| Notes |
- Richard Smith was referred to by his sons-in-laws as, Father Smith. Smith was also called 'The Quaker'.
Richard, Junior was similarly employed & an Assemblyman.
The third Richard Smith, Esq. was also an Provincial Assemblyman, but resigned based on the Quaker prohibition to bearing arms.
. 1656 Oct 17 - It is ordered by the General Court that Richard Smith, for his unreverend carriage towards the Magistrates contrary to the order, was adjudged to be banished out of the Towne & he is to have a weeke's liberty to prepare himself to departe & if at any time he be found after this limit weeke within the Towne or the bounds thereof he shall forfeit 20 shillings" Whether he paid the fine or resolved the issue in some other way, he was back sometime later engaged in a controversy with Henry Pierson.
A time honored tradition exists that the said Richard Smith made a pact with the Indians to the effect that he should have all of the land that he could ride around in a day on his trained bull. Starting at sunrise & dashing through swamps & over hill & dale, by sunset he had returned to his setting out place. Hence the appellation of Bull Smith. A valley near the Smithtown & Huntington line, adjacent to Fort Salonga became known as "Bread & Cheese Hollow" where it is said Richard stopped to eat his lunch in his mad ride for the possession of the desired land.
. 1665 SMITHTOWN, LONG ISLAND
Smith applied for & obtained the following patent from Governor Nicolls:
A confirmation of a tract of land called Nesequauke granted unto Richard Smith of Long Island.
Richard Nicholls, Esq., Governor under his Royal highness James Duke of Yorke &c of all his Territories in America, To all to whom these presents shall come sendeth greeting. Whereas there is a certain parcel or tract of land situate, lying & being in the East Riding of Yorkshire upon Long Island, commonly called or known by the name of Nesequauke Land, Bounded Eastward with the Lyne lately run by the Inhabitants of Seatalcott as the bounds of their town, bearing Southward to a certaine fresh Pond called Raconkamuck, from whence Southwestward to the Head of Nesequauke River, & on the west side of the said River so far as is at this present in ye possession of Richard Smith as his proper right & not any ways claimed or in controversy between any other persons; which said parcel or tract of land (amongst others) was heretofore given & granted by the Sachems or Indyan proprietors to Lyon? Gardiner of Gardiner's Island, deceased, & his heirs, whose interest & Estate therein hath been sold & conveyed unto Richard Smith & his Heirs, by virtue of which bee claims his propriety; & whereas the commissioners authorized by a General Court held at Hertford in his Colony of Connecticut did heretofore - That is to say in ye month of June 1664 - make an agreement with the said Richard Smith, That upon the conditions therein expressed he, the said Richard Smith should place 20 familyes upon the said land; know ye that by virtue of the commission & authority given unto me by his Royal Highness the Duke of York, I do ratify & confirm the said agreement, & do likewise hereby give, confirm & grant unto the said Richard Smith, his heirs & assigns the said parcel or tract of land called or known by the name of Nesequauke Lands, bounded as aforesaid, together with all the lands, woods, meadows, Pastures, Marshes, waters, Lakes, fishings. Hunting, & flowing, & all other profits, commodities & Emoluments to the said parcel or tract of Land & Premisses belonging, with their & every of their appurtenances & of every part & parcel thereof. To have & to hold the said Parcel or Tract of Land, with all & singular the appurtenances, unto the said Richard Smith, his Heirs & Assigns, to the proper use & behalf of the said Richard Smith, his Heirs & assigns for ever, upon the conditions & Terms hereafter express. That is to say:
That in regard there hath arisen some dispute & controversy between the Inhabitants of the Towne of Huntington & Captaine Robert Ceely of the same place concerning that Parcel of land lying to ye westward of Nesequauke River, which for the consideration virtue of the aforementioned Agreement was to enjoy. But now is molested & hindered in the quiet Possession thereof. The said Rich'd Smith shall be obliged to settle only 10 familyes on the lands before mentioned within the space of three years after the date hereof. But if it shall hereafter happen that the said Richard Smith shall clear his Title & be lawfully posses of the premises as aforesaid, that then he, the said Richard Smith shall settle the full number of 20 familyes within 5 years after such Clearing of his Title, & being lawfully Possess as aforesaid, & shall fulfill whatsoever in the said Agreement is required. & for an encouragement to the said Richard Smith in his setting the families aforementioned the Plantations upon the said Nesequauke Lands shall, from the first settlement until the expiration of the Terme or Termes of years, be free from all Rates or Taxes, & shall have no dependence upon any other place ; but in all respects have like & equal privileges with any Town within this government, Provided aways That the said Richard Smith, his Heirs & Assigns shall render & pay such other acknowledgements & duties as are or shall be Constituted & Ordained by his Royal Highness the Duke of Yorke & his Heirs, or such Governor or Governors as shall from time to time be appointed & Sett over them. Given under my hand & sealed at Fort James in New Yorke, this 3d day of March in 18th year of the rein our Sovereign Lord Charles the Second by the Grace of God King of England, Scotland, France? & Ireland, Defender of the faith &c., & in the year of our Lord God, 1665. Richard Nicolls.
Still the Indians were not entirely satisfied & Smith had to give a dozen coats, a blanket, a gun, some powder & shot & various other commodities before he satisfied, in 1665, the last of the Indian claimants to his extensive possessions. It will be seen that the Nicolls patent conferred upon the territory the dignity & privileges of a town, & soon after its receipt the patentee, "Air. Richard Smith of Nesequauke" as he is described, identified his own. name with his Estate as "Smithfield," at least we find it so mentioned on March 8, 1666. The patent also shows he had a dispute on hand with the people of Huntington as to his boundary lines, & soon afterward he had similar trouble with Brookhaven & a long course of litigation followed, lasting until 1775. Into the details of that long controversy over boundaries there is no occasion to enter here ; the interEst in the matter is purely antiquarian, & is of no practical or even historical importance. Smith fought every phase of the dispute with dogged pertinacity & on the whole was successful in his claims. A curious feature of his defensive operations was his defense against a claim set up for some of his l&s by John Safifin, administrator of the Estate of Captain Thomas Willett, to whom the Jonas Wood syndicate had disposed of an interEst in their purchase of 1650. The claim was duly entered, but the claimants were silenced in some way by Smith, for it seems not to have been pushed. Several other claims were brought against this property under the same 1650 deed, but he seems to have settled them out of court. The last settlements of which there is record were dated on March 3, 1684, by the sons of Daniel Whitehead & Timothy Wood.
But long before that date Smith had still further fortified his position by obtaining a fresh patent from Governor Andros, in which the township honors were renewed, the boundaries again defined & the name of Smithtown, for the first time, given to the territory.Smith applied for & obtained a patent from Governor Nicolls.
Still the Indians were not entirely satisfied & Smith had to give a dozen coats, a blanket, a gun, some powder & shot & various other commodities before he satisfied, in 1665, the last of the Indian claimants to his extensive possessions. It will be seen that the Nicolls patent conferred upon the territory, dignity & privileges of a town, & soon after its receipt the patentee,
"Sir Richard Smith of Nesequauke" as he is described, identified his own name with his Estate as "Smithfield," at least we find it so mentioned on March 8, 1666. The patent also shows he had a dispute on hand with the people of Huntington as to his boundary lines, & soon afterward he had similar trouble with Brookhaven & a long course of litigation followed, lasting until 1775. Into the details of that long controversy over boundaries there is no occasion to enter here; the interEst in the matter is purely antiquarian, & is of no practical or even historical importance. Smith fought every phase of the dispute with dogged pertinacity & on the whole was successful in his claims. A curious feature of his defensive operations was his defense against a claim set up for some of his lands by John Safifin, administrator of the Estate of Captain Thomas Willett, to whom the Jonas Wood syndicate had disposed of an interest in their purchase of 1650. The claim was duly entered, but the claimants were silenced in some way by Smith, for it seems not to have been pushed. Several other claims were brought against this property under the same 1650 deed, but he seems to have settled them out of court. The last settlements of which there is record were dated on March 3, 1684, by the sons of Daniel Whitehead & Timothy Wood.
But long before that date Smith had still further fortified his position by obtaining a fresh patent from Governor Andros, in which the township honors were renewed, the boundaries again defined & the name of Smithtown, for the first time, given to the territory.
. 1693 March ye 5th, WILL of Richard Smith of Smithtown in the County of Suffolk on Long Island in ye province of New York, in ye name of God Amen, being sick & weak in body of sound & perfect memory thanks be to God.
Jonathan Smith our eldest son, we give & bequeath our house farm & orchard, joining to his home lot;
to our son Richard we give & bequeath our Negro Harry & an Equal share of Land in division with ye rest of children; to our son Job we give & bequeath our Negro Robin ye term of 12 years & an equal share of l& in division with ye rest of our children, & at the end of ye 12 years the said Robin shall be free;
son Adam we give an equal share of land;
son Samuel Smith we give & bequeath ye orchard southward of the house & half of ye pasture;
son Daniel we give & bequeath ye other half of the pasture southward of his house.
To our daughter Elizabeth Townley, we give & confirm that land & meadow at a place called Sunk Meadow,
To our Daughter Lawrence we give & bequeath an equal part & share of land,
Note: That is, Deborah Lawrence; Elizabeth remarried in 1684 to Townley.- PJA 2010.
Executors are beloved sons Jonathan & Richard Smith.
Sealed, Jonathan & Richard Smith & Sarah Smith.
Each Signed & Sealed, Richard Smith, Sarah Smith.
Wit: John Roe, Jonathan Lewis, Thos. Helme, 2 MAY 1693, Brookhaven, Suffok Co., NY. - - - [1]
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1613 - 1691 (78 years)