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| The Nesmith Family Memorial at Forest Hill Cemetery, East Derry, New Hampshire |
NESMITH / NAESMYTH
Deacon James Nesmith was born about 1692 in Northern
Ireland. He emigrated from the river
Bann valley and came to America in 1718.
He was one of the signers of the petition to Governor Shute on 26 March
1718, and one of the original sixteen settlers in Nutfield. He married on 25 December 1714 in Antrim,
Ireland to Elizabeth McKeen, the daughter of Nutfield settler James
McKeen. He died on 9 May 1767 at age
75. His wife died in Londonderry on 29
April 1763.
Elizabeth was born in 1696 and died on 29 April 1763
at age 67.
James was one of the elders of the Presbyterian church
in the West Parish when it was formed in 1739.
Children (first two born in Ireland, the rest in
Londonderry, New Hampshire):
1. Arthur,
was born in Ireland, died young
2. James,
was born in Ireland on 4 August 1718, served in the Revolution (Bunker Hill and
the Battle of Bennington), and died on 15 July 1793 in Londonderry. He is buried at the Valley Cemetery in
Londonderry, New Hampshire. He married
Mary Dinsmoor, and had eight children: James
born 10 December 1744 (married Martha McCluer); Jonathan born August 1749 (married
Eleanor Dickey and removed to Antrim); Robert born 1748 (married Jane
Anderson), Margaret born 7 February 1747/8 (married Hugh Moore); Elizabeth born
22 March 1749/50 (married James Cochran of Windham); Mary Jean born 2 September
1751 (married James McCluer) of Acworth); Martha born 6 November 1755; and Sarah
born 27 May 1756 (married Daniel Anderson).
3. Arthur,
born 3 April 1721, married Margaret Hopkins, settled in Maine, had James, John,
Benjamin and Mary.
4. Jean,
born 12 April 1723, died young
5. Mary,
born 29 January 1726, died young
6. John,
born 6 February 1728, married Elizabeth Reid (sister of General George Reid) and
had eight children: James born 6
February 1758 (married Elizabeth Brewster and removed to Antrim); Arthur born
1760 (married Mary Duncan and removed to Antrim and then to Ohio); John born
about 1766 (married Susan Hildreth and married second to Lydia Sargent, and had 10 children by two wives); Ebenezer
born 27 March 1769 (married Jane Trotter); Thomas born 1775 (married Annie
Wilson); Elizabeth born 1762 (married Deacon James Pinkerton); Mary born 8 April 1764 (married John Miltimore
and removed to Pennsylvania); Jane born 14 July 1772 (married Hugh Anderson)
7. Elizabeth,
born 28 January 1730, married Jonathan Wallace and removed to New York state
where she died November 1817.
8. Thomas,
born on 16 March 1732, married to Annis Wilson, daughter of James Wilson and
Janet Taggart. He died on 30 November 1789.
Was a farmer in Windham. He had eight children: Jacob, Elizabeth (married Jonathan Wallace),
and Thomas.
9. Benjamin,
born 13 September 1734, married Agnes Gilmore. He died on 18 September 1800 in
Belfast, Maine. Agnes died at the home
of their son, Thomas Nesmith, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 18 October
1814. Their children were: James born 23
May 1764 and died 4 March 1811 in Belfast, Maine (married Nancy Gilmore);
Elizabeth born 10 September 1765 (married James Miller); Benjamin born 13
October 1767 (married Hannah Morrill); Jeanette born 27 May 1770 (married Dr.
William Crooks); Jonathan born 3 July 1772 and died 1798 in Belfast, Maine
(married Sally Crosby); Mary born 24 September 1779; and Thomas born 27 March
1782 (married Susan Davidson and Sally Loud Cargill).
Note: James
Nesmith had a brother, Thomas Nesmith, who lived near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
For more information:
History of Windham by L. A. Morrison, page 687
Scotch-Irish in New England by Arthur Latham Perry, Boston: Printed by
J.S. Cushing & Co., 1891
Willeys semi-centennial book of Manchester,
1846-1896 : and Manchester edition of the Book of Nutfield : historic sketches
of that part of New Hampshire comprised within the limits of the old Tyng
Township, Nutfield, Harrytown, Derryfield, and Manchester, from the earliest
settlements to the present time by George Franklyn Willey, 1896
Nesmith Genealogical Society: http://nesmithupdate.com/
For more photos and a transcription of the Nesmith Family tombstone, see this link:
Thank you for posting the Nesmith/Naesmyth story. This is my ancestry through my maternal grandmother, Ruth Adell Nesmith Terry.
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