By Paul Hokanson
One of my prized possessions includes fifty-two pages of Smith, Shurtleff and Lathrop family history, handwritten by Joseph Fielding Smith in 1902 during a visit to New England. The genealogical record includes information on the first three generations of the family of Robert Smith (1626-1693) and his wife, Mary French (1634-1719).
Robert and Mary were parents of ten children all born in Topsfield, Massachusetts, except the oldest who was born in Ipswich:
• Thomas (1657-1726) married Martha Knowlton; 8 children
• Mary (1658-1740) married John Towne; 10 children
• Phebe (1661-1741) married Jacob Towne, brother of John; 10 children
• Ephraim (1663-1732) married Mary Ramsdell; 8 children
• Samuel (1666-1748) married Rebecca Curtis; 9 children
• Amy (1668-1756) married Joseph Towne; 7 children
• Sarah (1670-1673)
• Nathaniel (1672- died in early youth)
• Jacob (1674-1748) married Rebecca Symonds; 7 children
• Mariah (1677-1738) married Peter Shumway; 10 children
Thomas, the oldest son of Robert and Mary, is my ancestor through his descendant, Addison Smith (1814-1879) who joined the Church in Vermont and moved to Nauvoo where his wife died in 1843. Their year old daughter, Louisa Catherine (1842-1866) was taken to Utah by adoptive parents. Another descendant of Thomas Smith was Sarah Ann Harrington (1794-1847) married to Ira Rice. They joined the Church and traveled to Nauvoo. Sarah died in Iowa on the way to Zion. Louisa Catherine and Sarah Ann have thousands of offspring in the church.
Mary Smith, oldest daughter of Robert and Mary Smith comes through a mother daughter line (this gives us a maternal line for mtDNA study) to Lydia Clisbee (1793-1878) who married Edward Partridge (1793-1840) who was the first bishop in the early church. Included among their large posterity is Emily Dow Partridge (1824-1899) who married LDS President Brigham Young and whose offspring include Elder S. Dilworth Young (1897-1981) and Mary Ellen Elggren. Emily Dow’s sister, Caroline Partridge (1827-1908) married Amasa Lyman and among their progeny is LDS President James E. Faust (1920-2007).
Samuel Smith, the fifth child and third son of Robert and Mary, had a son, Samuel (1714-1785) who was the father of Asael Smith (1744-1830) who was the grandfather of the Prophet Joseph Smith. (Continued Page 3)
Beside the Prophet’s father, Joseph Smith Sr. (1771-1840), were Uncle Asael Smith (1773-1845), Uncle Silas Smith (1776-1839) and Uncle John Smith (1781-1854). Each of these four sons out of eleven siblings has posterity in the LDS Church numbering in the tens of thousands.
Mariah Smith, youngest child of Robert and Mary, married Peter Shumway (1806-1898). One descendant, Charles Shumway was the first to leave Nauvoo and cross the Mississippi River for the west on February 4, 1846.
Robert and Mary Smith’s descendants could now number in the millions and are spread throughout the world, contributing in numerous ways to their communities. Many of the lines of their descendants intertwine. For example, LDS Patriarch Eldred G. Smith (1907-) is descended from Joseph Smith Sr. and his brother, Asael. President George Albert Smith (1870-1951) comes through Uncle John Smith, and his wife, Lucy Emily Woodruff is a descendant of Uncle Asael.
Now do you know some more of your Smith cousins, and are you a cousin to yourself?