Samuel Smith and Elizabeth Smith

Town Records

Name: Chileabe Smith
Spouse's Name: Hannah Hitchcock
Event Date: 02 Oct 1661
Event Place: Hadley,Hampshire,Massachusetts
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M50252-2
System Origin: Massachusetts-ODM
GS Film number: 186122

Source: "Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCHN-3NG : 9 February 2018), Chileabe Smith and Hannah Hitchcock, 02 Oct 1661; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 186,122.

Name: John Smith
Spouse's Name: Mary Pattrick
Event Date: 12 Nov 1663
Event Place: Hadley,Hampshire,Massachusetts
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M50252-3
System Origin: Massachusetts-ODM
GS Film number: 0014766, 0186152, 363889
Reference ID:

Source: "Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCHN-3YH : 9 February 2018), John Smith and Mary Pattrick, 12 Nov 1663; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 14,766, 186,152, 363,889.

Name: John Graves
Gender: Male
Death Date: 19 Sep 1677
Death Place: Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: I09941-3
System Origin: Massachusetts-EASy
GS Film number: 760648
Reference ID: item 2 p128

Source: "Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FC9C-CP8 : 10 February 2018), John Graves, 19 Sep 1677; citing Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts, reference item 2 p128; FHL microfilm 760,648.

Name:    Elizabeth Smith
Death Date:    31 Jan 1687
Burial Place:    Taunton
Source:    Taunton

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

Freemanship Records

Name:    Chileab Smith
Date:    7 May 1673
Residence:    Hadl.
Original Source:    C. R., Vol. IV. pp. 718, 719.

Source: Ancestry.com. Massachusetts Applications of Freemen, 1630-91 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Original data: Paige, Lucius R.. List of Freemen of Massachusetts. Boston, MA, USA: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1849.

Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700

SMITH, Samuel (1602-1680) & Elizabeth SMITH (not CHILIAD) (1602-1686); in Eng, b 1625, 6 Oct 1624; Wethersfield, CT/Hadley/Hatfield/Deerfield
SMITH, Chileab (1635±-1731) & Hannah HITCHCOCK (1645-1733); 2 Oct 1661; Wethersfield, CT
FOOTE, Nathaniel (?1620-1655) & Elizabeth [SMITH] (?1627-), m/2 William GULL; ca 1646; Wethersfield
GULL, William & Elizabeth (SMITH) [FOOTE], w Nathaniel (d 1655); aft 1655; Wethersfield
GRAVES, John (ca 1622-1677) & 1/wf Mary SMITH (?1630-1660, 1668?); b 1653; Wethersfield, CT/Hadley/Hatfield/Deerfield
SMITH, Philip (?1633±-1685) & Rebecca [FOOTE] (1634-1701), m/2 Aaron COOKE 1688; ca 1657; Wethersfield, CT/Deerfield/Hadley
SMITH, John (ca 1637-1676) & Mary PARTRIDGE (-1683), m/2 Peter MONTAGUE 1679; 12 Nov 1663; Hatfield

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

Savage's Genealogical Dictionary

Vol. 2:
FOOTE,
NATHANIEL, Watertown, brought from Eng. w. Elizabeth and ch. Nathaniel, Elizabeth Mary, Robert, Frances, and Sarah; had Rebecca, b. prob. at Watertown, freem. 3 Sept. 1634, rem. to Wethersfield 1636, of wh. he was rep. 1641-4, and in this last yr. d. leav. good est. to his ch. and wid. wh. was sis. of John Deming, and m. Thomas Welles, that afterwards was Gov. of the Col. and outliv. him (wh. d. early in 1660), and d. 28 July 1683. She made her will 16 Aug. 1682, from the lang. of wh. we infer that her s. Robert and all the ds. but Sarah were still liv. Elizabeth m. 1638, Josiah Churchill; Mary, m. 1642, John Stoddard, wh. d. 1664; and in 1674 she m. John Goodrich, wh. d. Mar. 1680; and last, after her mo.'s d. she m. Lieut. Thomas Tracy of Norwich; Frances m. 1648, John Dickinson, wh. rem. to Hadley, there d. bef. 1676, and in 1677, she m. Francis Barnard; Sarah m. 1652, Jeremiah Judson of Stratford, and d. bef. 1678, but her mo.'s will provides for gr.ch.; Rebecca m. 1657, Philip Smith of Wethersfield, wh. d. a. 1684; in 1688 she m. Maj. Aaron Cooke of Northampton, as his fourth w.

NATHANIEL, Wethersfield, s. of the preced. b. in Eng. m. 1646, Elizabeth d. of Lieut. Samuel Smith, had Nathaniel, b. 10 or 14 Jan. 1648; Samuel, 1 May 1649; Daniel, 1652; and Elizabeth 1654; and d. 1655, aged 34. His wid. m. William Gull and outliv. him, wh. d. 1701; d. Elizabeth m. 10 Nov. 1670, Daniel Belden.

GULL,
WILLIAM, Wethersfield 1649, m. after 1654, Elizabeth wid. of Nathaniel Foote, d. of lieut. Samuel Smith, had no s. but sev. ds. certain. Mary, and Ann, bef. he rem. to Hadley in 1663; there had Esther, b. 21 Nov. 1665; and Mercy, 27 June 1668; was freem. 1673. Ann m. 1680, Jonathan Root, is nam. in the will of her f. as liv. 1701, when he d. and names also, as liv. his w. Elizabeth ds. Mary, w. of Robert Bardwell, who was m. 21 Nov. 1676; Mercy, w. of Jeremiah Alvord; and a ch. of his dec. d. Esther, who had been w. of Joseph Gillet.

Vol. 4:
SMITH,
JOHN, Hadley, s. of lieut. Samuel of the same, m. 12 Nov. 1663, Mary, d. of William Partridge, had John, b. 15 May 1665, perhaps freem. of 1690; Samuel, 7 Dec. 1667, wh. was k. by lightning in his 14th yr.; Joseph, 1670; Benjamin, 1673; and Mary, early in 1677, posthum. for her f. was k. by the Ind. 30 May 1676. See Capt. Newbury's despatches in Conn. Rec. II. 450. His s. Joseph was ancest. of the late Oliver S. wh. had gain. the largest est. of any person in all the neighb. of Hatfield, and by his will design. to favor that and the adjoin. towns.

PHILIP, Wethersfield, sec. s. of Samuel, brot. at one yr. old by his f. from Eng., made freem. 1654, m. 1657, Rebecca, youngest d. of Nathaniel Foote, soon rem. and is the same wh. in Hadley, among its new sett. took the freem.'s o. for Mass. 26 Mar. 1661; was rep. for Hadley 1677, 80-4, aft. wh. last he d. 10 Jan. foll. was selectman, lieut. of horse, and deac. yet "murder. with an hideous witchcraft, that fill. all those parts of N. E. with astonishment," as most minutely is told in the Magn. VI. 70. Still the wonder did not so far outrun conscience and common sense, as to prevail on the trial of Mary Webster, charg. for such clear malignities not only against Smith, the hypochondriac suffer. but others; even tho. she was before a jury at Boston, then peculiar. expos. to false impress., she was acquit. and d. peaceably at Hadley. Years more were need. for the full triumph of the devil and Cotton Mather. His Ch. were Samuel, b. Jan. 1659; John, 18 Dec. 1661; Jonathan, 1663; Philip, 1665; Rebecca, 1668; Nathaniel, 1671; Joseph, 1674, H. C. 1695; and Ichabod, 11 Apr. 1675 or 6; all the eight are ment. in his will. His wid. m. 2 Oct. 1688, Major Aaron Cook, of Northampton, wh. d. 6 Sept. 1690, and she d. at Il. 6 Apr. 1701. His only d. Rebecca early in 1686, m. George Stillman of H.

SAMUEL, Wethersfield, came in the Elizabeth 1634, from Ipswich, then by the custom-ho. rec. aged 32, with w. Elizabeth 32, and ch. Samuel, 9; Elizabeth 7; Mary, 4; and Philip, 1 ; was adm. freem. 3 Sept. 1634 ; was first, perhaps, at Watertown, where most of the passen. of that sh. plant. but in few yrs. rem. with many of them to the banks of the Conn. was rep. 1641-53 almost all the sess. more than any other man, was in 1658 exempt. from train. Next yr. he rem. with many of Rev. Henry Smith's opponents (wh. support. his success. Rev. John Russell's side of the Hartford controv.), to Hadley, where he was in very high repute, rep. oft. from 1661 to 73, lieut. in com. of the milit. from 1663 to 78, then hon. disch. and his s. Philip made lieut. and a capt. was appoint. for the first time; made a magistr. for the town, and d. in Dec. 1680, or next [[vol. 4, p. 132]] mo. Of the four ch. he bro't three are nam. in his will, tho. he gave the eldest only 5s. no doubt for suffic. reason, yet not express. Mary, not nam. had prob. d. young. Chiliab, and John, his s. are ment. in that docum. the former, b. a. 1636, and the other some yrs. aft. His wid. d. 16 Mar. 1685; and his d. Elizabeth m. 1646, Nathaniel Foote, and next, William Gull, wh. d. 1701, and she outliv. him.

SAMUEL, New London, s. of the preced. 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, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1860.

Cutter's Genealogical and Personal Memoirs

Lieutenant Samuel Smith, immigrant ancestor of this branch of the family in New England, was born in England, about 1602. With his wife Elizabeth and children: Samuel, aged nine; Elizabeth, aged seven ; Mary, aged four, and Philip, aged one, he sailed April 3, 1634, in the ship "Elizabeth," of Ipswich, for New England. He and his wife were then called thirty-two years of age. He settled first in Salem, Massachusetts, and was admitted a freeman September 3, 1634. He was a proprietor there in 1638, and removed to Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he was a leading citizen. He removed thence to Hadley, Massachusetts, where he held important offices in both church and state. He died about 1680, aged seventy-eight. The inventory of his estate was taken January 17, 1681. His widow died March 16, 1686, aged eighty- four years. Children: i. Samuel, born about 1625. 2. Elizabeth, born about 1627; married (first) Nathaniel Foote; (second) William Gull. 3. Mary, born about 1630; married John Graves. 4. Philip, born about 1633; died January 10, 1685; married Rebecca Foote. 5. Chileab, see forward. 6. John.

(II) Ensign Chileab Smith, son of Lieutenant Samuel Smith, was born in New England, about 1635-36, and died March 7, 1731, aged ninety-five years. He was admitted a freeman in 1673. He married, October 2, 1661, Hannah Hitchcock, who died August 31, 1733, aged eighty-eight years, daughter of Luke Hitchcock, of Wethersfield, Connecticut. Children : 1. Hannah, born July 7, 1662 ; married, March 23, 1681, John Montague. 2. Samuel, born March 9, 1665. 3. Luke, born April 16, 1666. 4. Ebenezer, born July 11, 1668. 5. Nathaniel, born January 2, 1670; died same month. 6. John, born October 8, 1671 ; married, 1691, Martha Golding; died about 1750. 7. Son, died 1673. 8. Hester, born March 31, 1674; married, October 20, 1696, Nathaniel Ingram. 9. Daughter, died March, 1677. 10. Elizabeth, born February 2, 1679; married, October 26, 1698, James Smith. 11. Mary, born August 16, 1681 ; married (first) December 15, 1697, Preserved Smith; (second) April 22, 1721, Peter Montague. 12. Chileab, died August, 1682. 13. Chileab (2d), born February 18, 1685; mentioned below. 14. Sarah, born April 26, 1688; married, April 13, 1710, Jonathan Morton.

Source: Cutter, William Richard, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts, Vol. 2, New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1910, p. 813.

Judd's History of Hadley

Page 176:

Northampton, May the 30th, 1676.

Right worshipful,
Sir, by post from Hatfield, we received intelligence even now, that the Indians have done much spoil; many houses burnt without the fortification. Several men from Hadley went over for their relief, of which there are five killed and three wounded. Two of our men killed, Jobanna Smith and Richard Hall; John Stow wounded in the foot, and Roger Orvis is also wounded in the foot. John Smith of Hadley killed and two of their garrison soldiers.* There were about 150 Indians that fought them up the meadow, all like to be killed or taken but that men issued out from the town for their relief; none slain till almost come up to the town. Many more Indians then were at the town doing spoil at the same time that our men were fought with. They drew off and ambushed the way betwixt Northampton and Hatfield to lay wait for our forces, but fearing it beforehand, they [our forces] went not that way but drew over to Hadley — could not get to Hatfield by reason they lay so thick about the landing-place.† — Many cattle and horses slain and taken away. That is the substance of what intelligence we have to impart. The Lord sanctify his hand to us for our good, and be present with you in all your weighty concerns under hand. Intelligence from Boston you have already. Not else but cordial respects to yourself and all relations with you. I take leave, remaining .

Your humble Serv't,

BENJAMIN NEWBERRY.

*John Smith of Hadley, so highly praised by Mather, was in the falls-fight a few days before. He was a son of Lieut. Samuel Smith, and an ancestor of the Hatfield Smiths. The late Oliver Smith of Hatfield, the most wealthy man in Hampshire, was one of his descendants.
Jobanna Smith was from Farmington and Richard Hall from Middletown. The names of the two colony soldiers killed are unknown. None of the Hatfield people were slain.
†Some of his men did get to Hatfield, or two would not have been slain, and two wounded.

Pages 236-9:

Mary Webster of Hadley.

The most notable witch in Hampshire county was Mary Webster, the wife of William Webster of Hadley. Her maiden name was Mary Reeve, and they were married in 1670, when he was 53 years old, and she probably some years younger. They became poor, and lived many years in a small house in the middle highway into the meadow,† and were sometimes aided by the town. Mary Webster's temper, which was not the most placid, was not improved by poverty and neglect, and she used harsh words when offended. Despised and sometimes ill-treated,‡ she was soured with the world, and rendered spiteful towards some of her neighbors. When they began to call her a witch, and to abuse her, she perhaps thought with the "Witch of Edmonton," in the old play, who said, "'Tis all one, to be a witch, as to be accounted one." Many stories of the sorceries by which she disturbed the people of Hadley have been lost, but a few traditions have been preserved: —

Teams passing to and from the meadow went by her door, and she so bewitched some cattle and horses that they stopped, and ran back, and could not be driven by her house. In such cases the teamsters used to go into the house and whip or threaten to whip her, and she would then let the team pass. She once turned over a load of hay near her house, and the driver went in and was about to chastise her, when she turned the load back again. She entered a house, and had such influence upon an infant on the bed or in the cradle, that it was raised to the chamber floor and fell back again, three times, and no visible hand touched it. There is a story that at another house, a hen came down chimney and got scalded in a pot, and it was soon found that Mary Webster was suffering from a scald. The story of her bewitching Philip Smith is retained, but is less prominent than the others.*

Mary Webster appeared before the county court at Northampton, March 27, 1683. The court was composed of John Pynchon of Springfield, Peter Tilton and Philip Smith of Hadley, William Clarke and Aaron Cooke of Northampton. Samuel Partrigg of Hadley was clerk. The following is from the record.

Mary, wife of William Webster of Hadley, being under strong suspicion of having familiarity with the devil, or using witchcraft, and having been in examination before the worshipful Mr. Tilton, and many testimonies brought in against her, or that did seem to centre upon her, relating to such a thing; and the worshipful Mr. Tilton aforesaid binding her to appear at this court, and having examined her yet further, and the testimonies aforenamed, look upon her case, a matter belonging to the Court of Assistants to judge of, and therefore have ordered said Mary Webster to be, by the first convenient opportunity, sent to Boston gaol and committed there as a prisoner, to be further examined there as aforesaid, and the clerk is to gather up all the evidences and fit them to be sent down by the worshipful Mr. Tilton, to our honored governor, that he may communicate them to the magistrates, as he shall judge meet, or further order prosecution of said matters.

She was sent down to Boston in April, 1683, and the Court of Assistants was held at Boston, May 22d; Gov. Bradstreet, Deputy Gov. Danforth and nine Assistants being present. The record of the court follows: —

Mary Webster, wife of William Webster of Hadley, being sent down upon suspicion of witchcraft and committed to prison, in order to her trial, was brought to the bar. The grand-jury being impannelled, they, on perusal of the evidences, returned that they did indict Mary Webster, wife to William Webster of Hadley, for that she, not having the fear of God before her eyes, and being instigated by the devil, hath entered into covenant and had familiarity with him in the shape of a warraneage,** and had his imps sucking her, and teats or marks found on her, as in and by several testimonies may appear, contrary to the peace of our sovereign lord, the king, his crown and dignity, the laws of God and of this jurisdiction — The court on their serious consideration of the testimonies, did leave her to further trial.

At the Assistant's Court, Sept. 4, 1683, Mary Webster, wife to William Webster of Hadley, having been presented for suspicion of witchcraft, &c. by a grand-jury in Boston on the 22d of May last, and left to further trial, was now called and brought to the bar, and was indicted by the name of Mary Webster, &c. [Here the indictment of May 22d is all repeated; the warraneage comes in as before.] To which indictment she pleaded not guilty, making no exception against any of the jury, leaving herself to be tried by God and the country. The indictment and evidences in the case were read and committed to the jury, and the jury brought in their verdict that they found her^not guilty.

The expenses of the colony about Mary Webster, appear in the accounts of the colony treasurer, viz.,
                                                                                                  £.   s. d.
Bringing down Mary Webster from Hadley to prison, ....    5    0   0
Witnesses about Good wife Webster, . . . . . . .                  12 15   2
Robert Earl for keeping Mary Webster in Boston, . . . .       4    0    0
Cash for carrying Mary Webster to Hadley, . . . . .              2    0    0
                                                                                                23 15    2

This acquittal must have elated Mary Webster, and disappointed many of the people of Hadley, whose numerous written testimonies, drawn up with care, had failed to convince a Boston jury, that she was a witch. Sometime after this trial, the power of this enchantress was supposed to be exerted upon Lieut. Philip Smith, who died on the loth of January, 1685. The following details are from Cotton Mather's Magnalia: —

Mr. Philip Smith, aged about fifty years, a son of eminently virtuous parents, a deacon of a church in Hadley, a member of the General Court, a justice in the county Court, a select man for the affairs df the town, a lieutenant of the troop, and which crowns all, a man for devotion, sanctity, gravity, and all that was honest, exceeding exemplary. Such a man was in the winter of the year 1684, murdered with an hideous witchcraft, that filled all those parts of New England, with astonishment. He was, by his office concerned about relieving the indigences of a wretched woman in the town; who being dissatisfied at some of his just cares about her, expressed herself unto him in such a manner, that he declared himself thenceforward apprehensive of receiving mischief at her hands.

About the beginning of January, 1684-5, he began to be very valetudinarious. He shewed such weanedness from and weariness of the world, that he knew not (he said) whether he might pray for his continuance here: and such assurance he had of the Divine love unto him, that in raptures he would cry out. Lord, stay thy hand; it is enough, it is more than thy frail servant can bear. But in the midst of these things he still uttered an hard suspicion that the ill woman who had threatened him, had made impressions with inchantments upon him. While he remained yet of a sound mind, he solemnly charged his brother to look well after him. Be sure, (said he) to have a care of me; for you shall see strange things. There shall be a wonder in Hadley! I shall not he dead when it is thought I am! He pressed this charge over and over.

In his distresses he exclaimed much upon the woman aforesaid, and others, as being seen by him in the room. Some of the young men in the town being out of their wits at the strange calamities thus upon one of their most beloved neighbors, went three or four times to give disturbance unto the woman thus complained of: and all the while they were disturbing of her, he was at ease, and slept as a weary man: yea, these were the only times that they perceived him to take any sleep in all his illness. Gally pots of medicines provided for the sick man, were unaccountably emptied: audible scratchings were made about the bed, when his hands and feet lay wholly still, and were held by others. They beheld fire sometimes on the bed; and when the beholders began to discourse of it, it vanished away. Divers people actually felt something often stir in the bed, at a considerable distance from the man: it seemed as big as a cat, but they could never grasp it. Several trying to lean on the bed's head, tho' the sick man lay wholly still, the bed would shake so as to knock their heads uncomfortably. Mr. Smith dies: the jury that viewed his corpse, found a swelling on one breast, his back full of bruises, and several holes that seemed made with awls. After the opinion of all had pronounced him dead, his countenance continued as lively as if he had been alive; his eyes closed as in a slumber, and his nether jaw not falling down.

Thus he remained from Saturday morning about sunrise, till Sabbath-day in the afternoon; when those who took him out of the bed, found him still warm, tho' the season was as cold as had almost been known in any age: and a New England winter does not want for cold. But on Monday morning they found the face extremely tumified and discolored. It was black and blue, and fresh blood seemed running down his cheek upon the hairs. Divers noises were also heard in the room where the corpse lay; as the clattering of chairs and stools, whereof no account could be given.

This was the end of so good a man.

The "disturbing" of Mary Webster by the Hadley young men, is thus related by Hutchinson: — "While he [Philip Smith] lay ill, a number of brisk lads tried an experiment upon the old woman. Having dragged her out of the house, they hung her up until she was near dead, let her down, rolled her sometime in the snow, and at last buried her in it, and there left her; but it happened that she survived, and the melancholy man died."

The people having failed in a legal prosecution, the young men now undertook to punish her illegally. Yet Mary Webster lived eleven years after they hung her up, and buried her in the snow, and died in peace in 1696.*** Her age may have been about seventy. Her husband died in 1687 or 1688.

Mary Webster was the fourth person sent from Connecticut River to Boston to be tried for witchcraft, and all were acquitted, — an indication that the courts were inclined to mildness. No inhabitant of Hampshire was ever executed for witchcraft.

†This highway was then six rods wide, and on the north side towards the east end, were the pound, the house of William Webster, and for a time, that of Thomas Webster. About three rods wide from the north side were sold in 1797, and added to the adjoining homelot, which is now owned by John S. Bell, and the pound and William Webster's house are supposed to have been on the land now occupied for a garden and barn yard by Mr. Bell.
‡At the September Court, 1680, Ann Belding, a girl in her i6th year, daughter of Samuel Belding of Hatfield, was charged with ^'purposes and practices against the body and life of Mary, wife of William Webster of Hadley." She acknowledged, and was fined one pound to Wm. Webster, and four pounds to the county. Her father engaged to pay. This is a strange affair, and cannot be explained.
*These stories and others were told with gravity by old persons, seventy years ago, and were believed by some and laughed at by others. There were certain persons who were noted as tellers of witch stories in Hadley, as in other towns. Widow Rebekah (Crow) Noble was a famous story teller.
**Warraneag, in some Indian dialects, was the same as the Nipmuck wallaneag or woollaneag. It was the name of the fisher, or pecan, or wild black cat of the woods. All the testimony on which the indictment was founded, came from persons in Hadley. She had undoubtedly been searched for witch marks by some of the women of Hadley.
***It is not known that Mary Webster annoyed the people of Hadley by her witch pranks after 1685. Her last eleven years may have been spent in quietness. The inventory of her small estate after her decease, in 1696, included a bed and a few other things for housekeeping, and some articles of dress. She had a Bible, psalm-book and three sermon books, which were probably left by her husband.

Source: Judd, Sylvester, History of Hadley, Northampton, MA: Metcalf & Company, 1863, pgs. 176, 236-9.

Whittemore's Heroes of the American Revolution

SMITH—PARTRIDGE—TREAT—WOODRUFF—LOWRY.

The Smith family of Wethersfield, Conn., and Hadley, Mass., together with the allied families, bore an important part as founders and builders of their various places of settlement, also in the colonial wars and in the War of the Revolution.

Samuel Smith, the first representative of this branch of the Smith family, came from England in 1640 and settled in Wethersfield, Conn., and was one of the founders of that town. He represented the town at the General Court oftener than any other man, having served almost continuously during the two semi-annual sessions from 1641 to 1653. In 1659 he removed to Hadley, Mass., where he was held in high repute, and represented that town at the General Court of Massachusetts from 1661 to 1673. He was lieutenant in command of the militia from 1663 to 1667, and was succeeded by his son Philip, who was commissioned captain, being the first to receive that rank. Samuel was also a magistrate. He died in 1680. His wife, Elizabeth, died March 16, 16S5, aged 90, They had among other children, a son, John.

John Smith, fourth son of Samuel and Elizabeth ( ) Smith, was born in England, about 1636, and was brought by his parents to this country, settling first in Wethersfield and removing thence to Hadley. The account of his death in the "Falls Fight" with the Indians, May 30, 1676, contained in the History of Hadley, says: "And though encompassed by numerous swarms of Indians who lay in ambush behind almost every tree and place of advantage, yet the English lost not one man till within about one hundred rods of the town, when five of ours were slain, among whom was a precious young man whose name was Smith, that place having lost many in losing one man." He married, November 12, 1663, Mary Partridge, probably daughter of William Partridge, of Hartford, Conn., an original settler who came from Berwick, Scotland ; died in Hadley, Mass., June 27, 1668; married Mary Smith, of Hartford. Her son Samuel was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, colonel of a regiment, one of His Majesty's Council and one of "three Connecticut river gods"; was second in the trio which ruled or led Massachusetts through an entire century of its history. John Smith, by his wife, Mary (Partridge) Smith, had a son, Benjamin.

Benjamin Smith, youngest son of John and Mary (Partridge) Smith, was born in Hadley, Mass., January 10, 1673. He removed to Wethersfield about 1700, where he had land set off to him by the courts of Northampton as his share of his father's estate. He married, March 14, 1700, Ruth Buck, of Wethersfield, and had a son, Josiah.

Capt. Josiah Smith, son of Benjamin and Ruth (Buck) Smith, was born in Wethersfield, Conn., January 31, 1709. He married, September 4, 1740, Mary Treat, daughter of Joseph, son of Lieut. James Treat, brother of Gov. Robert Treat, and son of Richard Treat, the ancestor.

Source: Whittemore, Henry, The Heroes of the American Revolution and Their Descendants, Heroes of the Revolution Publishing Company, 1897, p. 122.

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.

Gravestones

Gravestone of Chileab and Hannah (Hitchcock) Smith, Old Hadley Cemetery, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts (photo credit: Laurie Hitchcock Brown, findagrave.com):
Gravestone of Chileab and Hannah (Hitchcock) Smith

Gravestone of Mary (Partridge) (Smith) Montague, Old Hadley Cemetery, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts (photo credit: James Bianco, findagrave.com):
Gravestone of Mary (Partridge) (Smith) Montague

Gravestone of Chileab and Hannah (Hitchcock) Smith, Old Hadley Cemetery, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts (photo credit: Laurie Hitchcock Brown, findagrave.com)