JOSEPH SMITH, the eldest son of Joseph Smith, of Milford, Connecticut, and the earliest of this wide-spread name to be educated at the College, was born in Milford, in July, 1691.
He spent his life in the cultivation of his extensive farm in his native town, and there died in the summer of 1769, aged 78.
His will was proved at New Haven, September 18, 1769. It is dated in 1755, and mentions two sons and four daughters. His property had probably been distributed mainly among his children before his death, as his estate is inventoried at only £400.
He married, July 5, 1711, Martha, daughter of Captain Samuel Bryan, of Milford. She was born in 1689, and died in 1771. He and his wife were admitted to the Milford Church on the 6th of April, 1718.
AUTHORITIES.
R. D. Smyth, College Courant, August 15, 1868, 99.
