Robert Smith (1693 - abt. 1745)

Born 29 Jun 1693 in Chaigley, Lancashire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Phoebe (Canby) Ely — married 30 Sep 1719 in Buckingham, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died about 1745 at about age 51 in Buckingham Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

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Biography

Robert was a Friend (Quaker)

Robert Smith was b. 29 Jun 1693 (Julian calendar), the son of John Smith and Ellin. His birth was recorded by the Lancashire Quarterly Meeting.^[1] On 30 Sep 1719, Robert married Phebe Canby, the daughter of Thomas Canby and Sarah Jarvis, the marriage certificate was recorded by the Falls Monthly Meeting, the marriage took place at the Buckingham Meeting.^[2] Thomas Canby was one of the most prominent men of his time, a preacher among Friends, and many years a member of colonial assembly. Robert Smith settled on a farm in Buckingham, adjoining the Makefield farm of William Smith, and died there 6 mo. 26, 1745. The house built by him on this tract in 1738 was the home of his descendants for six generations. He was an overseer of Buckingham Meeting, and his wife was an approved minister among Friends. She married in 1753, Hugh Ely, of Buckingham,and died 1 mo. 19, 1774. Robert Smith's will was probated 26 Sep 1745, naming his wife Phebe and sons Thomas, Timothy, Robert, John, Joseph, Benjamin, Samuel and Jonathan.^[3]

Note

Note: He was the paternal grandfather of Joseph Smith, inventor and patentee of the first plow with an iron mouldboard

DAVIS: Ann Smith, the third of the ten children of Samuel and Jane, was born 11 mo. 15, 1754, and died in 1854 at the age of ninety-nine years, ten months and twenty-seven days. She married at Wrightstown Meeting, 11 mo. 19, 1774, Joseph Smith, a grandson of Robert Smith, the other pioneer of the name.

Robert Smith is said to have come from England with a brother Timothy and two or three sisters, the parents dying on the passage to America. He was a resident of Makefield in 1710, when he witnessed the marriage of his sister Ruth to Joshua Cheesman. His brother Timothy married Rachel Milnor in 1716, and became a prominent man in the community. Robert Smith married, 7 mo. 30, 1719, Phebe Canby, daughter of Thomas Canby, one of the most prominent men of his time, a preacher among Friends, and many years a member of colonial assembly. Robert Smith settled on a farm in Buckingham, adjoining the Makefield farm of William Smith, and died there 6 mo. 26, 1745. The house built by him on this tract in 1738 was the home of his descendants for six generations. He was an overseer of Buckingham Meeting, and his wife was an approved minister among Friends. She married in 1753, Hugh Ely, of Buckingham,and died 1 mo. 19, 1774.

Timothy Smith, the second of the nine children of Robert and Phebe (Canby) Smith, was born 1 mo. 29, 1722, and died 5 mo. 14, 1798. He married at Buckingham Meeting, 2 mo. 17, 1745, Sarah Kinsey, daughter of Edmund and Sarah Ogburn Kinsey, early settlers at the site of Buckingham meeting house, where Edmund was an approved minister. Sarah Kinsey Smith died 5 mo. 17, 1812.

Joseph Smith, fourth of the seven children of Timothy and Sarah (Kinsey) Smith, was born in Buckingham, 7 mo. 7, 1753, and died at Smithtown, in Tinicum township, Bucks county, 9 mo. 28, 1826. He was the inventor and patentee of the first plow with an iron mouldboard, and in connection with his brother Robert engaged in their manufacture in 1800. In 1802 he removed to Smithtown and erected dwellings and shops, and carried on the manufacture of plows until his death in 1826. It was in these shops that anthracite coal was first successfully used for fuel about 1812. He married, as above stated, Ann Smith, daughter of Samuel and Jane (Schofield) Smith, of the other branch of the family.

William Smith, the third of the twelve children of Joseph and Ann Smith, was born in Buckingham, 6 mo. 3, 1779, and married, in 1804, Margaret Worthington, daughter of Mahlon and Mary (Paxson) Worthington, and granddaughter of Richard Worthington, one of the earliest settlers in lower Buckingham, where Mahlon was born 12 mo. 19, 1750.

(Followed by a sketch of Jonathan SMITH, father of Charles J. SMITH)

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Quaker Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers, 1578-1837 Ancestry Record 7097 #547694
2. ↑ Swarthmore College; Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; Oversized Marriage Certificates; Collection: Quaker Meeting Records; Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935. Ancestry Record 2189 #4135681
3. ↑ Abstracts of Wills, 1685-1825; Probate Place: Bucks, Pennsylvania; Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 Ancestry Record 8802 #16461

• William W. H. A.M Davis, History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: Second Edition (New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905). Note: Free online access to the book (scanned images of the book's actual pages) available at openlibrary.org. Also, a transcription of the text was published May 2007 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/

• Anna Miller Watring, Bucks County, Pennsylvania Church Records of the 17th and 18th Centuries, 3 Volumes (Willow Bend Books, Westminster, PA 1994), 2: 40

• A Quaker Saga Title: A Quaker Saga Author: Jane W. T. Brey
• Pennsylvania Genealogies: Genealogy of the Canby Family of Bucks County, Pennsylvania Title: Pennsylvania Genealogies: Genealogy of the Canby Family of Bucks County, Pennsylvania Author: Joshua Eyre Hannum Publication: Auburn, Alabama, 1957
• State Library of Pennsylvania Address: State Library of Pennsylvania CONT Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Name: State Library of Pennsylvania Address 1: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania