The Reveren
nd Henry Smith in En
ngland 16118 to 1637 L. J. Hanch
hett and Paul Earl Smit h August 166, 2016 Cop
pyright 20166 Undergra
aduate Educcation Matriculaated Sizar (w
with scholarsship assistan
nce, not self‐‐pay) from M
Magdalene C
College 1
Cambridgge Easter (April 16) 1618
8. Wealthy students weere generallyy self‐pay. Graduate
ed during the year from Michaelmass (Septembeer 19) 1621 to Michaelm
mas 1622.2 In Service Training Northampto
onshire from
m December 1621 to Julyy 1623.3 Curate (ttrainee) at Cottingham, N
John Pow
well, the Recctor during th
his time, wh
ho was quite old, and dieed the year aafter Henry’s 4
departurre. This patttern of Henry assisting an older or innfirmed Recttor repeats iitself during the rest of Henry’s servicce in England
d. Henry siggnature follo
ows his agreement to the “Three Artticles of Wesstminster 16
604” at Cottingham May 22, 1622. This ssignature is ssubstantiallyy the same aas Henry’s signature as witness tto the will off Thomas Ho
ooker of Harttford, Conneecticut.5 Henry waas licensed tto serve Cotttingham as ccurate May 229,1623.6 1
John Venn (J. G. Bartlettt): Alumni Can
ntabrigienses.
UA Grace
e Book Zeta p 2
22 (no specific date recorded) Cambridge U
University Libraary. 3
Henry maade entries in tthe Cottingham
m Parish Registters in his own hand writing d
during this perriod. 4
CCEd for John Powell. 5
Letter fro
om P. I. King, off the Northamptonshire Reco
ord Office, to tthe author dated June 20, 19
985. 6
Deanery of Weldon 162
23 Visitation Bo
ook at the Norrthamptonshiree Record Officee. 2
Signature
e comparisons for tw
wo Henry SSmiths. Aprril 12, 20166 L. J.. Hanchettt The top siignature is for Henry Smith
h of Wethersffield, CT in 16647. The botttom signaturee is for Henry Smith of C
Cottingham, N
Northampton
nshire dated 1
1623. Note thhe following ffeatures: Similaritie
es: Most of He
enry is identiccal, especiallyy the H, n, an d y. The m, I, t, and h in Sm
mith are veryy close. The
e slant to both
h names is alm
most identicaal. more Difference
es: The only n
notable changge is the uppe
er loop of thee S in Smith. TThe letters in Smith seem m
connected
d in the former. Keep in m
mind that thesse signatures were executeed twenty‐four years aparrt. Ordinatio
on Henry waas ordained deacon at P
Peterborough
h June 7, 1623 and priesst June 8, 16
623.7 Post Graduate Educa
ation Henry graduated witth an M.A. degree in 162
25, also from
m Magdalenee.8 7
8
John Venn (J. G. Bartlettt): Alumni Can
ntabrigienses. CCEd for the pperson Henry SSmith. UA Grace
e Book Zeta p 9
97: Cambridge University Librrary. Mrs. Jane TTullia (Smith) B
Brady – Authorr : “A Record of the Rev Henrry Smith (Puritaan Preacher) aand His Family.” Natchez Sttationary Presss Co. 1951 First Marrriage
Henry maarried Elizab
beth Richardson at Cottingham Mayy 5, 1623. The entry is in his own handwritting in the Co
ottingham P
Parish Register and the ppage is signeed by Henry as curate.9
Children by First Wiffe A Mary SSmith‐ was b
born to a Hen
nry Smith Fe
ebruary 22, 11623 at Stokke Prior, Worcestershiree. This even
nt occurred nine monthss and seventteen days foollowing Hen
nry’s marriagge to Elizabeeth.10 On December 12, 1623, two mon
nths prior to
o the birth off Mary Smith, John Arch
hbold, the Viicar 11
1
1620, died. at Stoke prior since 1
n to Henry Sm
mith June 18
8, 1626 at Boowden, Chesshire. Here H
Henry is Rebecca Smith‐ born
12
designate
ed as “Minisster.” A Mrr. Smith was recorded ass “lecturer” at this parish in 1622. His name is ccontained in
n a listing of “Contributio
ons from thee Clergy” as a subsidy tax for the exiiled ministerss of the Palatinate. Henrry contribute
ed five schill ings.13 A lecturer was a junior or assistant curate, in o
other words someone jusst starting h is ministry. TThe listing does not include a first name so we caannot be surre if it was Henry. The poosition doess fit well with
h his just havving graduate
ed from Cam
mbridge and his appearin
ng as curate at Cottinghaam. 9
Parish Re
egisters for Cotttingham, Northamptonshire. Parish Re
egisters for Sto
oke Prior, Worcestershire. 11
CCEd Recods for the pe
erson John Arcchbold. 12
Parish re
egisters for Bow
wdon, Cheshire
e. 13
Record SSociety for the Publication off Original Documents relatingg to Lancashiree and Cheshire Vol 12. 10
e Smith‐ borrn October 2
28, 1628 at B
Borrough Hil l, Leicestersshire, no parents listed. TThis Peregrine
is one of only two Pe
erigrine Smitths recorded
d in the extannt parish reggisters betw
ween 1623 an
nd 14
1637. The other Perigrine stayed
d in England and becamee an apprenttice in Londo
on. Erasmu
us Burrough
hs, vicar at B
Borrough‐Hill until his de
eath on Octoober 8, 16288 was succeeeded by Williiam Peachy, rrector, who had been ch
hurch warde
en there sincce 1619.15 It is interesting that the name Peregrine
e, meaning ttraveler, wass thought to
o have signifiied Henry’s intention to
o travel to Neew England. Another exp
planation might be that Henry and PPeregrine would be travvelers in Enggland moving ffrom parish tto parish. Borrough
h Hill was known for its yyearly conte
ests of strenggth and endurance whicch attracted strong yo
oung men from a wide aarea. John Le
eland in his Itinerary staated “To these Borow Hiills every yeaar on Whit SSunday come
e people of tthe county tthereabout tto shoot, run
n, wrestle, dance 16
and use o
other feats o
of exercise.” Samuel in
n his letter too his son abo
out Henry sttates that “H
His delight w
was in sports of strength.” 14
Parish re
egisters for Borrrough‐Hill, Leiicestershire an
nd Nettleton, L incolnshire. Th
he father for th
he latter was listed as Francis SSmith. City of LLondon, Haberrdashers, Apprrentices and Freeemen, 1526‐11933 mentionss the other Peregrine aas an apprentice in 1653. 15
Parish re
egisters for Borrrough‐Hill and
d Venn 16
Whit Sun
nday fell on June 1 in 1628 Death off Henry’s First Wife Elizabeth
h Smith is asssumed to haave died between Octobber 1628 (Peerigrine’s birtth) and sometime in 1635. W
We learn from
m Stiles thatt Henry’s seccond wife, D
Dorothy, gavee birth to heer 17
daughterr Dorothy ab
bout 1636, p
probably in EEngland. Ann Elizabeth SSmith wife o
of Henry Smith 18
died at B
Bartlow, Cam
mbridgeshire October 11, 1635. 16335 was the yyear when a significant smallpoxx epidemic occurred in England.19 Th
he rector at B
Bartlow at th
hat time, waas John Bakeer an older (ab
bout 63 years of age) cleric who died
d in 1639 havving served Bartlow for forty years.20 It is impo
ossible based
d on the info
ormation we
e have seen tto know for sure that th
his Elizabeth Smith waas the wife o
of Reverend Henry Smith
h. One wouldd expect thaat Henry’s po
osition as a ccleric would be
e recorded in
n the parish register. Ne
either the abbove entry nor any otherrs which havve been disccovered for the death off an Elizabetth Smith, wiffe of Henry SSmith, are so
o noted. In ffact, we canno
ot be sure th
hat Peregrine Smith wass the child off Elizabeth. B
Based on Heenry’s will wh
hich only men
ntions his tw
wo married d
daughters, w
without namiing them, on
ne would asssume that th
hey were by a previous m
marriage. Peregrine is caalled “my sonn” which maay or may no
ot exclude Dorothy as his mothe
er. e Henry’s SSecond Wife
The will o
of Dorothy R
Russell, dated February 1
16, 1681, pr oves that heer Christian n
name was Dorothy. Family trad
dition tells uss that her surname was Cotton. Som
me family hisstorians tried
d to tie her to
o John Cotto
on, vicar at Boston, Linco
olnshire and eventually tteacher at th
he First Churrch of Boston
n, Massachu
usetts, an asssociate of Re
everend Joh n Wilson of Boston, Massachusetts. Some claaimed Dorothy was John
n Cotton’s sisster, but thaat would nott work since John Cotton
n was a generation older th
han Henry Sm
mith and a ssister could nnot have had
d a child in 1
1648 when Elizabeth
h Smith, Hen
nry and Doro
othy’s last ch
hild, was borrn. Some assserted Dorotthy was John
n Cotton’s daughter, b
but she would have to be
e a child of J ohn’s first w
wife, Elizabetth who boree no children. Others sugggested that JJohn Cotton’s will ment ioned Henryy Smith, but that was 17
Henry Sttiles Families off Ancient Weth
hersfield Conneecticut Parish re
egisters for Barrtlow, Cambrid
dgeshire. 19
Encyclop
pedia of Geneaalogy‐Epidemiccs: EOGEN.com
m 20
John Ven
nn (J. G. Bartlett): Alumni Can
ntabrigienses.
18
another Henry Smith as the will was created four years after Reverend Henry Smith had died.21 If Henry’s second wife was indeed one Dorothy Cotton, then we need to look elsewhere for a person of that name who would be young enough to have had a child in 1648. By tracing back through the Cotton family history, we run into another John Cotton (Sir John) who did have a daughter Dorothy, born February 15, 1612. This family was located at Landwade and Cheveley, Cambridgeshire not too far from Bartlow where an Elizabeth Smith was buried.22 This John married three times but had no children by his first two wives. His third wife, Anne Houghton, gave him two daughters and two sons, Dorothy, James, John and Catherine.23 This John Cotton died in 1620 at the age of 77. His widow, Anne then married, in 1623, Sir John Carleton who died November, 1637. In that year Dorothy’s brother John took possession of Cheveley Manor, and her father’s estate, James having predeceased him. Carleton assumed much of the financial obligations from his wife Anne and struggled up to the time of his death to clear the balances due.24 Dorothy’s sister Catherine married John Denning in Icklingham, Suffolk 164025. Dorothy would have had no claim on her brother’s estate and is not mentioned in his will. No record has been found for a marriage of Henry Smith to Dorothy Cotton. This result might be expected since it was common for clerics who were being pursued by Laud to go into hiding or use a different name to avoid having to appear before the court of High Commission. Churches in England Where the Reverend Henry Smith Served as Pastor. The CCEd (Clergy of the Church of England database) website in England records a Henry Smith as cleric at Cornwood, Devonshire; West Clandon, Surrey; Bethersden, Kent; Donyatt, Somerset; and Hannah cum Hagnaby, Lincolnshire during our period of interest, 1624 to 1637. To this we have added Cottingham, Northamptonshire where he was curate at least from December, 1621, to August, 1623. By examining records at each location we have been able to show at which locations the Henry Smith mentioned is not the Reverend Henry Smith of Wethersfield, Connecticut. From Foster’s Oxford University Alumni we learn that the Henry Smith of West Clandon, Surrey in 1623, was the son of the Mayor of Guildford, Surrey. Also, a land transaction dated November 12, 1629, contains his signature which is distinctly different from that for Henry Smith of Wethersfield, Connecticut.26 From the same source we find that 21
H. G. Somerby: The English Ancestry of Reverend John Cotton of Boston Parish registers for Cheveley, Cambridgeshire 23
Parish Registers for Cheveley, Cambridgeshire. 24
Andrew Thrush and John Ferris: History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1604‐1629. Cheveley Manors and Estate (British History Online.) Sporting and Rural Records of the Cheveley Estate. The English Baronets, a genealogical and Historical Account of Their Families. 25
Parish registers for Ickleham, Suffolk. 26
Surrey History Center Catalog 306 Bargain and Sale. 22
the Henry Smith who was at Donyatt, Somerset, 1627, was from Somerset and is listed as “Plebian” (commoner.) Finally, on the same page, we find that Henry Smith of Cornwood, Devonshire, 1629, who is listed as “gentleman” was from Devonshire. All three of these, being educated at Oxford, can be eliminated from our list of possible Henry Smiths.27 This leaves us with just two locations for Henry of Wethersfield, Bethersden Kent and Hannah cum Hagnaby, Lincolnshire. The appointment of Henry Smith as curate in June 1622 at Bethersden, conflicts with his known service in Cottingham. It is not clear that the Henry mentioned ever actually was at Bethersden so it may have been a planned event that just never took place. Hannah cum Hanaby on the other hand is a good possibility for the Reverend Henry Smith of Wethersfield. If Henry Smith had been mostly an interim preacher as opposed to a fulltime beneficed cleric at one or more parishes then he probably would not have been under the watchful eye of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. The letter from Henry’s son Samuel to his son written in the late 1600’s stated that Henry had been persecuted by Laud. Hannah cum Hagnaby, although in the Lincoln Diocese, was under the direct supervision of Laud at Canterbury. In the clergy visitation of 1634 for Lincoln, Laud set down strict rules under which each member of the clergy was to be examined and rated. It seems that Laud had a concern with clerics who would not profess their willingness to take on a living or benefice or who had been offered one and refused it. In other words, a cleric who just wandered around the countryside preaching a sermon with possible Puritanical overtones could not be easily controlled. With no known permanent positions during the last decade before moving to New England, Henry certainly fit the first category and possibly the second.28 In the original visitation record for Hannah cum Hagnaby, Henry Smith is recorded as curate, which is struck through and then as Rector which is struck through and then finally as curate again. Interestingly, this was a small parish which at that time contained two curates as Thomas Payne was also listed as curate. This parish had not had anything but curates since 1585.29 27
Foster: Oxford University Alumni. Visitations Articles and Injunctions of the Early Stuart Church Vol 2, p87 29
CCEd record for clergy at the parish of Hannah cum Hagnaby. 28
Copy of th
he 1634 Visittation to Hannah cum H
Hagnaby (here called Haanney.) nry containss no entries. The list of itemss to be answ
wered by Hen
Henry’s FFirst Child byy His Second
d Wife and TTheir Travels to New En
ngland In April, 1
1637, accord
ding to a passsenger man
nifest for Weeymouth, En
ngland, Henrry Smith, his wife, four children, fo
our menservvants and fo
our women sservants set sail in a ship
p (name misssing) 30
with Mr. John Driverr, Captain, fo
or New Englaand. We haave previoussly accounteed for the first three chiildren by Henry’s first wife. The fourrth child wass presumably Dorothy Smith, the firrst child by h
his second w
wife. Again, n
no record haas been founnd for Dorothy’s birth in 1635‐1637 and the reaso
on for this ass well may b
be the use off a different name by thee Henry Smith family. Dorothy, the child, m
may have arrrived just beffore their deeparture for New Englan
nd as it was not unusual ffor small infaants to trave
el across the
e Atlantic or even for babies to be bo
orn in route. Such wass the desperration of the time. enger List Showing Henrry Smith Enttry Passe
30
Peter Wilson Coldham: The Completee Book of Emig
grants 1607‐16660. The Four Men and Four Women Servants Based on Stiles work on Wethersfield there was another Smith child by the name of Phillipa. She was married before 1640 and was admitted into the church of Milford, Connecticut August 23, 1640.31 This person was too old to have been a daughter of Henry Smith who did not marry until 1623. Strangely, Phillipa was a very infrequently used name in England, but of those few recorded in the existing parish registers, there seemed to be a concentration near Cheveley, Cambrigeshire, the seat of the Cotton family. In fact, there were four Phillipas located at Burwell, Cambridgeshire born between 1617 and 1621. Burwell is just seven miles north west of Cheveley.32 Phillipa could have been one of the women servants brought to New England by Henry and his wife Dorothy, thus mistaken for a Smith child. Remember that Samuel Smith in the letter to his son stated that on arrival the women did not tarry long before marrying as there was a shortage of women in the colonies. It would have made sense for Henry and Dorothy to have brought people who might be useful in building the family home and caring for the four children, especially if one of the children was just a few months old. Unless Henry had some source of income other than his earnings as a minister he would not have been able to pay the passage for eight extra people. Dorothy Cotton Smith might have had that capability. The questioned has been raised as to whether the men and women designated as servants were actually servants or were simply a collection of young men and women seeking passage to New England. The fact that some left the Smith home shortly after arriving in New England seems to favor the latter. In Samuels letter to his son, he also mentions that although the maids married quickly after their arrival the men “did abide better.” He also states that one of the men married one of his mother’s maids and that they came to Wethersfield to the family’s great comfort for some years. Could this couple have been Thomas Hanchett and Deliverance Langton? Thomas Hanchett seems to have been involved in the construction of the church in Wethersfield and was granted his house lot as the church neared completion. We have no record of their marriage but their second son, John Hanchett was born in Wethersfield in 1649. Thomas Hanchett’s signature as witness along with that of Henry Smith on the will of Leonard Chester in August 1648 would indicate some relationship. With Henry’s death later in 1648, one would believe that Thomas Hanchett stayed close to Henry Smith for the rest of Henry’s life in New England. Samuel Smith states that the servant couple who married stayed with the Smiths until they had children of their own. After Dorothy Smith married the father of Henry’s replacement, Reverend John Russel, the Hanchetts and Smiths remained close neighbors in Northampton‐Hadley, Massachusetts and in Suffield, Connecticut. The families were closely aligned for many years.33 There was a John Hanchett at Boston who in 1634 was a servant to Reverend John Wilson. John Cotton from Boston, Lincolnshire became teacher at the First Church in Boston in 1633. Due to 31
Connecticut Church Register Abstracts Vol 71 Milford Parish Registers for Burwell, Cambridgeshire. 33
Leland J. Hanchett, Jr: The English Ancestry of Thomas Hanchett Puritan Settler of Connecticut. 32
the similaarity betwee
en children’ss names for John and Thhomas Hanch
hett’s familiees, it has lon
ng been feltt that they m
might be brotthers. A branch of the C
Cotton familyy of Chevely and Landwaade, Cambridggeshire resid
ded in Clavering Essex. A
At the same time there w
was a Hanch
hett family at that location with a sson John borrn in 1605 and a son Thoomas born in
n 1616. The difference in age agree
es closely with the first recorded ap
ppearance off these two Hanchetts in
n New England. Possible Birthplaces for Reveren
nd Henry Sm
mith Locating Henry’s birtthplace is a cconsiderablyy more difficcult problem
m. There weree at least 12
27 Henry Sm
miths christe
ened in the five years between 15999 and 1604, tthe most pro
obable time for Henry’s b
birth based o
on his entry at Cambridgge Universityy. Considerin
ng the missing parish registers, there were
e probably tw
wice that maany. h the facial similarity bettween Henryy Smith, Pur itan minister from Leiceester in the 1
16th Although
century, and Henry P
Preserved Sm
mith of America stronglyy suggest a ffamily tie, no
o connection
n has been fou
und to suppo
ort the idea tthat Reveren
nd Henry Sm
mith of Weth
hersfield wass related to tthe Smiths off that countyy. All parish registers forr Leicestershhire have beeen checked without locaating a birth re
ecord for the
e Reverend H
Henry Smith
h of New Enggland. “A
A Heretic’ss Defense” By:
B Henry Prreserved Sm
mith
Charles
C
Scriibner & Sonss New Yorkk N.Y. (19266)
Other Re
eadings
“A Recorrd of the Revv Henry Smith (Puritan Preacher) an
nd His Family”
By: Mrs. Jane Tullia (Smith) Brady – Natchez Stationary PPress Co. (19951) “Colonial Day’s and Way’s” By: Helen
n Evertson Smith – Century Press Ne
ew York N.Y.. (1901) “Chroniicles of a Neew England Family”
By: Henrry Preserved
d Smith
The New England Qu
uarterly, Vol. 9, No. 3. (Sep.,
(
1936),, pp. 417-446. D
Projecct Group 7
Y-DNA: Northeastern Smith DNA
2 12 12 13 13 29 16 9-9
9 11 11 25 144 30 15-15-16-17
13 24 14 10 11-15 12
R1b M2
269 P312 Ub
U (Ubiquittous) – Seem
mingly Everrywhere