Person:William Smead (1)

Came with his widowed mother to New England. Her brother lived nearby, but when she died several years later, he became the ward of a man named John Pope.^[3] In Pope’s 1646 will, he is called “my little boy” and left Pope’s looms provided he was willing to dwell with Pope’s wife after his “time was out” and that he learn the trade. ^[4] This suggests Smead was not yet apprenticed, so probably less than 13, leading to a birth estimate around 1634 or 1635, which is further supported by the fact that his mother's estate was not settled until 11 Mar 1657/58 ^[5], possibly due by William reaching for his majority soon before this, and further consistent with his marriage in 1658. Thus, he does not seem to be the William Smead listed as a passenger in the Winthrop Fleet of 1630?^[6].

William evidently died before Feb 1704, but his widow, three of his daughters, at least 5 grandchildren, plus one of his daughters-in-law died in the Deerfield Massacre.^[2] His son Ebenezer's wife lost her father and four of her siblings. The massacre was an attack by French and Indians on the town that killed dozens of villagers. Over 100 of the survivors were marched north to Quebec, where they stayed in captivity for over 2 years.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 William Smead, in Sheldon, George. Biographical Sketchs of the Settlers at Pocumtuck Before Philip's War. History and Proceedings of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. (Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, 1890-1921)
   1:71, 1890.

   Smead, Willlim — Son of Wid. Judith of Dorchester. b. 1635; was of Nhn., 1660; in 1673, he bought the lot where the old Smead house is still standing. He returned after the war and became a permanent settler. He m., Dec. 31, 1658, Elisabeth, dau. of Thomas Lawrence of Hingham; she was killed Feb. 29, 1704. Their son William was killed at Bloody Brook, 1675. Mr. Smead died before 1704, leaving a large family. Ail the Smeads in the land are his descendants.

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   4:109.

   WILLIAM, Dorchester, prob. one of the ch. b. in Eng. of wid. Judith Smead, sis. of Israel Stoughton, wh. had join. the ch. a. 1636, and on whose est. he was appoint. 1639, to admin. acc. her will, for the good of them, was tak. to be brot. up by John Pope, wh. in his will, call. him little boy, gave his looms and tackling of them, to the val. of £3. provid. he would live with his w. aft. his time was out, and willing to learn his trade. This was in 1646. he m. 31 Dec. 1658, Elizabeth d. of Thomas Lawrence, and was freem. 1680, at Northampton, whither he rem. a. 1660, had William; Elizabeth b. 20 May 1663; Judith, 18 Feb. 1665; Mehitable, 2 Jan. 1667; Samuel, 27 May 1669; John, 27 Aug. 1671, d. soon; John, again, 1673; Ebenezer, bapt. 9 May 1675; Thankful, 13 May 1677; and Wditstill, a d. b. 15 Mar. 1679. He rem. a. 1684 to Deerfield, and there d. but the time is not kn. His wid. with sev. of the same name, ch. or gr. ch. were slain by the French and Ind. 29 Feb. 1704. The first ch. William, b. prob. at D. was k. 18 Sept. 1675, with the flower of Essex under Capt. Lothrop at Bloody Brook; but Samuel, John, and Ebenezer had fams. at D. and the name has been well perpet.

3. ↑ Smead, Edwin Billings (compiler). Our Footprints and Footprints of our Parents: A Smead Genealogy. (Greenfield, Mass.: E.B. Smead, 1928).
4. ↑ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
   7:229.
5. ↑ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
   9:344.
6. ↑ Banks, Charles Edward. The Winthrop Fleet of 1630: an account of the vessels, the voyage, the passengers and their English home from original authorities. (Boston, Mass., 1930)
   p. 92.
7. ↑ Smead, in Sheldon, George. A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts: the Times when and the People by whom it was Settled, Unsettled, and Resettled, with a Special Study of the Indian Wars in the Connecticut Valley; with Genealogies. (Greenfield, Mass.: Press of E. A. Hall & Co., 1895-1896)
   2:301.

   2. William [Smead], s of Judith (1), b. 1635;...he d. bef. 1704