Robert Smith and Grace Braithwaite are my fourth great-grandparents. Robert was born on July 15, 1754, in West Riding, Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Grace was born on July 12, 1731, in Manchester, England. They were married in May of 1774 in Manchester, Lancashire, England, and came to America shortly afterward.
Robert and Grace came to America through New York in 1776. The Revolutionary War was gearing up and George Washington was organizing his troops in White Plains, New York. Robert immediately enlisted in the war effort of his new country. He served seven years and eight months and rose quickly through the ranks. During this time of war, he and Grace lived on the Mohawk Flats at Fort Stanwix. He served as a Sergeant in Captain Andrew Fink’s Company and as Colonel Goose Van Schaack’s Regiment of NY Militia. By the time his military career was over he was a commissioned officer. At the close of the war, he relocated to Schenectady, New York, where he resided until 1794.
After the war, he became a farmer in New York. He moved from Schenectady to Cincinnatus, Cortland County, and settled on the six hundred and forty acres allowed him by the government for his services in the war. That section of New York State was a wilderness; his nearest neighbor was sixteen miles away.
Robert and Grace, now firmly planted in New York, started their family that would raise six children.
Robert and Grace raised their children in the First Reformed Dutch Church of Schenectady, New York.
The family moved from Cincinnatus to Marathon, Virgil, and Cortland, New York.
Robert Smith died in Cortland, New York on January 8, 1830. He was seventy-five years old. Grace Braithwaite Smith died on November 19, 1831, in Cortland. She was eighty years old. They are both buried at the Marathon Cemetery in Cortland, New York.
Robert and Grace’s children.
John I. Smith was born on October 30, 1777, in New York. He married Elenor Lois Carley (1783-1826) about 1800. They were blessed with three children Betsy F (1802-1829), Hepsa Ann (1822-1841), and Ebenezer Clark Smith (1825-1901. John died on August 12, 1829, in Cortland, New York he was fifty-one years old. Elenor died July 26, 1826, also in Cortland.
Robert Smith, Jr. was born October 18, 1781, in Albany County, New York. He married Amity (last name unknown) in about 1805 in New York. This union had eleven children. Chancy (1806-1865), Uriah B (1810-1878), Mary (Polly) H (1814-1875), Enoch (1815-1893), Phebe Alsina (1817-1881), Ursula Caroline (1820-1898), Delilah (1821-1901), Robert E (1823-1864), Lydia L (1827-1877), William Handel (1829-1915), and Willard G Smith (1832-1904). Amity died on December 28, 1856, also in Ingham County and she was seventy-one years old. Robert Smith, Jr. married for the second time on August 29, 1857, to Aurilla Hedglen (1810-1886). Robert died on January 29, 1858, in Ingham County, Michigan, he was seventy-six years old.
William R. Smith was born on August 21, 1787, in Schenectady, New York. He married Lorinda Badger (1789-1890) in about 1804 in New York. In this marriage, there were fourteen children: Amanda (1805-?), Alethea (1811-1893), Braithwaite (1812-1813), Achsa (1814-1830), William Badger (1816-1902), Betsey Jane (1818-1907), John B (1822-1887), Austin Badger (1823-1916), Abidjah (1825-1828), Isaac Sydney (1827-1910), Erastus Badger (1831-1922), Deborah (1833-?), Herman P (1833-1920) and Mary E Smith (1835-?). William R. Smith died February 13, 1880, in Lynn, Knox, Illinois at ninety-two. Lorinda Badger Smith died on March 15, 1890, in Knox County at one hundred years old.
Abraham W. S. Smith was born July 30, 1791, in Cincinnatus, Cortland, New York. He married Rachel Gray (1799-1872) about 1821 in New York. This union had eight children, Schyler (1822-1845), Ransom Lewis (1823-1895), William G. (1827-1913), Oscar (1828-1904), Earskine (1830-1879), Robert Seward (1833-1904), Rachel A (1835-?), and Jane Smith (1843-?). Abraham died August 24, 1870, in Lapeer, Cortland, New York at seventy-nine. Rachel Gray Smith died June 5, 1872, also in Lapeer, she was seventy-two.
Isaac Smith, Esquire (my third great-grandfather) was born May 28, 1794, in Cincinnatus, Cortland, New York. He married Catherine Gerard (1804-1883) in about 1822 in New York. They had two children Isaac Gerard my second great-grandfather (1823-1888), and Polly Mariah Smith (1825-1883). Isaac died at thirty-two on June 2, 1826, in Virgil, Cortland, New York. Catherine Gerard Smith died May 16, 1883, in Brooklyn, Kings, New York, she was seventy-nine.
Mary (Polly) Smith was born on July 8, 1798, in Marathon, Cortland, New York. Mary married for the first time to Artemus Davison (1793-1842) about 1815. This union brought three children, Deiadami (1816-1891), Harriet Amelia (1835-1865, and John Lowry Davison (1841-1918). Her second marriage was to James Husted (1797-1866) on June 6, 1846, in Knox County, Illinois. This couple had three children, Virginia (1830-?), William H. (1833-1856, and George W Husted (1838-?). She married Cesar Love on September 20, 1855, in Knox County, Illinois and I did not find any children to this union. Mary Smith died on August 13, 1868, at seventy years old in Galesburg, Know, Illinois.
This completes the family information on my 4th great-grandparents. If you have any other information on this family please contact me.
Brumley Family Branches 
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