Moses Tyler Smith (1806 - 1855)

Born 10 Jun 1806 in Randolph, Orange, Vermont

Ancestors

Husband of Sally Ann (Goodell) Smith — married about 16 Dec 1830 in Genesee County, New York [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 4 Sep 1855 at age 49 in Ray, Macomb, Michigan

Biography

Moses Tyler Smith, possibly named for his great grandfather Captain Moses Tyler of Preston, CT^[1], was born 10 June 1806^[2] in Vermont.^[3] The date is calculated from his headstone in Ray, Macomb County Michigan and the location comes from the Iowa state census of his daughter Helen Mar Levina Viola who married Lyman Frederick Pickel along with his own 1850 census (see below).

He is likely the son of Shubal Smith and Mary Parrish who were married in Randolph, Orange County, Vermont 22 Nov 1789^[4] but no primary source records exist to prove this.

The obituary of Moses' oldest son, Daniel Lee Smith (attached and ^[5], lists their New York origins and 1820 & 1830 censuses from Pembroke, Genesee County NY list members of the Smith family along with the Goodalls and Amidons, all families who moved to Genesee and Macomb Counties in Michigan in the 1830s.

John Worthingon Goodell originally of Vermont (or New Hampshire, records conflict) who appears in the 1830 Genesee, NY census, married Abigail "Nabby" Smith^[6], a sister of Moses Tyler Smith and daughter of Shubal Smith (born in CT, married in VT, later moved to Pembroke, Genesee NY where he died). This John Goodell seems to be a son of John Goodell and Sally Webster (also of Vermont and/or New Hampshire) and based on the families all moving from Genesee Co, NY to Macomb County, MI around the same time, seems very likely to be a brother of Sally Goodell, Moses Tyler Smith's proven wife. So there seems to be a double-marriage of Goodell/Smith siblings.

There was a strong anti-Mason movement in western New York at that time and since several members of these families were buried with Masonic rites according to their obituaries, it seems likely that they had strong ties and moved to Michigan around the same time.^[7]

Moses and Sally Goodell probably married about 1830 in Genesee County, NY where oldest son Daniel was born. Findagrave.com says they married 16 Dec 1830 but that information is not sourced. They had 8 children in total based on census, birth, marriage and death records of the children:

1. Daniel Lee Smith 1833–1894 born in NY
2. Andrew L Smith 1835–1835 birth location uncertain
3. Amy Anna Smith 1836–1923 born in Ray, MI as were all the rest
4. Polly R Smith 1839–1841
5. Helen Mar Levina Viola SMITH 1842–1926
6. James K P Smith 1845–1908
7. Charlotte Anice "Lottie" Smith 1848–1884
8. Sabra Malinda Smith 1850–1898

Their children's names helps identify Moses' parentage: Shubal Smith, his proposed father, had a son named Jacob Kimbell Smith as well as a sister named Sabra Smith. Daniel Lee's obituary says they moved to Michigan about 1835 but a birth record for Andrew L. Smith has not yet been found.

Moses first appears in Michigan records on the 1840 census (in 1830 he is not found and may have lived with one of his or Sally's siblings in NY). Sally's brother John Worthington Goodell lives nearby as does Dyer Amidon, husband of Moses's sister Sabra who also appeared with his family in Pembroke, Genesee, NY on the 1830 census.

He is listed again on the Ray, MI 1850 census with an occupation of Blacksmith (indexed as "Morris S. Smith" or "Merais Smith"^[8]) The family listed on that census is:

1. Merais Smith Male 41 Vermont
2. Sally Smith Female 43 Vermont
3. Daniel L Smith Male 18 New York (Daniel Lee)
4. Amy A Smith Female 13 Michigan (Amy Anna)
5. Hellen V Smith Female 8 Michigan (Helen Mar Levina Viola)
6. James K Smith Male 5 Michigan (James Kimball)
7. Anna C Smith Female 3 Michigan (Charlotte Anice "Lottie")
8. Sonja M Smith Female 0 Michigan (Sabra Malinda)

Moses passed away 4 Sep 1855 according to his headstone, no other death certificate or record has been found. He is buried at Lee Cemetery in Ray, Macomb County Michigan.

Sources

1. ↑ Tyler Genealogy Descendants of Job Tyler pg 92 https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/61157/46155_b290379-00074
2. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85733408
3. ↑ Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1084&h=3621129&ssrc=pt&tid=110981848&pid=100086195266&usePUB=true
4. ↑ New England Parish families; descendants of John Parish of Groton, Mass, and Preston, Conn https://archive.org/details/newenglandparish1938pari
5. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11749827/daniel_lee_smith_death_notice/?xid=637
6. ↑ Past and Present of Macomb County, Michigan by Eldredge, Robert F page 439 http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/bad0973.0001.001/445?rgn=full+ text;view=image;q1=goodell
7. ↑ History of Macomb County. Chapter XXXIX. Ray township pg 858 https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=17630
8. ↑ 1850 US Federal Census https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF8K-Z4J