Benjamin Smith

Brief Life History of Benjamin

When Benjamin Smith was born on 2 May 1769, in Stratham, Rockingham, New Hampshire, British Colonial America, his father, Capt Benjamin Smith, was 60 and his mother, Sarah Clark, was 30. He married Nancy Rogers about 1791, in Durham, Strafford, New Hampshire, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 daughter. He died on 14 November 1826, in Newmarket, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States, at the age of 57, and was buried in Smith Family Cemetery, Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States.

Photos and Memories (1)

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Family Time Line

Benjamin Smith
1769–1826
Nancy Rogers
1773–1850
Marriage: about 1791
Hannah R. Smith
1797–1886

Sources (5)

  • Benjamin Smith Jr in the New Hampshire, U.S., Birth Index, 1659
  • Benjamin Smith, "Find A Grave Index"
  • Benjamin Smith in entry for Hannah Mugridge, "New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947"

Spouse and Children

Parents and Siblings

World Events (8)

1776

Thomas Jefferson's American Declaration of Independence endorsed by Congress. Colonies declare independence.

1776

New Hampshire is 9th state.

1786 · Shays' Rebellion

Caused by war veteran Daniel Shays, Shays' Rebellion was to protest economic and civil rights injustices that he and other farmers were seeing after the Revolutionary War. Because of the Rebellion it opened the eyes of the governing officials that the Articles of Confederation needed a reform. The Rebellion served as a guardrail when helping reform the United States Constitution.

Name Meaning

English and Scottish: occupational name denoting a worker in metal, especially iron, such as a blacksmith or farrier, from Middle English smith ‘smith’ (Old English smith, probably a derivative of smītan ‘to strike, hammer’). Early examples are also found in the Latin form Faber . Metal-working was one of the earliest occupations for which specialist skills were required, and its importance ensured that this term and its equivalents in other languages were the most widespread of all occupational surnames in Europe. Medieval smiths were important not only in making horseshoes, plowshares, and other domestic articles, but above all for their skill in forging swords, other weapons, and armor. This is also the most frequent of all surnames in the US. It is very common among African Americans and Native Americans (see also 5 below). This surname (in any of the two possible English senses; see also below) is also found in Haiti. See also Smither .

English: from Middle English smithe ‘smithy, forge’ (Old English smiththe). The surname may be topographic, for someone who lived in or by a blacksmith's shop, occupational, for someone who worked in one, or habitational, from a place so named, such as Smitha in King's Nympton (Devon). Compare Smithey .

Irish and Scottish: sometimes adopted for Gaelic Mac Gobhann, Irish Mac Gabhann ‘son of the smith’. See McGowan .

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

Possible Related Names

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