COLLECTION GUIDES

1669-1880

Guide to the Microfilm and Digital Edition

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Representative digitized documents from this collection:

Restrictions on Access

Use of the originals in Boxes 1-3 is restricted. The material in these boxes is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of correspondence, business and legal papers, account books, letterbooks, diaries, school copybooks, and genealogical information pertaining to the Smith family of Boston, Medford, and Weymouth, Massachusetts, and related families, including the Carter and Adams families.

Biographical Sketches

William Smith (1667-1730) (identified in this guide as "Capt. William Smith") was a mariner and merchant of Medford, Massachusetts. He married Abigail Fowle (1679-1760), later Abigail Fowle Smith Edwards. Their children were: Abigail Smith (1700-1788), who married Simon Tufts; Sarah Smith (1703-1775), who married Samuel Edwards; William Smith (1706-1783), who married Elizabeth Quincy (1721-1775); Anna Smith (1708-1781), who married Ebenezer Kent; Mary Smith (1710-1800), who married Ebenezer Austin; and Isaac Smith (1719-1787), who married Elizabeth Storer (1726-1786).

William Smith (1706-1783) (identified in this guide as "Rev. William Smith") was the pastor of the First Church, Weymouth, Massachusetts. His children with Elizabeth Quincy Smith were: Mary Smith (1741-1811), who married Richard Cranch (1726-1811); Abigail Smith (1744-1818), who married John Adams (1735-1826); William Smith (1746-1787), who married Catherine Louisa Salmon; and Elizabeth Smith (1750-1815), who married first John Shaw and second Stephen Peabody (1741-1819).

Isaac Smith (1719-1787) (identified in this guide as "Isaac Smith") was an active trader in the cod fishery and one of the wealthiest merchant-shipowners in Boston. His children with Elizabeth Storer Smith were: Isaac Smith (1749-1829); William Smith (1755-1816), who married Hannah Carter (1764-1836); Mary Smith (1757-1839), who married first Edward Gray and second Samuel Allyne Otis (1740-1814); and Elizabeth Smith (1760-1849), who married John P. Hale.

Isaac Smith (1749-1829) (identified in this guide as "Isaac Smith, Jr.") was a loyalist who fled to England but returned in 1784 to obtain a reinstatement of citizenship.

William Smith (1755-1816) (identified in this guide as "William Smith") continued the family business. His children with Hannah Carter Smith were: William Smith (d. 1811) (identified in this guide as "William Smith, Jr."); Isaac Smith (d. 1813) (identified in this guide as "Isaac Smith III"); Elizabeth Smith, who married Edward Cruft; Hannah Smith (1794-1863), who married Benjamin T. Pickman (1790-1835); and Thomas Carter Smith (1796-1880), who married Frances Barnard (1804-1885) and also continued the family business.

Collection Description

The microfilm edition of the Smith-Carter family papers pertains primarily to the Smith family of Medford, Boston, and Weymouth, Massachusetts, including Capt. William Smith, Abigail Fowle Smith Edwards, Isaac Smith, Isaac Smith, Jr., William Smith, and Thomas Carter Smith.

The collection consists of loose manuscripts, microfilmed on Reels 1-5, followed by letterbooks, journals, and account books on Reel 6. Included are deeds, invoices, account books, and legal documents pertaining to the estate of Capt. William Smith and Abigail Fowle Smith Edwards; notes, receipts, letters, and accounts kept by Isaac Smith, William Smith, and Thomas Carter Smith detailing the commercial interests of the family; Boston tax bills; deeds to and plans of family property; lists of debts owed and stock on hand; bills of lading; sailing orders; information on insurance rates, prices, and cargoes; and voluminous personal and family correspondence.

Papers related to the loyalist Isaac Smith, Jr. highlight the politics of the Revolutionary era. Correspondence includes letters from Isaac Smith, Jr. during two trips to Great Britain in 1770-1771 and 1775-1783, as well as letters from Isaac Smith, Elizabeth Storer Smith, and Elizabeth Smith Hale documenting the American side of the struggle. The collection also contains the Civil War letters of William V. Smith, the son of Thomas Carter Smith and Frances Barnard Smith, who served as an officer in the 7th United States Colored Infantry Regiment.

Also represented in this collection are members of the Adams, Bernard, Boylston, Carter, Otis, and Pickman families. Included are letters of Abigail Adams, John Adams, and John Quincy Adams.

Restrictions on Access

Use of the originals in Boxes 1-3 is restricted. The material in these boxes is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).

Other Formats

Black and white digital images of this collection--produced from the microfilm edition--are available as part of History Vault: Revolutionary War and Early America, a digital resource from ProQuest. This resource is available at subscribing libraries; speak to your local librarian to determine if your library has access. The MHS also provides access onsite to the Society's contributions to this resource; see a reference librarian for more information.

Loose manuscripts dating from 1669-1785 (Boxes 1-3) are available as color digital facsimiles.

Typed transcriptions of select letters in Loose manuscripts (Series I) were removed when the collection was rehoused, with the exception of one typescript of a letter from John Adams dated 14 April 1785. This letter wasn't selected by the Adams Papers editors for publication in the Papers of John Adams.

Detailed Description of the Collection

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Chronological List of Items

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This list contains all of the documents in the Smith-Carter family papers. With a few exceptions (including the bound volumes on Reel 6), the items in this collection have been microfilmed in chronological order. See the Detailed Description of the Collection above for reel numbers.

NOTE: Items do not necessarily appear on the microfilm in the exact order listed below. General dates may have been filmed at the end of the year (for example, 1798 after 31 Dec. 1798), and multiple items with the same date may be out of order. For help locating items on the microfilm, consult a reference librarian.

Preferred Citation

Smith-Carter family papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Adams, Abigail, 1744-1818.
Adams, John, 1735-1826.
Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848.
Adams family.
Boylston, Thomas, 1721-1798.
Carter, Joshua.
Carter family.
Eustis, William, 1735-1825.
Hancock, John, 1737-1793.
Pickering, Timothy, 1745-1829.
Smith, Isaac, 1719-1787.
Smith, Isaac, 1749-1829.
Smith, Thomas Carter, 1796-1880.
Smith, William, 1667-1730.
Smith, William, 1706-1783.
Smith, William, 1755-1816.
Smith, William V.
Smith family.
Smith family--Genealogy.
Warren, Mercy Otis, 1728-1814.

Organizations:

United States. Army. Colored Infantry Regiment, 7th (1863-1866).

Subjects:

Account books--1734-1755.
American loyalists--Massachusetts.
Copybooks.
Family history--1700-1749.
Family history--1750-1799.
Family history--1800-1849.
Merchants--Massachusetts--Boston.
Merchants--Massachusetts--Medford.
Merchants--Massachusetts--Weymouth.
Shipowners--Massachusetts--Boston.
Shipowners--Massachusetts--Medford.
Shipowners--Massachusetts--Weymouth.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Regimental histories--Colored Infantry, 7th.
United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Commerce.
United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Public opinion.

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