Richard Smith Sr. (abt. 1598 - 1666)

Born about 1598 in Gloucestershire, England

Husband of Joan (Barton) Smith — married 28 May 1621 in Thornbury, Gloucestershire

Descendants

Died 1666 at about age 68 in Wickford, Rhode Island

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Richard Smith Sr. migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 311) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed Relationships

A previous version of this profile -- probably the result of an inaccurate merge -- claimed

• that he was the son of John Smith and Grace Thomas. While Richard's origins have been tracked to Gloucestershire-- and his marriage found in Thornbury-- the identity of his parents is not yet known, and these parents have been detached.
• Although John Smith and Alice Walker are known to have had a son Richard, it is not known they are the same Richard.
• that he was married to Elizabeth Welborn or Elizabeth Welburn
• that he was father to Joseph Smith and Susannah Smith Richardson.

Caution!

Richard Smith who went to Taunton, Massachusetts, then settled in Rhode Island was NOT the same person as Richard "Bull" Smith, the Long Island patentee.

Biography

Children: Richard, James, Elizabeth, Joan, Katharine

Richard Smith was born about 1596 in Gloucestershire, England.^[1][2]

Richard married Joan Barton at Thornbury, Gloucestershire 28 May 1621.^[3][4][2]

She died by 6 Oct 1651, probably in Rhode Island, when Roger Williams wrote that Richard Smith was courting "Mrs Chester."^[5]

"Mrs. Chester" was the widow Mary Chester, former wife of Mr. Leonard Chester of Wethersfield, Conn. [Brandon and Mahler] add that Updike (Daniel Updike, Richard Smith, First English Settler of the Narragansett Country, Rhode Island, 1937) mistakenly attributed this courtship of Mrs. Chester to Richard Smith Jr. who was much younger than she.

He came to New England 1637 on an unnamed ship, captained by John Driver from Weymouth to New England, April 1637 along with two children and one servant,^[6] and briefly spent time in Taunton, Massachusetts.^[7] 3 Dec 1638 at a court in New Plymouth, "Mr. Richard Smyth, of Cohannatt, (Taunton) tooke the oath of allegiance to the King, & fidelitie to the colony," and was proposed as a freeman 3 Sep 1639^[8]

He followed Rev. Doughty, who was expelled from Taunton for religious differences, briefly to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, then to New Amsterdam where he had a house on what is now Stone Street; he purchased a lot on the East River in July 1645. His Dutch trading house in New Amsterdam burned in 1646, after which he probably returned permanently to his trading post at Wickford, Rhode Island.^[9] He was admitted an inhabitant of Newport in 1638,^[10] and of Portsmouth in 1640.^[11]

Between 1637-1639, he came to the Narragansett country near present-day Wickford, Rhode Island^[1] and bought 30,000 acres of land on the west side of Narragansett Bay. Later he speculated in other large purchases or long term leases. One instance of how business was done in those days was his lease for 1,000 years of a certain tract of land, payment to be one red honeysuckle every midsummer's day, when lawfully demanded.

Richard Smith established a trading house in the midst of the Narragansett Indians, giving free entertainment to travelers passing through that section. Under the hospitable roof of Smith's Castle gathered famous people of the day such as Roger Williams, William Blackstone, Governor Winthrop, George Fox the Quaker, Dean Berkeley the philosopher, Smibert the artist, and others like Benjamin Franklin, General Lafayette, General Nathanael Greene of Revolutionary fame. Richard Smith probably did not occupy this house with his family for any length of time, although he kept coming and going with his children and servants. It was a trading post, 50 miles from any settlement, and in a neighborhood abounding with dangerous savages.

As the Narragansett country was still too lonely and dangerous, Richard Smith came to New Amsterdam where he was gladly welcomed by the Dutch. He spent about 20 years among the Dutch on Manhattan Island. During all this time Richard Smith continued his Narragansett Indian trading house, making frequent visits there with some of his family, and occasionally appearing before the Dutch Council at New Amsterdam for protection of his rights or on questions connected with his trading. A close friend and neighbor, Roger Williams, built a trading house about one mile from Richard Smith around the year of 1644. He often preached to the Indians at Smith's block-house.

The most exciting days centered around December 1675 when Smith's Castle, as it came to be called, became the military headquarters of the whole New England army of 1,000 men from Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth and Connecticut both before and after the Great Swamp Fight of King Phillip's War. This battle, fought near Kingston in a freezing blizzard, resulted in victory for the white men and the beginning of the extermination of the Narragansetts. Forty of the colonists killed are buried in a common grave near the house. When troops were removed, Smith's Castle was attacked in 1676 by Indians after Richard's death and partially burned. Richard's son, Richard Smith, Jr., rebuilt it on the same site two years later.

Richard Sr died in 1666^[1] being buried under a small slate stone which reads only "R. Smith, 1666".^[12]

Smith's Castle still stands today near Wickford.

Last Will & Testament (abbreviated)

Richard Smith of Wickford, in the Narragansett Countrey, in New England, Yeoman dated 14 July 1664, ...

• to my son Richard Smith all my Right, Title and interest of, in and to my Dwelling house, and Lands in Wickford aforesaid, and is bounded on the Southwest by Annoquatucket river, and by the Lands of Capt. William Hudson, Northeasterly and on the East by a fresh river or brook and Creek and Cove...
• to my Son Richard Smith, all my right title and interest in lands in Cunnanicot Island and Dutch Island....
• to my daughter Elisabeth, wife of John Vial of Boston, Vintner, all that my Share, 1/3 part of Land lying on the Southerly side of my son, Richard Smith's two thirds part of a tract of land lying on the Easterly side of the aforesaid fresh river, or Brook, and Creek and Cove, Commonly Called by the name of Sagag.
• Of my share in Great Neck of Land beyond Capt. Edward Hutchins's house, Westward and Southward and all the rest of my share of Land belonging to that purchase And also my share of Land of the last purchase and all my Cattle, Horses, Mares, Sheep, Goats, & Swine and all my Goods and Debt whatsoever to me appertaining be (after my decease) Divided into Four Equal parts and portions:
  • To my son Richard Smith, and his heirs, the one fourth part or portion thereof, and
  • to my Daughter, Elisabeth, wife of John Vial and her issue, I give one other Fourth part thereof, and
  • to my Grand Children, the Children of my dec'd daughter Katharine, sometime wife to Gilbert Updike, one other forth part thereof to be Equally Divided amongst them. And
  • to my Grand Children, the Children of my deceased daughter, Joan, sometime wife to Thomas Newton, one other fourth part thereof to be Equally divided amongst them my S'd Grand Children, parts to be paid to each of them,
• Viz. To Each of my Grandsons as they Come to the age of Twenty one years;
• And to Each of my Grand Daughters as they Come to the age of Eighteen years, or on day of marriage which shall first happen,
• And in Case that any One of my Grand Children, the Children of my daughters Katharine and Joan, do Dyue before they come to be of the age aforesaid or Marr'yd, then such part or share, as should have been to such deceased, shall be to the Survivours of them, part and part alike to them to be divided.

My sons, Richard Smith, and John Vial, to be Executors with my friend Capt. Edward Hutchinson of Boston. Before John Leverett Assistant, Entered and recorded at the request of the s'd Vial the 22d. of August, 1666.^[13]

Children

Children baptized at Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England:

1. Joan (Johan Smyth) baptized on 22 January 1623.^[2][14]
2. Katherine (Katheryne Smyth) baptized on 26 Aug 1627.^[2][15]
3. James (James Smyth) baptized on 13 Dec 1629.^[2][16]
4. Richard Smith baptized on 19 Dec 1630.^[2][17]
5. Elizabeth Smith baptized on 18 Mar 1631.^[2][18]

Extracted from Will:

1. Joan (died before father) m. Thomas Newton and had children given bequests in her father's will.
2. Katherine (died before father) m. Gysbert Opdyck and had children given bequests in her father's will.
3. James not mentioned in will, thus presumed deceased.
4. Richard Smith Jr; only surviving son; active and prominent; corresponded frequently with the Winthrops; made several trips to England; served as member of Andros' Council in 187; justice of the peace;major in the militia; died wealthy. Will dated 16 March 1690/91 (pro. 19 May 1692); m. Ester _____ who d. bef. 12 July 1692, when admin. was granted to Lodowick Updick, sole surviving executor.
5. Elizabeth m. (1) John Vial of Boston; (2) Samuel Newman.

Research Notes

It appears this profile was merged with profiles of other men by the same name, including a Richard Smith who settled in Connecticut (Wethersfield?) and was married to one Rebecca Buswell.^[19]

Nov 1669 Letter of son Richard(2) Smith to Uncle

"UNKELL BARTON: my kind respets presented to you and to my aunt Irland. Yor Leter by John Sundrland I receved & nothing in the world could be more aceptabel then to heare of yor helth and welfare in this life; and my prayres shall be that god will inrich you with his everlasting blesing of his Loue and fauor. I could wish opertunity would so faver me that I might see your fasee [sic]. While Life Continuys it shall be my indeveres to acomplish it, for in my mind I, have with you; though god hath setled the bounds of all men, and my habutacion att present remott from you. I hope to see you if god spare my Life & yor butt one yeare or two Longer. It shall and is my indevres to drawe my buisnes to sush a hede that I may with some safety Leve it, though much bisness att present atends me. We are all i helth, my Cousen Ester Smith [footnote: "Richard Smith had the unusual habit of referring to his wife as his 'cousin' in his many letters."] presents her resp[ec]ts to you and all her frends, my Loue to all relacions. Sir: be plesed to wright to me by all opertunitys: I shall not remit any. This berer Lives near me namly Christopher ffowlders, hath sume estaet att Aliston; if you send by him he will deliver it, he is an honist Quacker. Sir (I thainke) you for yr [illegible]butt it [about four words obliterated] it I he not sene John Sundrland butt shall s[manuscript mutilated] Shall send you a fachnabel [i.e., fashionable] bevor [ie., hat of beaver fur] as sone as I can gett it made. Nott elce: but in greatt haste take my Leve and remayne yor ever obleged kindsman, RICH SMITH.^[20]

Dec 1674 letter of Richard(2) Smith to John Smyth of Nibley

(No relationship yet discovered, this letter communicates that Richard intended to return to England the following spring, and that he requested that his interests be protected.)

MUCH HONNORED SIR, my deare respe[c]ts & servis to you selfe and your honnored good Ladey with all your relacions, not forgetting your great respe[c]t extended twowords me: since, my: departuer, in doeing what you could to maynetayne my intrest in my Abstanc, which I have had anacount of, I have since my departuer mett also with vauaues [i.e., various] sucksese in my Negociacions, having lost much by reson of the late war, I intend by the first ship that comes from hence in the springe next, if god permit, to: waight upon you; if my Luife contuniey; and that withoutt fayle: where I hope to find your favoraball aspectt, and doe request your favorabll asistanc: still to contuney: relating to the Managment of that smalle mater I have in Eingland in kepeing it outt of the hands of roges & knaves, as hetherto: you have done, Robert Thurston nott being so capaball: without your asistanc, all thatt I can doe att present in my thainkfull acknowlidgement for all your and my wellwishies towards you and your...^[21]

1675 Lawsuit

A Gloucestersire lawsuit (Ireland v. Thurston) suggests that Richard Smith was at that time executor of the estate of one William Barton, who had once lived in New England, but had returned to Gloucestershire:

William Barton by his last will dated in 1679 [sic], devised to his Sister's Children, (Whereof Eleanor, Mary, and William, the Plaintiffs, are three) 50 [pounds] a-piece to be paid within 3 Months after his Decease; and made Defendant [Richard] Smith (then in New England) Executor, and left a great personal Estate there, of which Smith the executor possessed himself, and proved the Will, and returned into England, having left the Care and Management to the other Defendant Thurston, in Trust to pay the Testator's Debts and Legacies, and particularly the Legacies given to the said Plaintiffs.

Thurston had sufficient to pay all the Debts and Legacies with a great Overplus, and therefore confessed Assets; but that he had expended for Smith more than he had received, and refused to pay the Legacies due to the Plaintiffs; because they and their Father and Mother had abused him by uncivil Language;

Wherefore it appearing that Smith had promised to pay the said Legacies, and had given Orders to Thurston for that Purpose, who was entrusted with the estate, in order to pay the said Debts and Legacies, and had paid all but to the Plaintiffs,, and had confessed Assets, but would not pay, because of ill Language;

The Court decreed him [Thurston] to pay the several Legacies to the Plaintiffs, with Interest from the Time the same shoud have been paid, with Costs our of his own Estate, and so doing to be indemnified, &c.^[22]

The 2010 authors note that there is no record of William Barton leaving an estate in New England, nor has his will been located.

Richard Smith had come from Gloucestershire in England, according to Roger Williams, where "he left a fair possession" because of his "conscience toward God."He arrived in New England at an unknown date, where he settled for a while in Taunton in the Plymouth Colony, but soon established a trading post on the western side of the Narragansett Bay, the year being about 1637 by Williams' recollection, but Francis Brinley puts the year closer to 1641. Here he built the first English house among the native Narragansett people, and though destroyed during King Philip's War, another was built by his son, Richard, Jr., at the same location, and continues to stand as a local landmark called Smith's Castle. Within a few years, by 1645, Roger Williams left Providence and built another trading post about a mile north of Smith's establishment, along the main road, called the Pequot Path or Post Road. This main road connected the New York colony to Boston, and all travelers along the road passed Smith's and Williams' trading houses. Williams remained in the area until 1651, when he sold his property to Smith to generate funds for his proposed trip to England.^[23][24][25]

Smith's Castle

Smith's Castle was built in 1678, by his son Major Richard Smith Jr., as a replacement for an earlier structure which was destroyed by the Narragansett Tribe during King Phillip's War. The land on which the house was built was known as Cocumscussoc (or Cocumscossoc), and was the original site of Roger Williams' trading post. Williams was the founder of Rhode Island and a prominent Baptist theologian. He built the trading post on the site in 1637 to trade with the Narragansetts after receiving the land from the tribe. Eventually, Williams sold the trading post to Richard Smith to finance his trip to Great Britain to secure a charter for Rhode Island. Smith bought the trading post and surrounding lands from Williams and constructed a large house which was fortified, giving the house its nickname as a castle. His son Richard Smith Jr. inherited the plantation in 1666 and invited militias from Massachusetts and Connecticut to use the property during King Phillip's War. In retaliation for the Great Swamp Fight, the house was burned, and the present structure was built in its place, originally as a saltbox house, and later modified into its current form. Approximately 40 soldiers were buried on the property during King Phillip's War. Additionally, the only incident of an individual being hanged, drawn and quartered for treason on American soil took place at Smith's Castle in 1676. Joshua Tefft (1646-1676), an English colonist accused of having fought on the side of the Narragansett during the Great Swamp Fight, was executed by this method.

Eventually the property was transferred to the Updike, Congdon and Fox families. It was the site of a large dairy farm into the twentieth century until it became a museum. In the early twentieth century, preservationists Norman Isham and John Hutchins Cady stabilized the house and performed several minor restorations.^[26]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Updike, Wilkins. A History of the Episcopal Church in Narragansett, Rhode Island, Boston, The Merrymount Press, 1907, pp. 11-13, 127, 215, 220, 313-320, 324, 326, 328, 410-411, 454-455, 528. (contains detailed biographies of Richard Smith and Gysbert Updike) https://archive.org/details/historyofepisc01updi/page/n6/mode/1up
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} Updike, Daniel Berkeley. Richard Smith, First English Settler of the Narragansett Country, Rhode Island, Merrymount Press, 1937, pages 3-26, and 69-76. Archive.org
3. ↑ W.P.W. Phillimore, ed., Gloucestershire Parish Registers; Marriages, 17 vols. (London, 1898-1914), 15: Thornbury, 21.
4. ↑ Gloucestershire Parish Registers, Marriages. vol. 15 (1909), W.P.W. Phillimore, London, England, p. 21 https://archive.org/details/gloucestershirep15phil/page/21/mode/1up
5. ↑ Brandon and Mahler (2010), p 262, citing The Correspondence of Roger Williams, 1988.
6. ↑ "Genealogical Gleanings in England." NGSQ 71:176.
7. ↑ John C. Brandon and Leslie Mahler, FASG. "English ancestry of Joan Barton, wife of Richard Smith of Narragansett, Rhode Island" in The American Genealogist 84 (2010) pp. 257-264, citing statement of Roger Williams
8. ↑ New Plymouth Colony; Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet and Pulsifer, David (eds.) Records of the colony of New Plymouth, in New England : printed by order of the legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Boston : Press of W. White, 1855) 1:103; 1:132
9. ↑ Brandon and Mahler (2010), p 263, without citing reference for New Amsterdam claims
10. ↑ Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England]] Rhode Island; Bartlett, John Russell (ed)(1856) p. 92
11. ↑ Portsmouth (R.I.); Perry, Amos, ed and Brigham, Clarence S, ed. The early records of the town of Portsmouth; (Providence, R.I., E. L. Freeman & Sons, state printers, 1901) p. 16
12. ↑ Brandon and Mahler (2010), p 264, citing Updike, pp 12-23
13. ↑ Brandon & Mahler (2010), p 263, citing Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, p 185
14. ↑ Johan Smyth baptism: Gloucestershire Anglican Parish Registers. Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucestershire, England (Ancestry) https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/16146884:4732?ssrc=pt&tid=35595008&pid=19980809174
15. ↑ Katheryne Smyth baptism: Gloucestershire Anglican Parish Registers. Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucestershire, England (Ancestry) . https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/16147246:4732?ssrc=pt&tid=35595008&pid=18833590202
16. ↑ James Smith baptism: Gloucestershire Anglican Parish Registers. Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucestershire, England (Ancestry) https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/16147499:4732?ssrc=pt&tid=35595008&pid=19980810888
17. ↑ Richard Smith (Jr) baptism: Gloucestershire Anglican Parish Registers. Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucestershire, England (Ancestry) https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/16147615:4732?ssrc=pt&tid=35595008&pid=19980813294
18. ↑ Elizabeth Smith baptism: Gloucestershire Anglican Parish Registers. Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucestershire, England (Ancestry) https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/16147762:4732?ssrc=pt&tid=35595008&pid=19980810478
19. ↑ U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012), Ancestry.com, Record for Rebecca Buswell. Ancestry.com
20. ↑ Brandon & Mahler (2010), p. 258, citing Daniel Updike, Richard Smith, First English Settler of the Narragansett Country, Rhode Island, 1937.
21. ↑ Brandon & Mahler (2010), p 259, citing Updike, 46
22. ↑ Brandon & Mahler (2010), p 259, citing William Nelson Report of Cases Decreed in the High Court of Chancery During the Time of Sir Heneage Finch..., (London 1725) p 213
23. ↑ "History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta";Arnold, Samuel Greene { Vol.1. New York: D. Appleton & Company}1859.
24. ↑ >"History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations";Bicknell, Thomas Williams {Vol 2. New York: The American Historical Society}(1920).
25. ↑ Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island; Austin, John Osborne{Albany, New York: J. Munsell's Sons}(1887).
26. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith%27s_Castle

• Richard Smith (settler) Is this the Richard Smith identified in this Wikipedia article? I change his death info based on this article.

• Book Title: Cary Family History by Joiner, Rev. Darrell and Sallyann

• Wikipedia contributors. "Richard Smith." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 21 July 2018.

• Richard Smith ... © 1997, Sam Behling

• Great Migration Directory Sources: NGSQ 71:176; PCR 1:103, 132, 8:186 (can't find on page); MD 13:86 ("Richard Smyth and Ruth Bonum marryes xxvii March 1646": "Plymouth Colony Vital Records.") ?him?; RICR 1:92; PoTR 16; GMN 23:3 Wethersfield guy); Austin 185; TAG 27:222-23, 84 257-64 -- Note all checked and added if appropriate.

• Lull, Newton. Genealogical Notes Concerning Descendants of Thomas Newton of Fairfield, Connecticut (G.E. Marshall, Chicago, 1896) Page 7: He, at first, objected to the marriage of his daughter Joan.

• https://sakonnet.net/richard-smith-narragansett-portsmouth-new-amsterdam-cocumscussoc/

See also:

• Wills of the Smith families of New York and Long Island, 1664-1794 Intro page ix

• Bicknell, Thomas. The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (The American Historical Society, Inc., New York, 1920)
• https://books.google.com/books?id=bskpAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA120

• Updike Genealogy, page 80