Robert Smith

The Robert Smith House taken by Harriette Merrifield Forbes in 1927

Robert was born in Worcester, MA on January 8, 1730/1 to John and Rebeckah (Batty) Smith. He was the second child and oldest son of their six children. The Smiths were some of the early settlers of Worcester, coming with the other "Scotch-Irish" families in the 1720s. There was a large anti-Presbyterian movement in Worcester in the 1740s and many families left. I believe John and Rebeckah were among them as I can find no records of them in the town after 1740. There are records for "John Smith" in several neighboring towns, but with it being a very common name it's not easy to determine which, if any, of those John Smiths are the one from Worcester.

Robert had returned to Worcester by the early 1750s and had married a woman named Sarah. Their marriage was not recorded in the Worcester town records, which is not entirely unsurprising. Marriages were recorded by the town congregational church, and the Smiths did not join that church until shortly before the birth of their first child in 1752. Robert and Sarah had a total of seven children. Sarah died on February 21, 1766 about two weeks after giving birth to their daughter Sarah, so she likely died from complications of childbirth.

On December 16, 1767 he was joined in marriage to Elizabeth Goodale of neighboring Shrewsbury, MA. The marriage was held in Shrewsbury and officiated by Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty, Minister of the Gospel in Worcester. They had two daughters.

There is another Robert Smith who was living in Worcester during the same period, and he was also married to a Woman named Elizabeth. I am certain they are different people because this man was occasionally listed as Robert Jr. and was having children with Elizabeth from the mid-1750s through the 1770s. Some of the children were born within months of this Robert and Elizabeth's children. A better genealogist than myself is needed to untangle and tell their story.

During the Revolutionary War Robert marched with his townsmen to answer two alarms. The first was in Capt. Benjamin Flagg's Company on the Alarm of Concord and Lexington on April 19, 1775. The second was in Capt. David Chadwick's Company under (now) Lt. Col. Benjamin Flagg on the Bennington Alarm on August 28, 1777.

Mr. Smith was chosen as one of the Selectmen of Worcester in 1778, but otherwise led a quiet and uneventful life on his farm. In the 1790 US Census he had eleven household members, which included five women over the age of 16. These are likely his wife and youngest daughters. In the 1800 Census only he and Elizabeth are living in their household. He likely had transferred the daily operations and respossibilities of the farm to his sons and had mostly retired.

He died on July 4, 1807 and was buried in the Worcester Common Burial Ground. His grave is not one of those that was moved to Hope Cemetery. There are no known photographs of his gravestone, as it is buried under sod on the Common, but there is a transcription from the early 1850s. It very likely had an urn and willow at the top, though that was not recorded.

Erected

in Memory of

Mr. Robert Smith

who died July 4th, 1807

Æt 80.

Stop here my friends as you pass by,

As you are now so once was I.

As I am now so you must be,

Prepare for death & follow me.