Thursday, February 18, 2010

Edward Small abt 1599 Elizabeth (unknown surname)

Edward Small
H- 9th Great Grandfather

Born abt 1599 Devon, England
Parents: Unknown
Occupation: Clothier and Merchant of woolen goods
Married Elizabeth abt 1624 England
Died No official record has been found, yet, that he died in Maine or if he returned to England. 
Buried No official record exists 
Sources
Book: Descendants of Edward Small Vol 1 pages 3-22
The Genealogical Dictionary of New Hampshire and Maine page 639
Family Search
ancestry.com

From Family Search: 
Edward Smale, our second immigrant ancestor by that surname, was born about 1600, probably a few years earlier. He lived at Bedeford (By-the-ford) County of Devon, southwest England, and was a clothier manufacturer and merchant of woolen goods.

The “clothiers were capitalists, members of the powerful and extremely influential Guild of Clothworkers to which arms were granted. They supplied the capital and employed the workers of the industry; as shearmen, weavers, dyers, fullers, websters, etc. The vocation of clothier was of much more importance than retailer of cloth.” The historian Kent writes that “The occupation was of considerable consequence and estimation in those times and was exercised by persons who possessed most of the landed property in the weald, insomuch that almost all the antient families of those parts, now of large estates and genteel rank in life, and some of them enobled by title, are sprung from and owe their fortunes to ancestors who had used this great staple manufacture, now [1790] almost unknown here.”

Edward Smale was married to Elizabeth whose surname we do not know. He was the father of six children, all of whom were baptized at the ancient Norman font of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church at Bideford during the years 1625 to 1634.

Edward Smale and his oldest son, Francis, a lad twelve or fourteen years of age, sailed from England to America in about 1635. It is thought they first stopped at Plymouth, Massachusetts, to see John Smalley, about whom we have already written. It is supposed that these two men were brothers and there is evidence supporting this belief but we have no final proof. 

We are certain that Edward Smale and his son Francis had settled in Maine by 1640 and there is evidence that they were there several years before that date. He had built a house and made improvements at Sturgeon Creek, now Eliot, before 1643. On July 25, 1643, Edward acquired a homestead east of where the Cammock creek flows into the Newicheannock river and northward to Sturgeon creek. The map here with provided indicates this early holding of our second Smalley ancestor.

Edward was a cloth manufacturer in England but nothing has been found to indicate that he undertook that work in America. We do know that he was a husbandmen and fisherman. He owned fishing craft and worked in and out from the mouth of the Piscataqua. He was one the of the men who laid the foundation for the settlement of Piscataqua, later incorporated as Kittery, “the most prominent point and center of interest” in the Province of Maine. The name Kittery is Indian origin and means “right angle”.

Edward Smale was for a considerable time a resident in or in the neighborhood of Kittery. This settlement was most important. It had an excellent harbor and the river was navigable for ships of a hundred tons weight for a distance of eighteen miles from its mouth. Kittery was at the center of an excellent fishing area and the land back of it provided “a good soyle” and there was an abundance of excellent timber for ship building and other needs.

“That Edward was a person of culture and refinement is evident from his autograph.” The Trewlony Papers, Maine Historical Society Collection, Second Series, volume 3 page 214 says “Edward Smalley, one of the founders of Piscataway, appears to have been a man of respectable position and considerable talent.” 

That Edward Smale was a man of prominence is indicated by the fact that he was a member of the first General Court held at Saco, June 25, 1640. He was listed as a “gentleman”. During the sessions of the court he was one of the twelve jurors spoken of as “good men and true”. Then the General Court met again at Saco October 21, 1645, Mr. Edward Smale was elected a Magistrate. Two years later, on June 30, 1647, the General court met at Wells to inquire into the accidental killing of a fifteen year old boy. Mr. Edward Smale was the second named of the twelve men selected on “the Jury of the Crownes quest”. On December 5, 1651, when an important civil case involving 300 £ came to trial, Mr. Edward Smale was foreman of the jury.
In those days, the General Courts had legislative as well as judicial authority over the whole Province of Maine and the fact that Edward Smale was so prominent a member for so long a period indicates his importance.

The fact that Edward Smale was so prominent a citizen and elected Magistrate makes all the women among his descendants eligible to membership in the society of Colonial Dames.
In 1653, Edward was a resident in the Isles of Shoals, a group of important islands located some nine miles south of Kittery. During that year he signed an important petition as one of the residents of the Isles. Nothing is further recorded of him in America and it is presumed that he returned to his old home at Bideford on the river Torridge in England.

Elizabeth the wife of Edward Smale never came to America and what became of his three younger children is not known. Elizabeth died in 1665 and is buried in the old churchyard in Bideford. The record in the church book states that she was the wife of Edward Smale. “That she was mentions as wife, not widow, indicates that Edward was still living.” No record of his death has been found and his final resting place is unknown.

Elizabeth (unknown surname)
Born abt 1603 England
Died  Feb 1665 Bideford, Devon, England
Buried 10 Feb 1665 Bideford, Devon, England
Sources
Death: Book - Descendants of Edward Small Vol 1 page 21
Family Search
ancestry.com


CHILDREN


*Francis Small
Christened 6 Oct 1625 St Marys, Bideford, Devon, England
H- 8th Great Grandfather

Married Elizabeth Leighton abt 1650
Children: Edward, Mary, Francis, Benjamin, Samuel, Daniel, Alice, Elizabeth
Died: abt 1714 Truro, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Sources
Christening: Book - Descendants of Edward Small Vol 1 page 22
Life History: same book but pages 23-104
New England marriages Prior to 1700
Genealogical Dictionary of New England
Family Search
ancestry.com
From findagrave: 
Page 22 _ Descendants of Edward Small...

"...bound himself "yearly to pay unto ye said Scitterygussett Sagamore, during his life, one Trading coate for Capussicke & one Gallone of Lyquors for Ammomingan." May 10, 1658, Francis Small assigned one-half of this land to John Phillips, of Boston. July 13, 1658, the "Inhabitants of Black Poynt, Bleu Point, Spurwink and Cascoe Bay owned themselves subject to the Government of Mass. Bay in N.E." Francis Small headed this list, and was one of the few whose names were written without a mark. November 2, 1658, he sold to Isaac Walker, of Boston, "the plantation lately bought of Richard Martyn, called Martyn's Point, over against Clapboard Island." He had a grant of one hundred acres of land in that part of Kittery called Newichawnnock, also two hundred and two acres on eastern side of the Piscataqua river. (See deed to his son Daniel Small, of Truro, Mass., dated October 31, 1712.)"

Francis Small: Genealogical Dictionary of New England. First seen in a Dover tax list of Dec 1648. Old Kittery and Her Families, page 733 indicates death.

New England Marriages Prior to 1700. In 1648 lived in Dover, NH. In 1688 bought land in Ossipee. He was in Kittery in 1668. About 1700 he left Kittery and went to live with his son Daniel at Truro, MA, where he died about 1714 or 1715.

Francis Smale seems to have been the ancestor of a great portion of the Smalls, and Smalleys, of New England. Son of "Mr." Edward Smale, who was of Kittery as early as 1640, and in 1645 had commission as magistrate, of whose family nothing appears. 

Frances Smale first appeared at Dover, 1648; was of Falmouth 1657 and 1663; of Kittery 1668, where he spent the chief part of his life; in old age removed to Truro, Cape Cod, where he died about 1714. 

He was an Indian-trader, and had a trading house "back of Wells," on land which he afterward bought of Capt. Sandy, the Indian, twenty miles square, afterward known as the "five Ossippee townships" 

His wife was Elizabeth ______, probably the servant of Capt. Francis Champernoune mentioned in his will. She was born in 1634, and lived to old age. 
Elizabeth Small
Christened 6 Jul 1627 St Marys, Bideford, Devon, England
Died before 1632
Sources
Book: Descendants of Edward Small Vol 1 page 22
Family Search
ancestry.com
Mary Small
Christened 5 May 1629 St Marys, Bideford, Devon, England
Sources
Book: Descendants of Edward Small Vol 1 page22
Family Search
ancestry.com
Edmond Small
Christened 2 Mar 1630 St Marys, Bideford, Devon, England
Sources
Book: Descendants of Edward Small Vol 1 page 22
Family Search
ancestry.com
Elizabeth Small
Christened 10 Oct 1632 St Marys, Bideford, Devon, England
Buried 27 Dec 1635 Bidford, Devon, England
Sources
Book: Descendants of Edward Small Vol 1 page 22
Family Search
ancestry.com
William Small
Christened 4 Feb 1634 St Marys, Bideford, Devon, England
Sources
Book: Descendants of Edward Small Vol 1 page 22
Family Search
ancestry.com

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