Rev. Dr. John Smith, Immigrant

SOURCE: Della S. Bishop, Smith Hooker Genealogy (Ithaca, N.Y. : [Stuart & Son], 1936), Page 36.

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Rev. Dr. John Smith, third child of Thomas Smith and Susanna O'dell, was born at Newport-Pagnell, England, May 5, 1702, and came to New York City with his parents at age 13. He graduated with the class of 1727 at Yale. On May 6, 1724, he married Mehitable Hooker, d/o Judge James Hooker and Mary Leete of Guilford, CT. He was a practicing physician for several years in Guilford and New York City but later studied divinity and was ordained Dec 13, 1742 as Presbyterian minister of Rye, NY. He moved his family to Rye and purchased of John Abrahamson a house and six acres for L180 sterling Feb 20, 1743.

At a later date the churches at White Plains and Sing Sing, NY, were put under his care, and he removed his family to White Plains where he bought a house on Underwood Ave near the corner of the crossroads.. After going to White Plains, Rev. Smith preached occasionally at Sing Sing from 1763 to 1768.

It is said Rev. Dr. John Smith was a very successful physician and practiced as a physician as well as a preacher until his death. One one occasion, as he and Rev. Jonathan Edwards, the famous Theologian, were walking together along the banks of the Hudson, Rev. Smith said: "To be separated froom my endeared friends and companions are the most bitter trials of my life".

After nearly thirty years in the ministry, Rev. Smith died at White Plains and was buried there, leaving the church in a flourishing condition. At the time of the Rev. War, and only seven years after his death, the battle of White Plains was fought in front of his church and the edifice was destroyed. A larger church built on the same ground was destroyed by fire. The third and present one was built of gray stone and is in splended condition today. When the last church was built, the building was extended over his grave and the upright slab was removed further back. --extracted from "Smith-Hooker Genealogy by Della Bishop", publ. 1936 Ithaca, NY

Mehitable, the youngest child of Judge James Hooker and Mary Leete, was born 10 May 1704 and died at White Plains 5 Sept 1775. John & Mehitable's firstborn was Dr. William Hooker Smith (wf Sarah Browne). He was surgeon at the Wyoming Massacre, Luzerne Co. PA, during the Rev. War; and with his son-in-law James Sutton founded an iron works in the Lackawanna Valley which led to Old Forge being named for him, --kscott, Nov 2011

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Origins

Thomas Smith and Susanna Odell had the following children:

iii. {Rev.} John Smith who married Mehitable Hooker, perhaps sister of Hannah

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• http://www.robertsewell.ca/smith.html
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Feb 24 2020, 16:02:14 UTC
• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Feb 6 2021, 2:08:30 UTC