NESMITH – Descendants of Nutfield Settler James Nesmith

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:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/11/tombstone-tuesday-nesmith-derry-new.html  

Click here for links to the entire series of the first 16 settlers:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/p/nutfields-first-16-settlers.html  


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "NESMITH – Descendants of Nutfield Settler James Nesmith"; Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 2, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/03/nesmith-descendants-of-nutfield-settler.html: accessed [access date]). 

Friday Funny ~ A Genealogy Poem

A PUZZLE IN RELATIONSHIP
       by Robert Dinsmoor

My cousin dear, my uncle’s wife,

     Explain this misty point to me,

I cannot tell to save my life,

     What our relationship may be:

My cousin, yet my aunt you’re stil’d,

     I am, which seems a sin to be,

Your uncle’s son, your sister’s child;

     And what are you akin to me?

According to the book Poems of Robert Dinsmoor, this poem was “Addressed Jan. 2, 1776 to his cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. James and Elizabeth (McKeen) Nesmith, of Londonderry, N.H., who married his uncle, Capt. James Cochran, of Windham, the son of Capt. John and Jennie (McKeen) Cochran, ancestors of the Cochrans of Windham, N. H.  His cousin was born March 22, 1749; died April 29, 1824.  Capt. James Nesmith, above mentioned, was born Aug. 4, 1718, just before the departure of his parents from Ireland, and was the son of Dea. James Nesmith, one of the first sixteen settlers in Londonderry, N. H.  The Nesmiths emigrated from Scotland to the valley of the River Bann, in Ireland.”

From Poems of Robert Dinsmoor: “The Rustic Bard”, by Robert Dinsmoor, James Dinsmoor, edited by Leonard Allison Morrison, Boston, Massachusetts:  Damrell & Upham “Old Corner Book Store”, 1898,   page 71.

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To Cite/Link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Friday Funny ~ A Genealogy Poem", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 7, 2014, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/02/friday-funny-genealogy-poem.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Nesmith, Derry, New Hampshire

This tombstone was photographed at the Forest Hill Cemetery, Derry, New Hampshire.

It has the entire genealogy of the Nesmith family! 

Side One

JAMES NESMITH

emigrated from the North of Ireland

in 1718 and with 15 other families

were the original settlers of Londonderry,

N.H. in 1719; died 1767; aged 75, his wife

ELIZABETH, dau'r of Rev. J's McKeen

died in 1763; aged 67, their child'n

were ARTHUR, set'd in S. part of L.D.

afterwards removed to State of

Me.  JAMES, set'd in N. part of L.D.

JOHN, set'd in S. part of L.D. mar'd to

Elizabeth Reid.  THOMAS, set'd in S. part

of L.D. mar'd Annis Wilson

ELIZABETH

JOHN NESMITH, died 1815, aged 87.

Elizabeth, his wife, died 1793, aged 64.

Their child'n were JAMES

mar'd Elizabeth Brewster. ARTHUR 

mar'd Mary Duncan.  JOHN, mar'd 

Susan Hildreth, 2d wife Lydia Sargent.

EBENEZER mar'd Jane Troler.

THOMAS, not mar'd

died at L.D. 1815, aged 40

ELIZABETH, mar'd James Pinkerton

MARY, mar'd John Miltemore

JANE mar'd Hugh Anderson

BENJAMIN NESMITH, youngest son of the

emigrant (mar'd Agnes Gilmore)

Died in Belfast, Me. Sept 1800 aged 66

Side Two

THOMAS NESMITH

died Nov. 30 1789 aged 58

Annis Wilson his wife died Jan. 1, 1821

aged 82, then children were

JOHN mar'd Lucy Martin

ELIZABETH mar'd Jon'a Wallace, she died

at Essex, NY

THOMAS died in infancy

Side Three

JOHN NESMITH

died Feb 4, 1806, aged 44

Lucy Martin, 1st husband John Nesmith

2nd husband, Dan'l McKeen, she died Feb 2,

1837' aged 72, children of first marriage were

JACOB M. died Jan. 19, 1863; aged 77

THOMAS, died July 31, 1870; aged 82

ELIZABETH, mar'd Alexander Park, died

at Windham, Jan. 18, 1836; aged 44

JOHN, died Oct. 15, 1869; aged 76

JAMES W. died Apr. 29, 1881; aged 85

LUCY mar'd John Patten; died Apr. 22

1848; aged 49

ANNIS, mar'd Wm. Davidson, 1801 - 1877

GEORGE R. died, Aug. 21, 1882; aged 79

JONATHAN W. died at Somerville Nov. 2, 

1847, aged 42

ELIZA wife of James W. Nesmith

died Aug. 28, 1865; aged 58 yrs

and dear family

JAMES AUGUSTUS died Sept. 28

1845, aged 11 yrs

MARY ANN wife of Benjamin Parsons

died Apr. 25, 1913; aged 80 yrs, 9 ms

Side Four

JOHN NESMITH

died Nov. 9, 1844; aged 78, mar'd

Susan Hildreth who died 1813; aged ??

2d wife Lydia Sargent. child'n of the

Died April 19, 1856

marriage were 

JOHN P.

ISABELLA A.

SUSAN H.            SAMUEL H.

JAMES P. died at Matanzas April 21, 1844

aged 27

MARY NESMITH Died Feb. 21, 1869

THOMAS, died Nov. 17, 1888

ELIZABETH

child'n of the 2d marriage were

ALBERT S. died Apr. 1, 1860. aged 44

CHARLES E.

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo