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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I. Loose manuscripts, 1669-1880Digital Content

The papers in this series have been microfilmed chronologically, with some exceptions. Some items may be out of order.

Reel 1Box 1Folder 1Digital Content

1669-1696

Reel 1Box 1Folder 2Digital Content

1699-1713

Reel 1Box 1Folder 3Digital Content

1714-1715

Reel 1Box 1Folder 4Digital Content

1716-1719

Reel 1Box 1Folder 5Digital Content

1720-1725

Reel 1Box 1Folder 6Digital Content

1726-1731

Reel 1Box 1Folder 7Digital Content

1732-1733

Reel 1Box 1Folder 8Digital Content

1733-1734

Reel 1Box 1Folder 9Digital Content

1735

Reel 1Box 1Folder 10Digital Content

1736-1737

Reel 1Box 1Folder 11Digital Content

1738-1741

Reel 1Box 1Folder 12Digital Content

Isaac Smith diary, 7 March 1740/1 - 4 [April] 1741

Reel 1Box 1Folder 13Digital Content

Isaac Smith diary, 13 August 1741 - 7 January 1741/2

Reel 1Box 1Folder 14Digital Content

Isaac Smith diary, 8 January - 4 April 1742

Reel 1Box 1Folder 15Digital Content

Isaac Smith diary, 5 April - 12 September 1742

Reel 1Box 1Folder 16Digital Content

Isaac Smith diary, 13 September 1742 - April 1743

Reel 1Box 1Folder 17Digital Content

Isaac Smith diary, 1 May 1743 - 1 April 1744

Reel 1Box 1Folder 18Digital Content

1742-1743

Reel 1Box 1Folder 19Digital Content

1744-1750

Reel 1Box 1Folder 20Digital Content

1751-1755

Reel 1Box 1Folder 21Digital Content

1756-1759

Reel 1Box 1Folder 22Digital Content

1760

Reel 1Box 1Folder 23Digital Content

1761-1762

Reel 1Box 1Folder 24Digital Content

Estate of Samuel Edwards, goldsmith, 1762

Reel 1Box 1Folder 25Digital Content

1763

Reel 1Box 2Folder 1Digital Content

January-May 1764

Reel 1Box 2Folder 2Digital Content

July-December 1764

Reel 1Box 2Folder 3Digital Content

1765-1766

Reel 1Box 2Folder 4Digital Content

1767-1769

Reel 1Box 2Folder 5Digital Content

1770

Reel 1Box 2Folder 6Digital Content

January-February 1771

Reel 1Box 2Folder 7Digital Content

March-April 1771

Reel 1Box 2Folder 8Digital Content

May-July 1771

Reel 1Box 2Folder 9Digital Content

August-November 1771

Reel 1Box 2Folder 10Digital Content

1772

Reel 2Box 2Folder 11Digital Content

1773-1774

Reel 2Box 2Folder 12Digital Content

January-May 1775

Reel 2Box 2Folder 13Digital Content

June-December 1775

Reel 2Box 2Folder 14Digital Content

October 1775

Reel 2Box 2Folder 15Digital Content

January-March 1776

Reel 2Box 2Folder 16Digital Content

April-October 1776

Reel 2Box 2Folder 17Digital Content

January-April 1777

Reel 2Box 2Folder 18Digital Content

May-December 1777

Reel 2Box 3Folder 1Digital Content

January-May 1778

Reel 2Box 3Folder 2Digital Content

June-November 1778

Reel 2Box 3Folder 3Digital Content

January-July 1779

Reel 2Box 3Folder 4Digital Content

August-December 1779

Reel 2Box 3Folder 5Digital Content

January-February 1780

Reel 2Box 3Folder 6Digital Content

March-July 1780

Reel 2Box 3Folder 7Digital Content

August-November 1780

Reel 2Box 3Folder 8Digital Content

January-May 1781

Reel 2Box 3Folder 9Digital Content

July-December 1781

Reel 2Box 3Folder 10Digital Content

February-July 1782

Reel 2Box 3Folder 11Digital Content

August-October 1782

Reel 2Box 3Folder 12Digital Content

February-March 1783

Reel 2Box 3Folder 13Digital Content

April-June 1783

Reel 2Box 3Folder 14Digital Content

July-August 1783

Reel 2Box 3Folder 15Digital Content

September 1783

Reel 2Box 3Folder 16Digital Content

October 1783

Reel 2Box 3Folder 17Digital Content

November 1783

Reel 2Box 3Folder 18Digital Content

December 1783

Reel 2Box 3Folder 19Digital Content

January-February 1784

Reel 2Box 3Folder 20Digital Content

March 1784

Reel 2Box 3Folder 21Digital Content

April-June 1784

Reel 2Box 3Folder 22Digital Content

July-December 1784

Reel 2Box 3Folder 23Digital Content

February-May 1785

Reel 2Box 3Folder 24Digital Content

June-July 1785

Reel 2Box 3Folder 25Digital Content

August-December 1785

Reel 2

1786

Reel 3

1787-1797

Reel 4

1798-1818

Reel 5

1819-1880

Reel 5

Undated manuscripts

Close I. Loose manuscripts, 1669-1880Digital Content

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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