Nehemiah Smith and Sarah Anne Bourne

The documentary history for the family of Sarah Anne Bourne and Nehemiah Smith starts in Marshfield in the Plymouth Colony. Anne, as she was called in Marshfield, was the daughter of Thomas Bourn who was very much a contemporary of Edward Winslow of the Thanksgiving Story fame and Capt. Miles Standish. His history is part of the extensive documentation of the Mayflower generation. The young Nehemiah appears in the town records for the first time with his application be become a “freeman”. Freeman status brought with it the right to vote and own property. On page 220 of the first volume of the Plymouth Colony records we find a record of his marriage to Anne Bourn in January of 1639 the only marriage noted that year. The last reference to Nehemiah in Plymouth is a court record in which he seeks permission to leave the colony with his herd of sheep. In Thomas Bourne’s will he leaves five pounds “to my daughter Smyth”. There are numerous transcriptions in the Stratford town and deed records concerning Nehemiah who is also referred to as, Goodman Smith. There are several references to his sheep. Apparently most of his children were born during his sojourn in Stratford. The first documentary evidence for them is found in the records of the First Church Of Christ in New Haven. The first mention of the family lists Sarah and her daughter Hannah as having been “received by letter” from the church in Stratford. The next entry is a baptismal date for Sarah, Mary and Hannah Smith “ye daughters of Sarah Smith”. The date on the document is the 14th day of the 10th month 1645. In the margin a clerk noted that S.S. and M.S. were born in 42 and H.S. 44. This notation is the only record for the birth of these girls. The next entry is the baptismal record for Mercy Smith & Elizabeth Smith daughters of Sarah Smith. The date is ye 22th , 12 month 1645. Again there is a margin note “M.S. born in 45” giving us a date of birth for Mercy. The last entry is for Nehemiah, “Nehemiah Smith son of Sarah Smith wife of Nehemiah Smith Bapt ye same day”. The date was “ye 24th of ye 8 mo. 1646. In these entries we have six children all identified as the children of Sarah Smith who is in turn identified as the wife of Nehemiah Smith from Stratford. Nowhere in the New Haven records do you find a record that links these names to George Smith. Sarah and Nehemiah moved on to New London about 1652. We have included a land deed from New London dated 1661. New Haven had enough hold on the Smith’s that three daughters married New Haven boys. Sarah married John Clearke/Clark. Mercy married John Benham and Hannah married Stephen Bradley. Their marriages are found in the index created for the original town records. In the index all of the “Smith” marriages are together in one list organized chronologically. This list has added to the confusion between the two Smith families. Hannah and Stephen’s history is particularly well documented. The birth of all of their children is easily found in the Guilford town records. His death is noted in a ledger titled Record of Mortality Guilford. The irony to all of that is that her genealogy is the most confused. She more than any of the other children finds her history incorrectly tied to George Smith. Continuing on Elizabeth, Mary and Nehemiah all married in New London. In their marriage records they are clearly identified as the children of Nehemiah Smith. Elizabeth married Joshua Raymond, Mary married his brother Samuel. We do not have a marriage record for Mary. Record of them as man and wife is found in the Norwich records. Nehemiah married Lydia Winchester. The last child Mehitable was born in Marshfield, Massachusetts. There is a marvelous record for her family in the Norwich records. She married Joshuah Abell. In one of the last deeds recorded in his name Nehemiah Smith deeds his home lot to Joshuah Abell with the caveat that he take care of them until their death. The condition of the deeds from New London and Norwich are such that they do not copy very well but you can still clearly read Nehemiah’s Signature. Click on images to enlarge.------We recently recovered a record from Marshfield, Massachusetts. It appears that Nehemiah spent a little time back in Marshfield after leaving New Haven. The record reads "Mehitable Smith the daughter of Nehemiah Smith was born 4 July 1655".