Clarissa Corning

1) One of the children of Nathan Steele Corning and Clarissa Smith was named Smith Peabody Corning;

2) Assuming this somewhat unusual name might be a clue as to Clarissa's parents, I began looking for an appropriate Smith-Peabody match. The only potential match I found was the marriage of Daniel Smith, born in Stonington, Connecticut (7 Oct 1753), son of Joseph Smith and Zipporah Branch and grandson of Daniel Smith and Thankfull Billings, to Ruth Peabody, also born in Stonington (7 Feb 1762) and daughter of Thomas Peabody and Ruth Babcock. This couple is noted in the book "History of the Town of Stonington, County of New London, Connecticut". They married April 19, 1781. The book notes two children, the last born in 1784 (1);

3) Assuming that Daniel and Ruth could be the parents of Clarissa Smith, I looked for a record of the passing of either a Daniel Smith or Ruth Smith in Columbia County, New York. I found a Ruth Smith of the correct age who passed May 5, 1820. Apparently her grave marker has the following inscription: "In the 59th year of her age. Consort of Mr. Daniel Smith." (2) The DAR also has a listing for a Daniel Smith b. 7 Oct 1753 in Stonington, Connecticut d. 25 Oct 1843 in Cambria, Niagara, New York, spouse of Ruth Pebodie (3);

4) If my assumptions concerning the parentage of Lucinda Smith (mother of Clarissa's husband Nathan Steele Corning) and Clarissa Smith are correct, then the two are related, though not too closely. Daniel Smith and Thankfull Billings would have been Lucinda's grandparents and Clarissa's great-grandparents.

5) The Will of Thomas Pabodie (Ruth's father), written in 1807 and proved in 1815, places Ruth and her husband Daniel Smith in Canaan, NY (Columbia County) Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: pt. 1. Family of John Alden, fifth generation descendants of his daughter Elizabeth (Alden) Pabodie p. 282-283

"THOMAS5 PAYBODY/PEABODY (William40, Elizabeth2 Alden, John1) was born at Little Compton, 3 November 1727 (RIVR, 4:6:144); baptized 31 March 1728 at Little Compton (RIVR, 8:21); died 24 March 1815, age 86; buried in Crary Cemetery, North Stonington, Connecticut (Hale Coll, 56). He married at Stonington, 16 August 1761 (Barbour VR, 201 [3:205]), RUTH ( — ) BABCOCK, born about 1736; died 6 October 1813, age 77; buried in Crary Cemetery, North Stonington (Hale Coll, 56).

Thomas Pabodie, of North Stonington, made his will 2 July 1807, proved 14 April 1815, naming his sons William ($420), Thomas ($500), Benjamin($500, Lemuel ($500), and Joseph ($500); three granddaughters SusannahPabody, Oliva Pabody, and Jerusha Pabody, daughters of son John, deceased ($100 divided among them when 18 or at marriage); daughter Ruth Smith, wife of Daniel Smith of Canan [sic], New York ($100); seven grandchildren, heirs of "my daughter Jarusha," deceased, who was wife of Lodowick Miner of Whitestown, New York: "Jarusha," Lydia, "Suky," Polly, Isaac Pabody, Clarissa, and Lodowick ($100 divided among them); daughter Lydia Williams, wife of Ebenezer Williams, of Bern, New York ($100); daughter Susannah Chapman, wife of Jonas Chapman, of Bern ($100); daughters Rebeckah Pabody ($200) and Lucy Pabody ($100); grandson Joseph Holmes, son of my daughter Lucy Pabody ($50); and his wife Ruth (use and improvement of one third of the estate); the rest of the estate was left to his son Benjamin who was named executor. The inventory was taken 7 April 1815 and includes 120 acres in North Stonington being the homestead farm valued at $4,235.00 and another 80 acres with buildings valued at $1,335.00 (Stonington PD, #2,604). In the text the name is spelled Pabody, but he signed as Pabodie.”

6) According to the US Census of 1800, the household of Daniel Smith of Canaan, New York included one female child born between 1790 and 1800;

7) I have a DNA match at FTDNA with a person who is descended from Thomas Peabody and Ruth Babcock, through their daughter Lucy Peabody. I’ve found no other likely common ancestor for the two of us.

(1) http://archive.org/stream/historytownston00wheegoog#page/n588/mode/2up (p. 571-572)

(2)http://tinyurl.com/Ruth-Smith (at findagrave.com) Inscription on Ruth Smith’s headstone “In the 59th year of her age. Consort of Mr. Daniel Smith”

(3)http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search_adb/default.cfm

For Daniel Smith’s date and place of death, I used the DAR genealogy service. Unfortunately, the DAR site would not let me provide you with a direct link to the page listing for Daniel Smith. I entered his name, spouse's first name (Ruth), birth year (1753), state of birth (Connecticut), and (potential) state of death (New York).