before Pharaoh met us with a mighty army. The people were in great distress, but I told them to be quiet, we should be relieved, though I knew not how; I had a calm and assuring faith in our deliverance. The Lord spoke and bade me go to Pharaoh and demand a free passage for the chosen tribes through his host, also saying: "If he does not grant it, I will smite him and all his host." I was not bidden to make the threat, but only to demand the passage. Telling my people to halt, I went up to the army and called for Pharaoh. Some of the leading men came forward and inquired what was wanted. My reply was: I must see Pharaoh and deal directly with him. At length he came, I demanded a quiet passage for the chosen tribes through his host — that we must go through unmolested. The request was granted, so that I led the tribes safely through, got them clear of danger — and awoke, and behold it was a dream.

Having related my dream I now give a more particular account of the lawsuit with Dalton. There were but few Baptists in that town, they were not very forehanded, and the town had taken about forty dollars from them for the first tax, and the case could not be prosecuted unless they could let me have what money was needed for the purpose. They said they did not see as they could do it, so they must submit to the oppression, for the town said the tax must be paid unless they could get clear by law. And they sank down, having no hope of deliverance, apparently as much distressed as the tribes were in my dream. Then one of my hearers who lived in Peru heard how the matter stood, and the Lord opened his heart, so that he offered to assist me with what money I should want to carry on the suit, provided those who paid the tax should make a free gift of it to me in case I recovered it; he said, moreover, that he could spend $1,300 without breaking in upon his estate. Having reported this offer to the brethren concerned, I further added that I would prosecute the case without cost or trouble to them — would take it all on myself. In other words, as in my dream, I called to the tribes to halt while I went to seek a way for them. Without repeating what has before been written, some other circumstances of this trial maybe mentioned: The case was continued through several terms of the courts to await its turn, so that three years elapsed before a final judgment was obtained, which made it necessary for me to be present at every session of the courts during this time, because of not knowing when the case would be called. Twice had I to leave Lenox on Saturday night after sundown — and once in January, when the cold was as severe as we have in winter— and ride home 20 miles, and on the next morning go eight miles the other way to preach. But the Lord carried me through, so that I never disappointed a religious meeting by attending courts. After three years' labor and toil, through "the good hand of my God upon me," I brought the chosen tribes through the Egyptian host in safety, to where they were out of all danger.

And now, looking back over these times, it brings to my mind what the prophet Micah said: " Remember, O my people, what Balak, King of Moab, consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered, that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord. Balak built his altars three times to have Israel cursed, and Balaam was no better friend to Israel than Balak, yet he had to bless Israel every time." So in this case, Dalton consulted to have the Baptists cursed, and built their altars three times; and the judges, and the attorneys that had the management of the case against us, were none of them Baptists, and yet they blessed them altogether. It was not my wisdom, nor any power of mine; no, it was the Lord who did it, and may all the glory be given to His holy name.

While this case was in the law three years they kept taxing the Baptists and getting their money, and it took me another year to get those taxes back. Once while the men were talking to me who were to see that the taxes were refunded, their minister came in remarked: " You must wait for your money; I have to wait for mine; I can't get it so soon as I should." "There is a great difference," I rejoined, "between your waiting and mine; you wait on your own people; my people have paid their money and you have had it, and now tell me I must wait; no, you ought to pay me that money note." Some things were trying to the old nature within me. I found there was much need of watching and praying, that I might not say or do anything that would dishonor God, or bring reproach on the Redeemer's precious cause.

There was one thing that I passed over when writing about my ordination and, on further thought, I will give it here: We appointed the ordination to be on Thursday, and the elders we invited sent word that I must preach a sermon on Wednesday in the afternoon, that they might hear me before my ordination. On the week before an inflamed sore came upon my foot. I made out to attend the Sabbath meeting and preach, though in much pain. After returning home from meeting my foot grew more painful and distressed me exceedingly all night. The cause of God lay near my heart, and how would our enemies triumph if I were unable to keep my appointment. This thought caused me an anxiety less endurable even than my physical pain. I tried to carry the case to God, and finally was enabled to leave it with Him; then was my spirit comforted by the promise of the prophet to King Hezekiah when he was sick, that the King should "go up to the house of the Lord the third day." The passage was presented to me with such power and sweetness as to bring entire relief to both body and mind, and I was enabled to rest under the most complete assurance that I should perform my duties for the week, as usual. This peace was given to me on Monday morning, and Wednesday afternoon would be the "third day." I said to wife that however dark matters might appear at the present, I should certainly go to the house of the Lord on the third day. The boil broke that day, the pain abated, and when the third day arrived I performed my preaching and all my work with comfort and satisfaction. How marvelous hath been Thy goodness, God, to such a poor, unworthy worm as I. Oh, that all might trust in God, keep His commandments, deny themselves and take up the cross.

I have experienced many trials, also, among my own brethren, that for the honor of God should not enter into this narrative. I dismiss them in
silence. Let them be forgotten. Amen.

EBENEZER SMITH.

Page 355:
PARTIAL LIST OF VOTERS IN 1798.
In the records of Ashfield for 1798 the list of voters is given. In this list of names are the following (there being then a property qualification, this list does not include the names of all the men of the proper age for voting): ...Chipman Smith, David, Chileab, Jr., Chileab, 3d, Jeduthan, Elijah, Martin, Abner, Jonathan and Ebenezer Smith, Jr.;...

Page 373:
Samuel Elmer, before the Revolution, settled where Geo. B. Church now lives. Most of the Elmers in this vicinity are his descendants. One of his daughters, Keziah, married Ebenezer Smith, Jr., son of Elder Ebenezer. She and her husband settled at Stockton, N. Y. in 1815 (see page 96).

Page 398-405:
THE SMITHS.
Chileab Smith. Sr., moved with his family to Huntstown, from Hadley, in 1750. It is probable that he was there before that time, and held some interest, as he was chosen, at a meeting in Hadley in 1742, a committee, with Richard Ellis and Nathaniel Kellogg, to lay out lots. The next year he was chosen on a committee to "provide and agree with a minister to preach to such as Inhabit at Huntstown." Between this time and 1750 he was on a committee to build the corn mill, and for other purposes. He settled on lot 27, and built his house at the southerly end of the lot, about a dozen rods southeast of the house occupied by his great grandson, the late Ziba Smith.

A history of the Baptist Church in this part of the town is a history of the Smith family at this period, and their peculiar traits of character can be shown no better than by giving extracts from the early records of this church, now in the hands of private parties.

"Record of the Planting, Gathering and Proceedings of the Baptist Church of Christ in Ashfield:

"In the spring of the year 1753 Chileab Smith moved it to his Neighbors to set up Religious Meetings, which they did, and a Blessing followed; and a Number (in the Judgment of Charity) were brought savingly home to Christ.

"Oct. 25, 1753. A number met to Gather for solemn fasting and prayer, and Chileab Smith and Sarah his wife, Ebenezer Smith, Mary Smith and Jemima Smith entered into a written covenant together to keep up the Worship of God, and to walk up to farther light as they should require it.

"Nov. 29, 1753. Ebenezer Smith, being desired, began to improve among them by way of Doctrine."

At this time Chileab Smith was 45 years old; his son, Ebenezer, just named, 19; the daughter Mary older than Ebenezer, and Jemima younger. The records continue:

"In the years 1754 and 1755 they were Forced to leave the Town for some months, for fear of the Indians.

"1756. They continued in the Town and kept up the Publick Worship of God on the first day of the week continually, Refreshing all that Came to Hear and Attend the Worship with them."

July 2, 1761, they were embodied as a church of ten members, of whom six were members of Mr. Smith's family. Chileab, Enos and Eunice, three more of his children, a short time after united with the church. The records, after giving the formation of the church, articles of faith and the covenant, with a list of those baptised and joining the covenant, continue thus:

"Feb., 1763. The people of another Persuasion settled a Minister in the Town, and obliged the Baptists to pay their proportion of his Settlement and Salary till 1768. Then the Church sent Chileab Smith to the General Court, at Boston, with a petition for Help; but Got None.

"In 1769 the Church made their case known to the Baptist Association at Warren [Worcester Co.] and Received from them a Letter of Admittance into that Body.

"In April, 1770, the other Society sold 400 acres of the Baptist Lands for the support of their Minister and Meeting-House.

"Under our Oppression we sent eight times to the General Court at Boston for help; but Got None.

"In Oct., 1771, We were set at Liberty by an Order from the King of Great Britain, and our Lands Restored. "

Between 1771 and 1785 the records are meager and incomplete, eight pages being missing during this time. The church seems to have flourished and received large accessions under Elder Ebenezer Smith's ministrations. The church on the hill [3-1 on map] was built during this time, about twenty rods north of Chileab Smith's house.

In the year 1785, with Enos Smith as clerk, the records give a minute account of a difficulty which arose between Elder Ebenezer Smith and his father Chileab, respecting the salary of a minister, the Elder contending that he should have a fixed salary, and his father that ministers should not be hirelings, but should preach for a love of the work, and be content with what the church sees fit to give him. The church and Mr. Chileab Smith's family were divided on the question. Meeting after meeting was held, the advice of neighboring churches sought without avail; the breech grew wider. Finally, (resuming the record):

"Oct. 25, 1786. The Church Concluded that any further Labour with the Elder amongst ourselves would be fruitless, agreed once more to send to sister Churches for help."

The Council, being convened Dec. 27, after hearing both sides, decided :

"That the Elder was justifiable in his conduct; and advised the church, after they had concluded their acts were invalidated, to receive the Elder into his office in the church again, and to let him know that we have made him a Reasonable Compensation for his Labours amongst us, and then to Continue the Relation as Church and Pastor, or Dismiss him in Peace."

"Jan. 24, 1787. The Church considered the Result of the Council before mentioned, and found that it wanted the Testimony of Scripture for its support, by which we desired to be tried; and that if we followed their Result and advice we must leave God's word as to our understandings. Therefore, Voted, That we cannot agree with their Result, for many obvious and Scriptural Reasons, which may be seen at Large in the original Records.

"Aug. 29, 1788. Friday the Church met for solemn fasting and Prayer to Almighty God, it being a dark time with us, we being Despised by men. Elder Smith and his party having taken from us our meeting-house, and we turned out to meet where we could find a place, and the Association, on hearing his story, having dropped us from that body."

But Chileab Smith did not despair. He immediately set about organizing a church again, without the aid of ministers or other churches, and, Jan. 14, 1789, Chileab Smith, Sr. , then over 80 years of age, and Enos Smith, his son, were ordained as elders and leaders in the church, and Isaac Shepard and Moses Smith, deacons. They united with Baptists from Buckland and built a church building just opposite where the house of Nelson Drake now stands.

It was a one-story building, with a four-sided, pointed roof. There is good evidence that they built this house in 1789. (It was a little over one mile north of the church then at 34.) The church seemed to gain in numbers, and was by degrees received into fellowship with the other churches. Jan. 23, 1798: Voted to receive back Elder Ebenezer Smith, with such members as are willing to tell their experience. Eighteen members are recorded as received into full communion. Among them were John Alden, Mehitable Ellis [widow of Reuben Ellis], Elisha Smith, Japhet Chapin, Thomas Phillips and Nancy Alden.

Chileab Smith, Sr., died in 1800. Elder Enos Smith continued to preach for many years. He lived up to his belief, charged nothing for preaching, but was supported by voluntary contributions. Erastus Elmer, now 90 years of age, well remembers the neighbors and his father carrying in their gifts. Elder Enos lived on the opposite corner from Nelson Drake's house. Elder Ebenezer lived nearly opposite where Mr. Temple now lives. Both were good men, highly respected by all who knew them. Elder Enos died in his old house, and Elder Ebenezer moved to Stockton, N. Y., in 1816.

One of Elder Enos' daughters married Hiram Richmond. Several of her sons are now living in this vicinity. Nathan Elmer married the other daughter, Julia. Enos' son Calvin moved to Stockton, Emory to Wisconsin; Enos, Jr., died in Tully, N. Y.

Chileab Smith, 2d, died on the old place in 1843, aged 100 years and 7 months. He had two sons, Chileab, 3d, and Jeduthan. Chileab lived where Mr. March now does, and Jeduthan on the old place. When Jeduthan went to Stockton, N. Y., Chileab, 3d, moved to the old place, where he died, leaving Ziba, Elias, Daniel and Russell. Ziba lived with his father, and died on the old place; Elias lived and died on a farm one-third of a mile south; Daniel was deaf and dumb, and Russell went West, to a locality unknown by his relatives here. Chileab, 3d, had six daughters, four of whom married in adjoining towns; Sybil, a Fairbanks, of Adrian, Mich. , and Louisa, a Fisk, of Brattleboro, Vt. Elias left no issue. Three of Ziba's children are now living; one son, Houghton, now lives on a portion of the original farm, with three boys and one girl, and these members of Houghton's family are the only descendants of the Chileab Smith family in Ashfield bearing his name.

The houses built by the Chileabs 1st and 2d are torn down; the house built by Jeduthan, and occupied by Chileab, 3d, and Ziba, is deserted. The meeting-house on the hill just above, was taken down and moved 60 rods east, in 1831. Very soon desertions to the Free Will Baptists made havoc in their already enfeebled ranks, and between 1840 and 1850 Millerism and the Second Adventists so diminished their numbers that meetings ceased to be held. The building soon went to ruins, and now a modest schoolhouse stands upon the spot.

Not only the building, but the church itself, which Chileab Smith and his sons planted and gathered with so much labor, has ceased to exist.

The following document was written by Elder Ebenezer Smith the year before his death:

"Stockton, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., May 1st, 1823.

"For the information of "my children I write the following account of my grandfather's posterity. My grandfather's name was Preserved Smith; his wife, Mary Smith, by whom he had one daughter and six sons. He died when they were all small. His daughter, Mary, and oldest son. Preserved, died young, and were not married; his second son, Ebenezer, married, had a son, Preserved, and a daughter, Hannah; he was killed at raising my Grandfather Moody's house; his son went into the army and died with sickness; his daughter married, had a family, and died in old age. My grandfather's third son, Samuel, married Sarah Morton, and had 12 children. My grandfather's fourth son, Chileab Smith, who was my father, married Sarah Moody, and had 13 children. My grandfather's fifth son, James, married Sara Smith; had only two daughters that lived to grow up. Samuel, Chileab, James, three brothers, all lived to be upwards of 90 years of age, and died one after another — as they were born. My grandfather's sixth son, Moses, died when a child.

"My father's children were Mary, who lived to have a family, and died Aug. 4, 1787; then myself, Ebenezer, then Moses, Sarah, Jemima and Chileab, who are all living; then Enos and Mariam, who died little children; then Mariam and Enos, who are yet living; then a son who died an infant; then a daughter, Eunice, who is yet living. Of my father's twelve children, four sons and four daughters are yet living, April 30, 1823. I am the oldest, in my 89th year. Eunice, the youngest, in her 67th year. My grandmother, Mary Smith, died in 1763, aged 82 years. My mother died on her birthday, Dec. 23, 1789. My father died Aug. 19, 1800, aged 92 years. I married Remember Ellis July 1, 1756, and she died Sept. 15, 1795, aged 60. She was a daughter of Richard Ellis, who was born in Ireland Aug. 10, 1704, and died in Ashfield Oct. 7, 1797, aged 93 years. He came to America at the age of 13 years, and lived in Easton, then moved to Deerfield, then to Huntstown, now Ashfield, in the year 1750. He was the first settler of that town, and cut down the first tree in the town. I married Lucy Shepardson June 14, 1796, and she died Oct. 5, 1808, aged 68. I married Esther Harvey Jan. 4, 1809, and she died Oct. 14, 1814, aged 78, since which time I have lived alone; that is, without any companion, and spent my time chiefly in preaching the Gospel. My children are so scattered about the world that I cannot tell how many there are of them, but, by the best information that I can get, I suppose that there is not much odds of one hundred of my posterity now living. I never expect to see but few of them in this world, but if we may all meet in that world of JOY, how happy it will be; but, oh I how awful the thought that any of my offspring should hear that dreadful sound: Depart ! thou God of grace, display Thy saving power and bring them home to Thyself. And oh, my dear children, my prayer for you is that you might be saved. You must deny yourselves and follow the Lamb, or lie down in sorrow for eternity. "Strait is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it." Oh, to be born again, and become new creatures in Christ Jesus, is of infinite importance to every one. So I leave this as the token of my regard for my dear children, praying the Lord to bless them all."

P. S. — My son, Ebenezer: I commit this to your care to show to as many of my children and grandchildren as you have opportunity. E. S.

Letter from Dea. Aaron Smith, of Stockton, N. Y., to his second cousin, Dea. Ziba Smith, of Ashfield, dated Mar. 30, 1851. Aaron was a son of Ebenezer, Jr., and grandson of Elder Ebenezer Smith. Ziba was a son of Chileab, 3d, and grandson of Chileab, Jr. The latter was a brother of Elder Ebenezer.

"Dear Cousin: I sit down to inform you of our welfare. We are all well as usual. It is a general time of health here. I have had a good deal of sickness in my family since I have begun to keep house. I have had ten children; have buried five of them, all daughters; have three sons and two daughters living; the oldest a daughter of 22, the youngest a son 7 years of age. As to religion, it is quite a low time here. Ziba, I want to see you and your family, and brothers and sisters, very much, once more, in the land of the living. Have not forgotten the comfort taken in your company at school, and at the old Baptist meeting-house, in singing, in our younger days. I want to go to New England, the land of my birth, once more; think some of going this season, if my life is spared and my family are well. The last time I saw you was thirty-one years ago this month, at your father's. I want to go with you once more on to the ground where the old meeting-house used to stand; also to the burying ground; think I could pick out Jeduthan's grave; also our great grandfather's, Chileab Smith's; and the first one who was buried there, who was a sister of your father. My father and mother are quite old and feeble. Father doesn't labor any; his memory is very good for so old a man; he lives with his youngest daughter; he will be 85 next month. My brother Quartus and his wife are well, also Gerry and my sisters. Your cousin, Nathan Smith, and family are all well; his four older sons are great stout giants, your aunt Naomi is well, and lives with Lyman, on the Fox river, in Illinois; he has married his second wife. Your cousin Sawyer Phillips is well; he has sold his farm and gone to Latarany; it is 70 miles from here. His oldest son is a widower; his second son married Asa Ellis' daughter, is a doctor, and lives near his father. Your cousin Hiram Lazelle and family are all well; he pays the highest tax in town — that is $30; he has a dairy of sixty cows, the income of which last season was $1,800. Your cousin Philip Lazelle and family are well. He and Royal Carter are in the mercantile trade; are doing well. Royal's mother is well. Your cousin Alvrary Lazelle is well. I will give you a sketch of the Smith family which we belong to: It is to be traced to Rev. Henry Smith, of Wethersfield, Conn., who came from Old England. All such information is important to be collected for the benefit of our posterity, that the branch of Smiths that we belong to may not be lost. Henry Smith is as far back as I can trace our ancestors.

The first of our ancestors that came from England were Henry Smith and his wife, Dorithy Smith. On his passage to this country he had a son born, and from the unusual circumstances of his birth he called his name Preserved, which is the origin of this name, which has since been retained in several branches of the families of his posterity. The first notice of Henry Smith is on the records of the First Congregational Church in Charlestown, Mass. He and his wife Dorithy were admitted to the full communion of the church the 5th of October, 10.37. It is believed he came to America in the year 1637, which was seventeen years after the Plymouth company. He was the first minister of the first Congregational church in Wethersfield, Conn., as near as can be ascertained. He was installed in the spring of 1641, at which time the church was gathered. He died in 1648, and very little is known of his ministry. Dorithy, his widow, married a Mr. Russell, father of Rev. John Russell, who succeeded Henry Smith in the ministry at Wethersfield. Mr. Russell and his son, the minister, went to Hadley with a colony, comprising the larger body of the church, in 1659, and some of Henry Smith's children went with the colony to Hadley and settled there. Rev. Henry Smith was great grandfather to our great grandfather, Chileab Smith. We are the seventh generation from the Rev. Henry Smith The Preserved born on the passage to this country was grandfather to our great grandfather, Chileab Smith. Our great grandfather's father's name was Preserved, jr. Our great grandfather, Chileab Smith, was born in South Hadley, June 1, 1708, and died Aug. 19, 1800, in the 93d year of his age. He left when he died, living, 8 children, 46 grandchildren and 91 great grandchildren; total, 145. He was ordained in the Gospel ministry when he was 80 years of age. He had a family of 12 children. He was one of the first settlers of Huntstown, now Ashfield. He settled in the town in the year 1751. My grandfather, Elder Ebenezer Smith, was born in South Hadley Oct. 4, 1734. He began to preach Nov. 29, 1753; ordained Aug. 20, 1761. He died July 6, 1824, aged 89 years. He had a family of seven children. He was a preacher of the Gospel ministry 72 years, and preached nine thousand and twenty sermons, rode one horse 19 years, and traveled in that time 23,000 miles. Our great aunt, Jemima Shepard, was born in South Hadley March 26, 1740, and died Sept. 29, 1828, aged 88 years. She had a family of seven children. I will give you a sketch of what my grandfather left on record before he died. [See above.] Twelve of our great grandfather Chileab Smith's posterity are and have been ministers; all living but three; two settled in this county, and five of the females married ministers; two of them and their husbands are missionaries, one in China and the other in India. There is not much odds of one hundred and thirty of his posterity living in this county; the sixth generation from him lives in this town, and the tenth from Rev. Henry Smith lives in the county. If you conclude to come here this season, send me a letter the time you are going to start on your journey, that I may not miss of you if I go down, for 1 want to visit you more than any one in Ashfield. Give my respects to your brothers and sisters, especially to Betsey and her husband. Read this to your brother Elias and your sisters.

Believe me your affectionate relative,

AARON SMITH.

To Dea. Ziba Smith, of Ashfield.

Of Ebenezer Smith, Jr., second son of Elder Ebenezer, and Remember (Ellis) Smith, and his descendants, an acquaintance writes as follows:

"They all lived in my native town of Stockton. Ebenzer, Jr., was a self-educated man, could calculate an eclipse with accuracy. He was a natural mathematician [like his sister Jemima, see page 92], and able to solve any problem, that the inquisitive pedagogue had the inclination to offer. Venerable Doctors of Divinity would visit him, for his opinion on Bible expositions. He was greatly afflicted with rheumatism, for more than twenty of his last years. He was a small man in stature, but very active, never requiring more than four or five hours sleep in the twenty-four. The young and old sought his counsel, as well as to share the richly stored knowledge he possessed. He was a great reader, and it was said he never forgot a thing worth remembering. When he began to converse, he would always say how limited was our knowledge to what the human intellect was capable of, and would speak often of the attainments we should make in the future life. He was thoroughly orthodox and often spoke of the masterly love of God, in the redemption of the world. His daughter, Keziah, tenderly cared for the aged couple. He died in 1855 and was buried in the Cassadaga Cemetery, by the side of his son, Ebenezer, who died a young man, about twenty years previous. See page 96."

Page 439-440:
From Dea. Ebenezer Smith [42] to his cousin, Dea Dimick Ellis, of Ashfield. (Ebenezer Smith's mother, Remember (Ellis) Smith and Dimick Ellis's father, Lieut. John, were sister and brother.)

Chautauqua, N. Y., Feb. 10, 1820.

Most Respected and Dear Friend :

Through the goodness of God I am enabled to take my pen in hand to write to one whom I sincerely respect and long to converse with, but as I am somewhat troubled with rheumatic complaint, I must convey my desire in writing. My family enjoys good health, and I hope this will find yours with the same blessing. The bearer of this letter will inform you of matters of news better than I can.

I understand that my affairs at Ashfield are very precarious, which causes me to write you. I sent letters to brother Gad Elmer, in August, desiring him to get security by a mortgage, or some other way as he should think proper, on some notes due me. I conclude that he never received them, and now I must desire one in whom I can put the greatest trust and confidence, to accept of my request. I have two notes against Ebenezer A--, one of $400, and another of $351, and some other money to be paid by Mr. Mallory. The $400 note was out, I think, a year ago last May. The other is out, I think, next May. I cannot travel as well as my son, and I send him to Ashfield. I wish the debts to be secured, if possible, and I send you the power of attorney in case there is need of it. * * I shall leave it entirely with you to act your judgment, as you are acquainted with Mr. A's circumstances, and as you are one of the selectmen, and have lately been called upon to prize brother Gad Elmer's estate, near him. I do not wish to hunt any man. but I think it right that I should have my just due. * * Could I see you, and your family, and your parents, one hour, it would be of such satisfaction that it is not possible for me to dissemble, but I hope through the tender mercies of God. that we shall yet see each other face to face. * * There has been considerable of an awakening in these parts. Last Sunday Elder Wilson baptized nine persons.

I will satisfy you for whatever trouble you are at on my account.

Very truly yours,
EBEN'R SMITH, Jr.

Source: Ellis, Erastus Ranney, Biographical sketches of Richard Ellis, the first settler of Ashfield, Mass., and his descendants, Detroit, MI: W. Graham, 1888.

History of Chautauqua County, New York

Page 197, 205:
The 11th day of June, 1873, will never be forgotten by those who were so fortunate as to be present at the Reunion of " Old Settlers," at Fredonia.
...
Aaron Smith, of Stockton, presented a Bible 107 years old, that was his grandfather's, his vest 53 years old, a wooden block of 12 sides made by Ebenezer Smith 85 years ago, a concordance belonging to his great-grandfather 154 years ago, the powder horn Rev. Ebenezer Smith carried in the French and Indian war the year before Gen. Wolfe was killed.

Page 568-569:
Ebenezer Smith, Jr., from Mass., in the fall of 1816, settled on the west side of Cassadaga creek, 2 m. below the lake, on lot 6. He came in company with David Whittemore and Philip Phillips grandfather of the Messrs. Phillips, now at Cassadaga. His family consisted of himself, wife, four sons, and three daughters. They moved with two yoke of oxen on one wagon. He moved in with Jeduthan Smith, a relative, till a cabin of rudest style was built. It was roofed with rafters, with poles called ribs, running crosswise, on which rough shingles four feet long, rived out of pine trees, were laid; and probably, as was usually done, without being nailed, but fastened with heavy poles, called “weight-poles” laid across. Succeeding the “cold summer,” grain was scarce and high; his wheat costing $2 per bushel, and corn $1; and his cattle were wintered on browse. His children were Aaron, Quartus, Fidelia, Gerry, Rebecca, Ebenezer, and Kezia, all of whom attained the age of majority, and all came to Stockton. The daughters were married, as follows: Fidelia to Elijah Woods; Rebecca to Freeman Richardson; Kezia to Arunah Richardson.

Source: Young, Andrew W., History of Chautauqua County, New York, Buffalo, NY: Matthews & Warren, 1875.

Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court, 1691-1780

Page 243:
Harvey, Moses (1723 Sunderland-1795 Montague); Montague HR 1778 (ousted Oct. 1), 86; Com Corres 1773; capt.; M Esther -- ( -a1814) in c1743, 6ch; farmer; will. His election in 1778 was declared invalid, and he was not replaced. Esther married 2nd Ebenezer Smith in 1808.

DAR-Plc 1341; Montague VR 26, 82, 138; 1899 Harvey g 46; Ashfield VR 263, 265

Source: Schutz, John A., Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court, 1691-1780, Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1997.

The Ancestors and Descendants of Isaac Alden and Irene Smith, His Wife

Page 130:
V.
(11.) EBENEZER SMITH, eldest son of Chileab Smith, (7), was born at South Hadley, Mass., October 4, 1734, and died July 6, 1824. He removed to Ashfield about 1748. He married, July 1, 1756, Remember Ellis, who was born May i, 1735, and died September 15, 1795.

CHILDREN :
21. Irene, born July 4, 1757; died March 14, 1834.
22. Preserved IV.
23. Jemima.
24. Rhoda.
25. Ebenezer.
26. Obed.
27. Richard.

VI.
(21.) IRENE SMITH, eldest child of Ebenezer Smith, (11), was born at Ashfield, Mass., July 4, 1757, and died at Warren Pa., March 14, 1834. She was married. May 18, 1780, to Isaac Alden, who was born at Ashfield, May 5, 1755, and died at Warren, Pa., March 5, 1822.

Page 243:
(35.) ISAAC ALDEN, eldest son of David Alden, (30), was born at Ashfield, Mass., May 5, 1755. He married, May 18, 1780, Irene Smith, of Ashfield, who was born July 4, 1757. A former record briefly refers to him as a magistrate, but there is little or no accurate knowledge of his life previous to his removal, in 1794, from Ashfield to a small settlement in Oneida Co., N. Y., then known as the town of Western. And whatever may have been his mental endowments or judicial attainments, it is certain that the hard conditions that confronted him in this new home, made it necessary for him to work out the problem of existence for himself and family in sweat and brawn; for uncultivated nature there offered him but the barest essentials of life, and to make even these available, shelter must be provided, crops sown and gathered, forests levelled, and mills erected for the manufacture of lumber, the grinding of grain, and the carding of wool for the household loom.

At the time of their removal from Ashfield, six children had been born to Isaac Alden and his wife, two of whom, Fanny and Jacob, died in infancy. Three children were born in Oneida Co.

That portion of the State to which he removed was, at the time, all called Oneida Co. Afterwards, Oswego and Jefferson counties were taken off and the Fifth Township, now in Oswego Co., was named Williamstown. In the year 1800, Isaac Alden moved with his family to Williamstown, and there built a saw-mill on a stream called Mill Brook. The house he also built there, and which was his home for some years, was constructed of rough logs, rolled up and laid without chinking or mortar, and had neither upper nor lower flooring. The barn joined the house, except for a threshing floor between, and all under one roof. The fireplace, which must have constituted the principal feature of this primitive dwelling, was sufficiently ample to accommodate logs twenty-five and thirty inches through. These logs were drawn by a horse to the barn portion of the structure, then rolled through the wide door to place.

Philo, the youngest child, was an infant at the time, and for him the father fashioned a cradle by splitting a hollow basswood log, cutting it the required length, and blocking into it two rude rockers.

There were two or three other families that moved to Williamstown about the time that Isaac Alden did, and these constituted the first settlers of Oswego Co. His nearest neighbor lived four miles distant. A few years later he built other mills on Fish Creek, which locality afterwards became the business portion of the town. But life there at that early period was the same old story of struggle and privation that his New England forbears had known, and which so many of his descendants were yet to experience in other undeveloped sections of the country. And this toilsome life with its hard conditions must have continued for many years, for we learn of farming and milling enterprises, and of logging ventures undertaken to secure part of the growing traffic afforded by the wide stretches of forest, the convenient streams and the close-bordering lake. In this hand to hand conflict with nature the elder children were, necessarily, bound to assist; and so great was the need of their help in order to meet the daily requirements of a large family, and so scant the opportunities for self-improvement, that whatever of education most of them received, was through irregular and imperfect home methods, or what they were able to acquire in later life, when self support offered the long delayed but still appreciated advantages.

That the restraints and narrow conditions that thus shut them in from the wider fields of activity must have proved irritating and irksome to the more restless spirits among them, is matter of small wonder. One by one they began to break away from their moorings. Philomela, the only living daughter, was early married to Dr. Joel Rathbun, of Camden, N. Y. ; Isaac, Jr., found his way to the Mississippi, thence to the Gulf, and finally settled in Louisiana ; Joshua ran away to sea ; Pliny, more domestic, married and settled on a farm ; Richard sought employment as an apprentice. But the first real affliction the household knew was the tragic death by drowning of the eldest son. Philander, soon to be followed, however, by the cruel and enforced separation from the husband and father.

In the year 1811, just before the outbreak of the war with Great Britain, Isaac Alden left his home at Williamstown, to make a trip down the St. Lawrence River with a cargo of lumber. Under what unfortunate circumstances he fell into the hands of the enemies of his country, is not known ; but somewhere on that expedition he was captured by British soldiers and imprisoned; and because of his refusal to swear allegiance to the king, was eventually deported to England, from which exile he did not return until 1820, nine years after. The absolute knowledge we have of the harsh treatment and cruel sufferings inflicted upon other prisoners similarly situated at that time, enables us, with some degree of certainty, to fill in the probable record of this unhappy experience, although we possess no positive account of the same. Nor is it known whether his prolonged absence was due to ill health, or to difficulties encountered in the matter of exchange ; but he survived his return only a short time and died at the home of his son, Richard, in Warren, Pa., March 5, 1822.

To have met his country's foes in open conflict might have entitled Isaac Alden to greater distinction ; but to have accepted captivity and banishment rather than forswear allegiance to that country, reveals as true a spirit of loyalty and heroism.

To Isaac Alden and his wife eleven children were born, some of whom attained an advanced age.

Irene Smith Alden died at the home of her son, Richard, in Warren, Pa., March 14, 1834. Her life and ancestry are further treated of in another part of this volume (see Page 125).

CHILDREN :
40. Philander, born January 31, 1782; died July 28, 1810.
41. Philomela, born December 10, 1783; died June (or July), 1861.
42. Joshua, born June 10, 1785; died November 2, 1846.
43. Pliny, born March 28, 1787; died November 14, 1834.
44. Isaac II, born February 19, 1789; died about 1870.
45. Fanny, born April 2, 1791 ; died April 4, 1791.
46. Jacob, born January 27, 1792; died January 27, 1792.
47. Hiram, born October 28, 1792; died November 26, 1838.
48. Richard, born May 19, 179s; died May 2, 1883.
49. Enoch, born December 9, 1797; died June 27, 1833.
50. Philo, born July 3, 1800; died November 6, 1866.

Source: Fielding, Harriet Chapin, The Ancestors and Descendants of Isaac Alden and Irene Smith, His Wife : (1599-1903), 1988. This book is available at Google Books.

History of Rowe, Massachusetts

Page 55:
Rev. Preserved Smith was ordained as the first regular pastor November 21, 1787, although Rev. Abisha Colton had done some preaching the previous year. Mr. Smith was dismissed May 30, 1804, and his connection with Rowe is so interesting that we reserve another place for its discussion.

Page 59:
Rev. Preserved Smith changed his theological views and became a Unitarian in 1821, and his church soon accepted this denomination. March 10, 1832 he made his last prayer in Rowe at a meeting when he resigned.

Pages 61-68
CHAPTER VI.
Preserved Smith in Rowe.

"And I will raise me up a faithful priest."
I Samuel 2:35.

At the spring town meeting, March 19, 1787, the voters appropriated the sum of fifteen pounds " for the use of the gospel in this Town," and chose Deacon Jonas Gleason and Henry Wilson ''a Committee to provid Preaching ". At the same meeting Nathan Foster was allowed 18 shillings '' for his horse and spending Money after a candidate" and Nathan Foster, Jr, 16 shillings ''for his services after a candidate". In the summer of 1787 Rev. Preserved Smith, a young divine one year out of college, and a native of the neighboring town of Ashfield, came to Rowe as a candidate. He had joined the Revolutionary army at the age of sixteen and had served in five campaigns in the 5th Hampshire County Regiment commanded by Col. David Wells of Shelburne (whose daughter he was later to marry in 1788) and had been present at the surrender of Burgoyne. He had taught school winters, worked summers, and fitted himself for college with the aid of Rev. Mr. Hubbard of Shelburne. In 1786 he had graduated from Brown University. The new candidate boarded two months at the house of Benjamin Shumway for which the latter was allowed two pounds and eleven shillings, while Nathan Foster was granted 6/5 for "dineing Mr. Smith while a candidate".

A town meeting was called October 22, 1787 to see if the town would retain Mr. Smith. The records show, — ''After solemn prayer to Almighty God performed by Mr. Preserved Smith the Pastor elect for direction of the Inhabitants Voted unanimously to concur with the churches choice of Mr. Preserved Smith to be the Pastor of this church and People". His salary was fixed at 150 pounds; namely 50 pounds "at or before the first February next, and Fifty pounds the First of November 1788, and fifty pounds the first of November 1789, the whole to be paid in neat cattle" as incouragement to settle". This vote seemed confusing so they voted to pay him 50 pounds for the first year's salary with an annual increase of 3 pounds until the sum reached 65 pounds. Again, lest there be a misunderstanding another vote was passed that the salary be paid in the following articles, — "beef fed by grass at 16/8 per C. porke well fatted at 6/0 per score wheat at 4/0 and rie at 3/0 per bushel and Indian corn at 2/5 per bushel the above articles to be of good quality Bulls and Stags excepted."

November 21st was set for the ordination ceremony and the previous Wednesday was set aside as a "day of solemn fasting and prayer to God for a Blessing on their endeavors," The great day came and the dignitaries arrived. Lieut. John Wells entertained the ordaining council and Mr. Smith's friends, for which he was later allowed five pounds and nine shillings — We quote from the records : —

"Convened at Rowe Nov^r 20th 1787

An Ecclesiastical Council consisting of Churches in Greenfield Conway Shelburn Leveret & Deerfield by their Elders and Messengers

Elders                               Messengers
Rev^d Messrs.
Roger Newton       with Mr. Joseph Wells               Greenfield
John Emerson                Dⁿ Jon^a Root                             Conway
Robert Hubbard            Col David Wells                         Shelburne
Henry Williams                Dⁿ Jon^a Field                             Leverit
John Taylor                     Dⁿ Asabel Wright                      Deerfield

The Rev^d Roger Newton was chosen Moderator and John Emerson Scribe. This Council was convened by letters missives from the Chh of Christ in Rowe for the purpose of ordaining Mr. Preserved Smith to the work of the Gospel Ministry the council being opened by prayer to God by the Moderator for his presence and Direction on this important occasion ; a Committee of the Chh and Town laid before the Council their Votes and proceedings Relative to their Call, to Mr. Smith to Settle among them likewise Mr, Smith Produced a Testimonial of his Chh Relation & his approbation to preach the Gospel the Council then proceeded to a particular and full examination of the said Mr. Smith Relative to his knowledge in Divinity his inward acquaintance with experimental Religion his principal views in devoting himself to the Ministry with his abilities and qualifications to that important work whereupon the Question being put whether this Council are satisfied with Mr. Smith Respecting the Qualifications Above Mentioned passed in the affirmative it was then put to the Council whether the way is open to procede to the Ordination of Mr. Preserved Smith to the work of the Ministry in this Town. Voted in the affirmative unanimously Voted also that the several parts of ordination should be performed in the order following (viz) That the Rev^d Henry Williams open the solemnity by prayer the Rev^d Robert Hubbard preach the Sermon the Rev^d John Emerson Making the ordaining Prayer the Rev^d Roger Newton give the Charge the Rev^d John Taylor give the Right hand of fellowship the Rev^d Roger Newton make the concluding Prayer.

Nov^r 21st the Council agreeable to their Votes yesterday proceded to the ordination of the Rev^d Preserved Smith to the work of the Ministry over the Chh & congregation in Rowe and the several parts of the ordination were performed Publicly in the Meetinghouse in said Town according to the order appointed by the Council expressed in the above mentioned Votes.

A true copy
Attest John Emerson Scribe".

All went well for nearly ten years. In 1797, however, friction arose and Mr. Smith allowed it to be known that he desired a dismissal. The town called a meeting November 30th and voted not to dismiss him, when he came forward and made a formal request for dismissal. A committee was then appointed which on December 17th recommended ''that our Rev^d Pastor continue as a Pastor of this Chh and People for one year from the nineteenth day of Novr last in order to see if the dificulties which are on his Mind may be removed, and if not removed in that time then the Chh: and Town is to join with Mr. Smith in calling an ecclesiastical council to advise in his dismission." The story is told how Preserved Smith and his wife were riding to church one Sunday morning. Their home was a mile north of the old center where Sibleys, Wheelers, and Pikes later were to live; and the road was then open over the hill past the "old stone house". A glance backward showed their house on fire and help must have been slow in arriving, for all the early church records including the hell-fire covenant, were consumed. This ancient Calvinism was never renewed and for a while the Bible became the creed of the church. Perhaps Deacon Foster, hard Puritan that he was, remembered the old creed, and in this way was inspired to lead his small band of followers until they had driven their minister from the town. The Direct Tax of 1798 describes the Smith homestead as "East on the Town Road," — a one-story house covering 576 square feet, containing seven windows.

Mr. Smith was now receiving 65 pounds yearly, but it was not always paid over when due. In March 1800 the town voted not to pay 6% interest on the balance then due him. Here was one of the reasons for the "dificulties on his mind". In 1801 the salary became $216.67 and again no interest was granted on the "delinquent balance." The following article in the warrant in April 1801 shows a further widening of the breach : — "To see if the Town and the individuals who are unwilling to pay their proportion of the Rev. Mr. Smith's salary can agree and adopt measures to accommodate the misunderstanding respecting the same." Each side chose three men who in turn chose a committee of three ''to settle matters of difficulty with regard to their paying their proportion ". Apparently nothing was effected, for an article along the same lines, the following January, again was voted down. In March 1802 Mr. Smith's salary was increased to $250. Matters again reached a crisis in the fall of 1803. The town on September 21, 1803 voted unanimously against dismissing him. Three weeks later at a second meeting the town voted to "join the Revd Preserved Smith to Call a Council to assist in effecting a reconciliation if practicable and if not to dismiss him." A month later a third meeting was called and his salary was raised from $250 to $300. This apparently settled matters for '' Mr. Smith then came into the meeting and so far settled the difficulty between him and this town that he agreed to return to his Ministerial labors." An idea of the value of the dollar in 1803 can be gained from the fact that 83 cents per day was allowed a citizen in working off his highway taxes. By next spring the discontented minority under the leadership of Deacon Foster, were able to make themselves heard again, and through their efforts the breach was irreparably widened. In May 1804 the town voted to retain Mr. Smith if he "relinquish the pay for those eight Sabbaths in which he neglected to supply the Pulpit last fall". Mr. Smith then appeared at the meeting and made these proposals in writing, —
"At a Legal Town meeting the Rev^d Mr. Smith appeared and after exhibiting the causes of uneasiness between him and some people in this Town relative to his support gave it as his opinion that his ministerial labors can be no longer useful to the church and people in this place under existing circumstances — ..." He then proposed that,

Rowe give a regular dismission and act in concert with him in convoking an ecclesiastical council.
Mr. Smith relinquish $38.50 for suspending eight weeks in the previous September and October.
The town give him notes, one payable in three months, the other March 1st next for salary now due.

These proposals the town promptly voted to accept. The Council was held in Rowe, May 29, 1804 and was composed of the ministers from Heath, Colrain, Buckland, Hawley, Charlemont and Shelburne, together with seven delegates from the same towns. A long opinion was handed down which we quote in part, —

"it appeared that difficulties had arisen respecting his support, and Mr. Smith's feelings and those of the Town as expressed to us, relative to his continuing in the ministry among them, afforded no prospect, that any permanent reconciliation could be eff'ected, and consequently that his influence and usefulness seemed much diminished."

Accordingly they recommended his dismissal and went on to say, —
"We heartily condole with him in his present troubles, and wish him Divine Support, and cheerfully recommend him as a Christian and a minister to the improvement of the Churches of Christ. . . We further recommend it to the Church and People to strive for peace, and the things whereby they may edefy one another that the God of love and Peace may dwell among them."

There is a volume expressed in these closing lines. His last discourse was based on the text from Proverbs 15;17, — "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith".

The Church of Christ in Whitingham, Vermont was organized October 25, 1804, and four weeks later voted to invite Rev. Preserved Smith to settle. The town then voted to concur and offered a salary of $300. It seems that Mr. Smith had been preaching in Whitingham, but he declined the invitation to remain. In his last sermon in December 1804 he hinted at the reason, by stating that he thought it unwise for the town to settle a pastor before finishing the meetinghouse. We cannot avoid the suspicion that the reverend gentleman had a bit of Yankee shrewdness among his other good qualities.

In 1805 Mr. Smith removed to Mendon and his son Preserved, a lad of sixteen, drove the 4-ox team, laden with the household goods, a journey of 100 miles requiring six days. Here he became interested in Arminianism, although he did not reject the Divinity. While preaching at Mendon one of his old enemies in Rowe circulated a slanderous pamphlet among his new parishioners, but happily with no ill effects.

We have seen in a previous paragraph that the town of Rowe, after Mr. Smith's dismissal, May 30, 1804, tried in vain to obtain the services of Rev. Freeman Sears. Then they invited Rev. Jonathan Gilmore, but the Council was far-sighted and refused to install him because of the smallness of the majority of the townspeople who favored him. After this, Rev. Jonathan Keith became the settled pastor in January 1808. Mr. Keith asked for his dismissal in May 1812 which was granted a month later, and the causes given were the state of his health and "dissensions among the people". The record of recent years surely proves that history repeats itself.

The citizens then assembled (September 4, 1812) and voted unanimously to extend another call to Rev. Preserved Smith and to offer him $300, the same salary he had received when dismissed eight years before. Truly, this could hardly be said to have been very tempting, and it must have been his old love for Rowe and its people that prompted him to accept. The old records reveal nothing further as to Mr. Smith's second settlement in Rowe, and we can picture a fruitful and contented pastorate for many years. His salary of $300 was appropriated annually from 1812 to 1831 inclusive. March 5, 1832 the town voted "to dispense with raising Mr. Smith's Salary at this time," which is the last recorded item relating to him. He was now seventy-three years old and felt compelled to give up his charge. Here he had spent the best part of his life ; he had had three children born, — Preserved, Jr., in 1789, Royal in 1799; and had buried two, Royal in 1820 aged 21, and an infant in 1791. From Rowe he went to Warwick to live with his son, where he died two years later, August 19, 1834. The inscription on his gravestone, now housed in the Memorial Church in Rowe, reads as follows :

Rev. Preserved Smith
died
August 19, 1834
Graduated at Providence 1786
Settled at Rowe 1787
Then at Mendon 1805
Again at Rowe 1812
Where he lived with an
Afeectionate People till 1832
When he retired from the ministry.

Remember those who have spoken unto you the word of God.
Whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. — Heb. 13 ; 7.

Pressey in later years thus picturesquely writes,
"He was a great student, and talked face to face with the citizens of Rowe one and a half hours' discourses, twice a Sunday for 36 years, which with weekly lectures and other public discourses, makes it that his voice must have vibrated on this Rowe air some eight to ten thousand hours. And judging from this, together with the way his memory was revered, there must have been a great deal of Preserved Smith left in Rowe."

Source: Brown, Percy Whiting, History of Rowe, Massachusetts, Boston: Old Colony Press, 1921.

1790 Federal Census

Name:    Revd Preserved Smith
Home in 1790 (City, County, State):    Rowe, Hampshire, Massachusetts
Free White Persons - Males - Under 16:    1
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over:    1
Free White Persons - Females:    1
Number of Household Members:    3

Source: Year: 1790; Census Place: Rowe, Hampshire, Massachusetts; Series: M637; Roll: 4; Page: 489; Image: 532; Family History Library Film: 0568144. Ancestry.com. 1790 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: First Census of the United States, 1790 (NARA microfilm publication M637, 12 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Name:    Lt Edward Annibal
Home in 1790 (City, County, State):    Ashfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over:    1
Free White Persons - Females:    5
Number of Household Members:    6

Source: Year: 1790; Census Place: Ashfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts; Series: M637; Roll: 4; Page: 8; Image: 19; Family History Library Film: 0568144. Ancestry.com. 1790 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: First Census of the United States, 1790 (NARA microfilm publication M637, 12 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

1800 Federal Census

Name:    Edward Annible
Home in 1800 (City, County, State):    Buckland, Hampshire, Massachusetts
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:    1
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44:    1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:    2
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15:    2
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25:    1
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:    1
Number of Household Members Under 16:    5
Number of Household Members Over 25:    2
Number of Household Members:    8

Source: 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Rowe, Franklin, Massachusetts; Page: 49; NARA Roll: M33_50; Image: 59. Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. (NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

1820 Federal Census

Name:    Preserved Smith
Home in 1820 (City, County, State):    Rowe, Franklin, Massachusetts
Enumeration Date:    August 7, 1820
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:    1
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over:    1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over :    1
Free White Persons - Over 25:    2
Total Free White Persons:    3
Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other:    3

Source: Year: 1800; Census Place: Buckland, Hampshire, Massachusetts; Series: M32; Roll: 15; Page: 790; Image: 320; Family History Library Film: 205614. Ancestry.com. 1800 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Second Census of the United States, 1800. NARA microfilm publication M32 (52 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Name:    Edward Anable
Home in 1820 (City, County, State):    Aurelius, Cayuga, New York
Enumeration Date:    August 7, 1820
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15:    1
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:    1
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over:    1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25:    1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over :    1
Number of Persons - Engaged in Agriculture:    4
Free White Persons - Under 16:    1
Free White Persons - Over 25:    2
Total Free White Persons:    5
Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other:    5

Source: 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Aurelius, Cayuga, New York; Page: 32; NARA Roll: M33_68; Image: 46. Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. (NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

1830 Federal Census

Name:    Ebenezer Smith
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):    Stockton, Chautauqua, New York
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19:    1
Free White Persons - Males - 60 thru 69:    1
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19:    1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:    1
Free White Persons - Females - 50 thru 59:    1
Free White Persons - Under 20:    2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:    1
Total Free White Persons:    5
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):    5

Source: Year: 1830; Census Place: Stockton, Chautauqua, New York; Series: M19; Roll: 86; Page: 461; Family History Library Film: 0017146. Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Name:    Preserved Smith
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):    Rowe, Franklin, Massachusetts
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14:    1
Free White Persons - Males - 70 thru 79:    1
Free White Persons - Females - 60 thru 69:    1
Free White Persons - Under 20:    1
Total Free White Persons:    3
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):    3

Source: 1830; Census Place: Rowe, Franklin, Massachusetts; Series: M19; Roll: 62; Page: 109; Family History Library Film: 0337920. Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

1840 Federal Census

Name:    Ebenezer Smith
Home in 1840 (City, County, State):    Stockton, Chautauqua, New York
Free White Persons - Males - 70 thru 79:    1
Free White Persons - Females - 60 thru 69:    1
Total Free White Persons:    2
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:    2

Source: Year: 1840; Census Place: Stockton, Chautauqua, New York; Roll: 272; Page: 249; Image: 502; Family History Library Film: 0017182, Original data: Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. (NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

1850 Federal Census

Stockton, Chautauqua, New York

Dwelling No.	Family No.	Name	Age	Sex	Race	Occupation
48	52	Ebeneezer Smith	84	M		Farmer
		Keziah	75	F
		Arona Reichison	39	M		Farmer
		Keziah	35	F
		Eliza Ann	13	F
		Levant E.	11	M
		Laura L.	9	F
		Clowey J.	7	F
		Truman S	6	M
		Oliver P.	3	M

Name	Real Estate	Birthplace	Married that year?	Attended school?	Cannot read and write?
Ebeneezer	2000[?]	Mass
Keziah		"
Arona		NY
Keziah		NY
Eliza Ann		NY		1
Levant E.		"		1
Laura L.		"		1
Clowey J.		"		1
Truman S		"		1
Oliver P.		"

Source: Year: 1850; Census Place: Stockton, Chautauqua, New York; Roll: M432_485; Page: 244A; Image: 489, 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

1860 Federal Census

Stockton, Chautauqua, New York

Dwelling No.	Family No.	Name	Age	Sex	Race	Occupation
2381	2346	Qartes Smith	64	M		Farmer
		Parmella	59	F		Housekeeper
		Coziah	85	F		None

Name	Real Estate	Personal Estate	Birthplace	Married that year?	Attended school?	Cannot read or write?
Qartes			Mass
Parmella			---
Coziah			---

Source: Year: 1860; Census Place: Stockton, Chautauqua, New York; Roll: M653_732; Page: 295; Family History Library Film: 803732, Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

1855 New York State Census

Stockton, Chautauqua, New York

Dwelling Number	Of what material built	Value	Family Number	Name	Age	Sex	Relationship	Birthplace	Married	Widowed
159	Frame	350	162	Aruna Richardson	46	M		Otsego	M
				Keziah Richardson	43	F	Wife	Mass	M
				Eliza A Richardson	18	F	Child	Chaut
				Levant Richardson	15	M	Child	Chaut
				Laura L Richardson	13	F	Child	Chaut
				Chloe J Richardson	11	F	Child	Chaut
				Truman Smith Richardson	10	M	Child	Chaut
				Keziah Smith	83	F	Parent	Mass		W

Name	Years Resident in This Town	Occupation	Voters- Native	Owners of land
Aruna	26	Farmer	1	1
Keziah	38
Eliza A	18
Levant	15
Laura L	13
Chloe J	11
Truman Smith	10
Keziah	38

Source: Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1855 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Census of the state of New York, for 1855. Microfilm. New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

Military Records

Name:    Ebenezer Elder Smith
Cemetery:    Stockton Cem
Location:    Stockton NY 16

Source: Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots; Volume: 4; Serial: 7119; Volume: 6. Hatcher, Patricia Law. Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Hatcher, Patricia Law. Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots. Vol. 1-4. Dallas, TX, USA: Pioneer Heritage Press, 1987.

Name:    Preserved Smith
Gender:    Male
Military Date:    Jul 1778
Military Place:    Massachusetts, USA
State or Army Served:    Massachusetts
Regiment:    Militia
Rank:    Private

Source: Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Original data: Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M246, 138 rolls); War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Record Group 93; National Archives, Washington. D.C.

Statement, &c. of Warren county, Pennsylvania.

Name: Jesse Merrill
Rank: Private
Annual allowance: 96 00
Sums received: 1376 52
Description of service: Mass. cont.
When placed on the pension roll: July 14, 1819
Commencement of pension: May 4, 1818
Age: 81
Laws under shich they were formerly inscribed on the pension roll; and remarks: --

Source: The Pension Roll of 1835, Vol. II, Baltimore, MD: Clearfield, 2002, p. 688.

Fraternal Organization Records

Grand Lodge of Massachusetts membership card for Preserved Smith

Source: Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Membership Cards, 1733-1990. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010. (From records held by the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Massachusetts.)

Mason membership card for Obed Smith

Source: Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Mason Membership Cards, 1733-1990 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Masons Membership Cards 1733–1990. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.

Additional Local Histories

Many of the earliest people buried in this cemetery were members of the Baptist Church. A marble monument across the road from the cemetery marks the location of the original Baptist Church, organized in 1761 by Chileab Smith, Sr. The church building was erected in 1775 about 20 rods north of Chileab's house. His son, Elder Ebenezer Smith, was the first preacher. In 1789 Chileab Smith, Sr. and his son, Enos were ordained as elders and founded a second church in Buckland a few rods north of the Ashfield line. In 1831 the original church building was moved further east to a site on Baptist Corner Road. It later went to decay and the Baptist Corner schoolhouse was moved to this site.

Source: "Baptist Corner Cemetery Gravestones, March Road, Ashfield, Massachusetts," inscriptions read and recorded by Carol Booker and Nancy Gray Garvin, September 2004, The Ashfield Historical Society Museum, http://www.ashfieldhistorical.org/, retrieved 3 December 2017.

Baptist Corner Cemetery:
Esther (___) (Harvey) Smith m. (1) Capt. Moses Harvey and (2) m. 1809 at Montague Rev. Ebenezer Smith (his third wife). She d. 14 Oct. 1814, age 78.

Source: "Ashfield Gravestones," inscriptions read and recorded by Carol Booker and Nancy Gray Garvin, Ashfield Historical Society Newsletter, Spring 2005, The Ashfield Historical Society Museum, http://www.ashfieldhistorical.org/, retrieved 8 January 2018.

The territory comprising this town was granted to Capt. Ephraim Hunt, of Weymouth, as a compensation for services rendered in the Canada expedition of 1690. It was actually conveyed to his heirs forty-six years afterwards, and was settled by a few families in 1742. It was incorporated as a town in 1764; previous to that time it went by the name of Huntstown, from the name of its original proprietor. Richard Ellis, a native of Ireland, was the first permanent settler; Thomas Phillips, with his family, from Easton, was the next; Chileab Smith, from South Hadley, was the third settler. These persons all settled in the north-eastern part of the town. Mr. Chileab Smith settled on the farm now owned and occupied by his son Chaleab, who is 96 years of age, and in good health at this time, (1837.)

The first regular church formed in this town was of the Baptist denomination. It was constituted in July, 1761, and consisted of nine members. In the following August the Rev. Ebenezer Smith, the eldest son of Chileab Smith, was ordained its pastor. He was succeeded in 1798 by elder Enos Smith, who deceased about two years since. The Congregational church in this town was formed by an ecclesiastical council, Feb. 22d, 1763, and Rev. Jacob Sherwin ordained its pastor the same year. Rev. Nehemiah Porter succeeded him in 1774, and died Feb. 29th, 1820, aged 99 years and 11 months. Rev. Alvan Sanderson was ordained colleague pastor in 1808. Rev. Thomas Shepherd succeeded Mr. Sanderson in 1819. Rev. Mason Grosvenor, the next pastor, was installed 1833; he was succeeded by Rev. Burr Baldwin, in 1836. In 1820 an Episcopal society was formed in this town, and they have a handsome church in the center of the place. There is also a small society of Methodists.

Ashfield is a little over six miles square. The face of the township is uneven and hilly, better adapted for grazing than tillage. There is, however; much good tillage land interspersed among the hills. The principal productions are corn, potatoes, oats, and of late wheat. Some of the farmers have large dairies. In 1837, there were in this town 8,021 marino sheep, which produced 24,063 lbs. of wool. There are four churches, 2 for Baptists, 1 Congregational, and 1 Episcopal. The central village consists of about twenty dwelling houses, an Episcopal church, an academy, and a number of mercantile stores. Distance, 18 miles from Greenfield, 18 from Northampton, and 105 to Boston. Population of the town, 1,656.

Source: Barber, John Warner, Historical Collections Relating to the History and Antiquities of Every town in Massachusetts with Geographical Descriptions, Worcester: Warren Lazell, 1848, retrieved from http://history.rays-place.com/ma/franklin/ashfield.htm, Feb 2013.

NAMES OF MEN BURIED IN WARREN COUNTY PA
Who Served in the American Revolution 1776 1783

...
Jesse Merrill, Pensioner, Continental Line, Mass.; wife Rhoda.

Source: White, Emma Siggins, Genealogical Gleanings of Siggins and Other Pennsylvania Families: A Volume of History, Biography and Colonial, Revolutionary, Civil and Other War Records Including Names of Many Other Warren County Pioneers, Kansas City, MO: Tiernan-Dart Printing Co., 1918, p. 316.

Smith:
Ebenezer Smith's entry from the History of Northfield

Ebenezer Smith's entry from the History of Northfield

Source: Temple, Josiah Howard and Sheldon, George, History of the Town of Northfield, Massachusetts, for 150 Years, Albany, NY: Joel Munsell, 1875, p. 538.
Note: Other sources state that John Rathbun married Irene's daughter, not Irene. MB

Gravestones

Gravestones of Ebenezer Smith, Evergreen Cemetery, Stockton, Chatauqua, New York (photo credit: Darryl Boyd):
Plaque in honor of Ebenezer Smith

Gravestone of Remember (Ellis) Smith, Baptist Corner Cemetery, Ashfield, Franklin, Massachusetts (photo credit: Anonymous (#47283828), findagrave.com):
Gravestone of Remember (Ellis) Smith

Inscription: "R S AEt. 60; SEPt 15 1795"

Gravestone of Esther (--) (Harvey) Smith, Baptist Corner Cemetery, Ashfield, Franklin, Massachusetts (Click here to view photo by DeeB, findagrave.com).
Inscription:

"In Memory of
Mrs. ESTHER,
Consort of
Eld'r Ebenezer Smith,
who Died Oct' 14.
1814.
AEt 78.
Tho' here her body sleeps in dust,
Her soul is gone, we hope & trust,
To live with Christ, in worlds above
And celebrate Redeeming love."

Gravestone of Lucy (Shepardson) Smith, Goshen Center Cemetery, Goshen, Hampshire, Massachusetts (photo credit: James Bianco, findagrave.com):
Gravestone of Lucy (Shepardson) Smith

Close-up of Lucy (Shepardson) Smith's gravestone

Inscription:
"In memory of Mrs.
Lucy Smith, consort of
Elder Ebenezer Smith late
of Ashfield, who died
Oct. 5th 1808 aged 68"

Gravestones of Ebenezer and Keziah (Elmer) Smith, Cassadaga Cemetery, Cassadaga, Chatauqua, New York (photo credit: Darryl Boyd):
Gravestone of Ebenezer Smith, Jr.

Monument and gravestones of Preserved and Eunice (Wells) Smith, Warwick Cemetery, Warwick, Franklin, Massachusetts (photo credit: Ryan-O, findagrave.com):
Momument to Preserved and Eunice (Wells) Smith

Momument to Preserved and Eunice (Wells) Smith

Close-up of Preserved and Eunice (Wells) Smith memorial

Gravestones of Edward and Jemima (Smith) Annable, Old Marcellus Village Cemetery, Marcellus, Onondaga, New York (photo credit: Taryn DiTomasso, findagrave.com):
Gravestone of Jemima (Smith) Annable