Henry Smith and Dorothy --

Henry Smith was born in England but his specific origins are not currently known with any certainty. Homer W. Brainard stated, "The origin in England of the Reverend Henry Smith, first pastor of the Church of Christ in Wethersfield, Connecticut, is still uncertain. Older writers, Goodwin and Savage and others following them, have made statements or conjectures that, in the light of recent study of the problem, appear to be untenable." This includes the often-repeated pedigree for Henry Smith that has him as the son of Erastus or Erasmus Smith of Withcock. Brainard mentioned information from the Dictionary of National Biography that indicates that there was an Erasmus Smith of Withcote but his son Henry was admitted from Cambridge and matriculated from Oxford but did not receive a degree, eventually retired to the country in England, and was unmarried and without issue. Other Henrys in this family are also unlikely candidates, according to Brainard's article.

What is known of Henry's background is what Henry's son Samuel related in a letter to one of his own sons: My Revered Father was an ordained Minister of ye Gospelle, educate at Cambridge in England & came to yis Land by reason of ye Great Persecution by which ye infamous Archibishop Laud and ye Black Tom Tyrante, (as Mr. Russell was always wont to call ye Earl of Strafforde,) did cause ye reign of his Majestic Charles ye First to loose favour in ye sight of ye people of England. My Father & Mother came over in 16^36/37, firste to Watertown which is neare Boston, & after a yeare or two to Weathersfield on ye great River, where he became ye firste settled Pastor.

Samuel also described Henry personally: "I do well remember ye Face & Figure of my Honoured Father. He was 5 foote, 10 inches talle, & spare of builde, tho not leane. He was as Active as ye Red Skin Men & sinewy. His delighte was in sportes of strengthe & withe his owne Hands he did helpe to rear bothe our owne House & ye Firste Meetinge House of Weathersfield, wherein he preacht yeares too fewe. He was well Featured & Fresh favoured with faire Skin & longe curling Hair (as neare all of us have had) with a merrie eye & swete smilinge Mouthe, tho he coulde frowne sternlie eno' when need was."

As Samuel stated, Henry Smith was educated at Cambridge. Of the students recorded at Cambridge, two Henry Smiths stand out as possibilities for our Henry. Both Jacobus and Brainard felt that our Henry was probably the Henry Smith who matriculated from King's College, Cambridge, A.B. 1619/20; Fellow of Kings. Venn felt that he was instead the Henry Smith who matriculated as sizar from Magdalene College, Cambridge on Easter 1618, received a B.A. in 1621-2 and M.A. in 1625, and was ordained deacon in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England 7 June 1623 and priest 8 June 1623. But Brainard thought that unlikely: "If Lechford's entry has been read aright, it shows that his Henry Smith, Master of Magdalen College, was still in England when our Henry Smith was already in Wethersfield." Brainard also stated that our Henry was not the Henry Smith who matriculated from Sidney College (as this Henry did not receive a degree and our Henry as an ordained clergyman would have had a degree before ordination).

There is also confusion about Henry's marriage. It is known from records that Henry married Dorothy --. Cutter stated that Dorothy was the sister of Rev. John Cotton of Boston. Torrey, Goodwin, and Jacobus, however, do not give a maiden name for Dorothy. The probable source of this supposed connection is a passage in the 1652 will of John Cotton of Boston where Cotton leaves a bequest to "my cousin Henery Smith" of diet, lodging, and apparel "so long as he serve my wife" (see Great Migration Begins). This would be very weak proof indeed, since 1) Henry Smith was dead at the time of the writing of the will, 2) the use of the term "cousin" was then a vague term used to describe a relative and it doesn't necessarily follow that John Cotton must be related to Henry through Henry's wife, and 3) it implies that Henry was in Boston serving John Cotton's wife, a place and occupation not associated with out Henry. With the name Henry Smith being a fairly common one, the Henry named in the will is certainly a completely different Henry Smith than our Henry and there is not enough proof that Dorothy is at all related to John Cotton.

Cutter also remarked that Henry is thought to have married twice. Again, Torrey, Goodwin, and Hale, House do not mention another wife. Goodwin reasoned that Henry is "supposed, from the tenor of his will, to have been twice married." He casts doubt on the maternity of the first three of Henry's children (Peregrine and two unnamed married daughters). This rationale of the children being by a different wife than Dorothy given in the footnote seems weak with little to support it. Jacobus identified Mrs. Phillippa Birdsey and Mrs. Mary Hale as probably the two married daughters mentioned in the will and shows Mary as having a daughter Dorothy. This would weaken, though not put an end to, the argument that Mrs. Dorothy Smith was not her mother. Another probable source of the two wives theory was revealed and refuted by Brainard: "In 1644 Gov. Wyllys wrote to his son in England: 'Mr Warrum is not yet satisfied to give up his security he hath of Mr. Smith of Wethersfield for the payment of the 21 li you paid to his father in law Mr. Gabriell Cornish of Weymouth.'...This has been interpreted to mean that Rev. Henry Smith was a son-in-law of Gabriel Cornish, mariner, of Weymouth and Melcomb Regis, county Dorset. But it is evident that the Rev. John Warham was himself the son-in-law of Mr. Cornish, perhaps through his first wife, who died in Dorchester, Mass., in 1634." There is insufficient evidence to support the idea that Henry married the daughter of Gabriel Cornish or anyone else before he married Dorothy.

As indicated by son Samuel, the Smiths emigrated to New England in order to escape the persecution of Archbishop Laud in 1636-7. Brainard stated that Archbishop Laud’s objective was to force conformity on the Puritans and other dissenters, that Separatist congregations were tracked down and broken up, and “Even the devotions of private families could not escape the vigilance of his spies." Of the circumstances of Henry and Dorothy's arrival and life after they had arrived, Samuel stated, "My Parents had broughte bothe Men Servants & Maid Servants from England, but ye Maids tarried not but till they got Married, ye wch was shortly, for there was great scarcity of Women in ye Colonies. Ye men did abide better. Onne of em had married onne of my Mother's Maids & they did come with us to Weathersfield to our grate Comforte for some Yeares, untill they had manny littel onnes of theire Owne."

The Smiths settled first at Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, then at Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, where Henry was the pastor from 1641 to his death. About the move to Wethersfield, Samuel noted that "'As most of ye Weathersfield Settlers did come afoot throu ye Wilderness & brought with em such Things only as they did most neede at ye firste, ye other Things was sent round from Boston in Vessels to come up ye River to us. Some of ye Shippes did come safe to Weathersfield, but many was lost in a grate storm. Amongst em was onne wch held alle our Beste Things." Some of their things were discovered after Henry's death and Dorothy's remarriage to have survived and been stored away but much of it had been spoiled by seawater and mold. Juliana Smith (who had copied and preserved Samuel Smith's letter), according to Helen Evertsen Smith, reported that one of the Smiths' books was The Visions of Piers Plowman, which was passed down for several generations, even though it was so "ruinated" that parts of it could no longer be read.

Samuel added, "Concerning of ye earlie days I can remember but little save Hardship." He mentioned that the uneasy relationship with the Native Americans caused them to "live in constant feare of ye like [attack]." He described his father's attitude towards them: "My Father ever declardt there would not be so much to feare iff ye Red Skins was treated with suche mixture of Justice & Authority as they eld understand..." Samuel also mentioned wolves, catamounts, and bears, adding that "My mother and sister did each of them kill more than one of the gray howlers, and once my oldest sister shot a bear that came too near the house. He was a good fat one, and kept us all in meat for a good while. I guess one of her daughters has got the skin."

As for Henry's ministry, Helen Evertsen Smith stated, "In no sense could Mr. Smith have found his new pastorate a bed of roses. Besides the privations and hardships common to all pioneer pastors, there seems to have been a strong and most unusual element of turbulence in the membership of this wilderness church, for two preceding ministers had tried and failed to unite the members of the congregation sufficiently to secure a settlement, and the trouble did not immediately cease upon Mr. Smith's installation...There is evidence tending to show that he may have been too liberal in his construction of doctrinal views, and inclined to too great charity in matters of personal conduct, to suit the more rigid among the townsmen." However, she added, "In the end Mr. Smith carried the church with him, and when he died, in 1648, he was sincerely mourned even by those who at one time had 'despitefully used' him. Mr. Smith is said to have been 'a scholarly man of gentle birth and breeding, a persuasive preacher and a loyal friend.'"

Henry died in 1648 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut (his son Samuel wrote that it was "of ye grate Fever.") Henry's will was dated 8 May 1648, written "that I may leave no occasion of trouble to my children to my children when I am gone." He also wrote, "Then, for my outward estate, wch, because it is little and I have well proved the difficultyes of this Country, how hard a thinge it will be for a woman to manage the affaires of so great a family as the Father of Mercyes hathe blessed me withall, and have had allso experience of the prudence and faithfullness of my deare wife, who shall, in parting with me, parte with a great parte of her livelihood..." He gave Dorothy full power over his estate in "howses, Lands, Cattell and Goods" unless she married again or could otherwise comfortably spare it, in which case she was to give land to their sons as Henry stipulated.

A curious and doubtful story has surfaced on several websites without a source that Henry presided at the witchcraft trial of Mary Johnson in Wethersfield, with the result that Mary was executed. My search for evidence for this has come up with no solid proof to support it. The closest source I've found is a secondary source that states, "It was during the ministry of Mr. Smith, (1646) that Mary Johnson who seems to have resided at Wethersfield, was publicly whipped, first at Hartford, and then at Wethersfield, for theuery, or witchcraft; and who in 1648 was indicted for 'familiarity with the devil.'" (Chapin, Alonzo B., Glastenbury for Two Hundred Years, Hartford: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, p. 34) First, note that this reference only states that Henry was the minister at Wethersfield when Mary was whipped, not that he presided over the case. Second, Chapin asserted that theuery was a synonym for witchcraft but I find no evidence of this. Note that, in the handwriting of the time, the letter u was often used in place of v, thus rendering the word as thevery (or thievery, using conventional modern spelling). In fact, John Metcalf Taylor (The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut, 1647-1697, New York: Grafton Press, 1908, p. 144) stated: "At a session of the Particular Court held in Hartford, August 21, 1646, Mary Johnson for thievery was sentenced to be presently whipped, and to be brought forth a month hence at Wethersfield, and there whipped." Henry would not have presided over the court in Hartford. As for Henry's supposed involvement in the later witchcraft trial, it wasn't until December of 1648 that Mary was indicted for witchcraft (Taylor stated, "...at a session of the same court, December 7, 1648, the jury found a bill of indictment against Mary Johnson, that by her own confession she was guilty of familiarity with the devil.") The exact date of Henry's death is not known but as Henry, a man likely in his prime (at a time in his life when he might not expect to need a will yet) who died of fever sometime in 1648, wrote his will in May 1648, there is a good chance that he had died before December (Jacobus did not indicate a probate date). It is also notable that another minister, Samuel Stone of Hartford, not Henry, was mentioned by Cotton Mather as having some involvement: "In the time of her imprisonment, the famous Mr. Stone was at great pains to promote her conversion from the Devil to God..." (Mather, Cotton, Magnalia Christi Americana, 1702)

At an unknown date between 1648 and 1677, Dorothy married second John Russell. John was born about 1597, possibly in or near Ipswich, Suffolk, England (Great Migration Begins states that there is no evidence to support claims that John was christened in Cretingham, Suffolk) and had married first Phebe Collins. He probably arrived in New England about 1635. He settled first at Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts and was admitted freeman 3 Mar 1635/6. He was made a Connecticut freeman 17 May 1655, having moved to Wethersfield by that time. John moved to Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts by 1661, where he was admitted to Massachusetts Bay freemanship 26 Mar 1661. The offices John was recorded as holding included selectman, surveyor of arms, fenceviewer, commissioner for lost goods, clerk of the writs, registrar of lands, highway surveyor, inspector of ladders, and clerk of the train band. He also served on the petit jury in 1662 and 1665.

Upon Dorothy's marriage to John, the younger Smith children moved to Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts with the Russells. Samuel wrote about his stepfather, "he was sometimes a littel shorte of ye Charity wch thinketh no Evil, at ye least I was wont to think so when his Hand was too heavy on my Shoulders & I remembered ye sweetnesse & ye Charity of my firste Father, but on ye whole said he was a Goode Man & did well by my Mother & her children, & no doubt we did often try his wit & temper." On 22 Aug 1677, Dorothy provided a marriage dowry for her daughter Joanna, who had married John’s son Philip, through a deed granting a parcel of land from parcels granted to her by John.

John died 8 May 1680. His will was written 7 April 1680 and proved 28 September 1680. An inventory of his estate was taken 13 September 1680, which was presented 28 September by Dorothy. Upon John's death, Dorothy's son Samuel moved to Hadley to take care of her.

Dorothy died in 1694 in Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts. Dorothy’s will was dated 16 February 1681 and proved 22 December 1694 (the same day that the inventory on her estate was taken).

Town and Church Records

Name:    Samuell Smith
Gender:    Male
Birth Date:    27 Jan 1638
Birthplace:    WETHERSFIELD TWP,HARTFORD,CONNETICUT
Father's Name:    Henry Smith
Mother's Name:    Dorothy

Source: "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F74Y-WFZ : 3 December 2014), Samuell Smith, 27 Jan 1638; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.

Name:    Noah Smith
Gender:    Male
Birth Date:    25 Feb 1643
Birthplace:    WETHERSFIELD TWP,HARTFORD,CONNETICUT
Father's Name:    Henry Smith
Mother's Name:    Dorothy

Source: "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F74Y-75P : 11 February 2018), Noah Smith, 25 Feb 1643; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.

Name:    Elizabeth Smith
Gender:    Female
Birth Date:    25 Aug 1648
Birthplace:    WETHERSFIELD TWP,HARTFORD,CONNETICUT
Father's Name:    Henry Smith
Mother's Name:    Dorothy

Source: "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7WG-J99 : 11 February 2018), Elizabeth Smith, 25 Aug 1648; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.

Name:    Johannah Smith
Gender:    Female
Birth Date:    25 Dec 1641
Birthplace:    WETHERSFIELD TWP,HARTFORD,CONNETICUT
Father's Name:    Henry Smith
Mother's Name:    Dorothy

Source: "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7WG-113 : 11 February 2018), Johannah Smith, 25 Dec 1641; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.

Name:    Samuel Smyth
Gender:    Male
Christening Date:    06 Oct 1625
Christening Date (Original):    06 OCT 1625
Christening Place:    WHATFIELD,SUFFOLK,ENGLAND
Father's Name:    Samuel Smyth

Source: "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N15Z-BP2 : 11 February 2018, Samuel Smyth, 06 Oct 1625); citing WHATFIELD,SUFFOLK,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 919,634.

Name:    Phillip Russell
Spouse's Name:    Joanna Smith
Event Date:    04 Feb 1663
Event Place:    Hadley,Hampshire,Massachusetts

Source: "Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCHN-3WG : 9 February 2018), Phillip Russell and Joanna Smith, 04 Feb 1663; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 186,122.

Name:    Samll Smith
Gender:    Male
Death Date:    10 Sep 1703
Death Place:    Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts

Death record of Samuel Smith

Source: "Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FC9D-7ZF : 10 December 2014), Samll Smith, 10 Sep 1703; citing Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts, reference p 5; FHL microfilm 186,152.

Name:    Philip Russell
Gender:    Male
Death Date:    19 May 1693
Death Place:    Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts

Source: "Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FC9C-ZVQ : 10 February 2018), Philip Russell, 19 May 1693; citing Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts, reference item 2 p130; FHL microfilm 760,648.

1640
23 Aug. Birdsey, John Phillip his wife dismissed to Stratford 29 Mar. 1649

Source: Jacobus, Donald Lines, "Milford Church Records," The American Genealogist, vol. 16 (1939), p. 29.

Name:    John Birdsey
[John Birdseye, Birdsie, Burdsey]
Death Date:    4 Apr 1690
Death Place:    Stratford, Connecticut, USA

Source: Ancestry.com. Connecticut Town Death 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.

Town: Fairfield
Surname: Hall
Francis, d. Mar. 5, 1689/90

Source: Connecticut Town Death Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection), Ancestry.com, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.Original data - White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.

Town: Watertown
Surname: Bowman
Nathaniel the son of Nathaniell & Anne Bowman borne 6 (1) 1640

Source: Vital Records of Watertown, 1630-1825. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2007.), (Originally published as: Watertown Records. Prepared for publication by the Historical Society. Watertown, Mass. 1894-1906.)

Town: Wethersfield
Surname: Smith
Noah, [s. Henry & Dorothy], b. Feb. 25, 1643
Elizabeth, [d. Henry & Dorothy], b. Aug 25, 1648

Source: Connecticut Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection), Ancestry.com, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.Original data - White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.

Town: Stratford
Surname: Blakeman
Dorothy, wid. of John, m. Ffrancis Hall, Oct last, 1665

Source: Connecticut, Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection), Ancestry.com, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.Original data - White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.

Name:    Marke Sension
Gender:    Male
Record Type:    Baptism
Baptism Date:    10 Jun 1633
Baptism Place:    St Nicholas Cole Abbey, City of London, London, England
Father:    Mathias Sension
Register Type:    Parish Register

Christening record of Marke Sension

Source: London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812; Reference Number: P69/NIC2/A/001/MS05685, Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives.

Colonial Days and Ways

Pages 41-43:

Mr. Smith had reached this country, going first to Watertown, in 1636 or 1637. While the rule in New England pastorates was ,that the pastor was literally as well as figuratively the head of an obedient flock, which paid him all due deference, and followed his lead as sheep follow the piping of the shepherd, the pastors who successively essayed the charge of the church in Wethersfield were the unfortunate exceptions. In no sense could Mr. Smith have found his new pastorate a bed of roses. Besides the privations and hardships common to all pioneer pastors, there seems to have been a strong and most unusual element of turbulence in the membership of this wilderness church, for two preceding ministers had tried and failed to unite the members of the congregation sufficiently to secure a settlement, and the trouble did not immediately cease upon Mr. Smith's installation. Previous to or about the time of his settlement in Wethersfield the most prominent of the insurgents, under advice of the Rev. John Davenport and others, had removed to Stamford; yet the restless spirits who were left found enough to say against Mr. Smith's ministry during the next few years. There is evidence tending to show that he may have been too liberal in his construction of doctrinal views, and inclined to too great charity in matters of personal conduct, to suit the more rigid among the townsmen. In at least one instance matters went so far that the pastor was brought before the General Court on charges the nature of which is not now apparent; but it is recorded that fines which for that day were very heavy were laid upon certain individuals " for preferring a list of grievances against Mr. Smith and failing to prove in the prosecution thereof" From references to this, which appear in manuscript of about a century after this date, referring to this trial as a thing still remembered, it would seem that Mr. Smith was opposed to severity in church discipline, and also to the importation into the Connecticut Colony of the bribe to hypocrisy which was offered by the law restricting to church-members the right of suffrage in town as well as church matters; and that he also preferred to believe an accused man to be innocent until he was proved guilty, and even then did not believe in proceeding to extremities until after every gentle means had been tried in vain.

One cause of animadversion is said to have been that Mr. Smith had advocated the separation of a wife from a drunken husband who had frightfully abused her and her children. This seems to have been thought by some members of the congregation to indicate great laxity of moral principle on the part of the pastor; but evidently the majority of the people were with him on these and other disputed points, and so were his friends, Mr. Thomas Hooker, the beloved pastor of the church at Hartford, and Mr. Warham of Windsor. Another complaint against Mr. Smith was that he refused to listen to those who brought him reports concerning alleged infractions of church discipline, on the ground that many of these things were matters which lay solely between a man and his Maker. In the end Mr. Smith carried the church with him, and when he died, in 1648, he was sincerely mourned even by those who at one time had "despitefully used" him.

Mr. Smith is said to have been "a scholarly man of gentle birth and breeding, a persuasive preacher and a loyal friend."

Pages 47-56:
In the diary of Juliana Smith, 1779-81, there exists a copy of a fragment of a reminiscent letter, written in 1699 by the Rev. Henry Smith's son, Samuel Smith of Hadley, Massachusetts, to his son, Ichabod Smith, residing in Suffield, Connecticut, apparently in reply to some inquiries which the latter had made.

Juliana writes :

"Today my Grandmother Smith gave me to read what is left unburnt of a Letter which was written to my Great-Grandfather by his Father & has permitted me to copy it. The Letter itself belongs to my Uncle Dan because he is my Grandfather's eldest son. A large part of it was burnt when my Grandfather's house in Suffield took fire, and was barely saved from destruction, with the loss of many things, especially Books & Papers. The Bible in which this Letter was kept was found on the next day still smouldering, with more than half of its leaves burnt away, including a part of the Family Record & this Letter: —

"'Hadley, Massachusetts Colony,
Jan. ye Firste, 16^98/99

"'My Dear & Dutiful Son : . . . I was of so tender an Age at the death of my beloved Father that I am possessed of but little of the Information for which you seek. My Revered Father was an ordained Minister of ye Gospelle, educate at Cambridge in England & came to yis Land by reason of ye Great Persecution by which ye infamous Archibishop Laud and ye Black Tom Tyrante, (as Mr. Russell was always wont to call ye Earl of Strafforde,) did cause ye reign of his Majestic Charles ye First to loose favour in ye sight of ye people of England. My Father & Mother came over in 16^36/37, firste to Watertown which is neare Boston, & after a yeare or two to Weathersfield on ye great River, where he became ye firste settled Pastor.

"'Concerning of ye earlie days I can remember but little save Hardship. My Parents had broughte bothe Men Servants & Maid Servants from England, but ye Maids tarried not but till they got Married, ye wch was shortly, for there was great scarcity of Women in ye Colonies. Ye men did abide better. Onne of em had married onne of my Mother's Maids & they did come with us to Weathersfield to our grate Comforte for some Yeares, untill they had manny littel onnes of theire Owne. I do well remember ye Face & Figure of my Honoured Father. He was 5 foote, 10 inches talle, & spare of builde, tho not leane. He was as Active as ye Red Skin Men & sinewy. His delighte was in sportes of strengthe & withe his owne Hands he did helpe to rear bothe our owne House & ye Firste Meetinge House of Weathersfield, wherein he preacht yeares too fewe. He was well Featured & Fresh favoured with faire Skin & longe curling Hair (as neare all of us have had) with a merrie eye & swete smilinge Mouthe, tho he coulde frowne sternlie eno' when need was.

'"Ye firste Meetinge House was solid mayde to withstande ye wicked onsaults of ye Red Skins. Its Foundations was laide in ye feare of ye Lord, but its Walls was truly laide in ye feare of ye Indians, for many & grate was ye Terrors of em. I do mind me y't alle ye able-bodyed Men did work thereat, & ye olde & feeble did watch in turns to espie if any Salvages was in hidinge neare & every Man keept his Musket nighe to his hande. I do not myself remember any of ye Attacks mayde by large bodeys of Indians whilst we did remayne in Weathersfield, but did ofttimes hear of em. Several Families wch did live back a ways from ye River was either Murderdt or Captivated in my Boyhood & we all did live in constant feare of ye like. My Father ever declardt there would not be so much to feare iff ye Red Skins was treated with suche mixture of Justice & Authority as they eld understand, but iff he was living now he must see that wee can do naught but fight em & that right heavily.

"'After ye Red Skins ye grate Terror of our lives at Weathersfield & for many yeares after we had moved to Hadley to live, was ye Wolves. Catamounts was bad eno' & so was ye Beares, but it was ye Wolves yt was ye worst. The noyes of theyre bowlings was eno' to curdle ye bloode of ye stoutest & I have never seen ye Man yt did not shiver at ye Sounde of a Packe of em. What wth ye way we hated em & ye goode money yt was offered for theyre Heads we do not heare em now so much, but when I do I feel again ye younge hatred rising in my Bloode, & it is not a Sin because God mayde em to be hated. My Mother & Sister did each of em kill more yan one of ye gray Howlers & once my oldest Sister shot a Beare yt came too neare ye House. He was a goode Fatte onne & keept us all in meate for a good while. I guess one of her Daughters has got ye skinne.

"'As most of ye Weathersfield Settlers did come afoot throu ye Wilderness & brought with em such Things only as they did most neede at ye firste, ye other Things was sent round from Boston in Vessels to come up ye River to us. Some of ye Shippes did come safe to Weathersfield, but many was lost in a grate storm. Amongst em was onne wch held alle our Beste Things. A good many Yeares later, long after my Father had died of ye grate Fever & my Mother had married Mr. Russell & moved to Hadley, it was found yt some of our Things had been saved & keept in ye Fort wch is by ye River's Mouthe, & they was brought to us. Most of em was spoilt with Sea Water & Mould, especially ye Bookes [Foot-note by Juliana: "My Father hath one of these books — The vision of Piers Plowman. It is so ruinated with damp and mould yt no one can read ye whole of it."] & ye Plate. Of this there was no grate store, only ye Tankard, wch I have, and some Spoones, divided amongst my Sisters wch was alle so black it was long before any could come to its owne colour agen, & Mr. Russell did opine yt had it not been so it might not have founde us agen, but he was sometimes a littel shorte of ye Charity wch thinketh no Evil, at ye least I was wont to think so when his Hand was too heavy on my Shoulders & I remembered ye sweetnesse & ye Charity of my firste Father, but on ye whole said he was a Goode Man & did well by my Mother & her children, & no doubt we did often try his wit & temper, but it was in his house yt' —

"Here," writes the copyist, "there is a break" — probably where the sheets of the original had been burned.

The silver tankard mentioned in the foregoing letter of Samuel Smith of Hadley is in all probability the one now belonging to my brother, Gilbert Livingston Smith of Sharon, Connecticut, though the earliest positive record which we have concerning it is in a bill of sale, including various things to the amount of nearly £700, made to the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith by his brother, Simeon Smith, M.D., when the latter was leaving Sharon to take up his residence in Vermont in 1787. It is there described as "One ancient Silver Tankard marked with our coat of arms & S. S., bought by me from Brother Dan." The tankard now has on the side opposite the handle a spout, which was put on about 1820 that it might be used as a water-pitcher. Family tradition has always held that this tankard was brought from England in 1636 by the Rev. Henry Smith, and referred to in the letter just quoted.

Poor and incomplete are these glimpses of a New England pastorate, but they bring before us some of the privations suffered, and the courage which so bravely met them because it was grounded on an unbounded faith in an omnipotent Father, and was cheered by family affection. Of both of these the last will and testament of the Rev. Henry Smith gives beautiful testimony. It is not couched in legal phraseology, but was apparently written by himself, and hence is more than usually expressive of the testator's character. He had not waited until the shadow of death had fallen upon him before making his slender worldly preparations for "departing hence to be no more," but, "Being in health of body and soundness of mind," and "wishing to leave no occasion of trouble for my children," the will was made several months before his decease. There was not much to be disposed of, only a trifle over £370, but that little is so graciously bestowed that one feels as fully persuaded of the testator's own loving heart as he was persuaded of God's " unchangeable love and good will both in life and death . . . according to His covenant, viz : — I am thy God and of thy Seede after thee."

After this profession of faith, which evidently comes from a simple and earnest heart, the will proceeds :

"Then for my ovtward estate, wch, because it is but littel, & I haue well proued the difficvlties of this covntry, how hard a thing it will bee for a woman to manage the affairs of so great a family as the Father of Mercyes hath blessed mee withall, & haue allso experience of the prvdence & faithfvlness of my deare Wife, who shall, in parting withe mee, part allso withe a great part of her liuelihood; I do therefore beqveath & giue to her, the fvll power & disposal of alle that estate wch God hath gieuen mee, in howses, lands, cattells & goods whatsoeuer, within dores and withovt; only prouiding that in case shee marry again, or otherwise shee bee able comfortably to spare it from her own necessary maintenance, that shee giue vnto my Sonne Samvell that part of my hovse lott that was intended for my Sonne Peregrine lyinge next to the bvrying place, & the land I haue beyon the great Riuer eastward; & allso, to him & my second Sonne, Noah, hue acres apeece of meadow with vplands proportionable therevnto, & to the reste of my children vnmarried, 20 pounds apeece, at the age of one & twenty yeares, or at the time of her death, wch shall come the sooner. & for my two Davghters that bee married, my desire is that they haue 2o Shillings apeece and euery onne of their children hue Shillings apeece, either in bookes or such other things as my Wife shall best please to part withall."

Of the £370 nearly one half was in houses and lands, £50 were in live stock, which did not include any domestic fowls, the latter being still scarce In the colonies. Bees, number of hives not stated, were valued at £8, which seemingly disproportionately large valuation was probably due to the scarcity of the cultivated variety. Probably Mr. Smith was, as all the New England pastors of his time were obliged to be, a farmer as well as a preacher, but he could not have been enthusiastically devoted to agriculture, for his "husbandry tools" were only valued at £3 10s., while his " armes & ammunition " were reckoned at £4.

"Bookes" are mentioned, but their value not estimated, probably because at the time of his death, during a prevailing "grate fever," proper appraisers may not have been on hand. Ministers were usually appointed to appraise books. Out of thirty-seven inventories which were recorded during the first ten years of the Connecticut Colony, in only nine, including that of Mr. Smith, do we find mention of books. The total value of these in six of the nine is estimated at £39 13s. Mr. Hooker's books were estimated at £300, a considerable item in an estate amounting to only about £1136. I say "only" when viewing this subject from present conditions; under those of 1648 in the colonies, Mr. Hooker was a wealthy man. His friend and parishioner, Mr. William Whiting, the plutocrat of the Connecticut Colony, left an estate of £2854, including debts due to him which are classed as "doubtful," and "adventures wch are harserdous" to the amount of £429. His "books & apparell " united are appraised at £25.

What would seem to be a disproportionately costly item in Mr. Smith's house furnishings was that of beds. Bedsteads are not named, perhaps because there were none, for there were comparatively few in the country, save the sleeping-bunks built in with the houses, until fifteen or twenty years later than this. "Three feather beds with all things belonging to them" are valued at £40, which would seem to show that the "all things" were of extra quality, or that the other usual furnishings of the bedrooms, and perhaps also that of the parlor or living-room, as well as the beds themselves, were included in that valuation.

Probably it was for the accommodation of fire that the parlor was usually the guest bedroom, and we find that the entire parlor furniture of the wealthy Mr. Whiting, including "bed-stead, bed, stools, a clock [perhaps the only one in the colony], a safe [probably an iron or steel chest like those preserved in some European museums], a cradle, cob irons," etc., is altogether valued at only £17 3s.

Mr. Smith's tables, chairs, stools, cushions, and "other things belonging" are altogether valued at £3 15s., while "cob irons, trammels & other fire irons " were valued at £2 8s., and "brasse, iron potts, pewter & such like" were appraised at £15. The two classes of goods last mentioned, which at that date must have been imported, would naturally cost more than the tables and stools, which, however roughly, could be made here. Probably there were not more than two or three chairs, and these would have been brought from England. Table and other linen and a "carpett" (that is, a table-cover) were valued at £14 10s.
...

A glimpse of the relation which then existed between a Puritan pastor and his flock may be gained from the following, which is the closing paragraph of Mr. Smith's will:

" And I desire the Church whose seruant I now am, to take the care and ouersight of my family that they may be brovght vp in the trve feare of God, and to see that this my Will be faithfvlly prformed. In witnesse whereof I haue svbscribed my name the 8th day of May, 1648."

Source: Smith, Helen Evertsen, Colonial Days & Ways as Gathered from Family Papers, New York: The Century Co., 1900.

Educational Records

Name:    Henry Smith
College:    MAGDALENE
Entered:    Easter, 1618
Died:    1648
More Information:    Matric. sizar from MAGDALENE, Easter, 1618; B.A. 1621-2; M.A. 1625. Ord. deacon (Peterb.) June 7; priest, June 8, 1623. Probably identical with the man of these names who emigrated to New England to escape the persecution of Archbishop Laud, 1636-7. Settled first at Watertowne, near Boston; afterwards removed to Weathers-field. Pastor there, 1641-8. Died there 1648. Described by his son Samuel as ‘an ordained minister of the Gospelle, educated at Cambridge in England.’ (J. G. Bartlett.)

Source: Ancestry.com. Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Venn, J. A., comp.. Alumni Cantabrigienses. London, England: Cambridge University Press, 1922-1954.

Probate Records

Name:    Dorothy Moore
Location:    Farmington
Date of Will:    21 May 1700
Page:    149-50-51
Full text:    Page 149-50-51 (late wife of Deacon Isaac Moore). Invt. œ367-10-06. Taken 27 April, 1706, by Samuel Sherman, Benjamin Coney and Robert Bassett. Will dated 21 May, 1700. I, Dorothy Moore of Farmington, having some estate left by my first and second husbands which is properly my own to dispose of in life or at death, I do make this my last will and testament. Imprimis: My sons having all received their portions left them by their father, and some lands besides their portions, I give to my grandchild Joseph Blackman my dwelling house and homested, only with this provisall, that Mary Hall, the daughter of my husband Francis Hall decd., shall have the use and improvement of the eastermost room of the house during her life, and the privilege of the whole house for her convenience for fireroom, baking and washing, and he to provide fire-wood for her; but if my grandchild Joseph do not return to possess the sd. house and homested, I give it to his two brothers, John and Samuel Blackman, on the same conditions of providing for Mary Hall as aforesd. Item. I give all my lands at Cla-board Hill, and all my meadow in Stratford, to be equally divided between my two sons, John and Ebenezer Blackman, and my grandson Joseph Blackman; but if Joseph do not return, his two brothers, John and Samuel, to have his part. I give my land at Hatfield to my son Ebenezer Blackman, and all the moveables which I had of my mother's legacy at Hadley I give to my grandchild Elizabeth Blackman. I give to my grandson Joseph Blackman a featherbed. I give all the rest of my moveable estate to be equally divided between my four grandchildren, namely, Abigail and Rebeckah, daughters of my son Joseph, and Dorothy and Elizabeth, daughters of my son Ebenezer. Only my will is that Mary Hall shall have liberty to make use of what household goods of mine she hath occasion for during her life. I appoint my two sons, Ebenezer Blackman and John Blackman, to be joynt executors of this my will. I desire Mr. Joseph Curtice and Mr. Israel Chauncey to be overseers. Witness: John Booth, Jacob Walker. Dorothy Moore, ls. Court Record, Page 83--17 April, 1706: Ebenezer Blackman of Stratford, executor to the will of his mother Dorothy Moore, exhibits will and inventory. Will proven and ordered to be recorded and kept on file.
Source:    A DIGEST OF THE EARLY CONNECTICUT PROBATE RECORDS. 1700 to 1710.

Source: Ancestry.com. Hartford, Connecticut Probate Records, 1700-1729 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Original data: A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, Hartford District, 1700-1729. Vol. II. n.p., 1906.

Name:    Francis Hall
Location:    Stratford
Page:    Vol. IV, P. C., No. 117.
Full text:    Will dated 6 May, 1686: I ffrancis Hall of stratford, in ye Colloney of Conecticott, being yet of sound Mind & not knowing ye day of my death, being aged and Crazie, make this my last Will in maner & form following: It. I giue unto my wife al yt was left her by her last husband, John Blakeman of Stratford, decd, except what is disposed off already, which was not done without her Consent. Shee is to possess all lands and houseing during her natural life, & then to be to ye heirs of ye aforementioned John Blakeman, it being agreeing to ye Condishons shee made with mee at Marriage. Concerning my son Isaac, I giue to him & his wife & al my grand Children one shilling apeice, & haue & shall hereafter leaue further order about Isaac. I giue unto my son Samuel Hall & his heirs all yt part of my farm lands & tenements whatsoever, situate in ye Township of ffairfield, which I have already given by Deed. I make him my only heir, he to pay Debts, Legacies & Funeral Expenses; and if my son Samuel can have comfortable assurance from his Brother Isaack Hall yt he will for ye future live in peace and renounce all Causes of after contention from themselves & their heirs forever, then yt my son Samuel Hall make over to him and his heirs forever soe much of ye land as ye said Samuel see Cause. It. Concerning my three daughters, vizt, mary, elizabeth & rebeckah, I have already ingaged my son Samuel, when I made him a deed of guift of ye part of my farm, to giue unto my daughter mary 40 Shillings by ye yeare during her natural life, & to ye other two sisters œ10 apeice, to be paid unto them as they haue ociasion for it. I giue unto my daughter Hannah a horse or mare & a heifer or steere. It. Besides what is abouesaid, I giue to my wife a warming pan & my written books yt are legable, al yt are written in Carracters; shee may dispose as shee please. Since I begun this my Will I did agree with my son Isaac, as is exprest in my day booke, page 152: will more fully appeare, yt he should possess two years gratiss without paying for ye time, but his patience not holding out soo long, he began againe to be troublesome & broke ye peace, giuing some bad & threatning words very unComfortable to mee, though I used ye best words I could to him for peace my life time; but it's from ye good pleasure of him who doth all things well, & unto his hands I leaue him. I desire Mr. Chancey, Mr. Pittman, Mr. sherman Junr. and Josiah nicolls to be Ouerseers to advise my son Samuel, who is my heire and Executor. I subscribe my name with my owne hand, legable & in carrecters.ffrancis Hall.Witness: John Blakeman, Thomas Broddgate.Stratford, 9th July, 1689: Francis Hall presented this as his Last Will, & acknowledged it to be his Will and Testament. Before me, Joseph Hawley, Commissioner.
Source:    A DIGEST OF THE EARLY CONNECTICUT PROBATE RECORDS.1687 to 1695.

Source: Ancestry.com. Hartford, Connecticut Probate Records, 1639-1700 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Original data: A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, Hartford District, 1635-1700. Vol. I. n.p., 1906.

[Note: Crazy originates from Scandinavia and meant ‘cracked.’ It later evolved to mean ‘broken’ and was used to describe unreliable containers and vessels in the 16th century. When it later became adapted to describe the body, it was a description of the physical state rather than the mental state. In other words, it was a word used to describe an aging body. It was not until the late 17th century – early 18th century that the word became used to describe a person’s mental state. Over time, the word became applied to states of confusion and enthusiasm as we understand it today. (Darr, Carolyn, Chu, Adrienne, and Crisler, Hannah, "A Timeline of Words Used to Describe Mental Illness," Divinest Sense: Madness in 18th Century England, http://www.umich.edu/~ece/student_projects/madness/terminology.html, retrieved 12 Feb 2018, citing Dalby, Thomas J. “Terms of Madness: Historical Linguistics”. Comprehensive Psychiatry 34, no. 6 (1993))]

Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700

SMITH, Henry (1588, ca 1600-1648) & 2/wf Dorothy ? (ca 1590-1694), m/2 John RUSSELL 1649; ca 1636?, 1635?; Wethersfield, CT
RUSSELL, John (1595, 1598-1680) & 2/wf Dorothy [SMITH] (-1694), w Rev. Henry; ca 1648/9, 1645?; Wethersfield, CT/Hartford?/Hadley
BIRDSEY, John¹ (1614-1690) & 1/wf Philippa [SMITH]? (ca 1622-by 1687); b 1640, b 1641, b 23 Aug 1640; Wethersfield, CT
BOWMAN/BOARDMAN/BOREMAN, ?Nathaniel (1641-1707) & Rebecca (SMITH) [SMITH] (ca 1631-), div; by 1669; Wethersfield, CT
SMITH, Samuel (1639/40, 1638/9-1703) & Mary [ENSIGN] (-1713); ca 1661; Wethersfield, CT/Northampton, Hadley
BLAKEMAN, John (-1662) & Dorothy [SMITH] (1636?-), dau Rev. Henry, m/2 Francis HALL 1665, m/3 Mark St.John 1693, m/4 Isaac MOORE; ca 1653; Stratford, CT/Fairfield, CT
SENSION, Mark (-Aug 1693) & 2/wf Dorothy (SMITH) (BLACKMAN) [HALL], w John, w Francis, m/4 Isaac MOORE; Jan 1692/3, 21 Jan 1691/2, Jan 1690; Norwalk, CT/Fairfield, CT
RUSSELL, Philip (-1693) & 1/wf Joanna SMITH (-1664); 4 Feb 1663/4; ?Hatfield/CT/Hadley

Source: Torrey, Clarence Almon, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.

Savage's Genealogical Dictionary

Vol. 4
SMITH,
SAMUEL, Northampton, s. of the Rev. Henry, and the only one, wh. reach. mature life, the freem. of 1676, had m. a. 1662, Mary, d. of James Ensign, and had Samuel, and Sarah bef. his rem. from Conn. to where he had Dorothy, bapt. 1667; Ebenezer, 1668; beside Ichabod, b. 24 Jan. 1670; Mary, 18 Jan. 1673; James, 12 June 1675; and Preserved, Aug. 1677. Aft. the d. of John Russell, at Hadley, h. of his mo. he rem. to Hadley, to take care of her, and d. 10 Sept. 1703. Of his five s. three, viz. the eldest, sett. at Suffleld, where Ichabod, the youngest of them had Samuel, b. 1700, wh. m. Jerusha, d. of Atherton Mather, and had Cotton M. Smith. Ludicrous perversity in modern days of this genealogy, so as to make the blood of the Mathers follow thro. wrong f. and wrong m. beside sinking in the male line one generat. yet grasp. in the female at one too old. See p. 34 in the valua. Centen. of Rev. Alonzo B. Chapin, where all the error is giv. for truth. His Excellency, John Cotton Smith, Y. C. 1783, late Gov. of Conn. was thus, it is ssid, misdirect. by his f. Rev. Cotton Mather S. Y. C. 1751, wh. seems to have partak. in one ill habit of his illustr. namesake. How he should exchange the name of his mos. f. for that of her gr.f. is less strange, however, than it might seem, if we suppose the reference being oft. made to the famous Dr. M. in the youth's hearing, he always assoc. [[vol. 4, p. 133]] the Presid. of the Coll. at Cambridge with that rare title, and thot. more of Increase, than of the humble neph. Atherton Mather, from wh. his own prefix came. Good substitution the f. made in the child's name by enrich. him with an honor. designat. tho. no Cotton blood ran in his veins, as had heedless. been assum.

SAMUEL, New London, s. of the preced. [Samuel Smith, Wethersfield] brot. from Eng. by his f. 1634, in the Elizabeth from Ipswich, Co. Suffolk, came from Wethersfield, there prob. m. Rebecca, d. of Rev. Henry Smith; was lieut. in 1657, and much betrust. in all town concerns, yet beyond any reason kn. for such conduct, abandon. his w. early in 1664, and went to Roanoke, on the borders of Virg. and N. C. His w. wh. had borne him no ch. was divorc. for such desert. and in 1669 m. Nathaniel Bowman of W. The runaway picked up, it was thot. ano. w. and left descend. at the S. See Caulkins' Hist.

Source: Savage, James, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1990 (originally published Boston, 1860-1862).

Cutter's New England Families

Rev. Henry Smith, immigrant ancestor, was born in England, in 1588, near Norfolk. He came to America in 1636, and settled in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1638. He is thought to have married twice, but the name of his first wife is not known. The name of his second wife was Dorothy, sister of Rev. John Cotton, of Boston. He died in 1658, and she married (second) John Russell, father of Rev. John Russell, who succeeded Mr. Smith in the pastorate at Wethersfield, and who, ten years later, became the first minister at Hadley, and died May 8, 1690, aged eighty-three. Mrs. Dorothy (Smith) Russell died at Hadley in 1694. Children of Rev Henry Smith: Peregrine, died unmarried; daughter, married and had children; daughter, married and had children; Dorothy, born 1636; Samuel in Wethersfield, 1638, mentioned below; Joanna, Wethersfield, December 25, 1641; Noah, Wethersfield, February 25, 1643-44; Elizabeth, Wethersfield, August 25, 1648.

(II) Samuel, son of Rev. Henry Smith, was born in Wethersfield, in 1638 39. He lived at Northampton, Massachusetts, from 1666 until about 1680. He removed then to Hadley, to take care of his mother. The following taken from his letter in 1698-99, refers to his stepfather, John Russell: "But he was sometimes a little short of ye Charity which thinketh no Evil, at ye least I was wont to think so when his Hand was too heavy on my Shoulders & I remembered ye sweetnesse & ye Charity of my firste Father, but on ye whole said he was a Goode Man & did well by my Mother & her children & no doubt we did often try his wit & temper." Samuel Smith died at Hadley, September 10, 1703, aged sixty five. He married Mary, daughter of James Ensign, the immigrant who was one of the first settlers of Hartford. Children: Samuel, deacon; Sarah, born before her father's removal to Northampton; Dorothy, baptized 1667, at Northampton; Ebenezer baptized at Northampton, 1668; Ichabod, born at Northampton, January 24, 1670, mentioned below; Mary, Northampton, January 19, 1673; James, Northampton, June 12, 1675; Preserved, Northampton, August 1677.

Source: Cutter, William Richard, New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial, Vol. 4, New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913, p. 1614.

Sources related to Samuel Smith's abandonment of wife Rebecca

Early in 1664, Samuel Smith, son of the subject of this sketch [Samuel Smith], left his wife and left New London, settling at Roanoke and then Carolina. Shortly before his departure he was frequently at the New London tavern maintained by Humphrey Clay and his wife, spending his time with their daughter, Sarah Clay, who accompanied him when he left town. Just before his departure, Smith boasted of getting Alice (Smith) Tinker with child, although Alice claimed the father was Jeremiah Blinman. Rev. Gershorn Bulkeley and others wrote to Samuel Smith attempting to convince him to return to Connecticut, but he refused. Nicholas White visited Smith and found that "he had a young wife" in Carolina [CT Arch, Crimes and Misdeamenors, Series 1, 3:194-210; NEHGR 149:421, 430-2]. Rebecca (Smith) Smith returned to Wethersfield and apparently obtained a divorce, for by 1669 she had married Nathaniel Bowman [Hale, House 732-33]. Both Calkins and Stiles saw the letters and depositions relating to Smith's departure to the south, but supressed the reports of his dalliance with other women [New London Hist 150-151; Wethersfield Hist 2:647].

Source: Great Migration 1634-1635, R-S. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VI, R-S, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009, pgs. 401-2.

"On 15 February 1663/4, [John] Tinker's widow, Alice, was examined in court "upon suspition of being with childe." On March 17th following, before Obadiah Bruen and James Avery, she acknowledged "herselfe to be with child and further said it was by Jeremiah Blinman"***..."However, Lieut. Samuel Smith of New London supposed he was the father of Alice's child and fled to Roanoke, Virginia. Smith's wife, Rebecca, subsequently obtained a divorce and in 1669 was living as the wife of Nathaniel Bowman of Wethersfield, Connecticut.+++"

***Footnote: "Manwaring, New London County Court Records, 1:20, 22..."
+++Footnote: "Crime and Misdemeanors, vol. II, pp. 200-204, on file at Connecticut State Library; Calkins, New London, pp. 150-151."

Source: Richardson, Douglas, "The English Ancestry of the Merwin and Tinker Families of New England: Part Two: John Tinker of Boston and Lancaster, Massachusetts and Windsor and New London, Connecticut," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. Oct. 1995, pgs. 421-2.