This is part of a series about my New England colonial ancestors who arrived by during the Great Migration. If you have early Massachusetts ancestry, be sure to check out AmericanAncestors, as the Great Migration Study Project can be viewed there with a membership to the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

I’ve written about the Smiths in the past, but there has been much new information uncovered about their English origins in the last year. The English Ancestry of Elizabeth Smith, Whose Husband Was Samuel¹ Smith of Hadley, Massachusetts by Myrtle Stevens Hyde was published in the New England Historic Genealogical Register in the spring and summer issues of Volume 174 (2020). The articles are only accessible through membership.

BSO (bright shiny object) teaser – Samuel’s parents have been identified and Elizabeth’s ancestral lines have been documented through her grandparents and several great grandparents.

Lt. Samuel Smith, as he came to be called in Massachusetts, was baptized on 6 September 1601 in Burstall, Suffolk, England. His wife, Elizabeth Smith, was apparently not related to her husband. She was baptized on 22 July 1599 at Erwarton, Suffolk, England.

The two towns are about 25 miles distant from each other, but Elizabeth’s family moved to Whatfield, where Samuel and Elizabeth married on 6 October 1624.

Samuel and Elizabeth lived in Whatfield for a short time and where their first child was born.  They then removed to Hadleigh, a village about 3 miles south of Whatfield, where three more children were born to them. Their two youngest sons were born after the family left England.

On 30 April 1634, the young Smith family were enrolled as passengers on the Elizabeth, bound for New England.

Samuel was active in town matters after he arrived in the colonies, living first at Watertown, then removing to Wethersfield, Connecticut in 1635 and finally to Hadley, Massachusetts in 1661.

His occupations have been identified as fellmonger (one who deals in hides and skins) and glover (one who makes gloves).

Children:

1. Samuel, baptized 6 February 1624/25, St. Margaret Whatfield, Suffolk, England; died after 1688, probably in the Carolinas; married Rebecca Smith, c1649. However, Samuel abandoned his wife in 1664, leaving with Sarah Clay, and living first in Roanoke, Virginia and then “Carolina.” Rebecca divorced him by 1669. Samuel had a young wife after he left, but it isn’t evident whether he had been divorced before that time. There was quite a local scandal over his behavior towards his wife and reported dalliances with other women in town.
2. Elizabeth, baptized 28 January 1626/27, Hadleigh, Suffolk, England; died after 5 January 1702, when she swore to her husband’s estate inventory; married (1) Nathaniel Foote, January 1745/46, Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut (2) William Gull, c1656.
3. Mary, baptized 9 October 1628, Hadleigh, Suffolk, England; died by 1660; married John Graves, 18 May 1654, Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut.
4. Philip, baptized 25 October 1632, Hadleigh, Suffolk, England; died 10 January 1684/85, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts; married Rebecca Foote, c1657.
5. Chiliab, born c1636, probably Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut; died 7 March 1730/01, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts; married Hannah Hitchcock, 2 October 1661, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts.
6. John, born c1638, probably Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut; died 30 May 1676, Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts in an Indian attack during King Philip’s War; married Mary Partridge, 12 November 1663, Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut.

Elizabeth (Smith) Smith survived her husband, passing away on 16 March 1685/86 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut. Samuel died sometime between 28 September 1680, when his name appears in a town record, and 17 January 1680/81, when Elizabeth filed his estate inventory with the Hampshire County, Massachusetts court.

My line of descent:

1. Samuel Smith & Elizabeth Smith
2. Nathaniel Foote & Elizabeth Smith
3. Daniel Belden & Elizabeth Foote
4. Benjamin Burt & Sarah Belden
5. Seaborn Burt & Susannah Lobdell
6. Benjamin Burt & Rebecca Follett
7. Philip Crouse & Sarah Burt
8. Peter Crouse & Rebecca Jones
9. William Coleman & Sarah Moriah Crouse
10. Hartwell Thomas Coleman & Anna Elisabeth Jensen
11. Vernon Tarbox Adams & Hazel Ethel Coleman
12. George Michael Sabo & Doris Priscilla Adams
13. Linda Anne (Sabo) Stufflebean – Me!

Last year, The Register published a multi-part article, The English Ancestry of Elizabeth Smith, Whose Husband Was Samuel Smith of Hadley, Massachusetts, by Myrtle Stevens Hyde, FASG.

As Elizabeth and Samuel Smith are two of my ancestors, I was more than thrilled to see her ancestry documented back a further six generations!

Given that this article is newly published, I am sharing only the bare bones details about Elizabeth’s parents and siblings. I highly recommend that you join AmericanAncestors if you have early New England roots. It is well worth the membership fee. Members may view all previous issues of The Register and you can then read this terrific article with its lengthy family history and source citations  for yourself.

Elizabeth Smith is the daughter of Philip Smith and his wife, Ann Grymwade, whose family lived in Erwarton, Harkstead and then Whatfield, Suffolk, England, all parishes close to one another.

Philip Smith was baptized on 1 April 1565 in Erwarton, Suffolk, England and was buried on 27 March 1631 in Whatfield, Suffolk, not far away. He married Ann Grymwade, 1 June 1590, Erwarton. She was the daughter of Edmond Grymwade.

Ann was baptized 30 November 1570, in Rattlesden, Suffolk and was buried 26 March 1639 in Whatfield, Suffolk, England.

Philip died between March 1630/31, when he wrote his will, and 21 July 1631 when it was proved. Ann also wrote a will, but her death is noted as 24 March 1638/39, both in Suffolk, England.

They were the parents of nine children:

1. Anna, baptized 25 April 1591, Erwarton; buried 29 July 1730 (sic) as found in The Register, but likely a typo for 1630 or ?, and called the daughter of Philip Smith.
2. William, baptized 30 November 1592, Erwarton; mentioned in the 1619 will of his uncle James Smith; no further record.
3. Hester, baptized, 7 April 1594, Erwarton; no further record.
4. Jane, baptized 22 May 1597, Erwarton; no further record.
5. Elizabeth, baptized 22 July 1599, Erwarton; mentioned in the 1619 will of her uncle James Smith and called “a lame daughter of. . . my brother; married Samuel Smith, 6 October 1624, Whatfield, Suffolk, England.
6. Joane, born c1601, Harkstead; married Adam Tomson, 26 September 1626, Whatfield; no further record.
7. Thomas, born c1603, Harkstead; married Alice Colman, 20 August 1632, Whatfield. Six children baptized in Whatfield.
8. Dorothy, born c1605, Harkstead; married Matthew Andrews, 15 July 1633, Whatfield. Four children baptized in Whatfield.
9. James (probably), born c1607, Harkstead; buried in Whatfield, 14 April 1642; married Anne Hammond, 18 October 1639, Whatfield.

More to come on Elizabeth (Smith) Smith’s grandparents!