Hannah Smith daughter of Nehemiah Smith

The only record for the birth of Hannah Smith is a note written on the margin of her baptismal Record “H.S. 44” where she is noted as the daughter of Sarah Smith. She married Stephen Bradley in New Haven in November of 1663. The birth of their children is recorded in the town records of Guilford. The death of her husband Capt. Stephen Bradley is noted in the “Record of Mortality Guilford” June 20, 1702. In most histories she is incorrectly listed as the daughter of George Smith of New Haven rather than the daughter of Nehemiah and Sarah (Anne) Smith. Some histories make an accommodation by combining the identities of George Smith and Nehemiah Smith creating a George Nehemiah Smith and in turn showing George married to Sarah Anne Bourne. The family history of Hannah Smith became scrambled amid the patriotic rush of the young country of America as it tried to establish a national historical identity. Part of that rush was a concerted effort to record and honor its early beginnings. Thus we see efforts by states, cities and families to recover and preserve the early history of America. What we see is projects like the Barbour Collection for Connecticut and numerous historical and genealogical collections being put together. We see, for example, efforts to carefully document the passengers on board the Mayflower and members of the Winthrop Fleet. One of the most commonly produced collections is usually titled “Propritors”. The original founders of any one community or the original group that developed the land for colonization in a region has been religiously recorded. We see Henry Doude’s name on such a list for Guilford. Within families we see, in effect, an American version of tracing a royal line manifested in tracing a family line back to one of the original emigrants to America. We have recently spent some time on the Blog discussing the Doud family and the material collected by the descendants of Henry Doud. These collections are a marvelous source of information and until the coming of the computer age remained for most genealogical researchers, who lacked access to original source material, the primary source of family information. They were put together in a time when travel and communication was somewhat limited. This circumstance restricted the amount and type of material collected. When viewed in this light it’s easy to understand what these collections are and are not. What they are, in some instances, is the only source for some family data, data that only existed in family records and oral traditions. What they are not, in many cases, is a detailed review of primary source material. This circumstance opens the door to inaccurate and incomplete data. We have demonstrated on several occasions the problems that arise in transcription errors both large and small. The biggest risk is that a mistake made in the 1800’s could be perpetuated almost indefinitely. These problems are exaggerated in the case of families that gained some prominence. The assumption was that these families had the wherewithal to produce a detailed family history. Those histories then took on an air of trustworthiness that was never seriously challenged. I in my own research have used such material and have been surprised when I have found factual errors in material that I judged to be very reliable. In our own family tree, as documented on the blog, we have pointed out some of these inaccuracies. One of the names in the Griffin tree that is the most misconstrued is that of above-mentioned Hannah Smith the wife of Stephen Bradley. Her history is plagued by all of the problems we just mentioned. She is linked in most histories to the family of George Smith of New Haven instead of her actual parents Sarah Anne Bourne and Nehemiah Smith. New Haven was one of the original Colonies. Its history has been transcribed in some detail and its prominent families, such as the Bradleys, have had a good deal of attention paid to their history. But the key point working against Hannah is the fact that she was born in the 1600’s. By the time the aforementioned material was organized a significant amount of time and connection had passed. The key document used by subsequent historians is the following transcription taken from the original New Haven records. In the transcription we find listed on one page these two families listed one family directly after the other. ------ The first family:------ "Sister Smith, wife of George Smith------ 18 Apr 1647, John-- 16 Sep 1649, Elizabeth-- 7 Dec 1651, Samuel-- 14 Aug 1655 Joseph-- 8 Feb 1656, Nathan"------- The second family:------ "Sarah Smith, wife of Nehemiah Smith------- 14 Dec 1645, Sarah, b. 1642-- 14 Dec 1645, Mary, b. 1642-- 14 Dec, 1645, Hannah, b. 1644-- 22 Feb 1645, Mercy, b. 1645-- 22 Feb 1645, Elizabeth-- 24 Oct 1646, Nehemiah--" If you have a chance to view the original town records you will recognize that this material is scattered over the first 50 pages and has been extracted name by name and page by page then edited and reorganized into family groups the transcription of which we see above. There are several points that need to be made. The first point is that the authors, with the exception of George Smith’s son Ebenezer, got the family groups exactly right. In the record books in early America children are almost always identified by their connection to their father with the mother very seldom being mentioned. That is certainly the pattern in all of the Killingworth records we have posted. In the case of George Smith in the original records each of his children is listed by date and as the son of George Smith. There is no mention anywhere of his wife in the original records. The family of Sarah and Nehemiah is the exception to all of the rules. In the original records all of the children are identified as the son or daughter of Sarah Smith. In the case of her son Nehemiah he is identified as the son of Sarah Smith who is then identified as the wife of Nehemiah Smith. Thus when the record was transcribed identifying all of the children associated with Sarah Smith the editor correctly added the Nehemiah to the whole record. The key point is that when reading the original records it is very easy to recognize that these are two distinctly different families just as the original editors did. But! In subsequent histories these two families have been combined into a single entity. The key factors are the fact that both wives are named Sarah and that the dates of birth flow seamlessly from one family to the next as if they were in fact all of one family. If you overlook the reference to Nehemiah this is an understandable conclusion. The preeminent genealogist for the period, Donald Lines Jacobus writing in the early 1900’s, jumbled the two families and it seems everything written subsequent to his publication has followed his lead. To help distinguish between the two let me offer the following observations.------ The documentation for the two families is included in separate postings on the Blog. ------George Smith was born in 1618 in Stockport, Cheshire, England. He was a part of the group that followed the Rev. John Davenport to New Haven, Connecticut. His name is found on the list of that town's founding fathers. His name appears frequently in town and court records which all refer to him as George Smith. Most historians conclude that he probably married in New Haven in about 1641 but those early marriage records no longer exist. The birth dates for his last four children are found in the New Haven town records. His two oldest children John and Elizabeth were born before the existing Volume One was started. The town records for New Haven are well organized and thorough. His children are noted as being the sons or daughters of George Smith. For example for his son Samuel the records reads "Samuel Smith the sonn of George Smith was born 4th of December 1651". There is no record for a Hannah, Sarah or Mercy as the daughters of George Smith. The baptism of all of George Smith’s children is noted in the church records. They all married and lived in New Haven. Their marriages are recorded in the New Haven records. George’s death is recorded in the New Haven records Vol. 1 page 110 on December 20, 1662. His probate is dated December 22, 1662. There is a record of John Jackson taking as his second wife Sarah Smith, widow, in 1668. Subsequent historians make the observation that she was George Smith’s widow which is the primary source for her first name. Remember we are dealing with a very small population. When reviewing the documentary history of these towns family groups and relationships can be apparent even in the absence of direct documentary proof. In a report issued by the Colonial Assembly in 1685 titled, “This list of Proprietors of the lands in the township of New Haven”, listed among others are, John, Samuel, Joseph, Ebenezer and Nathan Smith. George Smith’s family was identified by their connection to him and were, in every respect, a New Haven family. ------ In contrast there is no record for the birth of Sarah and Nehemiah Smith’s children in the town records of New Haven. Their names only appear in the baptismal records found in the church records. Their stay in New Haven was fairly brief. The first entry that mentions Sarah Smith reads, “Hannah Smith the daughter of Sarah Smith a member of the Church of “Stratford” by virtue of Letter Bapt. 23. 4 mo, 45”. This record highlights aspects of the family history, which was written by the succeeding generations. Sarah and Nehemiah married in Massachusetts their marriage record is found on page 220 of the first volume of the Plymouth Colony records. She is identified as Anne in Plymouth, Sarah in New Haven, and Anne again in Norwich this turn of evens adds to the mystery of her family relationships. Many historian surmise that her name was Sarah Anne Bourne. Her father Thomas Bourne was a prominent member of the Plymouth Colony living in the village of Marshfield. His history is well documented in the volumes that have been written of those original Pilgrims. In his will he refers to his daughters by their married names My daughter Bradford (Martha), my daughter Winslow (Margaret), Tildin (Elizabeth) and for Anne “my daughter Smyth”. Sarah and Nehemiah moved as a young couple to Stratford, Connecticut. In the land and deeds records there is a rich documentary trail for their sojourn in Stratford. At a General Court held in New Haven October 12, 1644 we find the following “Goodman Smith of “Stratford” desired that he have 30 or 40 acres….”. There are several histories for Nehemiah Smith available on the Internet. They contain transcriptions of numerous original documents including his application to become a freeman located on page 193 of Volume One of the records of the Plymouth Colony. This documentary trail traces his life from Massachusetts to Stratford then on to New Haven and after a brief stop on Long Island on to New London Connecticut and ends up in Norwich where his burial is a matter of civic pride. Their children apparently were born in Stratford but the Stratford town records no longer exist to provided us with documentary proof. Sarah and Nehemiah moved from Stratford to nearby New Haven. It’s during this time frame that the first notation for Hannah appears. It is my interpretation, gained from reading the family history and the original documents, that while Nehemiah was closing out his holdings in Stratford Sarah had the children baptized in New Haven thus we see the references to them in her name not their fathers. We see the notation that they were from the church in Stratford. There are three more entries in the baptismal records. “Sarah, Mary & Hannah Smith the daughters of Sarah Smith Bapt. the 14th of the 10 mo. 1645”. As you can see the original date differs from the transcribed date. Hannah is listed again. The three girls are listed as the daughters of Sarah Smith. In the margin the clerk had written notes on the birth dates for the three girls. There is also a record for Mercy and Elizabeth baptized on “22th 12 month 1645” again with a margin note. The last notation is for Nehemiah baptized “24th 8 mo. 1646” son of Sarah Smith “wife of Nehemiah Smith”. These children are all listed in reference to Sarah Smith who is clearly identified as the wife of Nehemiah Smith. Sarah and Nehemiah only stayed for a few years in New Haven. The town records for New London record a land transaction for him there in 1652 a date that is before the birth of the last of George Smiths children in New Haven. Nehemiah then becomes a part of the history of Norwich a town for which he is noted as a founding father. Three of his oldest children married and lived in New Haven or Guilford. Sarah married John Clarke/Clark, Jan 23, 1663. Mercy married John Benham, March 3, 1668/9. Hannah married Stephen Bradley in November of 1663. Mathew Gilbert married all three girls. Elizabeth, Mary and Nehemiah all married in New London. Elizabeth married Joshua Raymond December 10, 1659. Mary married his brother Samuel. “Nehemiah Smith son of Nehemiah mar. Lydia dau. of Alexander Winchester of Roxbury Oct 24, 1669”. The last child in the family married in Norwich “The marriage of Joshua Abell with Mehitable Smith was upon the first day of November 1677” Mahitable’s son Nehemiah was born in 1669. One of the last deeds recorded for Nehemiah Smith is a deed granting the home lot to the Abell’s with the condition that they support the aging Smiths. I hope this essay will prove to be the beginning of an effort to restore to Hannah Smith her birthright. Hannah Smith born 1644 in Stratford, Connecticut to Nehemiah and Sarah Anne Bourne Smith.