John Smith (bef. 1745 - abt. 1800)

Husband of Sarah (Wardwell) Smith — married 7 Jun 1764 in St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Bristol, Bristol, Rhode Island

Descendants

Died about 1800 after about age 55 in Rhode Island, United States

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Biography

John married Sarah Wardwell at Bristol in 1764.^[1] Children, the first five recorded at Bristol:

• Mary b. 13 October 1765
• John b. 14 September 1768
• William b. 9 December 1770
• Sarah b. 8 May 1773
• Daniel b. 20 May 1776
• Hannah b. July 1782
• Samuel R. b. ca. 1784

John served in the Revolutionary War.

Research Notes

Diaries

During his Revolutionary War service, he kept a detailed diary which provides a clear and sometimes humorous first-hand account. Separate parts of his diaries have been published in two places:

• The Mississippi Valley Historical Review 20 no. 2 (1933) pp.247-270
• Transcription published online

Parentage

John's parentage is currently unknown. The second of the above diary links mentions that he sent letters to his sisters, and another entry states that he sent a letter to "Sister Crapon." This could indicate that the Elizabeth Smith who married William "Creapon" at Newport in 1769 was his sister.

Censuses

John appears as head of household in Bristol in the 1774 Census of Rhode Island.^[2] His household distribution and inferred attributions are

• one white male over 16: John
• two white males under 16: sons John and William
• one white female over 16: Sarah
• two white females under 16: daughters Mary and Sarah

In the 1782 census of Rhode Island, John Smith appeared at Bristol in a household comprising:

• one male and one female aged 22–50
• one female aged 16–22
• three males and a female aged 0–16

So this fits the above list of children by that point, excepting maybe that Hannah may not yet have been born, and in that case, there was an additional daughter, presumably born between Daniel and Hannah.

John was born about 1740. He passed away about 1800.

Sources

1. ↑ Arnold, Vol. 8, Page 217
2. ↑ 1774 Rhode Island Census, Bristol, Page 1, Entry 40 — John Smith; from "Census of the Colony of Rhode Island," one bound volume, Rhode Island State Archives, identifier C#00197; viewed through "Colony of Rhode Island Census, 1774", database of images from Rhode Island State Digital Archives (sosri.access.preservica.com/).

• Arnold, James N. Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850 (21 vols., Providence, R.I.: Narragansett Historical Publishing Company, 1891–1912).

See also:

• Online biography of John's son William

Metadata

• WikiTree profile Smith-13614 created through the import of Towne-Weeden.ged on May 29, 2011 by J X.
• Blankenau, Gail. Sergeant John Smith of Rhode Island, The Genealogist (American Society of Genealogists, 2012) Vol. 26, Page 7.