Richard Smith (1735 - abt. 1803)

Born 22 Mar 1735 in Burlington, New Jersey

Descendants

Died about 17 Sep 1803 at about age 68 in Natchez, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

Richard Smith was a Founding Father in the American Revolution.

Richard Smith is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A106725.

Richard Smith was born on 22 March 1735. He is the son of Richard Smith of "Green Hill" and Abigail, daughter of Thomas Rapier, of Sindersby, Yorkshire, England.^[1][2][3]

Richard married Elizabeth Rodman on 5 June 1762. They had five children: Scammon Rodman, Richard Rodman, John, Willett and Rodman.^[1]

Richard was a member of the Society of Friends.^[1]

Richard was a deputy to the 1st Continental Congress. ^[4]

Richard withdrew from public life due to sympathy with the war for separation from the mother country. He purchased a large tract of land near Otsego lake in New York and built a large residence there.^[1]

Richard died in 1803 while traveling through the southern states and was on business in Natchez, Mississippi.^[1][3]

Occupation

• Richard studied law with Joseph Galloway in Philadelphia and became a successful practitioner.^[1][2]
• On 21 July 1774, he was chosen as a member of the 1st Continental Congress, which met at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia on 5 September 1774. He was re-elected on 24 January 1775 and again on 14 February 1776. He resigned his seat due to his reluctance to take part in the Declaration of Independence.^[1][2]
• Member of the 1st legislative council of New Jersey, which met on 27 August 1776, but stopped attending after Novembe r1776 and resigned in February 1777. He was re-elected in October 1777, but declined to serve.^[1]
• Elected as State Treasurer on 5 September 1776 and served for six months before resigning.^[1]
  • Richard wrote a detailed diary of the proceedings from 12 December 1775 to 30 March 1776 which have been claimed to be more detailed than the diaries of Samuel Ward. The diary covers periods of John Adams absence.^[2]

Research Notes

• The Dictionary of America^[2] entry for Richard includes a list of sources that would be useful to investigate.
• Possibly family members, need source to verify relationships and create/update profiles for family members:

Paternal line of ancestors:

No. 6 Smith Brothers of Yorkshire ENGLAND

1 SAMUEL (Mar 1671/72 ENG -Apr 1718 Burl. NJ) m1)Elizabeth Lovett = 2 Sons

2 Richard (Jul 1699 Burl. NJ -Nov 1751 NJ) m Abigail Rapier = poss. 5 Sons

3 Richard *Revo (1735 NJ -1803 Natchez MS) m Elizabeth Rodman

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Charles Henry Jones, Genealogy of the Rodman Family (1620-1886) (Philadelphia: Alles, Lane and Scott, 1886), P. 31-32, digital image, Internet Archive, 2008 (http://archive.org : accessed 22 April 2017); citing American Libraries, digital images, Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center, Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} American Council of Learned Societies, Dictionary of American Biography (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1943), Vol. 17, P. 332, digital image, Internet Archive, 2015 (http://archive.org : accessed 22 April 2017); citing American Libraries, digital images, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Wikipedia contributors, Richard Smith (Continental Congress), Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Revision 3 August 2016, 14:50 UTC (https://en.wikipedia.org : accessed 24 April 2017).
4. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 9 June 2022), "Record of Richard Smith", Ancestor # A106725.

• Wikidata: Item Q7329105