William "Tangier" Smith
William "Tangier" Smith (February 2, 1655 – February 18, 1705) was a
Early life
Smith was born on February 2, 1655, in Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, in England.[1][2]
Career
He was sent to join his uncle William Staines in English Tangier and was elected Common Councilman of Tangier in 1677, becoming an alderman there in 1679. He was mayor from 1682 until the English evacuated the colony in October 1683, following attacks by forces under Ismail Ibn Sharif. During Smith's term as mayor, the English demolished the city's fortifications, as part of the evacuation of the Tangier Garrison.
Smith next settled in the
Life in America
In 1686, Smith and his wife and three of his children sailed from Cork in Ireland to New York at the urging of Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick, who had been Lieutenant-Governor of Tangier during Smith's years there and had now been named Provincial Governor of New York. Smith's daughter Hibernia died during the passage to North America aboard the ship Thomas.[3]
Smith received grants of land from Lord Limerick and supplemented them with large purchases of Native American land. On May 25, 1691, Smith purchased a substantial tract of the land that is now the Town of
Smith eventually accumulated more than 81,000 acres (330 km2) stretching from
The deal cemented when Colonial New York Governor
He was appointed to the Governor's Council in 1691. That year, he also served as one of the commissioners of oyer and terminer who tried and condemned Jacob Leisler, and he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the Province of New York.[5] In 1692 he was made Chief Justice of that court. In 1701 he served for several months as Acting Governor of New York following the death of the governor and the absence of the lieutenant governor.[6]
Personal life
Smith married the English-born Martha Tunstall in Tangier in 1675. They had thirteen (possibly fourteen) children born to this union which were:[3]
- Elizabeth Smith (1676–1681), born and died in Tangier
- John Smith (1677–1677/8), born and died in Tangier
- Col. Henry Smith (1678/9–1766), born in Tangier and died at Manor of St. George, Setauket, Long Island, New York
- William Smith (I) (1679/80–1680), born and died in Tangier
- Martha "Patty" Smith (1681–1736), born and died in New York or Manor of Scarsdale, Westchester, New York. She married Caleb Heathcote, an English-born mayor of New York City.[7]
- Mary Smith (1682–1684), born in Tangier and died in Long Acre, England
- William Smith, Jr. (II) (1683/4–1683/4), born at Long Acre and died in Old Brainford, London
- Hibernia Smith (1686–1686), born at Youghal, County Cork, Ireland and died at sea.
- Jeane (Janey) Smith (1687–after September 7, 1707), born in New York
- Maj. William Henry Smith (1688/9–1742/3), born in Brookhaven, Long Island, New York
- Gloryana Smith (1690–1710), born in Brookhaven and died at Manor of Scarsdale
- Theodocia Smith (1691–1691), born and died in Brookhaven
- Charles Jeffery (Jeffry) Smith (1693–1715), born and died at Manor of St. George
- Gilbert Smith (d. 1742), possibly a child of Smith and Tunstall[3][8]
After Smith's death, his heirs built a house on Bellport Bay that today is called the "Manor of St. George." A peninsula projecting into Narrow Bay and connecting Bellport with Moriches Bay is called Smith's Point and is the source of the name for Smith Point County Park. The names of "Smith", "Manor" and "Tangier" are used extensively as placenames throughout Brookhaven, including Manorville, New York.
Descendants
Smith's descendants include:
References
- ^ His tombstone states that he was born in Higham Ferrers.
- ^ "William Tangier Smith". www.courts.state.ny.us. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ OCLC 4630235.
- ^ Illustrated History of the Moriches Bay Area by Van and Mary Field suffolk.lib.ny.us - retrieved November 12, 2007
- ^ Hamlin, Paul M., and Charles E. Baker. Supreme Court of Judicature of the Province of New York, 1691-1704. New York, 1959.
- ^ "William Tangier Smith Justice and Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature, 1691-1703 [intermittent]". www.nycourts.gov. The Historical Society of the New York Courts. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ DeLancey, Edward Floyd (1886). Origin and History of Manors in the Province of New York and in the County of Westchester. p. 153. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ No evidence insists regarding Gilbert. He is not mentioned in the wills of either of his parents.