Elizabeth (Smith) Shotwell (1718 - aft. 1739)

Born 15 Aug 1718 in Woodbridge, Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey

Ancestors

Wife of John Shotwell III — married 1735 (to after 1739) in Woodbridge, Plainfield, Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey

Descendants

Died after 8 Feb 1739 after age 20 in Shotwell's Landing, Rahway, New Jersey [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Marty Ormond [send private message]

Elizabeth was a Friend (Quaker)

Biography

Elizabeth Smith was born on August 15, 1718, to Shubael Smith and Prudence (FitzRandolph) Smith. She was married in 1735 to John Shotwell III. Nothing is known about her after the birth of her son John Smith Shotwell in February 1739, so she may have died very soon afterwards.

She was almost certainly dead by 1743 when John Shotwell III married his second wife. There seems to be no evidence of a divorce (as some have speculated). Although there is speculation that Elizabeth (b. 1718) was married to Elijah Pound, that was actually her first cousin, Elizabeth Smith (b. 1719). That error has unfortunately resulted in continual confusion and the widespread notion that Elizabeth Smith (b. 1718) married more than once.

The second source below ("The Descendants of Edward Fitz Randolph and Elizabeth Blossom") even erroneously showed Elizabeth Smith (b. 1718) marrying both a second and third time, and speculated that she must have divorced her first husband. But those two marriages were actually to her first cousin, Elizabeth Smith (Smith-93046), so there is no longer any reason to speculate about a divorce (which would be very unlikely since the Shotwells and Smiths were Quakers). It was her cousin Elizabeth Smith (b. 1719) who married Samuel Laing and Elijah Pound. The mother of Elizabeth Smith (b. 1719) witnessed the will of Samuel Laing. Furthermore, an April 1738 wedding to Samuel Laing does not make sense if Elizabeth (b. 1718) had son John Smith Shotwell in February 1739.

Sources

• Annals of our Colonial Ancestors, Genealogical Register of the Shotwell Family in America John Shotwell III, marriage Elizabeth b1718, and child John Smith Shotwell 1738l; Ambrose M Shotwell; 1895. Robert Smith & Co., Printers And Binders, Lansing, Mich.

• Louise Aymar Christian and Howard Stelle Fitz Randolph, The Descendants of Edward Fitz Randolph and Elizabeth Blossom, 1950. [Univ. Microfilms G1089]. Pg 17-18. https://archive.org/details/descendantsofedw00chri

• First Settlers of Passaic Valley (page 377): https://www.digifind-it.com/njhistoricalportal/data/ringwood//First%20Settlers%20of%20Passaic%20Valley.pdf