Hezekiah
(5) Smith (1755-1817)
Born in Sussex Co., NJ, 21 April 1755, Hezekiah Smith
was the son of Hezekiah (4) Smith (1714-1801) and his last wife Sarah (-).
When he was twenty-one, he entered the Revolutionary
War, and in 1776, wrote to his parents who were still living in Newton, Sussex
Co., NJ. At the time,
Hezekiah was residing on Wall Street in New York City.
A transcript of the letter was published in Samuel Stelle Smith’s
“Peter Smith of Jamaica, Long Island, and Some of His Descendants”, NYGB
Record, July 1954. Portions of the
letter read:
New Y. July 9th ad 1776
“Dear Parents:
......Now as to our sircomstances hear--we arivd safe to town on fryday
last and our Company are lodged in a good house in wall street, but as to my
Self I am but little of my time with them for I have the favour of a room in a
Spacious house which Mr. Ezekiel Robbins has the care of, which nobody but
himself and an ould Christian wench belonging to this Baptis Church Resides
in.” ......”I have had
the privilage of hearing four Sermonds in town--one from my Brother Peter, one
from Hezekiah Smith, one from Mr. Doit and one from Enoch David--all of which
were pious and instructive.” ......”I
unluckely msd (seeing?) of Daniel as I came down.
I would desire to remember to him, and as soon as you think it best, and
Daniel is willing, let him Come down and take my place and I will come home and
use my best endevours to take care of things there.
Give my kind respects to (missing) to all the family and to all Friends.
I beg your prayers to God f(missing) and that you would write to me every
oppertunity and direct in car(e) of Capt. John Souard in Wall Street and shall
be likely to get it. This from your
ever obedient Son Hezekiah Smith.”
_____________
Notes:
The Rev. Hezekiah Smith who gave a sermon as described
in the letter was the son of Peter (4) Smith and Rebecca Nichols and therefore,
was the cousin of the subject of this profile.
John Souard (Seward) was a Captain of the Second
Regiment of the Sussex Militia which indicates the unit to which Hezekiah was
attached.
It is not always possible to distinguish between the
records of Hezekiah the son and Hezekiah the father since they lived in Sussex
and Middlesex Counties at the same time. However, the younger Hezekiah is
credited with serving as a Private in the NJ Militia from Middlesex County where
he had moved with his parents in 1779.
_____________
On 9 Sept. 1781, Hezekiah married in Piscataway, NJ,
Mercy FITZ RANDOLPH, the daughter of Ephraim FITZ RANDOLPH and Rachel STELLE.
She was born in Piscataway, 6 Apr 1755, and died 16 Dec 1825.
Hezekiah worked on his father’s farm which he
inherited in 1801. He was active in
community affairs and became Commissioner of Appeals of Piscataway Township in
1790; Overseer of Highways in 1791, a position he held for several years; chief
chorister of the First Baptist Church of Piscataway in 1794; and a Deacon in the
church in 1813. At the time of his
death in 1817, he was a member of the State Legislature from Middlesex Co.
He died in Piscataway, 2 Nov 1817, leaving a will
written 30 Oct 1817 and proved 22 Nov 1817.
He mentioned his wife but not by name; three sons: Dr. E. Fitz Randolph
Smith who received $3500, and Peter and Samuel Smith who received the homestead
plantation and salt meadow; and four daughters: Rachel Sutton, Mary Thomas,
Sarah and Isabella Smith, each of whom received $750. The three sons were executors of the will which was witnessed
by George Drake, Reune R. Drake, and William P. Deare. The inventory of his estate was taken 17 Nov 1817 by Samuel
and David D. Stelle and totaled $4495.27.
Children of Hezekiah and Mercy (Fitz Randolph) Smith:
1)
Rachel Smith, b 5 Jul 1782; d 9 Feb 1853; md 2 Feb 1799, Joseph SUTTON, b
ca 1768; d in his 83rd year. They
had Lucinda who d at 7 weeks, and Mercy Ann who never married and d in 1885.
All are buried in the Piscataway Historical Cemetery.
2)
Mary Smith, b 19 Jun 1784; d 23 Jul 1869; md 4 Nov 1809, Maj. Uriah
THOMAS who d 6 feb 1828. They had Sarah Smith Thomas who md Jonathan P. ABRAHAM;
David Dunham Thomas, nmd; and Margaret Bond Thomas who married Richard I.
HARVEY.
3)
Ephraim Fitz Randolph Smith, graduate of Princeton and a physician, b 11
Jan 1786; d 23 May 1865; md first Letitia Carlton HENRY (1786-1811) by whom he
had Letitia Henry Smith who md Prof. Henry BILL.
He md second, Ann Johnson SCOTT (1789-1850) by whom he had Alexander
Henry Smith who md Amanda ROBINSON; Warren Scott Smith (nmd); Anna Helena Smith
who md the Rev. John David OGILBY; Sarah Henry Smith who md Silas WEIR; Mary
Smith (nmd), John Henry Smith (dy), Isabella Smith (dy), and Charles Smith (dy).
4)
Sarah Smith, b 1 Sep 1788; d 26 Aug 1871; md 30 Jan 1834, Dr. George W.
THOMAS, widower of her sister Isabella (see next).
They had no children.
5)
Isabella Smith, b 10 Apr 1792; d 4 Apr 1831; md 8 Jan 1818, Dr. George W.
THOMAS, b 24 Nov 1789, d 24 Apr 1848. Their
children were Mariah Thomas who md Dr. Gilbert Rodman McCOY; Fitz Randolph
Thomas, nmd; Sarah Davis Thomas who md Dr. Washington G. NUGENT; and Uriah
Thomas, nmd.
6) Peter Smith, b 4 Dec 1794; d 2 Dec 1853; md 31 Aug 1820, Sarah STELLE, b 1802; d 20 Apr 1890, daughter of David STELLE and Rachel RUNYON. They lived in Piscataway in the old family homestead on Raritan Landing Road. Their children were
Susan Smith (dy); David Stelle Smith who md Abigail
Ladd GORDON; Hezekiah Lewis Smith (nmd); Fitz Randolph Smith who md Hannah
GORDON; Mary Smith (dy); Mariah Thomas Smith (nmd); Joseph Harley Smith who md
Mary E. WILLSON and had no children; Margaret Harvey Smith (nmd); Charles
Carroll Smith who md Alcesta LEWIS; Sarah Thomas Smith who md James Harvey
STELLE; Isabella Thomas Smith (nmd).
7)
Samuel Smith, b 17 Jun 1798; d 2 Aug 1881; md 24 Oct 1820, Evalina
Freeman ROSS, b 2 Jun 1799; d 13 Nov 1882.
Their farm property was bounded by Sutton Lane and Raritan Landing Road
which is now in Stelton, NJ. Both
are buried in the graveyard of the First Baptist Church, Stelton, NJ.
Their children were Isabella Thomas Smith who md George Washington STELLE;
Uriah Thomas Smith who md Hannah Maria RUNYON; Richard Ross Smith who md Julia
Ann STELLE; Mercy Elizabeth Smith, nmd; Joseph Sutton Smith (dy); William Wirt
Smith who md Cynthia GRIMSTEED; Anna Fitz Randolph Smith, nmd; and Mary Letitia
Smith who md the Rev. William H. STELLE.
Sources: New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 1954; Genealogies of New Jersey Families, Vol. 1, “Some Connections of Hezekiah Smith of Newton, Hanover and Piscataway”, Samuel Stelle Smith, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1996;
18 Jan 2003
information provided by Judy Tooman