Abijah Smith

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KVLG-BNK
• Initiatory (LDS): 13 Nov 1902, SLAKE

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LKKM-NYV
• Initiatory (LDS): 2 Feb 1900

Ephraim married Mary Ramsdell on 6 Sep 1694 in Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Mary was born on 27 Jan 1674 in Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LCP8-571
• Initiatory (LDS): 13 Nov 1902, SLAKE

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LYWW-88F
• Initiatory (LDS): 17 Apr 1940, SGEOR

Notes:

Robert Smith Jr was born in January 1625 to Robert Smith Sr (1595-1643 ) a nd Grace Watson Smith (1610-1625). He was the surviving twin to his b roth er, William whom immediately was baptized 30 January 1625, and was b urie d the same day, according John Vues, vicar, (Kirton in Holland Paris h o f Lincolnshire, England, Images 5 - 6/166, pages 184-185). William ei the r died from labor and delivery complications, or the 1625 Plague .

As a result of the Plague of 1625 in England, (P. H. Wood “Infection un p erceiv’d, in many a place”: The London plague of 1625, viewed from Plym ou th Rock. We’re History, 2020, April 15), or complications related to p reg nancy, labor, and delivery, their mother Grace Watson Smith succumbe d t o death in February of 1625, and was buried 21 February 1625, (Ibid , Imag e 6/166, page 185). This left Robert Sr. with an infant son who ne eded t o be baptized and cared for in the wake of grieving and sudden sin gle par enthood. Two months after his mother’s death, Robert Jr. was bapt ized i n Kirton in Holland parish on 30 April 1626 (Ibid, Image 6/166, pa ge 186) .

Robert Sr, then married Margaret Gibson (1602-1645) whose surname was m i swritten as Gilpin, explained in her Life Sketch, 14 November 1626, (Ki rt on in Holland Register, image 7/166, page 187). The three of them bega n t heir new life there. Robert’s
half - brother William born 30 September 1627, Kirton in Holland (Ibid , 7 /166, page 188), was named for his maternal grandfather, William Gibs on ( 1573-1623) and also possibly in remembrance of his deceased twin .

Other siblings were born in Kirton in Holland, and likely passed away d u e to the deficit harvests from 1629-1637, in England, (Hoskins, W. G. ( 19 68),
Harvest fluctuations and English economic history, 1620–1759.The Agricul t ural History Review, 16(1), 15-31. https://www.jstor.org/
stable/40273255), which exactly correlated with the births and death s o f Robert Sr’s children and his ability as a householder or farmer t o prov ide for them. Only Robert and William survived to adulthood. Birth s and d eaths of their siblings are as follows: Susan (1628-1629), Kather ine (162 9-1629), John (1631-1638), Samuel (1633-1636), Thomas (1634-1635 ), Grac e (1635-1635), and Susan, (1637-1637), see (Smith Sr, Robert, Fam ilySearc h Person Page, 7 August 2021, 4:00 PM, DST).

Robert and William were educated in Kirton in Holland at a “grammar scho o l. . . originally a free school, [which was] founded [there] in 1624 b y S ir Thomas Middlecott,”
(Staunton, H. 1869. The great schools of England: an account of the foun d ation, endowments, and discipline of the chief seminaries of learnin g i n England. Strahan and Co. Publishers), “for the benefit of childre n of t he parishes of Kirton,” and others nearby. They were taught Latin , Greek , Christian religion, English commerce and agriculture, mathemati cs” an d other topics, (Great Schools of England, Kirton in Holland pag e 4 of 4, ) that would prepare these boys to emigrate to Colonial Americ a with Joh n Whittingham in 1638 as his indentured servants for ten year s of servitu de which paid for their passage.

John Whittingham, and his family were members of the Boston Botolph Pari s h, (Boston St Botolph Parish Register, baptism September 1616, Image 35 /1 03 page 25). It was a 1 hour 25, minute walk from Kirton in Holland. ( Goo gle Maps). John Cotton and other vicars in the area were influencin g pari shioners away from the Anglican Church toward Puritan theology an d practi ces (history of massachusetts.org/reverend-john-cotton/) .

Beginning in 1630 as many as 20,000 Puritans emigrated to America from E n gland, (Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, Library o f Co ngress). The relationship of the Watsons, Smiths, Gibsons and Whitti ngham s, and the proximity of Boston Port were the critical factors, in R ober t Sr’s and Margaret’s decision to send their boys to America where t hey c ould seek freedom to worship, and security in building a home, acco rdin g to (Zora Smith Jarvis, George A Smith Family, page 1, 1962).

According to Jarvis, “Robert served his ten years with Mr. Whittingham , a nd then in 1648, when of age, he became a citizen of Ipswich, MA. Fo r a t ime he worked for the Tutle family” (Ibid). In 1655/6 Robert Jr. ma rrie d Mary French (1634-1692) in Boston, Massachussets, (U.S., New Engla nd Ma rriages Prior to 1700, image 703/1022, page 688) .

In 1661, Robert Jr and Mary "moved to Rowley Village later organized a s B oxford, Essex County, MA. Here [Robert] purchased 208 acres of land , an d . . . was known for his thrift and industry . . . He built a larg e lumb er house with an upstairs in Boxford, Massachusetts. In that woode d count ry of uncultivated land extending over mountains and prairies, th ey littl e dreamed how numerous their posterity would become or how grea t a work t hat God had chosen for members of their posterity to perform, " (Zora Smit h Jarvis, George A Smith Family, page 1, 1962 ) .

Robert and Mary had the following children: Thomas Smith Sr. (1656–1725 ) , Mary Smith (1658– 1726), Phebe Smith (1661–1740), Ephraim Smith (1663 –1 740), Samuel Smith Sr. (1666–1748), Amy Ruhanna Smith (1668–1756), Sar a h Smith (1670–1673), Nathaniel Smith (1672–1719), Jacob Smith (1674–173 8) , and Mariah Smith (1677–1738), (Smith Jr, Robert, and Smith, Mary Fre nch , FamilySearch Person Page, 7 August 2021, 4:15, PM, DST). All of th ei r children were born in Essex County, MA, in the towns of Newbury, Ips wic h, Boxford, and Topsfield—within about a two or three hour walk of ea ch o ther, (Google Maps).

Author's note:
Robert Smith Jr. (1625-1693) was the third great grandfather to Joseph S m ith Jr. (1805-1844), founder and first prophet of the Church of Jesus C hr ist of Latter-day Saints, organized 1830. Robert was a significant hin g e point of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Robert Jr. pa ss ed after a full and successful life, 30 August 1693, (NEW ENGLAND MARR IAG ES PRIOR TO 1700)

Robert married Mary French on 26 Mar 1656 in Boxford, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Mary (daughter of Ensign Thomas French, Jr and Mary Scudamore) was born on 23 Sep 1632 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States; died on 22 Mar 1683 in Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LRM4-DLP
• Initiatory (LDS): 11 Aug 1897

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: L785-YQR
• Initiatory (LDS): 6 Mar 1936, SLAKE

Robert married Grace Watson on 1 Jun 1624 in Kirton, Lincolnshire, England. Grace was born about 1610 in Boston, Lincolnshire, England; was christened on 26 Aug 1610 in Boston, Lincolnshire, England; died in Feb 1625 in Kirton, Lincolnshire, England; was buried on 21 Feb 1625 in Kirton, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LCP2-LZY
• Initiatory (LDS): 16 Nov 1954, SLAKE

Notes:

As a result of the Plague of 1625 in England or complications relate d t o pregnancy, labor, and delivery, Grace Watson Smith succumbed to de at h in February of 1625, and was buried 21 February 1625.


Grace Watson was baptized in 1610 in the Boston Boltolph Parish of Linco l nshire, England, to Andrew Watson, and Anne Butcher Watson. (Boston Bot ol ph Parish Register image 23/103, page 41). She married Robert Smith S r o f Kirton in Holland, Lincolnshire, (Kirton in Holland, Lincolnshire P aris h Register, Image 4/166 page 181), a 1 hour 25 minute walk from Bost on, o f the same county. (Google Maps), in 1624.

She was raised in and attended the Boston Botolph parish under the direc t ion of Vicar John Cotton, who over time replaced Anglican teachings an d r ituals with Puritan ideologies. He and other vicars in the area wer e inf luencing parishioners away from the Anglican Church toward Purita n theolo gy and practices (history of massachusetts.org/reverend-john-cot ton/). Fe llow parishioners to the Watsons were the Whittinghams and Bulk leys who w ere parents to John Whittingham, (1616-1649), (New England Mar riages Prio r to 1700).

Grace and Robert’s first son Thomas was born in 1624, in Kirton in Holla n d (Kirton in Holland, Lincolnshire Parish Register, Image Image 3/166 , p age 180) and was buried there, 7 November 1625. (Ibid 6/166, page 185 ). T he next addition to their family was also somewhat tragic, as twin s and R obert Jr and William were born in the in Kirton in Holland Parish , howeve r, William died soon after delivery. He was quickly baptized an d buried t he same day, 30 January 1625. (Ibid, Image 6/166, page 185) .

To compound the young family’s grief, Grace succumbed to death 22 days l a ter in Kirton in Holland, (Ibid), again either contingent upon birthin g c omplications or the 1625 plague, (P. H. Wood “Infection unperceiv’d , in m any a place”: The London plague of 1625, viewed from Plymouth Rock . We’r e History, 2020, April 15). This tragic loss left a grieving husba nd an d an infant son who needed daily care and baptism. Robert Smith J r was ba ptized 30 April 1625/26, Kirton in Holland, (Image 6 of 166, pag e 186).

The relationship of the Watsons and Whittinghams, was the critical fact o r which enabled Grace’s son Robert Smith Jr, and his half-brother Willi a m to leave from Boston Port, Lincolnshire England, and arrive in Bosto n , Massachusetts, Colonial America as John Whittingham's indentured serv an ts, (Zora Smith Jarvis, George A Smith Family, page 1). Immigrant ance sto r Robert Jr was the 3rd great-grandfather to hinge point, Joseph Smit h Jr , the means by which "Christ’s New Testament Church" was restored. ( Th e Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicente nni al Proclamation to the World, April 2020).

References

http://womenofhistory.blogspot.com/2007/08/medieval-marriage-childbirth. h tml

Boston Botolph Parish Register image 23/103, page 41

Kirton in Holland, Lincolnshire Parish Register, Image 4/166 page 181

Google Maps

history of massachusetts.org/reverend-john-cotton/

New England Marriages Prior to 1700

Kirton in Holland, Lincolnshire Parish Register, Image 3/166, page 180

Ibid 6/166, page 185

Ibid

Ibid

P. H. Wood “Infection unperceiv’d, in many a place”: The London plagu e o f 1625, viewed from Plymouth Rock. We’re History, 2020, April 15

Kirton in Holland, Lincolnshire Parish Register, Image 6 of 166, page 18 6 ).

Zora Smith Jarvis, George A Smith Family, page 1

The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicente n nial Proclamation to the World, April 2020

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LZZB-1RD
• Initiatory (LDS): 19 Jan 1926, SLAKE

Thomas married Mary Scudamore in 1630 in Essex, England. Mary (daughter of William Scudamore and Margeria Lechmere) was born in 1612 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; died on 6 May 1681 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: L446-D83
• Initiatory (LDS): 29 Jan 1952, SLAKE