Philip Smith

Notes:

He was perhaps the first person in his adopted town of Hadley to be a lieutenant, a deacon, and a representative to the general assembly.

According to Cotton Mather, he was "murdered with an hideous witchcraft," for which Mary (Reeve) Webster, wife of William Webster (a son of Governor John Webster, also an ancestor of DDB) was accused and aquitted.

From Magnalia Christi Americana by Cotton Mather:

Mr. Philip Smith, aged about 50 years, a son of eminently virtuous parents, a deacon of a church in Hadley, a member of the General Court, a justice in the County Court, a selectman for the affairs of the town, a Lieutenant of the troop, and which crowns all, a man for devotion, sanctity, gravity, and all that was honest, exceeding exemplary. Such a man was in the winter of the year 1684, murdered with an hideous witchcraft, that filled all those parts of New England, with astonishment. He was, by his office concerned about relieving the indigences of a wretched woman in the town; who being dissatisfied at some of his just cares about her, expressed herself unto him in such a manner, that he declared himself thenceforth apprehensive of receiving mischief at her hands. Early in January, he began to be very valetudinarious. He shewed such weanedness from the weariness of the world, etc....While he remained yet of a sound mind, he solemnly charged his brother to look well after him. Be sure (said he) to have a care for me....There shall be a wonder in Hadley....In his distress he exclaimed much upon the young woman aforesaid, and others, as being seen by him in the room. Some of the young men in the town being out of their wits at the strange calamities thus upon one of their most beloved neighbors, went three or four times to give disturbance unto the woman thus complained of; and all the while they were disturbing her, he was at ease, and slept as a weary man; yea, these were the only times they perceived him to take any sleep in all his illness. Gally pots of medicine provided for the sick man were unaccountably emptied: audible scratchings were made about the bed, when his hands and feet lay wholly still, and were held by others. They beheld fire sometimes on the bed; and when the beholders began to discourse of it, it vanished away. Divers people actually felt something often stir in the bed, at a considerable distance from the man; it seemed as big as a cat, but they could never grasp it. Several trying to lean on the bed's head, tho' the sick man lay wholly still, the bed would shake so as to knock their heads uncomfortably. Mr. Smith died; the jury that viewed his corpse found a swelling on one breast, his back full of bruises, and several holes that seemed made with awls. After the opinion of all had pronounced him dead, his countenance continued as lively as if he had been alive; his eyes closed as in a slumber, and his nether jaw not falling down. Thus he remained from Saturday morning about sunrise, till Sabbathday in the aftenoon. When those who took him out of the bed, found him still warm, tho' the season was as cold as had almost been known in any age; and a New England winter does not want for cold. But on Monday morning they found the face extremely tumified and discolored. It was black and blue, and fresh blood seemed running down his cheek upon the hairs. Divers noises were also heard in the room where the corpse lay; as the clattering of chairs and stools, whereof no account could be given. This was the end of so good a man.

From History of Hadley (citation details below):

Mary Webster, the woman who disturbed Philip Smith, was sent to Boston, tried for witchcraft, and acquitted. The young men of Hadley tried an experiment upon her. They dragged her out of the house, hung her up until she was near dead, let her down, rolled her some time in the snow, and at last buried her in it, and there left her. But she survived, and died in 1696. No inhabitant of Hampshire County was ever executed for witchcraft.

Philip married Rebecca Foote before 1659. Rebecca (daughter of Nathaniel Foote and Elizabeth) was born about 1634; died on 6 Apr 1701. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1741

Nathaniel married Mary Dickinson on 6 Feb 1696. Mary (daughter of Nathaniel Dickinson and Hannah Beardsley) was born on 2 Feb 1673. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ichabod married Elizabeth Cook on 19 Jul 1698. Elizabeth (daughter of Capt. Aaron Cook and Sarah Westwood) was born on 9 Jan 1677 in Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts; died on 10 Oct 1751 in Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts; was buried in Old Hadley Cemetery, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married Jonathan Dickinson on 2 Apr 1724. Jonathan (son of Deacon Nathaniel Dickinson and Hannah White) was born on 7 Nov 1699; died on 31 Dec 1787 in Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

First physician at Amherst, which he moved to as early as 1731.

Nathaniel married Rebecca Ingram on 11 Nov 1726. Rebecca (daughter of John Ingram and Mehitable Dickinson) was born on 5 Nov 1704; died on 21 Jul 1789. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 28 Mar 1815

Noah married Mary Dickinson on 28 Apr 1757. Mary (daughter of Deacon Ebenezer Dickinson and Sarah Kellogg) was born about 1737 in Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts; died on 1 Jun 1791. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Dorothy married Ebenezer Mattoon in 1747. Ebenezer (son of Deacon Eleazar Mattoon) was born on 21 Dec 1720 in Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married Maj. Gen. Ebenezer Mattoon on 7 Jul 1779. Ebenezer (son of Ebenezer Mattoon and Dorothy Smith) was born on 19 Aug 1755 in North Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts; was christened on 24 Aug 1755; died on 11 Sep 1843 in Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts; was buried in West Cemetery, Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts

Notes:

"MATTOON, Ebenezer, a Representative from Massachusetts; born in North Amherst, Hampshire County, Mass., on August 19, 1755; attended the common schools and received private instruction; was graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., in 1776; served in the Revolutionary Army and attained the rank of major; taught school and also engaged in agricultural pursuits; member of the State house of representatives in 1781 and 1794; justice of the peace 1782-1796; served in the State senate in 1795 and 1796; served from the rank of captain to that of major general of the Fourth Division, State militia; appointed sheriff of Hampshire County in 1796 and served twenty years; elected as a Federalist to the Sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Samuel Lyman; reelected to the Seventh Congress and served from February 2, 1801, to March 3, 1803; again a member of the State house of representatives in 1812; major general of Massachusetts Militia 1799-1816; adjutant general of the State militia 1816-1818; became totally blind in 1818 and retired from active public life; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1820; died in Amherst, Mass., September 11, 1843; interment in West Cemetery." [Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress]

Maj. Gen. Ebenezer Mattoon and his wife Mary Dickinson were cousins four different ways:

Third cousins through shared descent from Philip Smith (1632-1685) and Rebecca Foote (d. 1701);

Third cousins once removed through shared descent from Nathaniel Dickinson (1601-1676) and his wife Ann (d. 1671), via descent to Ebenezer through their son John (1624-1676) and descent to Mary through their son Nehemiah (1643-1723);

Fourth cousins through shared descent from Nathaniel and Ann Dickinson (see above), via descent to Ebenezer through their son John (see above) and descent to Mary via their son Joseph (1630-1675);

And fourth cousins through shared descent from Nathaniel and Ann Dickinson (see above), via descent to Ebenezer through their son John (see above) and descent to Mary through their son Nathaniel (1627-1710).

Put another way, Ebenezer and Mary's daughter Mary Dickinson Mattoon was a direct descendant of four of the sons of Nathaniel (1601-1676) and Ann (d. 1671) Dickinson:

John Dickinson (1624-1676)
great-great-great grandfather: father's mother's mother's mother's father

Joseph Dickinson (1630-1675)
great-great-great grandfather: mother's father's father's father's father

Nathaniel Dickinson (1627-1710)
great-great-great grandfather: mother's father's mother's mother's father

Nehemiah Dickinson (1643-1723)
great-great-grandfather: mother's mother's father's father

Ebenezer married Mary Dickinson on 7 Jul 1779. Mary (daughter of Lt. Noah Dickinson and Mary Dickinson) was born on 10 Mar 1758 in Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts; died on 30 Jul 1835 in Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married Daniel Dwight on 24 Dec 1809. Daniel (son of Capt. Justus Dwight and Sarah Lamb) was born on 7 Sep 1775; died on 5 Nov 1851 in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts

Martha married Elizur Wolcott on 15 Jul 1846. Elizur (son of Elihu Wolcott and Rachel McClintock McClure) was born on 7 Aug 1817; died in Mar 1901 in Berkeley, Alameda, California; was buried in Diamond Grove Cemetery, Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Called in many sources May Matoon Wolcott. According to a letter from John Dyer-Bennet to his sister Miriam, 3 Dec 1975, her given name was actually Mary. She attended Wellesley as a member of the class of 1885, but did not graduate.

Her ashes were interred with those of her father.

Mary married Edward Bull Clapp on 22 Dec 1886 in Morgan, Illinois. Edward (son of Rev. Charles Wells Clapp and Jane Pray Bassett) was born on 14 Apr 1856 in Cheshire, New Haven, Connecticut; died on 6 Feb 1919 in Berkeley, Alameda, California; was buried in Godfrey Cemetery, Godfrey, Madison, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]