Grace (Hawley) Smith (abt. 1623 - abt. 1690)

Born about 26 Nov 1623 in Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of John Smith — married before 17 Jun 1642 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut

Descendants

Died about 26 Nov 1690 at about age 67 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Barbara Davis [send private message]

Space: SmithConnection.com_DNA_Project

Biography

Grace ^[1][2] was born calculated 1623 in Derbyshire, England. She died in 1690. ^[3]

Grace married Sergeant John Smith 17 April 1642, as First Church records have an entry of "Grace, wife of John Smith, admitted to Church April 17, 1642". ^[4]. Alternate marriage date 17 Sep 1642.^[5]

Grace's will is dated 26 November 1689 and her inventory is not dated but recorded in the 1690 time frame and recorded in New Haven.^[6]

Disputed Origins

We have yet to find a record of Grace's birth. While some believe that Grace was the daughter of Joseph Hawley of Stratford, none of the documentation of his children lists a Grace and she is not mentioned in his will.

The Hawley Society has stated that: "It is generally believed, but not documented convincingly, that Grace was one of several sisters of Joseph Hawley who settled in Stratford, CT., just across the Housatonic River from Milford, the border of both towns." ^[7].

Neither of these scenarios - daughter or sister - addresses the fact that Grace Hawley was married to John Smith by April 1642, while Joseph Hawley is believed to arrive in Stratford in 1650.

Sources

1. ↑ Susan Woodruff Abbott, Families of Early Milford, Connecticut, CD-Local and Family Histories: CT, 1600's - 1800's, (Produced in collaboration with the Genealogical Publishing Company, 2000), p. 318.
2. ↑ Susan Woodruff Abbott, Families of Early Milford, p. 653. "She has been called Hawley, but recorded authority has not been found."
3. ↑ Selected and Introduced by Gary Boyd Roberts, Genealogies of Connecticut Families From The New England Historical and Genealogical Register ([CD]Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983), vol 3, p 410.
4. ↑ Connecticut Vital Records to 1870 (Barbour Collection), Milford Volume, page 146 "Smith, Grace, w. John, adm. Church Sept. 17, 1642; d. [ ], 1690 original volume OL; original page 98. However, a review of the original church records in Milford show the that the Barbour book is a typo, and the admission date for Grace into the Church was 17 April 1642.
5. ↑ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dav4is/ODTs/SMITH.shtml#~SMITH-HAWLEY
6. ↑ “New Haven Probate Records, Vol. 1-2, 1647-1703”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L92K-G9J4-L : 12 March 2021), New Haven, Connecticut, FHL microfilm 007626739, image 299. New Haven Probate Record, 1668-1703, Vol. 2, Part 1, page 71.
7. ↑ Wallace D Smith, Sr, CDR, USNR (Ret), A Newsletter for the Descendants of John and Grace Smith of Milford, Connecticut (Wallace D Smith, SR; 1994-2007); Volume II, Number 4, pages 1-2; Dec 1995

• Find-A-Grave Virtual Cemetery memorial #35795544 in Milford Cemetery, Milford, New Haven County, Connecticut, USA; Plot: OLDEST PART OF THE MILFORD CEMETERY
• Crane, Angeline Smith Pickering. The Genealogy and History of the John Keysar Smith Family of Valley Rest, Florence, Nebraska (Angeline Crane, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1922) Page 1
• Jacobus, Donald Lines. Sergt. John Smith of Milford, Conn., The American Genealogist (New Haven, Conn., 1949) Vol. 25.

• Page 102: "The name of Grace has sometimes been stated as Hawley, but record authority has not been found."