Beeks line: Shubael Smith 1692-1768

There's enough information about Shubael (also seen as Shobal) Smith to make things, er...interesting.  In other words, there are a few things that don't add up, or make sense, and sometimes they contradict each other.  I'm going to choose the dates and places that seem to make the most sense, but that doesn't mean they are correct. 

For instance, when and where was he born?  His parents are generally accepted to be Samuel and Elizabeth Pierce Smith, who were married in either 1690 or 1692.  (Elizabeth was Samuel's second wife, his first being Esther Dunham. She died August 14, 1690.)  Samuel and Elizabeth were married June 8, 1690, which doesn't compute.  I suspect that one date or the other was either entered incorrectly or possibly, if it was a Quaker date, miscalculated.  I'm willing to accept that Samuel would not have married one wife while the other was still living!  And then there's Shubael's birth date, variously given as January 2, 1692 and January 2, 1693.  Since Shubael was Samuel and Elizabeth's first known child, I would suspect it's the 1692 date, but I can't be sure about that.  At any rate, although Shubael was his mother's first child, he was born into a family that already had three children, and there would be two more born after him. 

Some sites are giving his birth place as New Castle, Delaware but most say Woodbridge, New Jersey.  Perhaps his birth was noted in Quaker records in Delaware, but if so, I can't find them.  There seems to be no family reason for his birth to have taken place in Delaware, and that was at least 100 miles from Woodbridge.  So until I can find evidence otherwise, I'm going with Woodbridge as the place of his birth, as it was of his death. 

Shuabel's father was a yeoman (land owning farmer) and that is the way Shubael is described in the abstract of his will. I did find one reference that said he was a mariner, plying his trade between the New Jersey and Long Island NY coasts.  It's possible that he held both positions, or that he was an owner or part owner of a boat, without being involved in the actual sailing.  Or, it's possible that this was a different Shubael Smith, because there was more than one man by this name.  I didn't find a source for the statement about his position as a mariner, so take it for whatever it's worth. 

We know that he inherited at least 40 acres when his father died, and he may well have acquired more land during his lifetime.  He married Prudence Fitzrandolph, daughter of Samuel and Mary Jones Fitzrandolph, after March 17, 1716 at the Woodbridge Monthly Meeting.  The Smith family had Quaker leanings for at least two generations but it's not clear when they were first noted in record books, because some of those are missing.  At least some of the Fitzrandolph family were Quakers at this time, too.  Shubael and Prudence had at least six children together, some sources listing as many as eleven.  There is a reference that this couple lived on the "Old Smith homestead", which if I had to guess, would be on Smith Creek, now the home of 9 marinas in a stretch that is just over half a mile long. 

Shubael's death was noted in the Woodbridge Month Meeting records on May 31, 1768, so the family must have stayed part of the Quaker congregation.  Prudence died about two years before Shubael.  He left decent sized bequests to children and grandchildren, but I didn't find an inventorh listing for him.  His daughter Mary received 300 pounds. 

So we have an idea of his occupation and of his religion.  I didn't find anything that indicated whether or not he was literate, nor did I find anything about possible military service.  As a Quaker, it was not likely that he served in the militia but I will keep looking for that information. 

And what else did Shubael do?  He became the ancestor of Barack Obama, Kevin Bacon, and this family!

The line of descent is

Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph

Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham

Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble

Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight

Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks=Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants