Lieut. Samuel Smith, "The Fellmonger"

Fellmonger:a preparer of skins or hides of animals, especially sheepskins, prior to leather making.

Birth: Oct. 6, 1602 Ipswich, England Death: Dec., 1680 • Hadley Hampshire County Massachusetts, USA

He sailed from England on the ship "Elizabeth" with his wife Elizabeth, and landed in Boston with their four Children, Samuel, Elizabeth, Mary, and Philip in 1634. In 1636, they moved to Connecticut, and he was one of the Founders of Wethersfield,CT. In 1659, they moved to Massachusetts and he was one of the founders of Hadley.

Husband of Elizabeth Smith Smith. He was the son of Samuel Smith and Barbary Mumforde Smith of Whatfield and Hadleigh, Co.Suffolk, England.

Children: Samuel Smith Jr, Elizabeth Smith Foote Gull, Mary Smith Graves, Philip Smith, Chileab Smith, and John Smith.

1. Samuel Smith b. Feb 1626
2. Elizabeth Smith+ b. Jan 1627, d. 1711
3. Mary Smith+ b. Oct 1628, d. 16 Dec 1668
4. Philip Smith, Deacon (Lt.) b. 25 Nov 1632, d. 10 Jan 1685
5. Chileab Smith+ b. c 1635, d. 7 Mar 1731
6. John Smith+ b. c 1638, d. 30 May 1676

Family links: Spouse: Elizabeth Smith Smith (1602 - 1686)*

Children:

1. Mary Smith Graves (____ - 1668)*
2. Elizabeth Smith Foote Gull (1626 - ____)*
3. Philip Smith (1630 - 1631)*
4. Philip Smith (1630 - 1631)*
5. Philip Smith (1632 - 1685)*
6. Chileab Smith (1636 - 1731)*
7. John Smith (1637 - 1676)*

Calculated relationship*

Burial: Old Hadley Cemetery Hadley Hampshire County Massachusetts, USA

Created by: S.A. Smith IV Record added: Jul 31, 2002 Find A Grave Memorial# 6651026

Samuel SMITH - b. about 1602, England; d. Jan 16, 1681, Hadley, MA. Embarked from Ipswich, Suffolk, England on board the 'Elizabeth' in Apr. 1634 at age 32 for Watertown, MA. Arriving with his wife and four children, he resided in Watertown a short time, and removed to Wethersfield, CT in 1635. He appears in the town records in a number of public roles and is called 'the Fellmonger' after his occupation as trader, and probably tanner, in furs. He built and was part owner of the 'TRYAL,' the first ship built in the colony. Removed to Hadley, MA about 1659 where he also held various town and church positions, and was referred to as Lt. Smith. Estate inventory was taken Jan. 17, 1681. Married at St Margaret's, Whatfield, Suffolk, England on Oct. 6, 1624.

The rest of the story  
Samuel Smith came from England, probably near Hadleigh in Suffolk, with his wife and four of his children in the ship "Elizabeth" which sailed from Ipswich, Suffolk, England on 30 April 1634. He and his wife Elizabeth gave their ages as 32 and named their first four children: Samuel, Elizabeth, Mary and Phillip.

We have no clear evidence on where he first settled but in he was probably in Wethersfield in 1635 or 1636. He is called "The Fellmonger" in the early Wethersfield records meaning that he was a tanner by trade and a dealer in skins and furs of animals. He served Wethersfield as a Deputy to the General Court almost continuously from November 1637 to May 1656. He also served as Assistant to the Connecticut Colony in March and April of 1638.

In February 1651 Samuel Smith served as a member of a particular Court in Hartford, chosen to try John Carrington and his wife for witchcraft. And indictment "thou deservest to dye" was returned but the sentences were probably not carried out.

Samuel Smith figured in a number of land transactions and seems to have been engaged in various commercial enterprises. In November 1649 the General Court authorized him and "the rest of the owners of the shipp at Wethersfield to get and make so many pipestaves as will freight out said shipp the first voyage, etc." Pipestaves were used in the West Indies to make barrels for the shipment of molasses, rum, salt beef, pork and fish. The building of this ship had been authorized by the General Court and was probably the first ship built in Connecticut.

On 28 December 1649 Samuel Smith, Sr., Nathaniel Dickinson and Mr. Trat (Treat) were chosen by the town to "seat men and women in the meeting house", an important assignment in those days when social rank as practiced in old England still influenced the settlers. Seating was done on the basis of community standing and could be done peaceably only by freeman most highly regarded both for integrity and social rank.

In May 1653 Samuel was made a member of the Committee for War in Wethersfield and sometime before 1658 was commissioned a Sergeant of the Wethersfield Trainband. The Trainband was an organization formed to defend the town and its officers were chosen by the soldiers, subject to confirmation by the particular Court which dealt with the lesser cases.

Due to a church quarrel in 1659 a meeting was held at Goodman Ward's house in Hartford. Here a compact was signed by 59 men, 20 of whom, including Samuel Smith, Sr., Samuel Smith, Jr. and Philip Smith were from Wethersfield. The signers agreed to remove themselves and families to the new settlement on the east side of the river from Northampton and to be dwelling there by the 29th day of September 1660. The Rev. John Russell, jr. of Wethersfield was their spiritual leader and became their first minister at Hadley.There were 48 original proprietors of the settlement in the Norwottuck Country, later called Hadley, including among them Samuel Smith and his sons Chileab and Philip. Samuel and Peter Tilton were chosen Town Measurers on 31 December 1660 to lay out the lands for the settlers, place stakes at the "front and rear" of every lot and keep a record of them. During the same month he was chosen one of the first Townsmen, now called Selectmen. He attended the march 1661 session of the General Court at Springfield as a juror. At the next meeting of the court on May 22, the town was named Hadley, after hadleigh in Suffolk Co., England where some of the settlers originated.

In 1661 Samuel Smith was chosen one of three commissioners who were to determine civil actions not exceeding 5 pounds and to deal with criminal actions where the penalty did "not exceed ten stripes for one offense." He was chosen to this position many times again.

In May 1663 the Court approved Samuel Smith as Lieutenant of the Hadley Trainband to serve under Capt. John Pynchon of Springfield a position he held until 1678 when he resigned because of his advanced age. He served inactively in King Philip's War where in 1676 his son John was killed by Indians at Hatfield.

His home in Hadley was said to have served as a hiding place for the regicides Whalley and Goffe, for a part of the time they were in Hadley.

In 1661 he was chosen assessor. On 14 January 1667 Lieutenant Samuel Smith, together with Rev. John Russell and Aaron Cooke, was chosen at Town Meeting to serve as a trustee of a fund offered by Mr. John Davenport of New haven and Mr. William Goodwin of Hadley, acting as trustees under the will of the late Mr. Edward Hopkins, for the establishment of a grammar school in Hadley.

Samuel was given a license in 1671 to sell wines and strong liquors, a right that was sparingly given by the Selectmen and approved just as sparingly by the Court in those days. He 1677 he was empowered to solemnize marriages, a right he had had since 1661 but only to be exercised in the absence of William Westwood who was fist given that authority.

In 1678 Lieutenant Smith requested, since he was "nearing 80 years of age" to be "relieved fro military trust." His request was granted and his son Philip made Ensign immediately and later in the same year raised to Lieutenant. Samuel's death was two years later.

- compiled by Walter G. Ashworth, 7th Great Grandson

Sources:

• Adams, Charles Collard.  Middletown Upper Houses: a history of the north society of Middletown, Ct. from 1650 to 1800, with genealogical and biographical chapters on early families. New York: Grafton Press, 1908. "THE SMITH FAMILY" [transcribed by Coralynn Brown ]. "1. Lieut. Samuel1 Smith, "the fellmonger," came from Ipswich, Co. Suffolk, Eng., to Watertown, Mass., in 1634, in the Elizabeth; aged thirty-two, wife Elizabeth Chileab, aged thirty-two, and four children, nine, seven, four and one years of age. To Wethersfield in 1635; rep. to Legislature, 1637-1656, part owner, 1649 of the Tryal, the first ship built in the Colony; rem. 1659-60, to Hadley, where he held important offices in ch. and State; rep. to Boston, 1661-73; lieut. 1663-78; magistrate ; d. 1680."
• A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692. By James Savage. Originally Published Boston, 1860-1862, Reprinted with "Genealogical Notes and Errata,"excerpted from The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. XXVII, No. 2, April, 1873, pp. 135-139 And A Genealogical Cross Index of the Four Volumes of the Genealogical Dictionary of James Savage, by O. P. Dexter, 1884. Volume 4, page 132.

Links:

•  Dunham Wilcox
• Ancestry
• Smith Family
• https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Samuel_Smith_%281%29

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NOTE: The above "birth date" is his baptism date.

New Research in 2020.... NEHGR 174:40ff.... his parents were John Smith (c1572-1618) and Mary (Gardner) Smith (c1575-1626). Both John and Mary were buried in Burstall, Co.Suffolk.

He married Elizabeth Smith/Smythe on Oct 6,1624 at Whatfield, Co.Suffolk.

He sailed from England on the ship "Elizabeth" out of Ipswich with his wife Elizabeth, and landed in Boston with their four Children, Samuel,Elizabeth, Mary, and Philip in 1634. In 1636, they moved to Connecticut, and he was one of the Founders of Wethersfield,CT. In 1659, they moved to Massachusetts and he was one of the founders of Hadley.

Children: Samuel Smith Jr, Elizabeth Smith Foote Gull, Mary Smith Graves, Philip Smith, Philip Smith, Chileab Smith, and John Smith.

Children: Samuel Smith Jr, Elizabeth Smith Foote Gull, Mary Smith Graves, Philip Smith, Philip Smith, Chileab Smith, and John Smith.

◦Samuel Smith bp. 6 Oct 1625 Whatfield, Co.Suffolk
◦Elizabeth Smith bp. 28 Jan 1626/7 Hadleigh, Co.Suffolk, d. 1711
◦Mary Smith bp. 19 Oct 1628 Hadleigh, d. 16 Dec 1668
◦Philip Smith bp.1 Aug 1630 Hadleigh, bur. there 16 Oct 1631
◦Philip Smith, bp. 25 Nov 1632 Hadleigh, d. 10 Jan 1685
◦Chileab Smith b. c 1635 Wethersfield,CT, d. 7 Mar 1731
◦John Smith+ b. c 1638 Wethersfield, d. 30 May 1676.

Enlisted in the Royal Army in 1620 at age 18 under King James VI of Scotland / King James I of England and Ireland and served Charles I when he succeeded him in 1625 until 1634 and emigrating to America he remained in the service of the crown. Served in the Pequot War: 1634-1638 under Captain John Endecott, Captain John Mason, and Captain Israel Stoughton. Was made Lieutenant during Kieft's War 1643 to 1645 under Captain John Underhill. "At its session of May 1663, the Court approved Samuel Smith as Lieutenant of the Hadley Trainband to serve under Capt. John Pynchon of Springfield a position he held until 1678 when he resigned because or his advanced age. He served inactively in King Philip's War where, in 1676, his son John was killed by Indians at Hatfield and where, a year later, his son-in-law, John Graves met the same fate. These tragic deaths were a portent of what was to come twenty years later when on September 16, 1696 Elizabeth Foote Belden a granddaughter of Lieut. Samuel Smith was killed by Indians at Deerfield, Mass. and 6 of her 14 children were either killed, wounded or captured by them. In 1704, also, a great grandchild, Samuel Foote was ambushed and killed by Indians. "In 1678 Lieutenant Smith requested, since he was "nearing 80 years of age" to be "relieved from military trust". His request was granted and his son Philip made Ensign immediately, and later in the same year raised to Lieutenant. Samuel's death two years later, (the inventory of his estate was taken January 17, 1781), indicates, perhaps, that he was justified in seeking some repose after so extended and active a career in the military in the wilderness of a new world.

He sailed from England on the ship "Elizabeth" with his wife Elizabeth, and landed in Boston with their four Children, Samuel, Elizabeth, Mary, and Philip in 1634. In 1636, they moved to Conneticut, and he was one of the Founders of Wethersfield,CT. In 1659, they moved to Massachusetts and he was one of the founders of Hadley.

"Samuel Smith served Wethersfield as a Deputy to the general Court almost continuously from November 1637 to May 1656. He also served as Assistant to the Connecticut Colony in March and April of 1638. (See Conn. Colonial records )The General Court sat first at Hartford (April 26,836) by authority of a commission from Governor Winthrop - Massachusetts to "govern the people of Connecticut for the space of one year". Rev. Henry Smith was one of the governor's original appointees and was living in Watertown Massachusetts at the time. Later the General Court of Connecticut which included the elected deputies called itself the "General Assembly". In May of 1678 it was known as the "Governor and Council". In May of 1698 it was divided into two sections known as "The Upper House" which consisted of the Governor or his deputy and his assistants and the "Lower House" made up of the deputies of the several towns.