John Smith

John married Bethia Snow on 14 May 1694 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts. Bethia (daughter of Stephen Snow and Susanna Deane) was born on 1 Jul 1672 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; died after 31 Jul 1734 in Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1706, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts
• Alternate death: 1766, Barrington, Shelburne, Nova Scotia

Notes:

Died of smallpox during the epidemic of 1766.

Deacon married Bathsheba Brown on 9 Apr 1729 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts. Bathsheba (daughter of George Brown and Elizabeth) was born about 1710 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; died on 16 Jan 1766 in Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; was buried in Smith Burying Ground, Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 3 Apr 1821, Cape Sable Island, Shelburne, Nova Scotia

Notes:

From Wikipedia:

Archelaus Smith was a tanner, shoemaker and early settler of Barrington, Nova Scotia. [...] In the spring of 1760 Smith began planning to move his family from their home in Chatham to a new home in Barrington, Nova Scotia. He was to be one of the earliest settlers in the area, along with Solomon Smith, Jonathan Smith, and Thomas Crowell. He spent the summer of 1760 fishing, and during that time, determined native hostility in the Barrington area was too threatening, and so he changed his mind about moving. However, his wife Elizabeth was unaware of his change of heart, and took it upon herself to travel to Barrington with her family before her husband returned to Chatham. It is possible that they crossed paths, but certainly he was delayed in returning to Barrington. When he finally got there, he found his family being cared for by friendly natives, the same people he had feared.

Smith was one of the original proprietors in the area, settling at Barrington Head in the fall of 1760. In fact, the first three houses at Centreville were called "the Housen", and belonged to Archelaus Smith, Simeon Gardner, and Jonathan Covell. "Housen" was Anglo-Saxon for houses. Smith's home was nearly opposite the old meeting house. In 1773 he moved to Cape Sable Island, where he and his family occupied almost all the land from Northeast Point to West Head (a distance of five miles). He also held a tract of land at Lower Clark's Harbour, Cape Sable Island (known then as Stumpy Cove), a large part of Hawk Point, and a great meadow in the centre of the island. He took over land that had been forfeited and abandoned by Joseph Worth, and built a home near the shore, a little north of where the Centreville Baptist Church would later stand. Around 1776 he moved to a house near the shore on Cape Sable Island, near the spot where just before 1981 Job Kenney would build the house that stands today. It is a short distance from the Centreville Baptist Church.

Smith had a fair education, and was highly respected by other settlers. He was known as a "good, quiet, easy, patient man", and was chosen over several years to be clerk of the proprietors, as well as a community magistrate and a surveyor. By trade he was a tanner and a shoemaker, using lime made from mussel shells to cure leather. He was very religious, belonging to the Presbyterian church, and no food was cooked in his house on Sundays. Before a minister came to the island he conducted prayers for the community, and when necessary, buried the dead.

Smith died 3 April 1821 in Centreville, Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia. He is probably buried in the Centreville Cemetery, but his grave is unmarked, so in 1998 a stone in honour of Smith and his wife was erected there. In addition, a museum on Cape Sable Island has been established in his memory, containing historical artifacts, photos, and genealogical data of area families (largely compiled by Margaret Messenger).

Archelaus married Elizabeth Nickerson on 16 Jul 1752 in Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts. Elizabeth (daughter of William Nickerson and Sarah Covell) was born on 15 May 1735 in Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts; died on 24 Apr 1824 in Cape Sable Island, Shelburne, Nova Scotia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1838

Susanna married Joseph Atwood on 10 Aug 1767. Joseph (son of Joshua Atwood and Mary Knowles) was born in 1749 in Bear Point, Shelburne, Nova Scotia; died on 28 Sep 1833 in Atwoods Brook, Shelburne, Nova Scotia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Eunice married Henry Newell in 1776 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

James married Sarah Wilson in Dec 1784 in Barrington, Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Sarah (daughter of Henry Wilson and Sarah Chase) died in 1800. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

James married Tabitha Kendrick in Jul 1803 in Barrington, Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Tabitha (daughter of Warren Anson Kendrick and Azuba Sears) was born on 29 Jul 1766 in Nova Scotia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]