SMITHS OF CANTON AND STOUGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Smiths of Canton and Stoughton, Massachusetts

When the area of Canton, Massachusetts, was first settled by whites around 1709, as a southern extension of Dorchester, the Smith surname appears in the earliest records. Among them is Joseph Smith, who received 32 acres bordering Massapoag Brook on the northeast. He and his descendants are the subject of this page. His ancestry has never been proven, but a logical argument can be made for his being the son of Richard Smith and Mercy Redman. Richard Smith's early Canton land was located just across Massapoag Brook to the southwest of Joseph's land. Richard was earlier at Milton, where he married Mercy Redman, daughter of Robert Redman [died at Milton on 13 Jan. 1678/9] on 8 Feb. 1676/7, and had a son Joseph born 18 Feb. 1683. Mercy (Redman) Smith died on 12 Jan. 1698/9, and Richard married, as his second wife, the widow Thankful (Badcock) Lyon, on 6 Aug. 1701. Richard Smith is found among the original members of the Dorchester South Precinct Church in 1717.

Children of Richard Smith by his first wife:

  1. Lucy, b. 17 Oct. 1679; and
  2. Joseph, b. 18 Feb. 1683
and by his second wife:
  1. Thankful, b. 11 July, 1702;
  2. John, b. 3 May 1704;
  3. Richard, b. 2 Nov. 1706; and
  4. Benjamin, b. 19 Oct. 1709.
I am hopeful that the Joseph discussed below is the one born in 1683, but no documentation has yet been found giving his age at a given date, or showing clear connections to these other Smiths.

"Second" Generation (counting from Richard)

Joseph Smith was married on 16 May 1717 to Mary Hawes, daughter of James and Damaris (Bird) Hawes, who had moved from Dorchester. They lived at the homestead on Massapoag Brook until Joseph exchanged the land with Ebenezer Mosely, whose land was to the south near Dry Pond. Dorchester's South Precinct became the town of Stoughton in 1726, that town split into two parishes in 1738, and a third parish was formed in 1765. The First (northern) and Third (western) parishes, in the north, incorporated as Canton and Sharon, respectively, in 1797, leaving the second parish with the name of Stoughton.

Mary (Hawes) Smith, born at Dorchester on 26 Spet. 1698, died on 7 Apr. 1760, at Stoughton. Her husband Joseph died ca. 1770, and while no probate records have been found for him, his land was divided between his sons William (who took the west half) and Joseph.

Children of Joseph and Mary (Hawes) Smith:

  1. Marcy/Merch Smith (b. 29 Feb. 1717/18), who may have died soon after birth;
  2. Marcy/Mercy (b. 19 Feb. 1718/19), who may have married in 1739 John Manley of Easton. If so, she had 8 children.
  3. Joseph, b. 24 May 1720, of whom further below;
  4. James, b. ca. 1722, d. 16 Apr. 1741, at age 18;
  5. Mary, b. 2 Apr. 1725, who may have married William Drake (ca. 1714- 16 Feb. 1745), of Stoughton;
  6. William (b. 14 Apr. 1727, d. 22 Oct. 1819), who married on 23 Sept. 1747 to Katherine Withington, daughter of William and Elizabeth Withington. Their children were: James, Jesse, William, Elijah, Elizabeth, Lemuel, Nathaniel, Katherine, and Hannah.
  7. Hannah (b. 1 Dec. 1729), who married on 3 Apr. 1751, to Nathaniel Holmes, son of Deacon Nathaniel and Sarah (Withington) Holmes. Had two daughters, Hannah and Eunice.

"Third" Generation

Joseph Smith (b. 24 May 1720) married on 29 Oct. 1747 to Experience Talbot, daughter of Capt. George and Mary (Turell) Talbot, who lived about 2 miles northeast of what became the present Stoughton town center. Joseph died 15 Nov. 1799; his wife died Jan. 15, 1799/1800. They were buried at the cemetery at the intersection of today's Plain Street and Bay Road, near the border with Sharon and not far from the Smith homestead.

Their children:

  1. Jesse, b. 5 May 1750, d. 13 Sept. 1824, who married on 3 Dec. 1772, Lois Everitt, dau. of Eleazer and Judith Everitt of Dedham. Lived at Stoughton, had four children.
  2. Joseph, b. 8 Oct. 1752, of whom further below:
  3. Rhoda, b. 19 May 1755, who m. 9 May 1775, Nathaniel Everitt, prob. son of Eleazer and Judith Everitt. Lived at Stoughton before moving to Dedham's South Parish [present-day Norwood].
  4. Mary, b. 23 June 1760
  5. Lydia
  6. Experience
  7. Azubah

"Fourth" generation

Joseph Smith (b. 8 Oct. 1752) married (1st) on 16 Oct. 1777 to Sarah Gay (b., daughter of Timothy and Amity Gay. They lived at the house that became 133 Highland, said to have been built in 1727 by Timothy Gay. Sarah died 14 Dec. 1803, and Joseph married (2nd) in 1808 to Sally Briggs, daughter of Stephen and Sarah Briggs. Joseph wrote his will on 15 Jan. 1823, and died on 10 May 1823. His children were:
  1. Nathan;
  2. Ebenezer;
  3. Joseph, b. ca. 1788, of whom further below;
  4. Luther;
  5. Calvin;
  6. Ruth; and
  7. Timothy G. Smith.

"Fifth" generation

Joseph Smith (b. ca. 1788) married at Easton on 28 Apr. 1811 to Susan White, b. 26 May 1786, daughter of Edward and Susan White of Easton. They lived at Stoughton, and had a house build ca. 1823 at the present 468 Highland Street. [This house was torn down and rebuilt by later owner Jeremiah Drake.] Joseph died on 9 Dec. 1847, and Susan died 26 Aug. 1849.

Children of Joseph and Susan (White) Smith:

  1. Susan W., b. ca. 1812, d. 25 June 1847; married William Cobbett;
  2. Joan, b. 10 Aug. 1814, who married on 13 Dec. 1833, to Willard Cobbett of Dedham;
  3. Mary S., b. 11 Feb. 1816, d. 5 Sept. 1863, who married John Macomber (for whose ancestors see the Macomber page);
  4. Joseph Howard, b. 5 Sept. 1818, d. 26 July 1864, who married Sarah [Mood?] of Franklin, MA.
  5. Timothy, b. 12 Feb. 1821, who married Emily Hamilton of Scituate;
  6. Lorenzo R., b. 23 Jan. 1824, who married Julia W. McLain.

Plain Street Cemetery

In September of 1990, my parents and I visited the cemetery on Bay Road at the corner of Plain Street, Stoughton, hoping to find the graves of my Smith ancestors. It is known as the Dry Pond Cemetery. We were successful, finding three successive generations of them in three rows near the front wall. These were the families of the second, third, and fourth Josephs covered above. As they "hit the wall" and ran out of room, later generations had to be buried in other parts of the cemetery. I found my next-generation ancestor, Mary Smith Macomber, further back, along with her husband John Macomber and her brother Joseph Howard Smith. If you are of this family, contact me for more information on the placement of various Smiths in this cemetery. I don't have them all, but drew a map of the locations of those I found.

Jump to the Macomber page

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