Saturday, July 10, 2010

Surname Saturday - SMITH (NH > MA)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I'm up to number 75, who is Hannah Smith (1768-1827), one of my 4th-great-grandparents.

My ancestral line back through, um, one generation of SMITH is:

1. Randall J. Seaver

2. Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty V. Carringer (1919-2002)

4. Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)

8. Frank W. Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Harriet Hildreth (1857-1920)

18. Edward Hildreth (1831-1899)
19. Sophia Newton (1834-1923)

36. Zachariah Hildreth (1783-1857)
37. Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857)

74. Josiah Sawtell, born 24 January 1768 in Groton, Middlesex, MA, died 7 December 1847 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA. He was the son of 148. Ephraim Sawtell and 149. Abigiail Stone. He married 5 February 1789 in probably Raby, Hillsborough, NH.
75. Hannah Smith, born about 1767 in probably Raby, Hillsborough, NH, died 8 February 1827 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA.

Josiah Sawtell and Hannah Smith had 9 children: Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857); Josiah Sawtell (1791-????); Mary Sawtell (1793-1831); Chester Sawtell (1795-1875); Esther Sawtell (1797-1852); Horace Sawtell (1799-1825); Neuma Sawtell (1803-1826); Walter Sawtell (1805-1857); Price Sawtell (1810-1891).

I don't know the parents of Hannah Smith. I suspect that they are Joshua Smith and Hannah Baldwin, who were the only Smith family in Raby (now Brookline NH) in the 1760 to 1780 time frame. I have uncovered quite a bit of information about Joshua Smith, but have found no records to date that name Hannah (Smith) Sawtell as his daughter. Joshua Smith resided in the southeast part of Raby on the road towards what is now Pepperrell, Massachusetts. There are many town records for Joshua Smith, and the town history names his two wives, but he apparently left no probate record. I wrote up joshua smith - in raby/brookline 1769-? several years ago with what I knew about Joshua Smith.

Most of the data about the Josiah Sawtell family comes from a Boston Transcript query that reads (Boston Transcript (4th Series, entry #3534):

"(3534) 1. SMITH, SARTELL, BISHOP. Hannah Smith, born Jan. 1 1768, at Amherst, Mass., married Feb. 5, 1789, at Amherst, Josiah Sartell of Hollis, Mass. I wonder if her parents were Noah Smith and Mary, daughter of Edward Elmer, who were married in Amherst in 1766 at Amherst (probably). If this is true, who were Noah Smith's ancestors? The children of Hannah Smith and Josiah Sartell were:
(1) Josiah, Jr. born Brookline, N.H. Nov. 26, 1791 (I believe married Rebecca Manning).

(2) Hannah, born Brookline N.H. Nov. 6, 1789, married Zachariah Hildreth, who was born Townsend Mass.and died at Townsend Jan. 22, 1857; Hannah died at Townsend Jan. 13, 1851, children: Aaron, Clarissa, James, Clarissa 2d, Elizabeth, Milo, Moses, Edward, Harriet and Moses.
(3) Mary (Lee), born Townsend April 11, 1793, and died at Pelham, May 26, 1831, children Enos, Edwin, Samantha.
(4) Chester, born Townsend Aug. 6, 1795, died April 19, 1875; children Sophia and Mrs. Bizel.
(5) Esther, born Townsend May 13, 1797, died Amherst Mass. March 5, 1859.
(6) Horace, born Ashburnham, Mass. July 9, 1799, died Mason, N.H. May 21, 1825, married Sally Saunders, had daughter Elizabeth.
(7) Neuma, born Townsend June 6, 1802, and died Mason, N.H. Aug. 11, 1826.
(8) Walter, born Townsend, March 21, 1806, and died Townsend, Aug. 26, 1857, married Louisa Adams; had a son Perry.
(9) Price, born Townsend, Feb. 2, 1810, married Eliza Bishop at Watertown, N.Y., Feb. 21, 1831, who was born Dec. 12, 1806 at Westmoreland, Vt., and died Feb. 14, 1875 at Milwaukee; Price died Milwaukee, June 5, 1891. (Who were the parents of Eliza Bishop?)."

The writer of this query probably confused Amherst, Massachusetts (in western Massachusetts) and Amherst, New Hampshire (just north of Brookline, New Hampshire), and Hollis, Massachusetts (is there one?) with Hollis, New Hampshire (also near Brookline in New Hampshire). Noah Smith and Mary Elmer resided in Amherst, Massachusetts and had a daughter named Hannah Smith born 1 January 1768, but this family remained in Amherst, Massachusetts and that Hannah Smith did not marry Josiah Sartell.

There were several other Smith families in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire in the 1760 to 1800 time frame, but I cannot find my Smith/NH notebook or folder in the piles in the Genealogy Cave. Maybe it's time to start working on the Cave "archives" .... another significant task that's taken a backseat to blogging and speaking.

If there are any SMITH descendants from Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, I would really appreciate hearing from you, especially if you can identify the parents of my Hannah Smith.

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