Saturday, July 30, 2016

Surname Saturday ~ SMITH of Reading, Massachusetts


SMITH

My 8th great grandmother Hannah Smith married her husband, George Lillie on 15 November 1659.  Who was her father? According to Robert Charles Anderson in his Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634 -1635, Volume VI, pages 351-354, sketch of Francis Smith of Reading, there was no daughter named Hannah.  Francis Smith of Reading only named sons John and Benjamin Smith in his will.

Francis Smith, born in England and died 20 March 1650 in Reading, Massachusetts was  married to Alice Unknown about 1622.  His son John Smith (1622 - 1706) married, as his second wife, Mary Bill, my 1st cousin 8x removed- granddaughter of John Bill (1598- 1638) and Dorothy Tuttle, my 8th great grandparents on my father’s side.  Their son, Deacon Francis Smith (1658 – 1744) married Ruth Maverick, my 1st cousin 9 generations removed, granddaughter of Reverend John Maverick (1578 – 1638) and Mary Gye, my 11 great grandparents. A very tangled tree indeed!  But Francis Smith might not be my 9th great grandfather. 

If Hannah Smith is not the daughter of Francis Smith, she might be the daughter of Matthew Smith, who lived in Woburn, Reading and Charlestown, Massachusetts at this time period.  Anderson supposes that she might be Matthew’s daughter since he did have a child named "Hannah".  There were many other Smith families in Massachusetts, too.

Hannah remains another brickwall ancestress.  Hannah married George Lillie who settled in the west parish of Reading, Massachusetts (a village known as Woodend) and was the schoolmaster. They had four children, and then Hannah died in 1666.  George remarried to a woman named Jane and had two more children. Hannah and George’s son John Lilley,  my 7th great grandfather,  married Hannah Bassett and removed to Woburn, Massachusetts. 

My SMITH genealogy:

 Generation 1: Hannah Smith, died on 6 May 1666 in Reading, Massachusetts; married on 15 November 1659 in Reading to George Lillie as his first wife.  He was the son of Edward Lillie and Margaret Wharton.  He was born about 1637 and died 14 February 1691 in Reading. Four children. 

Generation 2:  John Lillie m. Hannah Bassett
Generation 3: Phebe Lilley m. Noah Eaton
Generation 4: Katherine Eaton m. John Emerson
Generation 5: Romanus Emerson m. Jemima Burnham
Generation 6: George Emerson m. Mary Esther Younger
Generation 7: Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder
Generation 8: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen
Generation 9:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ SMITH of Reading, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 30, 2016,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/07/surname-saturday-smith-of-reading.html: accessed [access date]. 

2 comments:

  1. Do you know anything about Edward Willard Smith, born 1920? He lived in North Reading, Mass. He was married to Dorothea Rydeard.

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    1. Sorry, Melissa, I don't know about Edward Willard Smith, but perhaps one of my readers can leave you a clue?

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