Note: The following is the work of Dale Smith
Many,
many generations ago one of your ancestors Rev. Henry Smith, was born
in 1600 in England. He was educated at Cambridge University receiving
his BA in 1621; and his MA 1625, and was ordained a minister, by the
Bishop of Peterborough, in 1623. Henry's first wife was the daughter of
Gabriel Cornish, her name may have been Dorothy but this is not known
for sure. Henry and Dorothy had four children: Philippa, Mary,
Peregrine and Rebecca.
After
Dorothy’s death Henry married his second wife Dorothy Cotton (?),
sister to Rev. John Cotton in 1632 in England. Late in 1635 or very
early in 1636 Henry with his wife Dorothy, two daughters and son from
his first marriage ventured to New England. As was not uncommon at the
time Henry and Dorothy's young son Preserve was born during the
six-week journey. The Smiths settled first in Watertown, Massachusetts
where their daughter Dorothy was born in 1636. Then they marched
through the wilderness to Wethersfield, carrying just their
necessities.
They had shipped most of their belongings up the river but
the ships floundered in a "great storm" and they lost practically
everything. Henry built a log house for his family and Dorothy, with
what was left of their belongings, did what she could to provide a
comfortable home for her growing family. Four more children Samuel,
Joanna, Noah and Elizabeth were born to them in Wethersfield where they
lost their son Penegrine probably within a few years after their move.
In addition to her household chores, Dorothy also developed skills with
a rifle, and according to her son Samuel, shot several wolves which
came too near the house. Rev. Henry Smith was one of the early Puritan
ministers of New England. In 1641 Henry became the first settled
minister at their church. Prior to that time the settlement had three
ministers, each only serving a short period of time. His home lot of
five acres was on High Street, the first house north of the
meetinghouse. He was described as "a gentleman of good family" and "of
uncommon culture, refinement and firmness".
From
the very beginning his ministry was troubled. Certain members of his
congregation greeted him with suspicion, which led to allegations and
accusations. His chief accuser was Mr. Clement Chaplin. Chaplin who
moved from Hartford to Wethersfield in 1636 was a wealthy and prominent
citizen. He was a large landowner; both he and Rev. Smith had lands
allotted to them on both sides of the river in the general distribution
of 1639.
Mr. Chaplin, a
Ruling Elder in the church since 1639, was very influential in the
church and the community. Henry was soon embroiled in quarrels with
some members of his congregation, which by 1643 had grown bitter and
with a large portion of the congregation supporting him. Chaplin's
accusations and suspicions along with written declarations grew so
numerous that in 1643 the matter was brought before the General Court.
After examining the merits of the case, the court ordered Mr. Chaplin
to stop and fined him £11 for libeling Mr. Smith. This effectively
stopped him from criticizing Mr. Smith, but it did not stop him from
bringing various civil suits against the Reverend, forcing the courts
again to take action. After their investigation Reverend Smith was
exonerated and vindicated. This latest court action effectively quieted
Chaplin and his followers. Reverend Smith's ministry moved forward,
with no more serious interruptions.
At
the time of Rev. Henry's tenure in the pulpit at Wethersfield
Connecticut, witchcraft was a popular endeavor, or perhaps I should say
accusations of witchcraft were popular. Witchcraft as practiced in
Connecticut and Massachusetts appears to have migrated to New England
along with the original invaders from the Old Country. It was
occasionally lethal to its practitioners and sometimes, it was said, to
those on which it was practiced. In the manner of Puritan ministers in
New England in those days, the Rev. Henry Smith presided in 1648 at the
trial of Mary Johnson.
In 1646, she had been sentenced to be whipped
for theft, probably at Hartford, which was to be repeated a month later
at Wethersfield. On her own confession, she was indicted by a jury in
December 7, 1648, as guilty of "familiarity with the Devil." Mather
says, "Her confession was attended with such connective circumstances
that it could not be slighted." She confessed, he says, that she had
murdered a child, and committed other faults of licentiousness. For
some months before her execution, she was imprisoned at Hartford, under
the care of William Ruscoe. A son was born to her while there.
Nathaniel Ruscoe, the jailer’s son, agreed with her before her death to
bring up and educate the child, which agreement was afterward
sanctioned by the court. The jailer was paid L6 10s, for twenty-four
weeks' charges to June 6, 1650, from which fact it is inferred that she
was executed on that date. Rev. Samuel Stone ministered to her while in
prison, and it is said that she became a penitent woman. She was
evidently a poor, misguided creature, who accounted for her fault
according to the superstition of the age.
Henry
caught "the great fever" in 1648 and died age 48, two weeks before the
birth of their daughter Elizabeth, in Wethersfield, Hartford,
Connecticut, "grieved and wearied with the burdens of his charge."
Although their two oldest daughters were married, Dorothy was still
left with four young children to support and she married John Russell
the following year. The church quarrels did not end with Henry's death
and another quarrel in 1659 caused twenty families to leave the church.
They moved into the jurisdiction of Massachusetts where they became
founders of Hadley.
Dorothy's son-in-law, John Russell who had taken
Henry Smith's place as pastor of the Wethersfield church, became the
first minister at Hadley. His father and Dorothy, probably also left
Wethersfield at that time. By 1664 they were taking turns with
Dorothy's son-in-law, Lieutenant Samuel Smith, in providing shelter in
Hadley for the regicides, Goffe and Whalley. "William Goffe was a
veteran of the English Civil War which pitted the armies of King
Charles I and Parliament against one another."
When King Charles was
defeated, Goffe and 57 other Parliamentary judges voted to behead him.
When his son, Charles II, took the throne in 1660 "he vowed vengeance
against his father's killers." At that point Goffe and his
father-in-law, Edward Whalley, fled to New England, eventually ending
up in Hadley where they hid from 1664 to the late 1670s. Goffe became
the center of one of the town's oldest legends. He allegedly came to
the Hadley church in 1675 during King Phillip's War to warn of an
imminent Indian attack. Since he had been hiding in the Russell home
all those years, no one knew him and "when the Indians were repelled,
the townspeople believed an angel had been sent to save their village."
Dorothy's bible, which she may have given to Goffe, has recently been
found in the Hadley Historical Society collection room, on the upper
floor of the Goodwin Memorial Library where it sat in a drawer for
almost 20 years.
It was originally found in a secret room of the John
Russell house in Hadley. On the inside front cover of the bible was
written "Dorothy Russell her book." Dorothy wrote her will on the 16th
Feb 1681 and her signature on the will is reportedly a perfect match
for the one discovered on the bible. Dorothy died in 1694 in Hadley,
Hampshire, Massachusetts, aged 88.
Henry
and his first wife had four children: Philippa, Mary, Peregrine and
Rebecca Smith. Henry and his second wife Dorothy had six children:
Preserved, Dorothy, Samuel, Joanna, Noah and Elizabeth Smith.