Mary (French) Smith (1624 - 1697)

Born 6 Jan 1624 in Assington, Suffolk, England

Ancestors

Wife of George Smith — married 1644 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 1 Feb 1697 at age 73 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Mary (French) Smith immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Mary French was baptized in Assington, Suffolk, England on Jan. 6, 1624, daughter of Thomas and Susan (Riddlesdale) French. She emigrated to New England with her parents in 1630. (p. 429)^[1]

She married about 1644, George Smith, who was also born in England. ^[1]

There is some controversy about the identity of the wife of George Smith. A spring 2021 NEHGR article points out that:^[2]

• there is no direct or even indirect evidence to prove this claim
• George Smith's Ipswich home was not close to any of the other French brothers and sisters (whereas other French siblings lived near each other)
• His will refers to his loving wife but he neither names her nor refers to her as mother of his children
• "It is possible that due to early published confusion about Thomas French Sr (died 1639) and his son, later known as Thomas Sr., that the younger Thomas calling a daughter "Mary Smith" in his will was somehow confused with the elder Thomas's daughter whose marriage is undetermined."

George died Dec. 15, 1674. ^[1]

His will (Essex File no. 25524) written April 13, 1674 mentions the following:

1. his wife
2. son Samuel who died at age 80, on May 31, 1727 at Ipswich ^[3]
3. son Thomas
4. daughter Sarah Newman who married John Newman of Ipswich on Nov. 9, 1664^[4]
5. daughters Rebecca, Elizabeth and Joanna, all unmarried at the time. ^[5]

Research Notes

"No record of a marriage or her death is known; allegations she married George Smith are unproven." See NEHGR, Vol. 177, Page 42.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} The History of Peter Parker and Sarah Ruggles of Roxbury, Mass. and Their Ancestors and Descendants, by John William Linzee, Priv. Print. [S. Usher], Boston, 1918
2. ↑ Melinde Lutz Byrne and John Edward Hardy, "Three French Daughters and Their Husbands: Three Unrecorded Marriages from Early Ipswich, Massachusetts, Amy (French) Gage, Susan (French) Kingsbury, and Anne (French) Hardy," in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 125 (Spring 2021): 116-17
3. ↑ Vital Records of Ipswich Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, The Essex Institute, Salem, MA, 1910, p ???
4. ↑ New England Marriages Prior to 1700, by Clarence Torrey, Boston, Mass, p 400? CHECK
5. ↑ Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.)

See also:

• [1] Find a Grave ID: 152003851
• [2] Marriage to George Smith
• Hayward, Mrs Carle R., Thomas Smith, wheelwright of Ipswich MA s/o- George? & Mary (French) Smith, (NEHGR Vol 110 Jul 1956 p. 202-205)