Holbrook line: Giles Smith 1603-1669, Immigrant

 Although there are proposed parents for Giles Smith, there are date or location problems with each set that I have seen mentioned.  We can assume that he came from England, and we know he was born about 1603, but that is as much of his early life as is thought to be known.  Proposed parents include Henry Smith and Anne Pynchon, and Henry's proposed parents, Thomas Smith and Frances Sanford (or Ann Halsey), which would make Giles and Henry brothers.  Neither Henry nor Thomas seems to have been used as a name for the children of Giles Smith, so I will simply leave his parents names as "unknown".

Similarly, we don't know who his wife's parents were.  Giles was married to Mary or Maria Wheeler, probably in England.  If the children's birth dates are correct, their first child was born about 1625.  Giles and Mary had as many as seven children, with three sons and two daughters living at the time of his death.  

We also don't know when Giles and his family emigrated, but we do know that his name is on the Founder's Monument in Hartford, Connecticut.  He is noted as living there "at the town's courtesie", and his house lot was the smallest in Hartford, although he did own three other parcels of land.  He purchased his home, probably in 1639, from George Wyllis.  

Giles lived in Hartford for probably at least 8 years.  He seems to have gone to New Haven by 1647, when he was granted land there.  However, during 1649-1650 his land was apparently forfeited, or perhaps he never actually made that move.  If the land was forfeited, it means that he failed to comply with the terms of the grant, which probably included building a dwelling and clearing/planting a certain area of land.  

Perhaps Giles simply changed his mind about where he wanted to relocate when he left Hartford, because by 1651 he was in Fairfield, Connecticut, where he stayed for the rest of his life.  He owned land beside some of the "Bankside farmers" but I'm not sure we can count him as one of that group.  The Bankside farmers were considered to be somewhat well off, and some of them were slave holders.  I've not seen any evidence that Giles held slaves, but if he did, they were as likely to be indigenous people as they were to be Black.  

We also don't know whether farming was his only livelihood, or whether he also had some trade or occupation that tied him to the sea.  Fairfield is located on the Long Island Sound, and considerable trade existed between Fairfield and Long Island, and also Fairfield and New Amsterdam.  There was undoubtedly tension when England took over New Amsterdam and the other Dutch colonies, but we don't know whether that political change affected Giles directly.  

Giles' first wife, Mary Wheeler died before about 1660, when Giles married Eunice, the widow of Jonathan Porter, and possibly of other husbands.  They had no children, but Eunice had at least three daughters who would have become part of the blended family.  There is apparently no mention of them in Giles' will, which was probated September 10, 1669.  All I have seen is an abstract of the will, which does not give an inventory or valuation, so there is little additional information to be gleaned from that record.  

This is an unsatisfactory story of our ancestor because there are so many unanswered questions.  Where did he come from, and why did he come to Connecticut?  Who were his parents, and his wife's parents?  What was his occupation?  Did he travel around the Sound and perhaps to New Amsterdam?  Was he a man of means, or did he struggle financially? What religion was he?  Was he involved in military service?  Was he literate?  The questions go on and on, but the answers seem to be hidden.  

The line of descent is:

Giles Smith-probably Mary Wheeler

Elizabeth Smith-John Jackson

John Jackson-Sarah Godwin

Elizabeth Jackson-James Longbottom

Elizabeth Longbottom-John Eames

Hannah Eames-James Lamphire

Susan Lamphire-Joseph Eddy

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants