Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Henry Smith (ca. 1634-by 1703)
MSA SC 3520-1137

Biography:

Henry Smith was born about 1634, probably in England.  He immigrated to the American colonies and settled in Accomack County, Virginia by 1666.  In 1669 he moved to Somerset County, Maryland, on the Manokin River.  By February 1668/69 he had married his first wife, Joanna, who petitioned for separation for maltreatment.  His second wife was named Anna.  He had four children:  Henry; William (b. 1676), John (b. 1680), and a daughter Tomasen (b. 1682).

Smith's career was diverse.  In 1669/70 he was a justice in Somerset County, serving until 1672 and again from 1679/80 to 1684.  In 1672 he was a justice in Worcester County as well.  During the 1670s he also worked as a merchant, involved in trade with New England.  He studied law and in 1672 was admitted to practice in the Somerset County Court.  By 1678 he was described as a "chirurgion," (surgeon).1  In the 1680s he contracted to build the Somerset County courthouse, and by 1690 he also owned a ship called Henry and Anne.  In 1681 he was elected to represent Somerset County in the Lower House of the Maryland legislature, and served from 1681 through 1684.  By 1682 he was a captain in the militia and served until September 1689 when he was removed from his rank by the new government.

Smith was an Anglican and in November 1689 signed a petition supporting Protestant Associators.  In 1686 he was tried for the murder of a man named Henry Hardy and was found "not guilty;" at the same time, however, he was called a "man of ill fame and Behavior."2  He owned about 3,000 acres of land now in Kent County, Delaware, about 800 acres now in Worcester County, Maryland, and about 700 acres in Somerset County.  By the time he died he had patented an additional 3,550 acres now in Worcester County, Somerset County, and in Sussex County, Delaware, but financial difficulty had compelled him to sell his land in order to pay debts.  He died in Somerset County by October 28, 1703.
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1.  Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 67, Proceedings of the Provincial Court 1677-1678, p. 363.
        http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000067/html/am67--363.html

2.  Maryland State Archives PROVINCIAL COURT (Judgment Record) MSA S551-21, October 1702, liber TG, f. 74, 1/16/4/10.

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