Amos Smith (1784 - 1841)

Born 5 Jan 1784 in Westminster Town, Windham County, Vermont

Ancestors

Husband of Lucy (Holden) Smith — married 6 Nov 1806 in Westminster Town, Windham County, Vermont

Descendants

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Biography

Synopsis

From the forthcoming book The Descendants of Benjamin Smith and Sarah Paul of Dighton, Massachusetts and Westminster, Vermont:

Amos Smith was born 5 January 1784^[1] in Westminster Town, Windham County, Vermont, the son of Benjamin Smith and Sarah Paul; died 27 October 1841^[2]. He married, 6 November 1806 in Westminster Town, Lucy Holden, daughter of Stephen and Martha (Wason) Holden^[3]. Lucy was born 7 July 1784^[4] in Shirley Town, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; died 4 September 1858^[5] in Mason County, Illinois. Both Amos and Lucy were both buried at Snicarte Cemetery, Lynchburg Township, Mason County, Illinois. ^[6]

Amos appeared on the 1810^[7] census in Hancock, Addison County, Vermont. He appeared on the 1820^[8] and 1830^[9] censuses in Rochester, Windsor County, Vermont. He appeared on the 1840^[10] census in Menard County, Illinois.

Amos Smith came from Vermont and settled in the township in 1839, about one mile from Snicarte. Amos Smith, Jr., and Benjamin Smith, his sons, came with teams to Whitehall, New York, and by canal and Lake Erie from Buffalo to Cleveland, and by way of the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois rivers to Beardstown, where they arrived in 1837. Amos Smith, Jr., was justice of the peace, an office he held until his death. Benjamin F. Smith was a carpenter. Mark A. Smith, son of Amos Smith, Sr., came to the township in 1839. He arrived in Moscow, October 15th, with a fortune of 37 cents ready money. When they landed, the family and goods were left on the bank of the river, while he went to explore the town to get a team. He traveled six miles to Nelson Abbey's and returned at 3 o'clock and took his family to Abbey's, where they all lived until a cabin could be built.

Who taught the first school is hard to find out, but William Finch was an early teacher. There was a school taught by Mrs. Camp, a sister of Mark A. Smith before there were a schoolhouse in the township. H. G. Rice was the first teacher after the schoolhouse was built.

The first marriage in Lynchburg was that of William Cole and Nancy May. The first birth was Henry Ward, son of Simon Ward, born in 1834. The first death was Mary Jane Smith.

At an early day the people got their mail at Havana, later at Bath. Snicarte is the nearest to a village in Lynchburg township, but has never been laid out or surveyed. A small grocery store was opened in 1858 by Mark A. Smith. This was enlarged the next year and an extensive stock of goods put in. Smith sold his stock of goods to Henry C. Hoesman. A postoffice was established in 1859, with Horace Rice as postmaster.^[11]

Sources

• Charles Oliver, firsthand knowledge. Click the Changes tab for the details of edits by Charles and others.

1. ↑ "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-T53T-XH?cc=1784223&wc=MFV4-VM9%3A1029404801 : 22 May 2014), 004705272 > image 925 of 3684; State Capitol Building, Montpelier.
   Amos Smith: Westminster, Vermont birth record, Westminster, Vermont Town Records, volume I, page 25; information recorded 26 February 1802.
   Note that the date of birth derived from his grave-marker by subtracting the listed age [57 years, 9 months, 22 days] from his date of death matches the date of birth in the Vermont record.
2. ↑ Amos Smith: grave-marker at Snicarte Cemetery, Lynchburg Township, Mason County, Illinois.
3. ↑ "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-T4F3-2?cc=1784223&wc=MFVW-T29%3A1029383401 : 22 May 2014), 004663765 > image 3479 of 3641; State Capitol Building, Montpelier.
4. ↑ Lucy (Holden) Smith: grave-marker at Snicarte Cemetery, Lynchburg Township, Mason County, Illinois. Her date of birth was derived by subtracting the age [74 years, 11 months, 8 days] given on her grave-marker from her date of death.
5. ↑ Lucy (Holden) Smith: grave-marker at Snicarte Cemetery, Lynchburg Township, Mason County, Illinois.
6. ↑ Entered by Charles Oliver, Jan 1, 2012
7. ↑ Amos Smith: 1810 U. S. Census (Hancock Town, Addison County, Vermont); sheet 47 [6], line 25; nominal census date, 6 August 1810.
8. ↑ Amos Smith: 1820 U. S. Census (Rochester Town, Windsor County, Vermont); sheet 369, line 54; nominal census date, 7 August 1820.
9. ↑ Amos Smith: 1830 U. S. Census (Rochester Town, Windsor County, Vermont); sheet 207, line 20, line 20; nominal census date, 1 June 1830.
10. ↑ Amos Smith: 1840 U. S. Census (Menard County, Illinois); sheet 22 [312], line 10, line 10; nominal census date, 1 June 1840.
11. ↑ Pioneers of Mason and Menard Counties, Made up of Personal Reminiscenses of an Early Life in Menard County, Which We Gathered in a Salem Life from 1830 to 1840, and a Petersburg Life from 1840 to 1850; Including Personal Reminiscenses of Abraham Lincoln and Peter Cartwright (Forest City, Illinois: self-published, 1902), pages 279-281.

External Links

• Amos Smith on Findagrave