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- Samuel Smith, the son of Rev. Henry and Dorothy Smith, was born in 1638 in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Samuel married a girl named Mary Ensign, daughter of James Ensign and Sarah Elson, in 1662. Mary was born in 1649, in Hartford, Connecticut.
Mary?s father James Ensign, was from Rye, Sussex, England, was the second of your ancestors to make the voyage to New England around 1634. James was at Cambridge Massachusetts in 1634, a freeman in 1635, moved to Hartford in 1639, was a constable in 1649 and 1662, a chimney viewer in 1655 and a townsman in 1656. His name appears on Hartford's Founders Monument. He was the founding member of 1st Congregational Church, Hartford, and member of 2nd Congregational Church in 1670. His will dated November 23, 1670, with an inventory taken December 23, 1670, valued at 729.2 pounds.
Mary?s 3rd Great-grandparents were Nicholas Tufton and Margaret Hever. Margaret was the daughter and heir of John Hever of Cranbrook, Kent, England. John Hever was a descendant of the Hevers of Kent, the founders of Hever Castle. Walter de Hever, was the first owner of Hever Castle. William de Hever, Sheriff in the reign of Edward I, became owner of Hever Castle in 1270, the year the Gatehouse was constructed. Ownership then passed to Thomas de Hever in 1300, William de Hever in 1340, and in 1360 to Joan de Hever, who married Sir Reginald de Cobham. Passing through eight more proprietors, in 1505 Hever Castle became the home of Sir Thomas Bullen, whose daughter Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII. Upon the death of Sir Thomas Bullen, Hever Castle reverted to the Crown, and Henry granted ownership to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, as part of the divorce settlement in 1540. Hever Castle was magnificently restored by William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor of Hever, a double moat, gardens and a Tudor Village surround Hever Castle today.
Samuel and Mary lived at Northampton, Massachusetts from 1666 to 1680, then moved to Hadley, Massachusetts to care for his widowed mother, Dorothy Smith Russell. Included in the letter referring to his father was the following reference to his stepfather, John Russell: "he was sometimes a little short of ye Charity which thinketh no Evil, at ye least I was wont to think so when his Hand was too heavy on my Shoulders & I remembered ye sweetnesse & ye Charity of my firste Father, but on ye whole said he was a Goode Man & did well by my Mother & her children & no doubt we did often try his wit & temper."
Samuel died September 10, 1703, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts, aged 65, and his wife, Mary died in July 1723, in Suffield, Connecticut, aged 73.
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