Richard Smith Jr (1630 - 1692)

Born 19 Dec 1630 in Gloucestershire, England [uncertain]

Died 1692 at about age 61 in Wickford, North Kingstown, Kings, Rhode Island

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Randy Beebe [send private message]

Biography

Richard Smith Jr., son of Richard Smith Sr. was born in about 1630 and died in 1692 at Wickford, RI. Both Richard Smith Jr. and his brother James, the only sons of Richard Smith Sr., died childless; hence Richard Smith Sr.'s branch of the Smith surname died with them. The grandchildren, of Richard Smith Sr., who ultimately inherited his massive Kingstown, Rhode Island landholdings were the children of his daughters, the sisters to Richard Smith Jr.

On 6 September 1687, he is cited on Gov. Andros' tax roll at Rochester (renamed later to Kingstown), Rhode Island owing a “pole” (poll) tax of 1s, and a property tax of £1 19s 10d, which places him as an adult resident and wealthy property landholder in Kingstown, RI on this date. The extent of his land holdings made obvious by having been levied a tax more than double that of any other taxpayer on this tax roll. ^[1] This tax roll identifies a sum total of 136 heads of house living in the roughly 22.5 square mile area associated with Kingstown, RI on this date in 1687; one consequence of this sparse population is that he would have been well acquainted with many, if not all, of the individuals identified on this list. Therefore, this tax list is a defacto definition of the people who were available to be his friends, neighbors, and allies; it would be essential to cultivate strong working relationships with these neighbors in order to survive on this frontier landscape. This cross reference tool provides hot links to peruse most of the 136 Wikitree families identified in this tax roll; families who were very frequently interconnected, or became interconnected, by marriage, over the course of their lives and throughout the ensuing generations, further binding a network of neighbors into extended families. ^[2]

Research Notes

Was linked to Richard Smith (abt.1610-abt.1666) as his father, needs to be merged with Richard Smith Sr. (abt.1598-1666). Couldn't find Richard Smith Jr in wikitree.

Sources

1. ↑ Roberts, Gary Boyd; Genealogies of Rhode Island Families, Vol. II, Niles - Wilson; Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore 1989. RI Taxes under Gov. Andros pages 592- 594.
2. ↑ Randolph Beebe; Cross Reference: Gov. Andros 1687 Rochester RI Tax Register to Wikitree profile; Wikitree Free Space Profiles, 2024.

Other Sources

The following section provides a listing of source material that is pertinent to the profile subject, but not presently cited in the narrative text of the profile.

• Updike, Daniel Berkeley, 1860-; Richard Smith, first English settler of the Narragansett country, Rhode Island : with a series of letters written by his son, Richard Smith, Jr., to members of the Winthrop family and notes on Cocumscussuc, Smith's estate in Narragansett / by Daniel Berkeley Updike; with illustrations from drawings by Edmund Hort New.; Merrymount Press; Boston; 1937. Biography of Richard Smith Jr.; page 27.

• Smith's Castle

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/165904508/richard-smith: accessed February 28, 2024), memorial page for Richard Smith Jr. (1630–1692), Find a Grave Memorial ID 165904508, citing Ayrault-Congdon-Updike Lot, North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA; Maintained by Stan Arnold (contributor 48121400).

• Updike Genealogy; page 80: Richard Smith Jr. in the Updike Genealogy.

• Wills of the Smith families of New York and Long Island, 1664-1794 Intro page ix

• Bicknell, Thomas. The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (The American Historical Society, Inc., New York, 1920)
• https://books.google.com/books?id=bskpAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA120

• Updike Genealogy, page 80

• U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700; (Ancestry.com database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012. Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.