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SAMUEL SMITH (bp. 1641–1697), son of Ralph Smith
MARY HOPKINS (1640–1700), daughter of Giles Hopkins and Katherine Wheldon
Samuel Smith was baptized on 11 July 1641 in Hingham, (now) Plymouth County, Massachusetts. [1][2] Mr. Samuel Smith died on 22 March 1696/7, age 54[!], in Eastham, (now) Barnstable County, Massachusetts. [3, 8: 18] He married Mary Hopkins on 3 January 1665 in Eastham. [3, 8: 17]
Mary Hopkins was born in November 1640. [4] She died on 2 July 1700, probably in Eastham. [5]
"[Samuel] early engaged in the whaling and mackeral fishery and was very successful." [2] He was later a trader and innkeeper at Eastham and his homestead was at Billingsgate. [2] He at one time owned 400 acres in the southern part of the town, known as Smith Purchase. [2]
At the 3 March 1662/3 court, Samuel's father Ralph was presented for striking William Walker. The court cleared him as Ralph and William had come to an agreement and Ralph had made satisfaction. Samuel, however, was fined £00-03-04 for saying, "he could find in his hart to thrust a pen into the hart of the said William Walker." [6, 34]
There was a Samuel Walker of Taunton who was about the same age and it is not always clear which court records refer to which Samuel. Samuel might be the Samuel who was on the Grand Enquest on 7 June 1665 and 2 June 11673 and he took the oath of fidelity on 25 October 1667. [6, 91, 177][7, 114]
On 25 October Samuel Smith [perhaps this Samuel] complained to the court that Steven Merrick had taken his horse without permission and that it had died. [8, 148]
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. [7, 31]
On 7 June 1670 Samuel was appointed constable for Eastham. [7, 36]
5 July 1670 Josias Cooke, Sr. of Eastham complained against Samuel Smith of Eastman, asking 100 pounds damages for defamation
in his uttering sundry scandulus words of and against the said complainant, viz., that hee was an old drunken sott, an old knave, and taught his children to cheat; that hee was fitter to be a hangman than a deacon; and hee ought not to sit as a celect man; an other place was fitter for him if hee had is deserts or due rendering; soe vile, as if hee, the said Smith could not, by any words hee coud use, abuse him; with other reproachful words of like nature.
The court found that the Samuel did defame Josias, but ordered that each should bear their own charges. [8, 158] On 7 July 1682 Josias asked the court to review their decision and grant him damages. The court awarded him £1-13-05 in damages and £2-12-00 in costs. [8, 249–50]
Samuel Smith, the late constable of Eastham, complained that Joseph Harding [the son-in-law of Josiah Cooke] had abused him while he was executing his office. On 5 March 1671 the court ordered that Mr. Freeman was to have Samuel return Joseph's gun to him and Joseph was to be fined ten shillings. [7, 85]
Samuel might be the Samuel who was appointed constable, no town given, on 6 June 1683 and the Samuel who was on a petty jury on 1 July 1684. [9, 107, 142]
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. [9, 175]
Samuel Smith and John Mayo of Eastham were charged with illegally catching mackeral on Cape Cod and called to court to defend themselves. In October 1686 their attorney, Captain Jonathan Sparrow, appeared in court and requested more time, which was granted. [9, 203]
On 24 June 1690 Samuel Smith, Sr. of Eastham took the freeman's oath. [9, 257]
Mr. Samuel Smith of Eastham bought land at Tom's Neck in Chatham from John Cousins, Indian, and his mother in early 1691. [2] Sarah Covell deeded land at Tom's Neck in Chatham that she had received from her father to Samuel Smith on 10 March 1690/1. [2] Samuel and William Nickerson purchased a tract in the eastern part of Chatham on 27 June 1694 from John Quason, Jr., with Samuel taking two thirds and William taking one third. [2] He assigned Mercy Nickerson a 19 August 1693 mortgage to two grandsons of Mattaquason for land on Cotchpinicut Neck in Chatham on 6 Mar 1694/5. [2] He was chosen by the village as commissioner in August 1695. [2]
Mr. Samuel Smith, late of Eastham, died intestate. His estate was divided on 6 July 1697. His widow Mrs. Mary Smith received one-third of his personal estate of 620 pounds. The remainder of his personal estate and his real estate, valued at 853 pounds, was divided equally between his deceased son Samuel's sons Samuel Smith and Joseph Smith, his son John Smith, and his daughter Mary (Smith) Hamilton. The division mentions Samuel, Jr.'s widow Bathshua Freeman and Samuel Freeman, the guardian of her two sons. [5]
money |
00-04-00 |
Mary Smith died intestate on 2 July 1700. Her inventory totaled £135-12-01 and included a long list of clothing. Her son-in-law Daniel Hamilton swore to it on 18 July 1700. The same day the court ruled that it be divided between Samuel and Joseph Smith, the sons of her deceased son Samuel, her son John Smith, and her daughter Mary Hamilton. Letters of administration were granted to Daniel Hamilton. [5]
Children of Samuel Smith and Mary Hopkins, births recorded in Eastham [3, 8: 18]
i. Unnamed Son Smith was born and died in March 1667 in Eastham. [3, 8: 18]
ii. Samuel Smith was born on 26 May 1668 in Eastham. [3, 8: 18] He died on 22 September 1692, age about 24, in Eastham. [5][3, 18: 17] He married Bathshuba Lothrop on 26 May 1690 in Eastham. [3, 6: 13] Bathshuba, the daughter of Barnabas Lothrop and Susanna (Clark) Lothrop, was born on 25 June 1671 in Barnstable. [10] She married second Samuel Freeman.
Inventory of the estate of Samuel Smith, Jr. of Eastham was taken on 29 March 1693. His widow Bathsua made oath to it on 31 March 1693 and letters of administration were granted to the widow Bathsua Smith on 1 April 1693. The estate was divided by between Samuel's eldest son Samuel, his youngest son Joseph, and Bathsua, for her support and bringing up the children. [5]
iii. Mary Smith was born on 3 January 1669. She married Daniel Hamilton before 6 July 1697.
iv. Joseph Smith was born on 10 April 1671. He died on 22 September 1691. [2]
v. John Smith was born on 26 May 1673. He married Bethiah Snow.
vi. Grace Smith was born on 5 September 1676. She died on 1 December 1691. [2]
iii. Rebecca Smith was born on 10 December 1679. She probably died young.
References:
1. "Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620–1988," database with images, Ancestry > Hingham > Hubbard's Journal, image 8 (shown), no parents' names.
2. Smith, William C., A History of Chatham, Massachusetts (Hyannis: F.B. & R.P. Goss, 1909), 98–99.
3. "Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620–1850," database with images, AmericanAncestors > Eastham-Orleans, vol. 1, from Mayflower Descendant, vol. 18: 17.
4. Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Plymouth Colony: Its History and People, 1620–1691 (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1986), 307–10.
5. "Barnstable, MA: Probate Records, 1685–1789," database with images, AmericanAncestors 1: 85–87 (Samuel, Jr.); 2: 47–50 (Samuel, Sr.), 79–83 (Mary).
6. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, Vol. 4, 1661–1668 (Boston: William White, 1855).
7. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, Vol. 5, 1668–1678 (Boston: William White, 1856).
9. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, Vol. 6, 1678–1691 (Boston: William White, 1856).
8. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, Judicial Acts, 1636–1692 (Boston: William White, 1857)
10. "Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620–1850" > Barnstable, 1:45.
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04-Aug-2023