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RALPH SMITH (pr. c. 1616–1685)
GRACE UNKNOWN (d. aft. 1685)
Ralph was probably born about 1616. [1] He die on 14 September 1685 in Eastham. [1] He had a wife named Grace. There are no records pertaining to any other wife. [1] She was not the widow of Thomas Hatch. [1]
Savage says that Ralph came from Hingham, co. Norfolk and Anderson agrees. This "fact" also appears on Ralph's cenotaph in the Cove Burial Ground in Eastham. [1][2][3]
The town of Charlestown allowed Ralph Smith admission for a month upon trial; this the only record of Ralph there. [1]
Ralph went how Hingham in 1637. [1]
Ralph moved to Eastham in 1653. [1] He was appointed constable on 6 June 1660. [1]
On 7 May 1661 Ralph was presented to the court for
lying in and about the neglect of his duty, about a warrant directed to him, and concerning the seeing or not seeing a whale, and other misorderly carriages tending to disturbance in the town of Eastham.
He was fined twenty shillings. [4, 3: 213]
On 3 March 1662/3 he was presented for breaking the peace in Eastham, "for striking [William Walker] and reviling by oprobriouse speeches and thrusting over a boat." His son Samuel was presented for saying "hee could find it in his hart to thrust a pen into William Walker." Both were fined three shillings and four pence. [4, 4: 34] In reference to particulars at the October 1662 court, the court said that since Ralph had made satisfaction to Walker it "doth heer pas it by. [4, 4: 34]
In May 1665 Ralph was fined ten shillings for telling a lie. [4, 4: 89]
According to 29 November 1664 Eastham accounts, Ralph had brought two gallons of liquor, 35 pounds of shot, and five pounds of powder into Eastham. [4, 4: 100]
On 5 March 1667/8 Ralph was complained of for dealing badly with the carpenter, Crispen Wadlen, who had stayed for three weeks at his house in Eastham. The court ordered Ralph to deliver Crispen's carpenter tools to Nicholas Snow, who would return them to Crispen. For his time and charge, Ralph could keep a parcel of Crispen's wool. [4, 4: 175]
On 1 March 1669 Ralph Smith and his sons Samuel and Daniel (represented by his father) appeared in court to answer the suit Josiah Cooke brought against them. Josiah withdrew the suit and the Smiths were allowed costs for their appearance. [4, 5: 31]
On 27 October 1685 letters of administration for the estate of Ralph Smith of Eastham were granted to his widow Grace Smith of Eastham and his son Samuel Smith of Eastham, they having posted bond. [4, 6: 175]
Children of Ralph Smith:
i. Unknown Smith was buried on 15 February 1640/1 in Hingham. [1]
ii. Samuel Smith was baptized on 11 July 1641 in Hingham. He died on 22 March 1696/7 in Hingham. He married Mary Hopkins.
iii. John Smith was baptized on 7 July 1644 in Hingham. [1] He married Hannah Williams on 24 May 1667 in Eastham. [5]
iv. Daniel Smith was baptized on 21 March 1646/7 in Hingham. [1] He married Mary Young on 3 March 1676/7 in Hingham. [1]
v. Elizabeth Smith was baptized in September 1648 in Hingham. [1] There is no further record of her. [1]
vi. Thomas Smith was born say 1651. [1] He married before about 1682 Mary ___.
vii. Deborah Smith was born on 8 March 1654/5. [1]There is no further record of her. [1]
References:
1. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Volumes I-III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally Published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 1698–9.
2. James Savage, Genealogical Dictionary, 4 vols., (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1862), vol. 4: 129.
3. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15872186/ralph-smyth-smith: accessed 18 December 2022), memorial page for Ralph Smyth Smith (1610–14 Sep 1685), Find a Grave Memorial ID 15872186, citing Cove Burying Ground, Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts; Maintained by Gov Smith (contributor 48007345).
4. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, vol. 1, 1633–1640, vol. 2, 1641–1651, vol. 3, 1651–1661, vol. 4, 1661–1668, vol. 5, 1668–1678, vol. 6, 1678–1691 (Boston: William White, 1855, 1866).
5. "Great Migration 1634–1635, T–Y," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634–1635, Volume VII, T–Y (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011), 435–9.
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26-Dec-2022