 1625 - 1693 (68 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has 2 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Robert Smith |
| Suffix |
Jr |
| Birth |
Jan 1625 |
Kirton, Lincolnshire, England  |
| Christening |
30 Apr 1625 |
Kirton, Lincolnshire, England |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
30 Aug 1693 |
Boxborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
17 Apr 1940 |
SGEOR |
| FamilySearch ID |
LYWW-88F |
| Headstones |
 Submit Headstone Photo |
| Person ID |
I51052 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Robert Smith, c. 5 Mar 1595, Kirton, Lincolnshire, England d. Oct 1643, Kirton, Lincolnshire, England (Age ~ 48 years) |
| Mother |
Grace Watson, b. Abt 1610, Boston, Lincolnshire, England d. Feb 1625, Kirton, Lincolnshire, England (Age 15 years) |
| Marriage |
1 Jun 1624 |
Kirton, Lincolnshire, England |
| Family ID |
F18973 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Mary French, b. 23 Sep 1632, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States d. 22 Mar 1683, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States (Age 50 years) |
| Marriage |
26 Mar 1656 |
Boxford, Essex, Massachusetts, United States |
| Children |
| + | 1. Thomas Smith, b. 7 Jul 1654, Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, United States d. 25 Feb 1725, Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States (Age 70 years) |
| + | 2. Mary Smith, b. 20 Oct 1658, Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States d. 10 Dec 1716, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States (Age 58 years) |
| + | 3. Phebe Smith, b. 26 Aug 1661, Boxborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States d. 14 Jan 1740, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States (Age 78 years) |
| + | 4. Ephraim Smith, b. 29 Oct 1663, Boxford, Essex, Massachusetts, United States d. Abt 1732, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States (Age 68 years) |
| + | 5. Samuel Smith, b. 26 Jan 1666, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States d. 12 Jul 1748, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States (Age 82 years) |
| + | 6. Amye Smith, b. 16 Aug 1668, Boxborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States d. 22 Feb 1756, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States (Age 87 years) |
| | 7. Sarah Smith, b. 26 Jun 1670, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States d. 28 Aug 1673, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States (Age 3 years) |
| + | 8. Nathaniel Smith, b. 7 Sep 1672, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States d. 1719, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States (Age 46 years) |
| + | 9. Jacob Smith, b. 26 Jan 1674, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States d. 8 Dec 1748, Boxborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States (Age 74 years) |
| | 10. Mariah Smith, b. 18 Dec 1677, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts, United States d. 17 Jan 1739, Oxford, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States (Age 61 years) |
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| Family ID |
F18972 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
20 May 2024 |
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| Event Map |
|
 | Birth - Jan 1625 - Kirton, Lincolnshire, England |
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| Christening - 30 Apr 1625 - Kirton, Lincolnshire, England |
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 | Marriage - 26 Mar 1656 - Boxford, Essex, Massachusetts, United States |
|
 | Death - 30 Aug 1693 - Boxborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States |
|
 | Initiatory (LDS) - 17 Apr 1940 - SGEOR |
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| 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)
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Has 2 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.
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