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Bornyasz Family Tree |
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Bornyasz Unknown Pictures Bronson Brown Riesinger |
This is an exact reprint of the summary written by Thorn Smith in 1941. Added to website 10/25/07 - this Thorn is not yet on the website - the only Thorn on the website today is Thorn b1804 - 2 Generations off. There were a lot of Thorn Smiths and I'll add them all as soon as I can. Gotta love it!
A somewhat brief statement of the Smith and allied lines
but sufficiently complete Up to the time of writing this in 1941 we have not succeeded in finding out the colonial ancestors of the Smiths. They are believed to have descended from William Smith a very early settler in Long Island, New York, but the line has never been completed and until further information ca be secured we will have to begin with Thomas Smith. He was born September 19, 1735 but where we do not know. The impression has been created by constant reiteration that he was born in Duchess County, New York but the writer of these notes does not subscribe to that belief at all. He believes that Thomas immediately after his marriage went to Duchess County to become a farmer. He died March 22, 1801. We do not know when he married but assume that it was sometime early in 1760. His wife was Phebe Green and our printed records say she was born October 25, 1741. In the winter of 1940-41 a Phebe Green born October 25, 1742 was discovered and it is assumed that the printed record is in error. This Phebe Green came of Rhode Island sock and no doubt was born in that state. Her ancestor was probably "John Green of Quidnessett", a very early arrival in American having been of the 15th known generation of Greens in England. The fact that this Phebe was born in Rhode Island is one reason for believing that Thomas Smith was born in either Long Island or Rhode Island rather than in Duchess County, N.Y. In the early days people seldom married out of their immediate vicinities owing to the difficulties of travel. When a recently married pair left their home to embark for a distant place they rarely expected to see their parents and friends again, which was a serious business. They simply loaded their few possessions and with he "God Bless Yous" of their parents and friends set out for a new home in the wilderness, not always very far distant. Thomas and Phebe (Green) Smith had 11 children. There were three named William but only the last grew to manhood. He was the only boy and named Will T. He was born May 6, 1777. We do not know who John Thorn was but his ancestors were early settlers in New England and we know more of the Thorns than the Smiths although there is not a clear line of the descent of John from the early Thorns. A William Thorn lived in Lyn, Mass., in 1638 but after that date we know little or nothing about him. It is believed that he went to Long Island where he married and the name of William Thorn was well known there. He had children who married into well known families. All information points to the belief that the very early Thorns and Smiths were related and that after many years the relationship was renewed, but by families so distantly related to the early ones that the connection had become very dim. The Hicks family is also unknown, that is the line of descent is not clear, but that it was an extremely old family there is no doubt whatever. The Hicks were Quakes, at least after 1656 when the first Quakers came to America but it is not to be assumed that the original Hicks was a Quaker because he came many years before the first Quakers. As Quakers almost invariably married Quakers we believe that John Thorn was a Quaker. In fact it is well known that the early Thorns were Quakers. It is also believed that Thomas Smith was a Quaker, his wife Phebe also. Thomas Smith and his family moved from Duchess County to what is now Saratoga County, N.Y. in about 1770 and settled on a farm not far from Schuylerville, then Saratoga. Saratoga Springs as we know it is about 11 miles west of Old Saratoga or what is now Schuylerville. This old Thomas Smith farm is still in possession, in 1941, of the Smith descendants of Thomas and is one of the most beautiful spots in the state of New York. John Thorn was born January 1, 1753. The printed record says 1753 or 52 but this is wholly due to the fact that at this time there were two designations for the same year. If one were born between January 1 and March 24th inclusive the year would be given as two separate years. The new year began March 25th and from that time to the next Dec 31st it was one year. Hannah Hicks was born December 25, 1755. Perhaps both John and Hannah wee born in Duchess County, but we do not know positively at this time. They were married, probably in 1776. Thomas Smith and his family had gone to Saratoga County in 1770 and John Hicks with his family also went to Saratoga County. William T. Smith, son of Thomas Smith married Sally Thorn, daughter of John Thorn probably in 1801. Some of the statements may be changed a little when we learn more about them. The first child resulting from the marriage of William T. Smith and his wife Sally (Thorn) Smith was Thomas Smith. The second was Thorn Smith born May 6, 1804. In all William and Sally had 10 children, all born in Saratoga County, N.Y. A brother of Thorn Smith was Joseph Smith who married late in life, the second time perhaps. He had twin sons both of whom are alive and well in 1941. These two sons are the only living descendants, that is, close descendants of William T. Smith, who was their grandfather. All the rest of us call William our great grandfather or great great grandfather. He is great, great, great grandfather to some of the Smith. This Thorn Smith of 1804 married Mary Wait in about 1830 and they came to Michigan in 1855 with their entire family. There were eight children. George R. Smith, Mary Ellen Smith, Sally Caroline Smith, William Thorn Smith, Charles Smith, Lewis Randolph Smith, Thomas Smith and Thorn Smith (2nd). All of the children were born at Oaks Corners, New York. Now we come to Mary Wait and who was she? Thomas Wait was born in England in 1601. With his two brothers he escaped forced induction into the King’s Navy and in about 1634 they landed in or near Boston. We hear of Thomas again when he applied for a home-lot at Portsmouth, R.I. This always meant that he required a home for a wife and it is probably that he married at that time, 1638 or 1639. His first son was born in 1640. He had a daughter and another son (or two) as well and for a long, long time it was believed that he had still another son, Benjamin by name but is could not be proven beyond a doubt although there was much evidence to show that Benjamin was a son of Thomas Wait. When Thomas died in 1677 he left no will or at least none was available so the Town Council of Portsmouth divided the estate and Benjamin was not then mentioned The wife of Thomas was Elinor, it is believed. The oldest son was Samuel born in 1640 as before stated. Some say Benjamin was born in 1640 while others say 1644. The first date would quite naturally be wrong if Samuel was born in 1640. Thus conditions existed until the winter of 1912-1913 when in cleaning out the cellar of the old Town-Hall, the will of Thomas Wait was found and he there mentioned Benjamin as his son. This completely cleared up the mystery. We descend from these Portsmouth Waits In the very early days there came to Boston Joseph Hills who had a daughter who married a John Wait. This John Wait may have been a distant relative of Thomas but there should never be any misunderstanding because this John Wait founded what is known as the "Malden Line". Some genealogical searchers get confused and mix this line with the Portsmouth line. Benjamin Wait, son of Thomas Wait was born in Seconette, R.I. in 1644 according to his father’s will. What he did in his early days is unknown but he may have been under the tutelage of his Uncle Richard in Boston who was the City Marshall. He was in Hadley, Mass., in 1665 or before. He married June 8, 1670 Martha Leonard, daughter of John Leonard of Springfield, Mass which was near Hadley. She was born May 15, 1649. Benjamin was a soldier and an Indian Scout and is mentioned freely in the early histories of Massachusetts. One of his daughters was Canada, born in captivity by the Indians, in Canada January 22, 1678. One of her descendants, for she married a Smith, was the founder of Smith College in Northampton, Mass. Benjamin Wait was killed in a battle with Indians in 1704 and his body with those of more than forty others badly cut and mutilated by the Indians. All of these were buried in one grave at Deerfield, Mass. And the mound still exists topped by a monument containing the various names. Thorn Smith was there in 1939 and saw the grave with Benjamin’s name on the monument. In the town of Deerfield is a large museum but the caretaker had never heard of Benjamin Wait and said there was no record of such a man in the museum. However there was plenty and to spare of evidence in many places in the museum. Benjamin’s wife and three small daughters, Mary, Martha and Sarah, the latter but 2 years old, were stolen by the Indians and taken overland to Canada. It was in the winter and hey were compelled to walk most o the way over many miles of snow. These were but very young children and we can well wonder how they survived. Benjamin after many difficulties with the English authorities was at last enabled to start on his search for them and after many weary months of ravel over a route which had never been traversed by a white man found his family and brought it back to Massachusetts. Canada as before stated was born in Captivity. After they came back, John Wait was born January 17, 1680, the son of Benjamin and hi wife Martha. John died in 1744. He married Mary Belden, daughter of Stephen and Mary (Wells) Belden. Mary Belden was born May 20, 1685. They had ten children and one of them was John Wait, born at Whately, Mass, near Hadley, Dec 3, 1703. He died March 4, 1776. His first wife was Submit Hastings and some think she died and that he again married but there is a very serious error in the records which is so confusing that only time will get it right Perhaps Submit did not die. Anyway, this John had a son by the name of John who was born Nov. 25,
1743 and died September 28, 1801. He married Mary Frary, a daughter of
Eleazer Frary. This Mary Frary was the grandmother of Mary Wait whom we have
mentioned, and see the poem also. Anyway, once more, John Wait and his wife
Mary (Frary) Wait had a John, born August 16, 1777 who died November 5, 1863
at Ravenna, Ohio and is buried at Chesterfield, MI beside his wife. John’s father, that is the one born in 1743, had moved from Massachusetts to Preston, New York in about 1790 when John was about twelve years old. John grew up there and married Abigail Cranson, the great grandmother of Horace Cady, Harry Smith and Thorn Smith. Mary Wait was the fifth child, born October 4, 1808 who married in about 1830, Thorn Smith. Mary Wait had a brother John Wait but our records end with Mary. It would be well to add that Mary’s brother John had a John who had a John who had a John and that this later John was living in Chicago in 1939 as a printer. We often hear of Leman Wait. He was John Leman Wait, the son of the John, who was Mary Wait’s brother. He died years ago but his daughters, one married and one single live in Burlington, Iowa where their father lived so many years as owner and editor of the Burlington Hawkeye, the most ably edited paper in the U.S. at the time. We have traced all the lines so far as possible but there are many things which we have not mentioned. One becomes easily confused with the long line of John Waits but to help clear matters up we add the following summary: Thomas Wait was born in England in 1601 and died at Portsmouth, Rhode Island in 1677. He came to New England in 1634 with his two brothers. He had six known children and it is believed that Benjamin Wait was the seventh although there is no direct record. Deeds filed in later years are strong evidence that Benjamin’s father was Thomas Wait. You will very seldom find the name Charles because King Charles of England was in very bad favor in the Colonies. Benjamin Wait was born in 1644 which is all we know. He married Martha Leonard of Springfield, Mass June 8, 1670. She was born May 15, 1649 and was the daughter of John Leonard. Benjamin was a very noted Indian scout and the old colonial histories mention him frequently. In 1677 his wife, Martha, and his three daughters Mary, aged 5, Martha aged 4 and Sarah aged 2 were captured by the Indians and compelled in the dead of winter to march hundreds of miles into Canada. They lived through it but the father was hot on their trail going through country that no white man had ever traversed and he caught up with them in 1678. He found that a new daughter had been born in Canada, (his own daughter) and he named her Canada. This Canada eventually married a Smith (not the Michigan line) and eventually one of her grandchildren founded Smith College, Northampton, Mass., famous as a girl’s school. After he brought his family back to Massachusetts with the aid of French soldiers and settled at his old home in Hatfield four more children were born. One was John ho was also an Indian scout and he became a Sergeant in the Revolutionary War. To be a sergeant was to hold an important office in those days. In the Indian massacre in 1704 at Deerfield, John and his father were noble fighters but the father Benjamin was killed by the Indians and terribly mutilated. John escaped. Benjamin Wait is buried with 47 others in one mount in an old cemetery at Old Deerfield, Mass. The above John was born January 17, 1680 at Hatfield, Mass. He married, May, daughter of Stephen and Mary (Wells) Belden. They had 10 children. One of them was John who was born Dec 3, 1703. He did at Whately, Mass March 4, 1776. He married Submit Hastings and after her death he married Mary Frary. He was a very prominent man in his community. He had 11 children. One of these children was another John who was born Nov 25, 1743 and died Sept 28, 1801. He married Mary Frary. Note that there was a Mary Frary above but it was a different Mary or else the records are a little mixed up. One of his children was another John who was born August 16, 1777 and died at Ravenna, Ohio Nov 5, 1863. With his parents he moved to Preston, N.Y. in 1790 or 1791. He married Abigail Cranson, when or where is unknown. One of their children was Mary Wait who married Thorn Smith about 1830. Thomas Wait born 1601 had
The present Smiths are most decidedly of English descent and if some of us have a hatred of the English what are they going to do about it? If our grandmothers lived to be 94 or 84 years old did they have stamina and did the hard, hard work of pioneering life send them to an early grave?
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