Beeks line: Samuel Smith 1644-1719

 Family historians need to be careful when they research, when they draw conclusions, and when they share them.  Even with all these efforts, sometimes they still lead people astray.  As has happened several times in my research, I've found that at least two different men named Samuel Smith have been merged into one.  In this case, it's understandable because they were born around the same time, and in the same general location.  I hope I have untangled them enough to give accurate information here.

Samuel Smith, the son of pastor and millwright John Smith and his wife Susannah Hinckley, was baptized  October 24, 1644, about six moths after he was born, in Barnstable, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.  He was the first of the couple's 13 known children.  Samuel grew up in Barnstable, probably learning his father's trade or at least being exposed to it.  Barnstable was a town that was not quite as anti-Quaker as the other towns and villages in Plymouth Colony, but Samuel was brought up as a Puritan and likely a Separatist (Pilgrim).  As such, and as the first son, he would also have learned the basics of reading and writing, although we don't know how literate he actually became.

Samuel's mother died, probably in or following childbirth, in 1667 and nine years later his father, and two of his brothers moved to New Jersey, where they helped found the town of Woodbridge.  There Samuel married Esther (also seen as Easter) Dunham, the daughter of Jonathan and Mary Bloomfield Dunham, who are Beeks ancestors on a different line.  They were married about 1680, with four children being born during the next nine years.  Sadly, Esther died August 14, 1690, leaving those four children motherless.  

I should note that it's possible Samuel had an earlier marriage, as he would have been 36 at the time he married Esther, which is late for that time period.  One researcher thinks it possible that Samuel went to Woodbridge as a widower with three children.  

However, it's possible that he simply delayed marriage in order to help his father raise his youngest five or six siblings.  If this is the case, then Samuel had at least some experience in raising young children, but he remarried in less than two years.  His second (or possibly third) wife was Elizabeth Pierce, whom he married about 1691; I've found three different dates for the marriage and am not sure which is correct.  (I am also not sure who were parents were.  I had a whole blog post written about the Daniel Pierce who married Elizabeth Shedd, but that does not appear to be correct, because Daniel named his daughter in his will as Elizabeth Mixer.  I'm still researching that. It's possible that she was the daughter of Daniel Pierce, but a different one than named above.) 

Samuel was granted 103 acres of land when the village of Woodbridge was founded, and he was also given a lot (number 27) in the fourth division of land in 1717, as one of the original founders.  I've not found records of the other two divisions but he may well have received lands, possibly woodlot or meadow, in those divisions also.  His home was across the commons from the meeting house, and was used on more than one occasion as the location for meetings of the town government, when the meeting house was too cold for the men.  

One account listed at least eight men who would have been present at the meeting, so we can think that the Smith home was not small.  If it had no other advantages, it at least had a fireplace, and some sort of seats-chairs or benches-for the men.  

Samuel was given minor positions in the town, although they required some skills.  At various times, he was constable, and overseer of the highway.

One aspect of Samuel's life gives us reason to pause.  In 1717, he paid 50 pounds current New Jersey silver to purchase Phebe, a "Negro woman".  We don't know if this was his first and only slave, nor do we know why he purchased her.  It's possible that Elizabeth was not well and needed help.  I've not found information yet indicating whether this would have been unusual for Woodbridge, or whether there were additional enslaved people in the town.  We do know that he still held a Negro girl at the time that he wrote his will, which was December 16, 1719.

Although we know when he wrote his will, we don't know when Samuel died.  The will was not probated until October 15, 1729.  In it, he mentions just three of his seven (or ten) children; the three youngest.  He had likely given his other children land, or money, or other goods as they married and started their own families.  

This is what is known about Samuel.  There are at least three other bits of "information" floating about the internet that are unproven.  He is sometimes referred to as "Rev. Samuel Smith."  I've found no indication that is correct, but I have found other men with the same name who were "Reverend".  He is said to have been a member of the New Jersey Assembly in 1709, 1716, and 1718, but I've been unable to verify this.  (There was a Samuel Smith from Burlington who was a member of the Assembly and who died in 1718, so there may be reason for the confusion.) And finally, there is a family tradition that Samuel Smith operated a tavern in Wellfleet, Plymouth Colony before going to Woodbridge.  There was a Samuel Smith in Wellfleet but I have been unable to confirm that is was our Samuel Smith; the references I have found point to an 18th century man.)

Samuel doesn't need to have been a pastor, or a member of the New Jersey Assembly, or an early tavern owner, for us to appreciate his life.  He was a respectable citizen who raised a large family, who contributed to his town, and who seems to have stayed out of any trouble with the law.  I'd love to actually view his will and inventory.  He also has to be considered a pioneer; Woodbridge was on the frontier when it was founded during King Philip's War, and was west of the still small town of New York.  There were wild animals (bears, wolves, probably panthers or other large cats) to deal with and native Americans who were used to thinking of the land as theirs.  He led an interesting life.

The line of descent is

Samuel Smith-Elizabeth Pierce

Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph

Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham

Samuel Dunham-Hannah possibly Ruble

Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight

Samuel Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants