Mary/Maria
Smith, ca 1682, Jamaica, Long Island
In his Peter Smith
of Jamaica genealogy (NYGB Record, Vol. 85, 1954), Samuel Stelle Smith included
in the family of Peter a daughter Mary, estimating her date of birth about 1682,
although no basis for this date is given.
A Maria Smith did
witness the 1705 Jamaica Dutch Church baptism of a daughter of Charles (2)
Smith. It should also be
considered, however, that this Maria could have been the wife of Thomas (2)
Smith. Unlike most early Dutch
Church records where married women were recorded by their patronymic name, the
records for the church in Jamaica indicate the majority of women were entered
with their husband’s surname.
The author also
believed that Mary Smith married in 1705, Jacob Mares or Manero.
Again, no source for the date was given and no marriage record found to
confirm. This information appears
to have been deduced from Jamaica Dutch Church baptism records. In 1717, a son of Charles (2) Smith was baptized with
sponsors Jacob and Marytje Marers, and another son was baptized in 1720 with one
of the sponsors being Marytje Marers.
Apparently the
author did not study other family relationships before coming to his
conclusions. The wife of Charles (2) Smith, Alida Van Dyck, was the
half-sister of Maria Salisbury who married in the NY Reformed Dutch Church, 15
May 1701, Jacob Marius Groen, also known as Jacob Marius.
It can be concluded that the church records were originally entered
incorrectly or more likely, they were mistranscribed from the originals.
At this time it
cannot be determined that Peter Smith of Jamaica had a daughter Mary.
Sources:
NY Gen. & Bio. Soc. Record, Vol. 85, 1954; The Beeck Family of New
Amsterdam and New York City, Henry B. Hoff, TAG Vol. 69 (Oct. 1994); Records of the First Reformed Dutch Church of Jamaica, Long Island,
transcribed by Ken Stryker-Rodda, NYGB Soc. Record, Vol. 105, ; Collections of
the NYGB Soc., Vol. 1, Marriages in the Reformed Dutch Church, New York, 1639 to
1801 (1890).
23
Jan 2000
transcribed by Judy Tooman
