1st wife of Robert Smart, Sr.

The first wife of Robert Smart and mother of his children was dead before 1654, when his wife was Rebecca, who was his widow in 1703.

Was she the same as Mary Hilton ?

Her name has also been seen as Anna, but there are no records of her name.

family

Children of ROBERT SMART and his first wife:

• JOHN3 SMART, b. Bet. 1640 - 1670; d. Unknown.
• ROBERT SMART, b. Abt. 1646, Exeter, Rockingham Co., NH; d. Bef. Jul 23, 1718, Exeter, Rockingham Co., NH.

Children of Robert Smart and his second wife:

• RICHARD SMART, b. 1662; d. Unknown; m. ANN HILTON, 1687; b. Unknown; d. Unknown, Portsmith, ME. More About RICHARD SMART: Residence: 1677, resided in Exeter, Rockingham Co., NH.

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origins

According to http://www.geocities.ws/elaineclow/surname/smart.html#2

ROBERT SMART was born about 1625 in Norfolkshire, England, and died 1703 in Exeter, New Hamphire. He married (1) to Anna --- and (2) to Rebecca Hilton, daughter of Capt. William Hilton and Rebecca Simmons.

Reference:

• "John Smart of Exeter, NH & Seven Generations" by H. B. Leslie rev. 12/90
• Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire

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From http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/k/o/z/David-M-Koziol-IL/GENE1-0002.html

Notes for MARY HILTON:

Source: (1) Charles Mack, http://genforum.genealogy.com/smart/messages/1626.html

I do not believe that Rebecca daughter of William Hilton and Rebecca Simmons was the wife of Robert Smart b about 1625. William Hilton was born about 1632, Noyes, et al, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, p 336, and was the son of Edward Hilton, bp at Northwich, co Chester, England, 9 June 1596 and the first permanent settler in New Hampshire, op. cit., p 331. William is too young to have fathered a Rebecca who could be in court with her husband Robert Smart in 1654, op. cit., p 641.
It also appears that Robert Smart's wife Rebecca was a second wife and not the mother of his children. Phillip Howard Gray in Penobscot Pioneers, Vol. One, Alley Bakeman Smart, Penobscot Press, Camden, ME, devotes a chapter to John Smart of Exeter, and discusses his son Robert, commencing with the following at pages 93 and 94: "the widow Rebecca renounced administration to her stepson Robert I I Dec 1703 and said son took administration 13 Dec 1703, with Winthrop Hilton and Jonathan Hilton as sureties (Probate Records of the Province of New Hampshire 1907 v 1 p 508?509). The renunciation makes it virtually certain that Rebecca was a second wife, not mother of the children."

Phillip Howard Gray concludes that Robert Smart's first wife was Mary Hilton, as follows:

The name of the first wife, and thus mother of the children, is wholly missing from the records. However, the close relationship between the Hiltons and the Smarts suggests she could have been a Hilton, more likely a daughter of William' Hilton than his brother Edward' Hilton because of the age factor; one might note that when William Hilton's wife (speculatively a Winslow) arrived in Plymouth about 10 July 1623 she had two children with her, most likely William bp 22 June 1617 and Mary bp 11 May 1619 (Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire p 334?335 and note that this Mary is not satisfactorily accounted for on p 333 although there is a feeble attempt to do so). Until something proves me wrong, I assume that Robert Smart married, within a few years of moving to Exeter aka Squarnscot with his father, MARy2 HILTON. Children by the first wife, regardless of who she was, were: i. Robert' Smart Jun, was married 25 Sept 1674 by Mr. Samuel Dalton, commissioner of Exeter, to EleanorDudley aka "Elnell Pratly", patently the sister of Elizabeth Dudley who was married on the same day by the same justice of the peace to Kensley Hall (Provincial Deeds of New Hampshire Volume A in script reproduced on LDS film 015,410 and printed in NEHGR 1854 p 224); and ii. JOHN' (Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire p 641).

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Robert Smart came to Hingham, Massachusetts with his father, mother and brother, John, from Norfolk County, England, in 1635.[1]

He married Anna (Unknown), and had a son, Robert.[1]

At the time of his death, Robert was married to Rebecca (Hilton??). She was the stepmother to son Robert, and she renounced administration of her husband's estate in favor her stepson.[2]

2 Reference

1 Reference

• page 679 of Torrey's New England Marriages before 1700. Robert Smart (d 1703) married 1st to -?- b 1654, b 1646; and 2nd to Rebecca [?Hilton] b 1701?; b 1685; Exeter NH