SMITH FAMILY CIRCA 1868
 8-1/2” x 6-1/2” tintype. 
 Back L to R: Reuben H, Clara W, Sarah M, Sarah (Hazen), Rev Smith, Robert D.
 Front L to R: William D, Henry M., Charles H.
 Date based on estimated ages of children.
 Possibly Newtown.

ABOUT THE COLLECTION

Dear Cousins:

Henry Bagg Smith and his wife, Sarah Stedman Hazen are my great, great grandparents via my maternal grandfather, Carlton Stedman Smith, their grandson.

I recall when I was young, my grandfather speaking with pride about the Smith family, about growing up in Newtown, CT, where his father, Henry Martyn Smith, had been vice president and agent for the “family newspaper”, The Newtown Bee ( a publication founded by Reuben Henry Smith in 1877 and continually owned and operated by the family to this day) and of the family’s noble patriarch, the Reverend Henry Bagg Smith.

That said, my own early encounters with the good Rev. Smith were not particularly pleasant. My grandparents owned a small summer home in the Walnut Beach area of Milford, CT, where Rev. Smith’s portrait loomed over the second floor hallway en route to the kids bedroom. My older brothers (the same despicable characters that spoiled my early Christmas’ with their scandalous revelation about Santa Claus) somehow managed to convince me that Rev. Smith’s image was one to be feared and that it was best not to linger beneath it.

Fast forward 25 years or so (mid 1980’s); my grandparents gone and their summer house long since sold. It was around that time that I became bitten with the genealogy bug. I had a pretty good head start as my brother had done some research in the early 70’s and I was particularly fortunate with respect to the Smith side. My mother had several copies of the Ancestry and Descendants of Rev. Henry Bagg Smith (a copy to be included herein) as well as the Genealogy of the Hazen Family: Eight American Generations. With that for a head start, along with the wealth of information available about early New England families, I was able to relatively quickly build an extensive pedigree for my grandfather.

It is my belief, however, that pedigrees provide only the bare bones of genealogy. Family history is about a lot more than births dates, death dates and cemeteries. Who were these people? What did they look like? How did they live and interact? What principles guided them? For most of the names in my genealogical charts, those questions will likely remain unanswered. However, again when it comes to the Smiths, I have been blessed.

As it turns out, at least on my Smith side of the family, I come from a long line of hoarders preservationists. Old cards, letters, invitations, newspaper clippings, documents and photographs, items that are normally discarded at some point, were preserved and treasured, first by my gt. grandparents and then by my grandparents. When my mother cleaned out my grandparent’s apartment and summer home, she too preserved these treasures and eventually, knowing my passion for genealogy, turned them over to me.

So what’s actually in the collection? The first thing that stands out for me are the photographs, many photographs (labeled photographs!) of Henry and Sarah, of their children and of their grandchildren. Some too of the Springfield Smiths and of the Hazens, including, as far as I know, the only existing photo of Sarah’s father, the Reverend Reuben Stedman Hazen.

My second big treasure is a family narrative/history written by my great grandmother, presumably with the input of her husband and in-laws including her mother-in-law, Sarah (Hazen) Smith.

In reading that narrative, what emerges for me is the portrait of a very proud, loyal and close knit family. A family that, even as adults were drawn to live near each other, and to work together. There are the many family reunions and even the creation of the Smith family association. I am particularly struck by the story of Will setting off in the middle of the night from CT to the rescue of Robert who had come down with typhoid fever in Dakota Territory where he was attempting to stake a claim.

I know that my grandparents did their best to stay in touch with the Newtown family. I have a number of cards and letters from “Aunt Frances”, Arthur’s widow, and “Cousin Mabel” (Writer), Charles’ daughter, providing details of the family’s comings and goings.

It seems inevitable however as one generation passes to the next these connections are lost; generations separated by distance and time. Among the items in the collection, I find this letter addressed to my grandfather, 6 years after his death, particularly poignant.

And so cousins, back to the collection. I am guessing that I am not the only Smith descendant interested in family history and hence not the only one who will treasure these details of our ancestor’s lives. So, with that in mind and out of respect for those that have preserved these memories for future generations, I offer this collection in the hope that it will enhance your research and bring you closer to your family, both past and present.

As noted in the “Welcome”, this site is a work in progress.  I am launching the site now having completed, more or less, phase I which includes the family narrative and photographs of the first and second generation.  Yet to come are more group photos, individual portraits of spouses, grandchildren (third generation) pictures, invitations, printed obituaries and more.

I would love to hear from you, so please email or, better yet, leave a comment letting us all know about your branch of the family.

Lastly, and most importantly, a huge thank you to my niece, Sarah Rainwater, for providing her professional web design expertise to this project and for so graciously tolerating and responding to my numerous (and probably dumb) questions.  Creating this site would not have been possible without her.

Sincerely,

Bill Rainwater
Highland Park, NJ
[email protected]

January, 2016

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