When I began researching my family history about fifteen years ago, I knew very little about the early origins of my paternal family. My surname was Irish in origin, as was my paternal grandmother’s maiden name, and as far as I was aware, my ancestors had not been in this country for very long.
However, once I began digging into records, I discovered that the vast majority of my paternal lineage traced back to Canada—specifically Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. What I found most surprising, though, was that many of these “Canadian” lines could be traced back to people who had lived in New Hampshire (where I was born and raised) and Massachusetts. In this post, I will focus on one branch of my family that illustrates one of the more fascinating migration patterns I uncovered.
Joseph R. Smith was born in the autumn of 1775 in Epping, New Hampshire, the sixth and youngest son of Elisha Smith (1726–1811) and Lydia Norris (1729–1819). When he was just a few months old, his family moved north from Epping to Sanbornton, where his father, Elisha, owned nearly 700 acres of land. According to History of Sanbornton, New Hampshire by Rev. M.T. Runnels, Elisha spent many years clearing his land, walking fifty miles from his home in Epping1 to do so.
In the winter of 1775, the family finally relocated to Sanbornton on an ox-sled. Lydia, who was an invalid at the time, rode on a bed, “wishing only to be buried in Sanbornton.” Remarkably, she made a full recovery and lived another forty-four years. Elisha generously divided his land among his sons, giving one hundred acres to each when they came of age.
Joseph initially received land in Sanbornton, but he soon decided to strike out on his own. On 7 September 1798, he purchased 100 acres in Groton, New Hampshire, from his father. Six months later, he married Azubah Fuller, a woman from the nearby town of Rumney.
Gravestone of Elisha Smith and Lydia Norriss, Bay Baptist Cemetery in Sanbornton, New Hampshire
For unknown reasons, Joseph decided to sell his land in Groton in September 1802 and moved with his brother, Benjamin Smith, to Belmont, Maine. Shortly afterward, he purchased 200 acres in Montville, Maine, where he lived for four years. Eventually, though, he decided that Maine was not for him either and continued northward, settling in Northampton, New Brunswick, in 1807. During the War of 1812, he operated the ferry between Woodstock and Northampton—a fact he later cited in 1826 as a sign of his loyalty to the British crown when petitioning for land. He received 489 acres in Northampton in 1813 but, due to financial difficulties, had to sell the land within the next three years.
By 1820, Joseph followed his daughter Lydia Smith and her husband, William Bateman, north to Gloucester County, New Brunswick. He settled on the island of Caraquet, where he found work as a stonemason. During his time in Caraquet, he and his family converted to Catholicism. He spent the next thirty years in northern New Brunswick, moving frequently, until the late 1840s, when his wife Azubah passed away. At that point, Joseph made the unusual decision to return to New Hampshire.
Joseph appears in the 1850 census in Sanbornton, New Hampshire, living with his nephew, Barnard Smith, and working as a laborer on his farm. His children, however, never returned to New Hampshire, instead settling in New Brunswick, Quebec, and Maine.
Reports of Joseph Smith’s death are conflicting. The book Les familles de Caraquet claims he died in 1856 in North Whitefield, Maine, while Runnels’ History of Sanbornton, New Hampshire notes that he was last seen in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.2 I have found no records to verify either claim and no documentation of him after 1850.
Joseph was a fascinating man, and I can trace not just one but two lines of descent from him, as his great-grandchildren Joseph McGilvery and Margaret Appleby married each other. He traveled nearly 600 miles from his childhood home, only to return as an elderly man following a different faith. His conversion to Catholicism—likely a shock to his Baptist relatives in Sanbornton—is mentioned in Runnels’ History of Sanbornton, suggesting it caused quite a stir in the small New Hampshire town.
The distant travels of Joseph Smith of Sanbornton have always intrigued me. When discussing New England families who settled in Canada, Loyalists are usually the most commonly mentioned group. In my family, however, Loyalists represent only a small portion of my New England–to–Canada ancestors. Most, like the Smiths, moved north in search of land and opportunity. What I find particularly striking is that only a few generations later, I grew up just twenty miles south of Epping, New Hampshire—the very town where Joseph Smith was born.
Sources
[1] “History of Sanbornton, New Hampshire Vol. 2”Rev. M.T. Runnels, A. Mudge & son, printers, 1881, Boston, Mass, NewEngland Historic Genealogical Society, Call No. F44.S18 R9 1881, page 716-718.
[2] “Lesfamilles de Caraquet: dictionnaire genealogique incluant les pionniers desparoisses de Bas-Caraquet, Bertrand, Grand-Anse, Maisonnette, Paquetville etSaint-Simon" F. Theriault, New Brunswick, 1985, New England HistoricGenealogical Society, Call No: F1044.5.C37 T43 1985.