I am interested in learning more about the descendants of Robert Smith who appear in western NY state in the the early 1800's and beyond. They were connected with Joseph Smith the Mormon prophet. Does anyone have any information on those lines? I have Smith's in Livingston Co., NY that I think may be related. Generation No. 1 1. ROBERT1 SMITH1 was born 1626 in Boston, Lincolnshire, England - or 16232, and died August 30, 1693 in (Rowley) Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts3. He married MARY FRENCH4 16565, daughter of THOMAS FRENCH and MARY SCUDAMORE. 1661; Living in the part of Rowley that later became Boxford. Probably the Robert Smith of Ipswich whose daughter Mary was b. in that town 10/28/1658. >From The Refiner's Fire The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644 - 1844, by John L. Brooke "Robert Smith arrived in Boston in 1638, just months after Anne Hutchinson's banishment to Rhode Island. Only twelve years old, Robert had had no mature encounter with Laudian persecution or English Puritanism. Without a family other than a brother, who soon disappeared, his early exposure to Puritanism in New England came through the filter of either indentured servitude or an apprenticeship. After working as a tailor in Boston for some years, he married Mary French of Ipswich in the mid 1650's and established himself in Boxford in 1661. Mary was a member of the Topsfield church by 1684, but Robert Smith never joined the church. By 1693, when he had his will drawn up as he lay dying, Robert Smith enjoyed substantial yeoman circumstances, leaving three hundred acres to three of his sons. His son Samuel, Joseph Smith's great-great grandfather, would move to neighboring Topsfield in 1693, where the faamily would remain for almost a century, before emigrating during the revolutionary years to New Hampshire and Vermont, and after the Cold Summer of 1816 to Palmyra in the Burned-over District of central New York. Two episodes dramatically set off the story of the Smiths in Essex Co. In the spring of 1692, at the height of the Salem witchcraft trials, Samuel Smith testified to the occult powers of his aunt by marriage, Mary Easty, one of the three daughters of William Towne of Topsfield who were accused of witchcraft in 1692. On the evidence of Samuel Smith, Margaret Reddington, and several of the "afflicted girls", Mary Towne Easty was hanged on 9/22/1692. A century later in 1796, Samuel's grandson Asael Smith wrote a warm and friendly letter from Tunbridge, Vermont to Jacob Towne, Jr. in Topsfield, a great-great-great nephew of Mary Easty, thanking him "with joy and gratitude" for a recent letter and sending his regards to Jacob's parents. A long saga of community turmoil and reconciliation stood between these two events. The Smiths and the Townes had been on very intimate terms during the 1680's. Though the Smiths lived in Boxford, miles from the Townes in south Topsfield, all three marriages among Robert Smith's children in the 1680's were with members of the Towne family. But these cordial relations were shattered in 1692 when Samuel Smith of Boxford appeared at the Salem court and testified at the trial of Mary Easty, the aunt of three of his brothers in law. One night five years previously Smith had been "to Rude in discorse" at the Easty house, probably at the wedding supper for his sister Amy, and Mary Easty had warned him he "might Rue it hereafter". Riding past a stone wall later that night he had "Received a little blow to my shoulder with I know not what and the stone wall rattled very much which affrighted me my horse was also affrighted vry much but I cannot give the reson of it."... It goes on to discuss a rift in the Towne - Smith relationships after this and then "..."A family of artisans, the Smiths were exposed to the language and culture of the metallurgical tradition in their connections with these ironworking families (The Goulds)...In the decades following the Great Awakening, the Smiths would turn back to the network of the Towne family...the younger Smiths began to associate with families within the Towne orbit. Two marriages between Smiths and Townes in 1760 mark the end of the feud. The new Smith-Towne relationship seems to have been rooted in bonds forged in service in the provincial troops during the French and Indian War. In 1757 and 1758 Samuel III served as a corporal in a company at Lake George (NY) that included two brothers of his future bride. One of these Towne brothers would be killed in action and the other severely wounded in a failed assault on Ticonderoga; he was saved from scalping only because a friend pulled a felled tree over him before joining the retreat. Corporal Samuel Smith III married the wounded man's sister Rebecca at the close of the war in 1760. The new Smith -Towne friendship may explain how Samuel's brother Asael learned the cooper's trade. Of the nine coopers in Topsfield known to have worked before Asael, eight were Townes or from families associated with the Townes... Most importantly, their new relationship with the Townes again brought the Smiths into contact with the metallurgical tradition. Several families among the Towne connection owned and worked a mine of copper bearing ore in south Topsfield, and here another connection with alchemy and the Renaissance occult tradition can be established... (some think this mine was where Sarah Towne Bridges Cloyes was hidden when she was taken from prison and hidden by her family as shown in the movie "Three Sovereigns for Sarah" - although that is merely tradition, and not proven) Both Asael Smith and his son Joseph, the father of Joseph the prophet, would have spent their formative years under the spell cast by these copper lands. Even if Asael had not learned coopering among the Towne orbit households of south Topsfield in the 1760's, he would have heard something of what was described in 1771 as "a certain shaft or Mine Hole which is commonly know by the name of Towne's Copper Mine". Asael's son Joseph, with his sons would make his living a half century later digging wells; the Smith family knowledge of underground workings may well have begun at this "Mine Hole" in south Topsfield" Children of ROBERT SMITH and MARY FRENCH are: i. THOMAS2 SMITH, b. Abt. 16575; d. February 25, 1725/265. 2. ii. MARY SMITH, b. October 28, 1658, Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts; d. Aft. 1740, of Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. 3. iii. PHEBE SMITH, b. August 26, 1661, Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts; d. January 14, 1739/40, Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts. iv. EPHRAIM SMITH, b. October 29, 1663, Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts5; m. MARY RAMSDELL, September 06, 16945. 4. v. SAMUEL SMITH, b. January 26, 1665/66, Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts; d. Bet. 1716 - 1758. 5. vi. AMY SMITH, b. August 16, 1668, Rowley, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts; d. February 22, 1756. vii. SARAH SMITH, b. June 25, 1670, Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts7; d. August 28, 1673, Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts8. viii. NATHANIEL SMITH, b. September 07, 1672, Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts9; d. Bef. 1719, ?10. 6. ix. JACOB SMITH, b. January 29, 1673/74, Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts - or 1/26?; d. of Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts. x. MARIAH SMITH, b. December 18, 1677, Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts10; d. January 17, 1738/39, Oxford, Worcester Co., Massachusetts11; m. PETER SHUMWAY, February 11, 1700/01, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts12. Generation No. 2 2. MARY2 SMITH (ROBERT1)13 was born October 28, 1658 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts14, and died Aft. 1740 in of Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts15. She married JOHN TOWNE16 February 02, 1679/80 in Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts17, son of JACOB TOWNE and CATHERINE SYMONDS. 3. PHEBE2 SMITH (ROBERT1)27 was born August 26, 1661 in Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts28, and died January 14, 1739/40 in Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts29. She married JACOB TOWNE30 June 24, 1684 in Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts31, son of JACOB TOWNE and CATHERINE SYMONDS. 4. SAMUEL2 SMITH (ROBERT1)42 was born January 26, 1665/66 in Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts43, and died Bet. 1716 - 175844. He married (1) PHEBE HOWE. He married (2) REBECCA CURTIS. Child of SAMUEL SMITH and REBECCA CURTIS is: 22. i. SAMUEL3 SMITH, b. January 26, 1713/14, Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts; d. November 14, 1785. 5. AMY2 SMITH (ROBERT1)45 was born August 16, 1668 in Rowley, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts46, and died February 22, 175647. She married JOSEPH TOWNE48,49 August 10, 1687 in Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts50, son of EDMUND TOWNE and MARY BROWNING. 6. JACOB2 SMITH (ROBERT1)55 was born January 29, 1673/74 in Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts - or 1/26?56, and died in of Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts57. He married REBECCA SYMONDS58, daughter of SAMUEL SYMONDS and ELIZABETH ANDREWS. Children of JACOB SMITH and REBECCA SYMONDS are: i. REBECCA3 SMITH, b. January 30, 1707/08, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts59; m. JOHN DORMAN, January 28, 1729/3059. ii. JACOB SMITH, b. October 20, 1709, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts59. iii. JOSEPH SMITH, b. May 23, 1713, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts59. iv. KEZIAH SMITH, b. April 30, 1716, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts59; m. JACOB BAKER, August 05, 173659. v. MOSES SMITH, b. June 13, 1718, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts59. vi. RUTH SMITH, b. September 21, 1721, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts59. 29. vii. NATHANIEL SMITH, b. August 05, 1724, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Generation No. 3 22. SAMUEL3 SMITH (SAMUEL2, ROBERT1)255 was born January 26, 1713/14 in Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts255, and died November 14, 1785255. He married PRISCILLA GOULD255 May 27, 1734255. Child of SAMUEL SMITH and PRISCILLA GOULD is: i. ASAEL4 SMITH255, b. March 07, 1743/44, Topsfield, Essex Co., Massachusetts255; d. October 31, 1830, Stockholm, St. Lawrence Co., New York255; m. MARY DUTY255, February 12, 1767255. 29. NATHANIEL3 SMITH (JACOB2, ROBERT1) was born August 05, 1724 in Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts300. He married SARAH BURPEE May 23, 1751 in Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts301,302. Children of NATHANIEL SMITH and SARAH BURPEE are: i. ANNA4 SMITH, b. June 25, 1752, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts303. ii. JACOB SMITH, b. November 28, 1753, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts303; d. June 30, 1829303. iii. MERIAM SMITH, b. April 28, 1755, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts303. iv. NATHANIEL SMITH, b. December 30, 1756, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts303; m. MARY HOOD, February 02, 1778303. v. RUTH SMITH, b. April 25, 1758, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts303; d. November 05, 1759, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts303. vi. SARAH SMITH, b. August 28, 1759303. vii. RUTH SMITH, b. April 20, 1761303. viii. EBENEZER SMITH, b. January 09, 1763, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts303. ix. REBECCA SMITH, b. September 17, 1764, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts303. x. MOSES SMITH, b. July 06, 1766, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts303. xi. HEPZIBAH SMITH, b. April 09, 1768, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts303. xii. JOSEPH SMITH, b. February 27, 1771, Boxford, Essex Co., Massachusetts303; d. December 10, 1826303; m. (1) HEPZIBAH CHAPMAN, December 24, 1799303; m. (2) KEZIAH GOULD, December 17, 1805303. Stephanie Shenandoah Valley, VA [email protected] http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/w/a/l/Stephanie-J-Walker/index.html Currently collecting/sharing these surnames BARTHOLOMEW (<1800, NY), CLAYES/CLOYES, CUPPERNALL, CURTIS (CT), FAIRBANKS, GENT/JENT, PARKHILL, PEPPER, PHIPPS, THOMPSON (VT, CT), WALKER (MA,NY), WATSON (MA) **************************************************************** "Listen to the footsteps that echo behind when you walk alone." *****************************************************************