Maj. John Smith, of “Purton”

Previously shown as the son of Thomas Smith

There is NO known Portrait of this John Smith. Please do not add one without comparing to the Portraits verified as being John Smith, 1st Speaker of the House of Commons or Capt. John Smith, of Jamestown

Biography

John Smith, eldest son of Christopher Smyth and Elizabeth Townley, was baptized 12 September 1624 at St Peter's Church, Burnley, Lancashire, England.

Alt. DOB 12 Sep 1627 shown at Early Colonial Settlers of (attached)

He had a daughter, Blanche, who was baptized 7 March 1651/2 who was named in John's mothers will.[1] (is this proven?)

[John Smith who was Speaker of the House of Burgesses of Virginia in 1657.]

John Smith married Anne Bernard, daughter of Anne. Anne Bernard was guardian for the two daughters of Samuel Matthews of Warwick along with John Smith.

From Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Lyon Gardiner Tyler (p 326):

John Smith came to Virginia about 1652, married Anna Bernard, daughter of Richard Bernard, of "Purton," in Gloucester county. He was major in 1665, lieutenant-colonel before 1674, and sided with Sir William Berkeley in 1767 against Bacon. His son, John Smith, of Purton, married Mary Warner, daughter of Colonel Augustine Warner.

John & Anne had only one child, John Smith (Jr) who was born 1654 and died 14 April 1698. Looks like mother and son died the same day. Indian's or disease.

From the William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Apr., 1915), p. 292:

Two John Smiths

There were two prominent John Smiths living in Virginia about 1660, in regard to whom some confusion had resulted. In an article on the Bernard family in Quarterly, V., 63, it is shown that Richard Bernard, of Buckinghamshire, England, patented 1,000 acres in Gloucester County, and that in 1662, his widow, Anna Bernard, whose maiden name was Corderoy, was living at "Purton" on York River with her daughter, Anna Smith. There can be little doubt that this daughter was the wife of the first John Smith, of "Purton" (Portan, Poetan, Powhatan), ancestor of a well-known family, who resided for many years at that place now identified as the sight ow Powhatan's chief town Poetan or Werococomoco, where in 1607, another and more famous John Smith was saved by Pocahontas.

As evidence of this marriage of Anna Bernard to John Smith, a John Smith was numbered among the headrights of Richard Bernard in 1652, and in 1662 John Smith witnessed a deed of Mrs. Anna Bernard, of "Purton".

The following year (1663), as Beverly, the historian informs us, a plot was disclosed to the public by a servant of "Mr. Smith, of Purton."

So much seems certain, but the article in the magazine appears in error in attempting to identify John Smith, of "Purton," with Major John Smith of Warwick County, who was Speaker of the House of Burgesses in 1658. The fact is, there is nothing to show that John Smith, of "Purton", attained the military title of major, as early as 1658, though he was a major in 1665. There was another John Smith, who, in 1654, purchased land in Upper Machodock Neck, Westmoreland County (afterwards Stafford County), but does not appear to have resided there at that time. He was known as Major John Smith, though his true name was Francis Dade. He had issue living in 1651, Francis, Mary, and Anna Dade.

From “Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume 4” By Louise Pecquet du Bellet. (1907) “The Warner - Smiths of Purton.” page 13 < Archive.Org >

Lawrence Smith, of York, (Col. Lawrence Smith) and John Smith, of Gloucester, were eotemporaneous, and probably brothers, as we have on record a deed of land in Gloucester Co., by Lawrence Smith, to "his brother, John Smith, of that county,” in 1666.

The destruction of the records of Gloucester County, by fire, in 1819-20, has left much supported only by tradition, or inference concerning the connection of the Smiths of York Co., with those of “Purton,” Gloucester Co., “Shooter's Hill," in Middlesex Co., and "Fleet's Bay," in Northumberland County. But the deed of land in question, apparently from the first Lawrence Smith, of record in one family, to the first John Smith, of record in the other family, seems to prove that the relationship existed. …

Of the ancestry of this Lawrence, and John Smith, no record has been found. The tradition is that their father was Thomas Smith, son of Arthur Smith, who immigrated to Virginia in 1633 … [note: not currently supported]

References

1. “Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volumes 1-2” By Louise Pecquet du Bellet. GoogleBooks
2. https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=%3A3081791&id=I61...
3. “Some Prominent Virginia Families, Volume 4” By Louise Pecquet du Bellet. “The Warner - Smiths of Purton.” GoogleBooks
4. “Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Under the Editorial ...,” Volume 1. edited by Lyon Gardiner Tyler. Page 326. GoogleBooks
5. https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I7446... cites
   1. [S66] Fielding Lewis.
   2. [S66] Fielding Lewis. Fielding Lewis and the Washington Family, Paula S. Felder
   3. [S10] Adventurers of Purse and Person Virginia 1607-1624/5. Fourth Edition. Volume Two, Families G-P
6. Capt John Smith of Purton, 'Licensed sailer of New Kent Founder, Wiliam Claiborne whose former land is now Wicocomico State Park.
7. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bernard-102
8. Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. I, p. 187, BERNARD 14.ii.a, < GoogleBooks > “Anna [Bernard] (wife of [Maj.] John Smith).”
9. Mary Burton Derrickson McCurdy. “The Townleys and Warners of Virginia and Their English Connections.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 81, no. 3, 1973, pp. 319–67. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4247812. Accessed 3 June 2024.
10. https://hammroots.com/getperson.php?personID=I11406&tree=Main