ANDREW SMITH II was born February 8, 1689/90 in Burlington (now Mercer) County, New Jersey, the youngest son of ANDREW SMITH and his wive OLIVE. On February 28, 1702/03, he together with his siblings were baptized by Reverend John Talbot, minister of St. Ann’s (later St. Mary’s) Episcopal church in Burlington, New Jersey, in order to procure their inheritance rights under English law [Stillwell, John E., Historical and Genealogical Miscellany of New York and New Jersey, Volume 2, 1906, p. 49]. On March 5, 1705/06, Andrew Smith and his brother Thomas Smith gave evidence in behalf of Queen Anne in a case against Eldad Davis [Reed, H. Clay and George J. Miller, ed., The Burlington Court Book, 1944, p. 311]. Prior to September 4, 1709 (birth of his first child), Andrew Smith had married 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]), the daughter of JONATHAN STOUT of Hopewell and his wife ANNA BOLLEN. About 1711, they built a stone house for their new family which still survives today, located on Harbourton-Woodsville Road in Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. Smith’s wife Sarah was one of the charter members of Hopewell Baptist Church, which first convened on April 23, 1715 at the house of her brother Joseph Stout in Hopewell. In the 1722 Tax List of Hopewell Township, “Andru Smith” was assessed with 500 acres of land, 25 cattle and horses, 15 sheep, and 1 slave [Hale, Rev. George, A History of the First Presbyterian Church of Hopewell at Pennington, New Jersey, 1876, p. 15].
Reverend George Hale in his 1876 publication (pp. 42-44) also writes that Andrew Smith and his son Timothy were surveyors, and this statement is repeated in Eli Cooley’s Early Settlers in Trenton and Ewing (1883, pp. 264-265) as well as History of Burlington and Mercer Counties, New Jersey by E. M. Woodward and John F. Hageman (1883, p. 827). The deed books of West Jersey show that Andrew Smith had a number of land transactions in the 1750s [West Jersey Deeds, Liber L, 1754-1757, pp. 256, 258; Liber N, 1756-1758, pp. 69, 72].
Like his father before him, the family of Andrew Smith and wife Sarah Stout is recorded in the Smith bible as follows:
Andrew Smith was born September the 4th 1709, Deceasd ye 20th of March 1794
Jonathan Smith was born April the 30th 1711, Deceasd ye 20th of August 1791
George Smith was born February the 20 1712/13, Deceasd
Charles Smith was born November the 30th 1714, Desesed August the 12th 1718
Anna Smith was born January the 28 1716, Deceassed August ye 27 1777 wife of John Titus
Charles Smith was born December the 30th 1718, Desesed August 8th 1744
Mary Smith was born September the 14th 1720, Desesed March 23, 1757 wife to Jonathan Hunt
Joseph Smith was born July the 24th 1722, Desesed August 19th 1744
John Smith was born July the 14th 1724, Desesed September the 7 1744
Thomas Smith was born November the 7th 1727, Desest September 3 1744
Timothy Smith was born November the 20th 1730, Desseased February 19th 1796
Nathan Stout (1748-1826) in his 1823 manuscript genealogy entitled History of the Stout Family wrote the following concerning the family of Andrew Smith and his wife Sarah Stout:
I shall now introduce the daughters of Jonathan Stout, the son of Richard the First. The eldest daughter was Sarah, who was born in the year 1689, and married Andrew Smith, by whom she had a number of sons and one daughter. Four of her first sons died young with the sore throat. She had after them, five sons and one danghter, viz: Jonathan, Andrew, George, Charles, Timothy and Anne. Jonathan married a Hixon, by whom he had a large family of children. One of his sons was a judge of the Court of Hunterdon a number of years, which office he served with reputation and honor. His name was John. Andrew married a Mershon, by whom he had a number of children. George married and had a family, but I know nothing about the family he married into. Charles married a daughter of Thomas ____, and had a son named Jonathan. Timothy married a Lott and had a family of children. His son George now lives on the farm where his father died. Anne married John Titus, by whom she had a number of daughters, and but one son whose name was Andrew, who died single with the small pox.
As alluded to in the above passage, tragic illness did strike the family of Andrew Smith in 1744, as a number of his children died that year as shown by both the Smith Bible and their grave markers at the Hunt Farm Burial Ground in Hopewell Township.
Andrew Smith devised his will in Hunterdon County, New Jersey on November 2, 1763. In his will, Smith bequeathed his sons Andrew, Jonathan, and George Smith a legacy of 5 Shillings. Daughter Anna Titus also received the same amount. Grandson Jonathan Smith, the son of deceased son Charles Smith, received 60 acres of land which had belonged to his late father and 20 Pounds, with a reversional interest to granddaughter Rachel North, who also received 20 Pounds. Son Timothy Smith received the remainder of Smith’s real property and was named executor of the will. The will was witnessed by Felix Lott, John Corwine, and Thomas Willson. The will was submitted for probate in Hunterdon County Court on April 24, 1767 [Hunterdon County, New Jersey Wills, File #719J; Recorded Copy, Hunterdon County, New Jersey Will Book 13, 1766-1769, p. 220].
The deaths of Sarah (Stout) Smith (d. July 12, 1761) and her husband Andrew Smith (d. March 21, 1767), as well as brother Joseph Stout (d.. October 19, 1766), are recorded in the bible of Sarah’s younger brother Samuel Stout (b. March 9, 1708/9). The bible record gives Andrew Smith’s year of death as 1762, but based on the probate of his will, the year 1767 was intended. An abstract of this bible is published in Bible Records, Hopewell, New Jersey (1945, pp. 95-97). The bible is deposited with the Hopewell Museum in Hopewell, New Jersey.
Both Andrew Smith and his wife Sarah (Stout) Smith are buried at the Hunt Farm Burial Ground off Harbourton-Woodsville Road in Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. While Andrew’s grave is not discernable, Sarah Smith’s grave has been identified in past surveys of the cemetery. Issue:
Copyright @ 2007-2009, James Mark Valsame, Raleigh, NC. Reproduction or publication of this material without the expressed permission of the compiler is prohibited.