Hunt Farm Burial Ground

Hunt Farm Burial Ground
Harbourton-Woodsville Road, Hopewell Township, Mercer County, NJ


Andrew Smith I, ca. 1640/45-1703/04
A sketch by James Mark Valsame

This author wishes to acknowledge the research and writings of various individuals whose work has substantially contributed to our present knowledge and understanding of the Andrew Smith family. They are Rev. George Hale, Eli Cooley, Ralph Ege, William Ernest Merrill, George Hart, Bessie Henry, Rosalie C. Smith, Gloria Padach, Sally Bailey, and Ethel Stroupe.


      ANDREW SMITH I was born about 1640-1645, probably in West Riding, Yorkshire, England. In 1990, Rosalie C. Smith proposed in Volume Two of her genealogy Smith Gentes that Andrew Smith was the likely son of an ANDREW SMITH (christened July 18, 1619 Calverley Parish, West Riding, Yorkshire, England; married April 17, 1643 Calverley Parish to Unknown [per Rosalie C. Smith; marriage record not found in Calverley Parish records by author]; buried May 16, 1671 Farsley, Calverley Parish, West Riding Yorkshire, England), son of JOHN SMITH of Owlecotes, Yorkshire and his wife MARGARET BURNLEY. While this theoretical ancestry for Andrew Smith has been widely accepted by many researchers as established fact, there is actually no documentary evidence at this time to support such a genealogical connection. Further research in English records is needed. Mrs. Smith’s 1990 genealogy also asserted that Smith and his family immigrated to the Colony of West Jersey in 1677 on the vessel Kent with members of the Society of Friends [Quakers] from Kingston-upon-Hull, England. However, no original documentary evidence has been found to support the claim that Smith’s family were among the passengers of that specific voyage.

      Perhaps the earliest definitive reference to Andrew Smith can be found in a petition of Quakers dated December 5, 1678 [5th d, 10 mo, 1678] supporting Henry Jacobsen’s claim to Manticone Island in the Delaware River. Smith was one of 29 signers of the petition [Gehring, Charles T., ed., New York Historical Manuscripts, Dutch, Delaware Papers, 1664-1682, 1977, p. 231]. On June 14, 1680, Andrew Smith is listed among the freeholders and inhabitants of the jurisdiction of Court of Burlington who are “due their suit.” [Reed, H. Clay and George J. Miller, ed., The Burlington Court Book, 1944, p.1]. Andrew Smith acquired land that same year, for on January 20, 1680/81, a survey for Smith for 200 acres at the Falls of the Delaware [Trenton] adjoining Peter Fretwell was returned [Liber A, Revel’s Book of Surveys, 1680-1704, p. 14]. Four years later on June 24, 1684 [24th d, 4 mo, 1684], an entry in the Burlington Court minutes shows that Andrew Smith was listed as a freeholder with 200 acres in West Jersey [The Burlington Court Book, p. 30-32]. The following month in July, 1684, a survey of land was returned for Smith consisting of 200 acres adjoining William Wood and another 50 acres adjoining that tract [Liber A, Revel’s Book of Surveys, 1680-1704, p. 70]. Andrew Smith was a plaintiff in a case against Samuel Oldale at the Court of Common Pleas of Burlington County on February 6, 1688. The case was withdrawn. [The Burlington Court Book, p. 96].

     On May 21, 1688, Cornelius Empson of Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, yeoman, conveyed to Andrew Smith of Burlington County, New Jersey, yeoman, 200 acres in Burlington County of a tract called “Hopewell,” it being part of a 1/24 share bought of Benjamin Padley, baker, of North Cave, Yorkshire, England on August 21, 1684 [West Jersey Deeds, Liber B, Part 1, 1677-1694, p. 214]. Historian Ralph Ege in his 1908 publication Pioneers of Old Hopewell (pp. 114-115) mentions this land transaction in his discussion of Andrew Smith:

To Andrew Smith may be given the honor of naming Hopewell township, and a short sketch of his history may not be out of place just here as he was the progenitor of a distinguished family in the early history of the township. In the deed of Cornelius Empson of Brandywine Creek, now Wilmington, Delaware, to Andrew Smith dated May 20, 1688, the tract is called “Hopewell,” and when on February 20, 1699, application was made by the inhabitants north of the falls of the Delaware for a new township, they requested in the petition that it be called “Hopewell.” There were three Andrew Smiths in succession, among the early settlers of Hopewell township, all of whom distinguished themselves; but in the published histories of the family they have not included the first Andrew, giving the credit of naming the township to the second. The will of the first Andrew Smith was dated January 16, 1703, and is not recorded, but is on file with the inventory of his estate, in the office of the Secretary of State at Trenton. He resided within the boundaries of old Hopewell township in the vicinity of the present site of the Hospital for the Insane now in Ewing township. In his will, which was proved March 7, 1703, he leaves a legacy to his son Andrew Smith, who married Sarah, daughter of the first Jonathan Stout of Hopewell, and soon after the death of his father moved to the northern part of the township, and settled on the farm adjoining the Hopewell poor farm, now owned by Oliver G. Woodward.

The published histories of the Andrew Smith family alluded to by Ralph Ege in the preceding passage include Reverend George Hale’s A History of the First Presbyterian Church of Hopewell at Pennington, New Jersey (1876, pp. 42-44) and Eli Cooley’s Early Settlers in Trenton and Ewing (1883, pp. 264-265). A more modern and comprehensive genealogy of Andrew Smith’s descendants can be found in George W. Hart’s 1972 work, The Descendants of Andrew Smith.

     Burlington County court records show that Andrew Smith continued to remain active in court affairs during the 1690s. He served as a member of the Grand Jury at the court sessions of November 3, 1690, June 25, 1692, August 8, 1692, and February 20, 1692/93 [The Burlington Court Book, pp. 115, 141, 142, 148]. At the February, 1694 term of court, he was listed as an overseer of highways for Chesterfield in Burlington County. The following year on November 4, 1695, Andrew Smith and John Rudderow were fined 10 shillings by the Burlington County court for non-appearance in a bill of indictment against William Lovejoy and Anne Penston, wife of Stephen Penstom [The Burlington Court Book, pp. 176, 182].

     At the Burlington Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends convened between September 4-7, 1692, Andrew Smith and sixty-nine other men signed a document in defense of Reverend George Keith (ca. 1638/39-1716), an eminent minister of the Friends and former Surveyor-General of the Province of East Jersey. Keith had produced a schism in the Society of Friends in June, 1691 when he authored a declaration of belief for the Friends incorporating various aspects of more traditional Christian orthodoxy. The resulting division among the Friends over Keith's theological ideas resulted in Keith breaking from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and creating a new seperate faction of Friends known as "Christian Quakers" or "Keithians." Keith later returned to England, where he was ordained an Anglican minister in 1700. He visited the colonies again between 1702-1704 on a mission sponsored by the Society for the Preservation of the Gospel, and died on March 27, 1716 while serving as rector of Edburton Parish in Sussex, England.

     In April, 1697, Andrew Smith received a survey in behalf of his eldest son Thomas Smith for 100 acres adjoining Roger Parke’s tract of 400 acres. In the same month and year, he likewise procured another survey in behalf of his son Thomas for 200 acres on the North side of Stony Brook located between the lands of Joshua Ward and John Houghton [West Jersey Deeds, Liber A (Revel’s Book of Surveys, Reversed Side), 1680-1704, p. 15]. The two tracts of land totaling 300 acres were subsequently conveyed by the West Jersey Society by their agent Thomas Revell to Thomas Smith on February 25, 1698/99. The land was described as being “above the Falls of Delaware” [West Jersey Deeds, Liber B, Part 2, 1687-1703, p. 640]. Andrew Smith served again on a Grand Jury for Burlington County court on November 3, 1702 [The Burlington Court Book, p. 270]. On February 28, 1702/03, the children of Andrew Smith (namely, Thomas, Andrew, Elizabeth, Mary, and Hannah) as well as other Hopewell residents were baptized by Rev. John Talbot, and their baptisms were recorded in the parish register of St. Ann’s Church in Burlington, New Jersey. The first foundation stones of this Episcopal church had been laid on March 25, 1703, and it was officially chartered on October 4, 1704 by Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury (1661-1723; Governor of New Jersey, 1702-1708) and named after Queen Anne. When a new royal charter was granted on January 25, 1709, the church was subsequently known as St. Mary’s [Stillwell, John E., Historical and Genealogical Miscellany of New York and New Jersey, Volume 2, 1906, p. 49]. It is believed that Smith’s adult children were baptized in the Episcopal church to procure their inheritance rights under English law.

      Andrew Smith of Burlington County, New Jersey devised his will on January 16, 1703/04. In his will, Smith bequeathed to his son Andrew the plantation upon which he dwelled and half of his personal goods and chattels. John Fidler, a servant of John Parke, received twenty shillings. Daughter Elizabeth Smith received 30 Pounds in silver money. Daughter Mary, wife of William Scooley, was bequeathed 20 Pounds in silver money. The remaining sums of money and half of his personal goods and chattels were devised to daughters Sarah, wife of John Parke, Elizabeth Smith, and Mary, wife of William Scooley. Son Thomas Smith and daughter Elizabeth Smith were appointed executors to the will, which was witnessed by William Hixon, Caleb Wheatley, and Joshua Ward. The will was submitted for probate at Burlington Court on March 7, 1703/04 [Original will and inventory in New Jersey Unrecorded Wills, Volume 8, pp. 23-28; Recorded copy in New Jersey Unrecorded Wills, Book 1, pp. 1-3].

      The family records of Andrew Smith can be found in an ancient bible printed in London by Robert Barker in 1608. The bible also contains the family records of his son Andrew Smith (b. February 8, 1689, d. March 21, 1767; md. Sarah Stout) and his grandson Timothy Smith (b. November 20, 1730, d. February 19, 1796; md. Jane Lott). There are also additional handwritten references to other names such as George Pitt, John Pitt, Joseph Foster, John Seale, Sarah Foster, and Jonathan Stout, as well as a geographical reference to Grimethorpe, a village in Yorkshire, England. The bible was donated in 1948 in behalf of its owner James Morgan Smith to the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where it remained until 1976 when it was withdrawn and given back to Mr. Smith, who subsequently gave it to his daughter, Mrs. Sally Bailey. In September, 2004, Mrs. Bailey donated the bible to the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, Massachusetts. Articles concerning the bible were published in The American Genealogist in 1932 [Volume 9, pp. 222-223], 1948 [Volume 24, pp. 102-104], and 1976 [Volume 52, pp. 226-229]. Gloria Smith Padach published an article entitled “The Pitt/Smith Bible” which included photos of the bible in the August, 1994 edition of the Rowan County Register [Volume 9, No. 3, pp. 2049-2056]. An article giving a complete transcription and explanation of the bible by its owner Sally Bailey was published in the August, 1996 edition of the same publication [Volume 11, No. 3, pp. 2569-2574]. In 1972 while in possession of the Presbyterian Historical Society, the bible was microfilmed by the LDS (Mormon) Church [Film Number 0886968, Item 2]. The children of the earliest Andrew Smith are given in the bible as follows:

Sarah Smith was borne the 28 of the 9 month 1675 About the 10 hour before noon
Thomas Smith was borne abou[t] the 20 of November 1677
Elizabeth Smith was borne in the second month 1680 [Burlington Monthly Meeting, April 7, 1680]
Mary Smith was borne in the begining of the 7th month 1682
Hannah Smith was borne the last of the first month 1685
Andrew Smith Borne the 8th of the 12th month night 1689


St. Peter's, Felkirk Parish Church, Yorkshire, England

St. Peter's, Felkirk Parish Church, Yorkshire, England
Photo courtesy, Tom Merrell, Myrtle Beach, SC

      The identity of Andrew Smith’s wife or wives has been the subject of considerable debate by researchers. The records of the Burlington Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (called “Quakers”) contain a birth entry for Elizabeth, the daughter of Andrew Smith and wife Olive, on April 7, 1680 [7th d, 2nd mo, 1680]. This birth entry coincides with that found for daughter Elizabeth in the Smith family bible. Thus, this record establishes the first name of Andrew Smith’s wife. Rosalie C. Smith in Volume Two of her genealogy Smith Gentes (1990) suggested that Andrew’s wife may have been OLIVE PITT, based upon the appearance of that surname in the Smith bible. While on a research trip to England in 1982, Mrs. Smith located a reference to the 1630 marriage of GEORGE PITT, tanner, age 23 [1607] to OLIVE WALKER, age 20 [1610] in the parish of Felkirk, Yorkshire [Paver’s Marriage License Index, 1630-1644, p. 140]. Interestingly, the village of Grimethorpe mentioned in the Smith bible is located in the parish of Felkirk, Yorkshire, thus lending some credence to the theory that Smith’s wife might have been a daughter of the aforementioned couple. However, it should be emphasized that no documentary proof has yet been uncovered to further substantiate Mrs. Smith’s hypothesis, and more research is needed. In her 1994 article in the Rowan County Register, researcher Gloria Padach put forth the proposed theory that Andrew Smith’s first wife may have been SARAH FOSTER. Mrs. Padach based her hypothesis upon the appearance of that name in the Smith bible, as well as handwriting similarities she noted in the birth entry for Andrew Smith’s eldest daughter Sarah. A careful handwriting analysis of the original bible entries by this author has not yielded the same opinion, as all the bible entries appear to be written in the same hand. Although the capital “S” in Sarah’s birth entry is unique and does resemble the writing of Sarah Foster found elsewhere in the bible, all other letters in the Sarah Smith birth entry are clearly in the same hand as the subsequent entries. Indeed, it would appear that the style of capital “S” found in Sarah Smith’s birth entry is actually an overwrite or some type of handwriting experimentation on the part of the individual who wrote the entries. It may have been intended to make interpretation of the letter clearer to the reader. It is impossible to say with certainty whether the letter "S" was written by Sarah Foster. While Mrs. Padach’s theory has gained popular acceptance among some researchers of the Smith family, it seems entirely inconclusive whether Andrew’s first wife was Sarah Foster based solely on the evidence of handwriting found in the Smith bible. What relationship, if any, Sarah Foster had to the Andrew Smith family is presently unknown. Issue:

  1. SARAH SMITH, b. November 28, 1675 [28th day, 9th month, 1675] perhaps West Riding, Yorkshire, England, d. about 1759 Hampshire County, Virginia [now West Virginia]; md. before January 16, 1703/04 (date of father’s will), JOHN PARKE, b. about 1676-1680 probably Northumberland, England, d. about 1757 Hampshire County, Virginia [now West Virginia], son of ROGER PARKE and ANN PATTISON. In 1731, John Parke together with his brother-in-law Thomas Smith became litigants in a land lawsuit with Colonel Daniel Coxe effecting the residents of Hopewell Township, popularly known by historians as the "Coxe Affair.” As a result of this suit, many Hopewell residents were dispossessed of their land. On the evening of July 7, 1735, a group of twelve unknown men entered the homes of Duncan O’Guillon and John Collier (formerly in the possession of John Parks and Thomas Smith) and assaulted the inhabitants. The August 21-28, 1735 edition of The American Weekly Mercury contained a proclamation issued by New Jersey Governor William Cosby calling for the arrest and punishment of the offenders and their accomplices. Parke and Smith fled Hopewell following this incident. Researcher Ethel Stroupe gives an excellent and detailed overview of these events in her article entitled “Jersey Settlement Origins” [Rowan County Register, February, 1996, Volume 11, No. 1, pp. 2413-2434]. It is believed that both John Parke and Thomas Smith migrated with their families to Frederick County, Virginia (present day Hampshire County, West Virginia), settling near the Cacapon River. In 1747, a Frederick County, Virginia road order contains mention of both John Parke and Thomas Smith serving on a jury to build a road from “Park’s Grave Yard near the Capon Water over Dillings Run into the Waggon Road” [Frederick County, VA Court Order Book 2, 1745-1748, p. 208]. The survey book of George Washington contains an entry for a survey made for John Parke, Sr. on April 11, 1750 for 400 acres on the Cacapehon River in Frederick County, Virginia [George Washington Survey Book, 1749-1750, p. 53]. His son John Parke, Jr. also received a survey for 250 acres on a branch of the Cacapehon River dated March 31, 1750 [George Washington Survey Book, 1749-1750, p. 38]. An entry in Washington’s survey book of 1752 shows that John Parke, Jr. and his father John Parke, Sr. requested survey for 200 acres each on April 1, 1752 [George Washington Survey Book [List of Entries], 1752]. It is believed that early members of John Parke’s family may be buried in Kale Cemetery on the northern end of Parke’s 400 acres tract near Capon Bridge, Hampshire County, West Virginia. Some early Parke family members are also buried in Parks Hollow (Lovett) Cemetery near Capon Bridge, West Virginia. [Research of William Douglas Park].

  2. THOMAS SMITH, b. November 20, 1677 perhaps West Riding, Yorkshire, England or Burlington County, New Jersey. He received two tracts of land totaling 300 acres “above the Falls of Delaware” from the West Jersey Society on February 25, 1698/99, the surveys for which were procured for him by his father Andrew in April, 1697 [West Jersey Deeds, Liber A (Revel’s Book of Surveys, Reversed Side), 1680-1704, p. 15; Liber B, Part 2, 1687-1703, p. 640]. Like his brother-in-law John Parke, he was embroiled in the land controversies with Coxe, and fled to Frederick County, Virginia [now Hampshire County, West Virginia]. A Thomas Smith and John Parke are mentioned in a 1747 road order for the construction of a road near the Cacepon River [Frederick County, VA Court Order Book 2, 1745-1748, p. 208]. Researcher Gloria Padach in her August, 1994 article “The Pitt/Smith Bible” [Rowan County Register, Volume 9, No. 3, pp. 2049-2056] asserts that Thomas Smith married REBECCA ANDERSON (b. January 6, 1699/1700 Dutch Kills, NY, d. August 12, 1785 aged 86 years Rowan County, NC, daughter of CORNELIUS ANDERSON and ANNETJE OPDYCK) and migrated to Anson (later Rowan and now Davidson) County, North Carolina. On September 21, 1753, John Smith, Andrew Smith, and James Smith recorded their cattle marks, along with Jonathan Hunt (the husband of Mary Smith, daughter of Andrew Smith and Sarah Stout) [Rowan County, NC Court Minutes, Volume 1, p. 20]. The Rowan County, North Carolina Court Minutes further show the presence of a John Smith with wife Rebecca. He died intestate in Rowan County, NC by January 13, 1763, for on that date Rebecca Smith, wife and relict of John Smith, was granted letters of administration on the estate of her husband with Francis Johnson and James Carson as securities in the sum of 300 Pounds [Rowan County, NC Court Minutes, Volume 2, p. 442]. On April 13, 1763, a true and lawful inventory of sale of John Smith Dec'd was returned into open Court by Rebecca Smith, Administratrix [Rowan County, NC Court Minutes, Volume 2, p. 453]. Three days later on April 16, 1763, an order that the goods and chattels of John Smith, deceased, be sold at public vendue was issued [Rowan County, NC Court Minutes, Volume 2, p. 461]. Then on July 14, 1763, an inventory of the sale of John Smith deceased was returned to court [Rowan County, NC Court Minutes, Volume 2, p. 473]. Finally, on April 11, 1765, the estate of John Smith dec'd was settled by Rebecca Smith [Rowan County, NC Court Minutes, Volume 2, p. 583]. On September 4, 1763, Anderson Smith, Vincent Williams, and Andrew Smith posted bond for the marriage of Anderson Smith to Priscilla Williams. John Frohock served as a witness. Accompanying the bond is a note signed by Rebeckah Smith and James Smith as follows: Sir, These may and Do Certifie that you may Grant my Brother Anderson a license as he has mothers leave and mine as Andrew Smith Can inform yo(u) to which wee subscribe our Names this 2nd Day of October 1763. Rebeckah Smith, James Smith. This note suggests both that Anderson Smith was underage and that his father was most likely already deceased. In correspondence with this researcher, Mrs. Padach maintains that the Rebecca Smith who served as administrator of John Smith in 1763 is not Rebecca (Anderson) Smith of the Jersey Settlement, but rather the wife of John Smith of Crains (Cranes) Creek in present day Rowan County, North Carolina. She believes that the couple were a John Smith, Jr. and wife Rebecca Blackbourn, whose marriage was authorized by the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends on March 30, 1722 [1 mo, 30 d, 1722]. John Smith had acquired 640 acres on the east side of Crain's Creek from Peter and Catherine Arrandt on October 19 & 20, 1756 [Proven October 23, 1756; Rowan County, NC Deed Book 3, pp. 431-434]. A John Smith subsequently conveyed 322 acres of the same tract to Malcolm Blue on January 8 & 9, 1765 [Proven January Court, 1765; Rowan County, NC Deed Book 6, pp. 97-98]. The remaining 322 acres of John Smith's 1756 tract was sold by a Samuel Smith and his wife Sarah to John Bird in November, 1773 [Proven May 6, 1774; Rowan County, NC Deed Book 10, p. 148]. The issue of whether the wife of John Smith (d. 1763) was Rebecca Anderson or Rebecca Blackbourn seems inconclusive to this author at present. Mrs. Padach's 1994 article in the Rowan County Register asserts that Thomas Smith (b. 1677) is mentioned in a land grant to Robert Heaton. Heaton obtained a grant from Earl Granville on March 25, 1752 for 640 acres in Anson County adjoining the lands of Thomas Smith. The survey for this land was made on November 5, 1748, and shows that the land was on Swearing Creek (current day Davidson County). The chain bearers for the survey were John Titus and Jonathan Hunt, both of whom had married daughters of Andrew Smith and Sarah Stout of Hopewell, New Jersey. While Mrs. Padach believes that the man mentioned in Heaton’s survey was Thomas Smith (b. 1677), this researcher feels that the individual mentioned was a Thomas Smith who had devised his will in Anson County on August 12, 1751, mentioning wife Sarah and children Ann J. [Andrew?], Elizabeth, and Charles. Smith’s will provided that "the two orphan boys should have their dues from my Estate as their Indenture specifys,” and that his wife Sarah was "to give the children good learning out of it but when she marries again she is to deliver up the Estate to the use of the children." The will clearly shows that Thomas Smith’s children were young and probably under age, and it further implies that Thomas was probably not a man of advanced age. Thomas Smith appointed his wife and Jonathan Hunt his executors, and the will was witnessed by Robert Heaton, Aaron Vandover, and Martha (X) Heaton. There is no probate date, and only a recorded copy of the will survives [Anson County, NC Will Book 1, p. 1]. Robert Heaton undoubtedly witnessed the will because he owned land adjoining Smith, and Jonathan Hunt served as co-executor because he was probably Smith's relative. Based upon this author’s own research and analysis, it seems inconclusive whether the elder Thomas Smith (b. 1677) ever actually migrated to North Carolina.

  3. ELIZABETH SMITH, b. April, 1680 [2nd mo, 1680; April 7, 1680 per records of the Burlington Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends] probably Burlington County, NJ, d. May 4, 1765 Hunterdon (Mercer) County, NJ [Hunt Farm Burial Ground, Hopewell Township, Mercer County, NJ] ; md. after January 16, 1703/04 (date of father's will), JOHN REED, b. about 1675, d. between July 29-October 27, 1731 [Ege, Pioneers of Old Hopewell, p. 66] (Hunterdon County, NJ will devised July 29, 1731, proven October 27, 1731; New Jersey Wills, Liber 3, 1728-1734, p. 162; File # 69J). Elizabeth (Smith) Reed and her husband are buried at the Hunt Farm Burial Ground, Harbourton-Woodsville Road, Hopewell Township, Mercer County, NJ.

  4. MARY SMITH, b. September, 1682 [7th mo, 1682] Burlington County, NJ, d. before January 17, 1713/14 Hunterdon (Mercer) County, NJ [Date of marriage between William Schooley and second wife Priscilla Hixson]; md. before January 16, 1703/04 (date of father’s will), WILLIAM SCHOOLEY, b. October 2, 1679 Bucks County, PA [2nd d, 8th mo, 1679 per records of the Chesterfield Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends], d. about 1722 Maidenhead (Pennington), Hunterdon (Mercer) County, NJ, son of ROBERT SCHOOLEY and wife SARAH BINGHAM. "William Scholey, son of Robert Scholey," was baptized by Rev. John Talbot on February 28, 1702/03, and his baptism was recorded in the register of St. Ann’s Church (now St. Mary’s Church), Burlington County, NJ [Stillwell, John E., Historical and Genealogical Miscellany of New York and New Jersey, Volume 2, 1906, p. 49].

  5. HANNAH SMITH, b. March, 1685 [1st mo, 1685] Burlington County, NJ, d. April 19, 1727 Hunterdon (Mercer) County, NJ; md. after January 16, 1703/04 (date of father’s will), JOHN FIDLER, d. between October 8-25, 1759 Hunterdon (Mercer) County, NJ (New Jersey Wills, Liber 10, p. 115; File # 462J]. The identity of Andrew Smith’s daughter Hannah Smith has never been accurately revealed in previous publications. Alice Blackwell Lewis in her 1973 history Hopewell Valley Heritage (p. 87-88) incorrectly stated that John Fidler had married Sarah Smith (b. 1675), eldest daughter of Andrew Smith. This error was also published in George W. Hart’s 1972 genealogy The Descendants of Andrew Smith (p. 1), as well as Rosalie C. Smith’s 1990 genealogy Smith Gentes (Volume 2, p. 62). Mrs. Smith also writes that Hannah Smith married James Willson on October 7, 1697/98 in West Jersey. This statement is incorrect, as the marriage between James Wilson and Hannah Smith is recorded in the First Town Book of Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey (p. 77). This Hannah may be identical with the Hanna Smith born November 18, 1673, daughter of John Smith of Middletown, whose birth is recorded in the Town Book (p. 71). A transcription of the First Town Book of Middletown, New Jersey is contained in John E. Stillwell’s Historical and Genealogical Miscellany of New York and New Jersey, Volume 2, 1906 (republished 1970), pp. 149-198). Hannah Smith who married James Wilson in Middletown, New Jersey is clearly not the daughter of Andrew Smith of Hopewell. In the Hunt Farm Burial Ground in Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, there is buried a Hannah Fidler who died April 19, 1727. She is mostly likely identical with Hannah Smith (b. 1685). The will of John Fidler was devised in Hunterdon County, New Jersey on October 8, 1759 (Proven October 25, 1759), witnessed by Andrew Smith Junr., Richard Reed, and John Titus Junr. The will mentioned his wife named Sarah, as well as daughter Sarah Fidler, son John Fidler, daughter Mary Rose, daughter Elizabeth Stilwell, son Nathan Fidler, and son Thomas Fidler. John Fidler is buried at the Hunt Farm Burial Ground as well. His grave indicates that he was 62 years of age (thus born about 1697), although this may be a possible error in interpretation of the inscription. Hannah Smith was probably Fidler’s first wife, and Sarah named in his 1759 will was likely a second wife. While this thesis is not proven, it seems the most likely explanation of Fidler’s connection to the Andrew Smith family and the true identity of Hannah Smith.

  6. ANDREW SMITH, b. February 8, 1689/90 [8th day, 12 mo, 1689] Burlington County, NJ, d. March 21, 1767 Hunterdon (Mercer) County, NJ [Samuel Stout Bible, Hopewell Museum] (Hunterdon County, NJ will devised November 2, 1763, proven April 24, 1767; New Jersey Wills, Liber 13, 1766-1769. p. 220; File # 719J); md. before September 4, 1709 (birth of first child), SARAH STOUT, b. September 10, 1689 Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ [First Town Book of Middletown, New Jersey, p. 71], d. July 12, 1761 Hopewell, Hunterdon (Mercer) County, NJ [Samuel Stout Bible, Hopewell Museum], daughter of JONATHAN STOUT and ANNA BOLLEN. Andrew Smith and his wife Sarah are buried at the Hunt Farm Burial Ground, Harbourton-Woodsville Road, Hopewell Township, Mercer County, NJ.


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Copyright @ 2007-2009, James Mark Valsame, Raleigh, NC.   Reproduction or publication of this material without the expressed permission of the compiler is prohibited.