Peter
5 Smith
The
son of Peter Smith and Rebecca Nichols, Peter 5 Smith was born on Long Island,
13 Feb 1748. A practicing physician
and surgeon, he lived in various locations in Morris Co., NJ, throughout his
life.
On
30 Jan 1776, his application for service in the Revolutionary War stated:
To
The Honourable Provincial Congress for New Jersey
Gentlemen,
I Should be ffond of Engaging in the
Continental Service for the Defence of American Liberty as a Surgeon.
I
am Gentleman
your Most Obediente
Humble
Servente
Peter Smith
Among
the fifteen men who signed the application recommending his service was Jacamiah
Smith.
In
May, 1776, Peter was of Hanover Twp. when he voted for delegates from Morris
County to New Jersey’s First Constitutional Convention.
On 21 Mar 1781, Quartermaster Aaron Forman of Morris Co., issued Peter a
certificate for ten dollars for 5 cords of wood, donated to the cause of the
Continental Army.
After
the Revolutionary War, Peter lived in Chatham, NJ. In 1793, he was a member of the New Jersey Militia and a
Freeholder of Hanover Twp. In 1795,
he acquired a mortgage from Israel Lum indicating he was now a resident of
neighboring Roxbury Twp., and when his daughter Fanny married, she was
identified as the daughter of “Doctor Peter Smith of Flanders, Morris
county.”
Peter
married first, probably about 1774, Susannah Richards who was born in 1756, and
died 20 Oct 1785. She was the
daughter of the Rev. Aaron Richards and his wife Susannah Smith, a native of
England. The Rev. Richards was a
graduate of Yale College in 1743, and the first pastor of the Presbyterian
Church in Rahway, NJ, which he served for forty-two years.
He died 16 May 1793 and his wife Susannah died 18 Feb 1794.
Both were buried in the Rahway Public Cemetery.
By
Susannah, Peter had children:
1)
Catherine Smith, b ca 1775; md Morris County, NJ, 26 Dec 1795, Baldwin
Wood. He died before 13 May 1818,
the date his father-in-law’s will was proved.
They had eight children: Susan, Samuel, Harriet, Phoebe, Fannie,
Caroline, William and Harvey Wood.
2)
Elizabeth Smith, b 18 Apr 1778; d 25 Jul 1849; md Chatham, NJ, 8 Apr
1796, Jacob Vanderpoel, b there 6 May 1776; d New York City, 13 Dec 1856.
He was the son of David and Deborah (Lane) Vanderpoel.
Shortly after their marriage, Jacob and Elizabeth moved to New York City.
They had children: Catherine, David (dy), Susan (dy), Frederick Smith (dy),
Deborah, Edward, William Smith, Jacob, Elizabeth (dy), Mary Elizabeth, Frederick
Smith, and David (dy) Vanderpoel.
3)
Frederick Calvin Smith, b 24 Apr 1781; d 31 May 1809; md Morris Co., NJ,
28 Apr 1805, Charlotte Day, b 25 Oct 1785; d 10 Dec 1849, daughter of Capt.
William and Nancy (Bonnel) Day of Chatham, NJ.
Their children were: Frederick
H. and Calvin Day Smith. Frederick
lived in Elizabeth, NJ, and married (-) Baldwin.
Calvin md 8 May 1830, Chatham, NJ, Louisa J. Ward and died intestate in
1838.
4)
Susannah/Susan R. Smith, md in Morris Co., NJ, 26 Feb 1803, Foster Day, b
6 Mar 1781, Chatham, NJ; d 26 Jun 1845. According
to her published cemetery inscription, she was born 21 Apr 1781, but per Samuel
Stelle Smith in his genealogy, her birth year was 1782.
She died 10 Jan 1854, in her 73rd yr., and she and her husband were
buried in the First Presbyterian Churchyard, Elizabeth, NJ.
He was the son of Capt. William and Nancy (Bonnel) Day.
Their children were: Caroline
J. (dy); Eliza B. (dy); Peter S. (dy); Nancy B. (dy); Julia; Lewis F.; Richard;
William; Frederick; and Isaac Day.
Peter
married second, after1785, Phebe Potter, daughter of Joseph Potter of Madison,
Hanover Twp., NJ. According to the
terms of Joseph Potter’s will, Phebe was apparently the youngest daughter and
one of four who were underage when their father died in the spring of 1770.
The children of Peter and Phebe were:
5)
William Smith, b. 1787; d 1809.
6)
Mary/Polly Smith who md Samuel Burroughs.
7)
Fanny Smith; md 19 Jun 1829, as his second wife, Gabriel Johnson, b. 8
Dec 1768; d. 16 Mar 1850, son of Uzel and Phebe (Wick) Johnson, and the widower
of Lois Bonnel. They had no children.
8)
Rebecca Smith, a minor in 1818; md #1) 24 Jun 1821, Andrew or Anderson
Lewis and #2) (-) Van Sicklen.
9)
William L. Smith, a minor in 1818.
10)
Peter F. Smith, a minor in 1818.
11)
John N. Smith, a minor in 1818.
12)
Lewis C. Smith, a minor in 1818.
Peter
made and signed his will in Roxbury Twp., Morris Co., NJ, 1 May 1817.
It was proved 13 May 1818. Abstracted,
the will states:
To
wife Phebe, $50, his berth bed and bedding, and whatever household goods she
brought to the marriage that are now in the home except one bed and bedding.
Executors are to place $800 at interest and pay the interest to his wife
yearly as long as she remains his widow. If
she marries again, she will receive only $30 a year for life.
She is called “last wife Phebe” and given a choice of one cow. All bequests are in lieu of her dowry and she is not to claim
any dowry out of lands he has bought and sold or owned at the time of his death
or she shall have nothing.
Immediately
after the death of his wife, executors are to divide the $800 with interest that
has been accrued among all living grandchildren and some who may be born after
he dies, share and share alike.
To
three daughters: Catherine widow of
Baldwin Wood; Elizabeth wife of Jacob Vander Pool; and Susanna wife of Foster
Day, $250 each to be paid one month after my death but out of this amount,
deduct whatever I have charged against the legatees or their husbands.
To
daughter Fanny Smith, $250 to be paid one month after my death; my large bible
called Brown’s bible; the second choice of my bed and bedding; and one cow.
To
daughter Rebecca Smith, $250 to be put to interest by my executors for her use
one month after my decease and interest paid to her annually until she reaches
21 yrs. or marriage, whichever occurs first, when the principal is to be paid to
her. Out of my money now at
interest, to daughter Rebecca Smith, $40 to be paid to her yearly until she is
21 or married. Also $30 to be paid
one month after my decease.
To
daughter Mary, wife of Samuel Burroughs, $20 besides the bond for 148 pounds
which I gave to her dated May 1797, and now in the hands of William Woodhull,
Esq., the $20 to be put to interest one month after my decease.
To
grandsons Calvin Smith and Frederick Smith, sons of Frederick Smith, dec’d.,
$125 each when 21, and executors to put to interest one month after my decease,
$250 and to pay them the interest yearly until they reach 21, at which time the
principal to be equally divided. If
one dies before 21, the survivor gets the sum of $250, but if both die, the $250
goes equally to any living grandchildren. The
bond which I hold against Frederick H. Smith, dec’d., for 100 pounds shall not
draw interest and if either grandson, Calvin Smith or Frederick Smith reach 21,
the bond shall be cancelled; if both die under that age, the principal sum of
100 pounds without interest to go to grandchildren that are living to be divided
between them.
To
daughter Mary, wife of Samuel Burroughs, $230 paid five months after my death,
after deducting what I have charged against her or her husband.
Executors
are to sell all real and personal estate, except as bequeathed, as soon as may
be after my death and give deeds and conveyances for the same.
After debts paid and legacies given and placing the monies to interest,
the executors are to divide the residue of money from sales of all property
equally between 6 daughters Catherine, Elizabeth, Susanna, Fanny and Rebecca,
except that Mary is not to have as much in the division as the others by the sum
of $420 in consequence of the bond given her as mentioned.
Whatever
charges I have against Fanny Smith shall be deducted out of the legacy of $250.
Friend
William Munro, Esq., and my two sons-in-law Jacob Vander Pool and Foster Day,
executors. Witnesses: Wm. Beach,
David Thompson, Jr., and Sylvestry D. ?
The
inventory of Peter’s estate was made by Wm. M. Dougall and Lum Foster on 25
Apr 1818, and the total value was $6,044.68.
Among his books were 1 large Folio bible Browns, 1 Folio book Pooles annotations,
21 books on religious subjects, 14 medical books, and 2 law books.
He owned capital stock in the State Bank at Morris(town) in the amount of
$500 and there were 24 notes outstanding due to him.
He also owned a pew in the Church at the New Meetinghouse on the
Mountain.
Peter did not name his youngest sons in his will. These children were identified from a transcribed and published Morris Co., NJ, guardianship record. Dated the September Term, 1828, Fanny (sic) Smith, a daughter of Peter Smith and the wife of Samuel Burroughs, was appointed guardian of the minor children of Peter: William L., Peter F., John N., and Lewis C. Smith, all under age fourteen. Included in the transcription was reference to the will probated May 13th, 1818.
Peter
died 16
Apr 1818.
Sources: Peter Smith of Jamaica, Long Island, and Some of His Descendants, Samuel Stelle Smith, NYGB Record, Vol. 85, 1954; Some Early Records of Morris County, New Jersey, 1740-1799, ed. Harriet Stryker-Rodda, Polyanthos, 1975; Certificates and Receipts of Revolutionary New Jersey, Dorothy Agans Stratford and Thomas B. Wilson, Hunterdon House, 1996; Inscriptions on Tombstones and Monuments in the Burying Grounds of The First Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth, New Jersey, 1694-1892, Wheeler and Halsey, 1892; the will of Peter Smith, Will Book B, Folio 247; Morris County Heirs to Estates, 1785-1900, Virginia Alleman Brown, Clearfield Company, (reprint 1992); Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Vol. IV, 1761-1770, ed. A. Van Doren Honeyman, Family Line Publications, 1997.
submitted by Judy Tooman
created 16 Apr 2001