Holbrook line: Hugh Smith, Immigrant

We have more information about Hugh Smith than about some of our other ancestors, but most of it is on this side of the Atlantic.  I have a long line of ancestors for him going back many years past that, but it's unsourced and I don't trust it.  So for now, we don't know Hugh Smith's parents, and we don't know where he was born.  His likely birth date is 1613 or 1614, in England.

We likewise don't know exactly when he arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, although he was probably here by 1640.  We know he was made a freeman on March 18, 1642.  He may have gone directly to Rowley when he arrived here, and he may have been following the Rev. Ezekiel Roger's group  But it seems he wasn't in the first wave of settlers there, because when the first land allotments were given in 1643, he was given the minimum, when the original settlers were given more.  Nevertheless, he was in Rowley early, and he stayed there the rest of this life.

His wife's name was Mary, and that is as much as we know about her up to the time she and Hugh started having children.  They had seven living children when Hugh died in 1655.  Samuel and John may have come with their parents from England, because the first recorded Rowley birth was of Mary, in March of 1642/43.  They also had Sarah, Hannah, Martha, and Edward.  There is a gap of 6 years between Martha and Edward so there may have been unsuccessful pregnancies, also.

We know Hugh was of some importance in the town because he was overseer of the poor in 1649 and again in 1654, and selectman in 1651. In 1653 he and Francis Parret and Joseph Jewett were appointed to help set out the borders between Rowley, Ipswich, and Topsfield.    He gradually accumulated land and owned several plots at the time of his death.  He was occasionally taken to task because his fences were in disrepair.  In 1953, we find that he had four cows. 

I was thrilled to find a copy of his estate on line, and even more thrilled to find that it has been transcribed.  That handwriting was going to be hard to decipher, so I'm glad that someone else has done it (The Probate Records of Essex County, volume 1, page 236 and following, found on the American Ancestors website).  He left Mary her third, plus five pounds to aid in the "bringing up of my youngest son".  Oldest son Samuel was to have "half so much more in portion as any other of my children" and the balance was to be shared.  His inventory included one mare, one ass, four sheep, two oxen, five cows, one cow and a bull, two heifers, six calves, one steer, and eight swine.  He had 26 acres of land and a dwelling, the land being in four different parcels.  For arms, he had one mustket, two swords, and one pouch.  He had a large amount of wool on hand, so perhaps he was a dealer of some sort.  There was eleven score and fourteen pound of wool in one batch, and thirtie pound of sheep wool, identified separately.  He had one pair of looms but no mention of a spinning wheel, so it seems that this was more wool than the family would use.  (Speculation only, and anyone is welcome to share an additional thought about this). His estate was valued at 234 pounds, 11 shillings, 8 pence, but there were also 51 pounds and 16 shillings in various debts.

The estate was finally settled  in 1667.  By this time, Edward was approaching 14 years of age and it may have been appropriate to settle at this age. Mary married Jeremiah Ellsworth in 1657, and lived until 1688.  I'd sure like to know who Mary was, and I'd love to know who Hugh's parents are. 

The line of descent is:

Hugh Smith-Mary
Hannah Smith-Joseph Trumbull
John Trumbull-Elizabeth Winchell
Hannah Trumbull-Medad Pomeroy
Medad Pomeroy-Eunice Southwell
Eunice Pomeroy-Libbeus Stanard
Libbeus Stanard Luceba Fay
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants