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From my book "Line of Descent of George Roger Gilbert"
THE SMITH FAMILY
GENEALOGIES AND BIOGRAPHIES OF ANCIENT WETHERSFIELD
THE REV. HENRY SMITH FAMILY
SMITH, Rev. Henry, b. 1588, near Norwich, Eng.; of whose coming to New Eng., personality, ministerial career, etc., the reader will find all that is at present known in Vol. 1 of this history, ( pp. 150-156, 320) - is supposed, m. the tenor of his will to have been married twice. Of his first wife nothing is know, not even her name; and of the second wife, her Christian name only - Dorothy. After his death in 1648, she became (1649) the (second) wife of John Russell, the father of Rev. John Russell, who succeeded Mr. Smith in the pastorate of Wethersfield and who ten years later became the first minister of Hadley, Mass. Mr. Russell died 8 May, at H.(adley) 1680, ? 83. Mrs. Dorothy (Smith) Russell, died at Hadley, 1691. As to Mr. Smith's land holdings in Wethersfield, see Chap. VII, Vol. 1.
Children of Rev. Henry Smith:
By his first wife - and known only by reference made in his will.
1. Peregrine, who d. unm. before his father.
2. Dau. who m. and had ch. before her father's death.
3. Dau. who m. and had ch. before her father's death.
by his second wife - Dorothy:
4. Dorothy, b. 1636; m. (1) John (s. of Rev. Adam) Blakeman, of Stratford, Ct., abt. 1653; m. (2) 21 Oct. 1665, Francis Hall, of S.; m. (3) Mark Sension, of Norwalk, Ct.; m. (4) Dea. Isaac Moor, of Farmington, formerly of Norwalk, and whom she survived. She was the second wife of her last three husbands, and d. 1706, at Far. She had issue (by her first husband only);
i. John (Blakeman), sett. at Fairfield, ct.,' m. Mary (dau. wid, Hannah Curtis, of Stratford; had 1 ch.
ii Ebenezer (Blakeman), sett. s.; m. Patience (dau. John Wilcoxson, of S., 4 Oct. 1681; m. (2) Abigail (dau. Wid. Hannah) Curtis, of S. 3 Nov. 1692; had 4 ch. by first and 5 by second wife.
iii Joseph (Blakeman), m. (1) Hannah Hall, of S. 14 July, 1674; by whom he had 5 ch.;m. (2) Esther Wheeler, of S., 29 Jan. 1706 (?).
5. Samuel, b. Weth. 27 __, 1638.
6. Joanna, b. Weth. 25 Dec. 1641; m. Philip Russell, of Hadley, Mass. ( son of Mr. John and bro. of Rev. John Russell, of Hadley), 4 Feb. 1664; she d. 28 Dec., 1664, ? 23. Mr. Russell m. (2) 10 Jan.,1665, Elizabeth (dau. Stephen) Terry, of Hadley, who, with her s. Stephen, ws killed by Indians, 19 Sept. 1677; and m. (3) Mary Church, of H. 25 Dec. 1679. Hed. 19 may, 1693. Issue (by Joanna Smith);
i Joanna (Russell), b. 31 Oct. 1664; d. Dec., 1664, and bu. with her mother 29th of same month.
7. Noah, b. Weth. 25 Feb., 1643-4; prob. d. before his father
8 Elizabeth, b. Weth., 25 Aug., 1648; said by Hadley historian, Mr. Judd, to have m. Samuel ( eldest S. of Lieut. Samuel Smith formerly of Weth.)
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WETHERSFIELD.
[First Settled Pastor at Wethersfield], - In 1641, after Pruden, Sherman and Denton had, one after another, ministered to the people, and had each passed away to more quiet fields of labor, Wethersfield, for the first time, became possessed of a settled minister in the person of Rev. Henry Smith, who is described as "a gentleman of good family," and one who, "as the patriarch of one of the best sustained and accomplished families in New England, is entitled to our regard as a gentleman of uncommon culture, refinement and firmness." With his wife and several small children, he is supposed to have come hither in 1639, if not earlier - probably from Charlestown, Mass., where he had arrived in 1637, from England. Whatever may have been his character and qualities, however, his life at Wethersfield was by no means a happy one, for there were still left some restless spirits among his church and congregation, and "from the very beginning fo his ministry he was the victim of suspicions most unfounded and accusations the most bitter." [Chief among his calumniators was Mr. Clement Chaplin, who seems to have come to Wethersfield from Hartford, in 1636, where he had been the "ruling elder" of the Church since 1639, according to all indications. He was quite a large land-holder, and both he and Mr. Smith had lands allotted to them, on both sides of the River, in the general distribution of 1639. [There is more here in the Herald Square book.]
CHAPTER VIII
[Re - the ministry of the First Ecclesiastical Society of Wethersfield and Biographies of its Ministers]
[By Sherman W. Adams, Esq., Enlarged by Henry R. Stiles, M. D.]
Concerning those, who, in the Providence of God, have been called to preside over this ancient church, we have sought from many sources, the facts herewith presented.
We have already alluded (Chapter III) to the three ministers (Denton, Sherman and Prudden), who seem to have officiated, more or less regularly, before the settlement of the first pastor in his office - which must have been at the Church's first organization, February 28, 1641.
The first settled pastor, was the Rev. Henry Smith, originally from Charlestown, Mass., whither, as Mr. Savage thinks, he arrived from England, in 1636; and where he was, with his wife,admitted to Church membership, 5th of 10 mo., 1637. To Wethersfield he probably came in July, 1637, bringing with him a wife (his second), and one or two daughters by a first wife. It does not appear that he had ever been settled previously to his coming here. His home in Wethersfield, not recorded until 1648, was on a lot of two acres on the northeast of High Street, and Meeting House Square - the first house northerly from the Meeting House. It was in Wethersfield that his oldest son, Samuel, was born, January 27, 1638 (O.S.), also his son, Noah, and daughters, Joanna and Elizabeth. Mr. Smith's ministry was not a happy one. Mr. Clement Chaplin, the Ruling Elder of the Church - a man of wealth, prominent in public affairs and influential with a large majority of the congregation, for many years involved his pastor indifficulties - which finally became so unbearable that the aid of the General Court was invoked to put an end to them - as elsewhere stated. True, the Court, after a long examination into the merits of the case, in 1643, estopped Mr. Chaplin, by a fine of £11, from libelling Mr. Smith; but this did not wholly stop him from further annoying the pastor with various civil suits, which again compelled the Court's investigation. Mr. Smith was finally exonerated and vindicated by the action of the Court; but Chaplin and his followers allowed him not much quiet - and though after this his ministry seems to have met with no serious interruption, yet it is thought that his trials preyed upon his health and brought him, in 1648, prematurely to the grave, "grieved and wearied with the burdens of his charge." Concerning his personality and ministry, we have already spoken full in Chapter III. His widow married Mr. John Russell, father of the Rev. John Russell, Jr., who succeeded Mr. Smith in the Wethersfield pastorate. The descendants of the first minister of Wetherfield are found in the Blakeman, Huxley Loomis and some other Connecticut families; and in the Wethersfield Smith family of the present day. In John Cotton Smith, Governor of Connecticut, from 1813-1818, and son of the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, of Sharon, Ct., the lines of descent from Rev. Henry Smith and from a sister of Rev. Cotton Mather were both represented.
From my book "Line of Descent of George Roger Gilbert"
THE SMITH FAMILY
From my notes:
Saturday, May 5, 1973
From the book "First Settlers of Piscataway and Woodbridge"
on page 287 - Richard Smith of Piscataway and Woodbridge
He was in Piscataway June 24, 1670 when "Jos. Conger" conveyed to him 60 acres of "upland being 1/2 of 120 acres adjoining Rahawack River, three score rods wide and eight score rods long.". He was certainly there in 1672 when Joseph Conger (John) of Woodbridge sold him land on the Rahawack River, and in conveyance he is called "Richard Smith of Newton, upon Long Island in Yorkshire, Planter" and as the New Jersey records likewise call him "Planter" the identification is complete.
Richard Smith was a first settler of Piscataway. In 1677, his daughter, Dorothy, married Ensign John Martin, Jr. of Piscataway. Reasoning backward and conceeding her to have been "young and fair" she must have been born 1657 or earlier and certainly her father, Richard Smith, Senior was born before 1629.
In 1667, Richard Smith, Sr. was living in Piscataway for note the following:
LYCENCE of MARRIAGE for JOHN MARTIN and DOROTHY SMITH , Anno 1667
by Phillip Carteret, Esq., Governor of the Province of New Jersey
Whereas I have received information of a material interest and agreement between John Martin, Junior of Piscataway and Dorothy Smith, the daughter of Richard Smith of the said towne, planter, to solemize marriage --etc.,etc. ---.
1692, July 17, Smith Richard, Sr. of Woodbridge - will of - Wife, Eleanor: children Elizabeth, Dorety, Richard, Thomas. Proved April 30, 1696
(a discussion follows in which it is stated that his first wife, not the Eleanor above, is the mother of the following children.:
I. Elizabeth and III. Richard, Jr.
II. Dorothy m. June 26, 1677, Ensign John Martin, Jr. of Piscataway, son of John Martin, Sr. and wife Ester Roberts.
issue:
1. Easter b. Feb 8, 1677/8 d. April 9, 1678
2. Esther b. April 11, 1679 d. Nov.. 8, 1682
3. Elizabeth b. Mar 24, 1680/1
4. Dorothy; b. June 7, 1686
5. John b. Nov. 2, 1691 d. July 16, 1721
6. Richard b. Jan. 7, 1693/4
Dorothy Smith Martin was living in 1692 and is mentioned in her father's will.