Margaret Smith

Margaret “Buffum” Smith appears to be the daughter of John Thompson and Tamosin Ward, and the stepdaughter of Robert Buffum, husband of widow Thomasin Buffum Thompson.

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Thompson-20208

Margaret Thompson was baptized at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England on June 30, 1634, daughter of John and Thomasin (Ward) Thompson. [1] [2]

Margaret was brought to Salem, Massachusetts by her mother Thomasin and stepfather Robert Buffum. Robert Buffum was of record at Salem Mass as early as 1638, possibly coming from Yorkshire England in 1634. [3]

Margaret and married, about 1657, John Smith, tailor of Salem. [1] [3] [2]

1658: John Smith sold his property as Salem and acquired 'country' property from Lawrence Southwick where they built a house. No deed was recorded. [2]
Her stepfather Robert Buffum, named Margaret Smith among his daughters in his will. [4]

Margaret Smith died January 1, 1678/9. [5] [4] [2]

John Smith died in 1680 [4] in Virginia. [2]

His will was written on January 28, 1678/9 and proved on June 29, 1680 at Salem. In it he names:

• son George, to reside with Daniel Southwick until he comes of age
• daughter Exercise, to reside with Joshua Buffum until she comes of age
• daughter Mary
• daughter Tamosin, to reside with sister Mary
• brother Joshua Buffum and Samuel Shadock, overseers for the children
• if Mary should die, her portion to go to son Samuel [2]
• Caleb Buffum, Mary Mills, Damaris Buffum, witnesses

Joshua Buffum and Samuel Nurse were appointed administrators, and the court additionally ordered they pay grandson John Nurse L20, when George and Exercise came of age. [2]

1681/2: March 17: After both had died, Daniel Southwick, son of Lawrence, deeded the property previously of his father, acquired by John Smith in 1658, to the guardians of George and Exercise Smith. [2]

Children

1. Elizabeth born ___; died October 22, 1673; married John Nurse on November 1, 1672. [2]
2. Mary born ___ [4]; married Samuel Nurse at Salem on April 5, 1677. [5] [2]
3. George born January 11, 1663/4 [4] [5]; died in 1744; married Hannah ___. [2]
4. Exercise born April 12, 1667.[4] [5]; married Samuel Pope on January 28, 1685. [2]
5. Tamosin born April 1, 1671[4]; married Benjamin Nurse on February 21, 1688. [5] [2]

Letter to Governor Endicott

December 21, 1660. Letter from Mary Trask and Margaret Smith to the Governor, relative to the persecution of their denomination, concludes: "From your house of correction (in Boston) where we have been unjustly restrained from our children and habitations, one of us about 8 months, the other 10 months; and where we are yet continued by you oppressors, yet know no Shame. [2] [8]

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Notes

Was a Quaker or "Friend." Was punished for allowing her sister (or half sister) Deborah to walk naked through town to protest the Puritan persecution of Quakers. Deborah, Margaret and their mother were tied to a cart and walked through town, in their underclothes from top to waist and given up to 30 lashes.

Margaret was either the daughter of Robert Buffam (born around 1639 in Salem) or his step-daughter born in England in 1633 (to Thomasine Ward and John Thompson).

From http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=lahope&id...

Margaret (Thompson) Smith attended the first Quaker meeting at Lawrence Southwick's house, along with her mother and brother, on 5 June 1658. She was one of five Salem Quaker converts who accompanied Robinson and Stevenson in October, 1659 from Salem to Boston. They had been banished from Boston on pain of death and had been released from prison in Salem a month previously. They were thrown into prison upon their arrival in Boston; the two Englishmen were hung October 17. Margaret Smith, Mary Trask and Hannah Phelps were examined and publicly whipped ten stripes. She was recommitted to jail until the jailor's fees were paid. Margaret Smith was agin in the Boston jail in the spring of 1660. She remained in prison for 8 to 10 months, during which time she wrote to Gov. Endicott, as did her husband. He also wrote to her brother (half-brother?) Joshua Buffum.

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From http://www.quakers-n-othersr.us/getperson.php?personID=I4242&tree=t...

"John and Margaret Smith were among those who were persecuted for their adherence to the opinions of the Quakers. Bishop's 'New England Judge' contains an account of these persecutions, also letters addressed to Governor John Endecott, one signed by John Smith and delivered to him shortly after the death of Mary Dyer in 1660; another signed by Mary Trask and Margaret Smith, dated, 'From your House of Correction, where we have been unjustly restrained from our Children and Habitations; one of us above ten months, and the other about eight, and where we are yet continued by you. Oppressors that know no shame. Boston, the 21st of the 20th [sic] month, 1660.'" [1]

Name:

"Margaret may likely be the daughter of John and Tamoson (Ward) Thompson. However, since Tamoson Thompson married Robert buffum while Margaret was but a child, she was part of the Robert Buffum 'family' and carried the name of Margaret Buffum." [1]

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References

• [S188] Buffum Family Vol II, Owen A Perkins, Historian, Buffum Family Association, (Buffum Family Assoc. Inc., New York, 1983)
• http://stanleyhistory.net/descnarratives/blessingwilliam7662.shtml
• http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol2/images/p2-39.html
• http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol2/images/p2-253.html
• http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol2/images/p2-261.html
• http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol2/images/p2-262.html
• http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol2/images/p2-263.html
• http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol2/images/p2-264.html
• http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol2/images/p2-266.html
• http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Perley/vol2/images/p2-438.html
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Thompson-20208 cites

1. Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis (1885-1966), Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996, p. 405
2. Davis, Walter Goodwin. The ancestry of Sarah Johnson, 1775-1824, wife of Joseph Neal of Litchfield, Maine, Anthoensen Press, Portland, Maine,1960, p. 48-54
3. Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island: Genealogical Records and Historical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of the Old Families, J.H. Beers & Company, Rhode Island, 1908, p. 570
4. Austin, John Osborne. One Hundred and Sixty Allied Families, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, Maryland, 2009 p. 43-4
5. Vital Records of Salem Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, The Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts, 1916
6. Pestana, Carla Gardina. Quakers and Baptists in Colonial Massachusetts, Cambridge University Press, Mar 18, 2004, p. 25-38: 42: 94
7. Janney, Samuel Mcpherson. History of the Religious Society of Friends, from Its Rise to the Year 1828, Published 1859
8. rootsweb.com/~ahopkins/southwick/church_history.htm