Surname Connections Between the Smith and Brainerd Families in Middlesex County, Connecticut

Sarah [Brainerd] Smith (1762-1828)

Lieutenant David Smith (d.1756, Haddam, CT) and his wife Dorothy [Brainerd] Smith (d.1754, Haddam, CT) are our 7^th Great Grandparents, and the parents of Revolutionary War Veteran Captain James Smith (d.1831, Harpersfield, NY). Captain James Smith married Mary Hubbard (d.1832, Harpersfield, NY) in 1759 Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut, their eldest child being our 5^th Great Grandfather and Revolutionary War Veteran Frederick Smith (d.1852, Harpersfield, NY). Our Fall 2016 Haddam-area cemetery and library visits focused on Brainerd and Smith family research. Findings confirm the interesting fact where 5th Great Grandfather Frederick Smith and his first wife our 5^th Great Grandmother Sarah Brainerd (d.1828, Harpersfield, NY), share the same 2nd Great Grandparents.  These common ancestors are Brainerd Family colonial progenitors Deacon Daniel Brainerd (d.1715, Haddam, CT) and Hannah Lynn (Spencer) Brainerd (d.1691, Haddam, CT). Frederick and Sarah [Brainerd] Smith are thus 3rd cousins, their fourth child is Hannah [Smith] Odell (d.1840, Jefferson, Schoharie County, NY). Hannah (Smith) Odell is our generation's 4^th Great Grandmother, and our last known surname direct-link to this Haddam, Connecticut colonial Smith Family.

Such inter-family and intra-family marriages in 17th century British Colonial ancestry are not typical, but actually not unusual.  In our Sheldon Family ancestry, 5th Great Grandmother Esther [Sheldon] Odell's maternal great-grandfather and her paternal great-great-grandfather are the same man (Mr. John Sheldon [S0023], d.1705).  In our Stanton lineage, 7th Great Grandparents William Stanton (d.1718, Stonington, CT) and Anne Stanton (d.1724, Stonington, CT) are first cousins (their respective fathers are full-brothers and the sons of Stonington, Connecticut founder Thomas Stanton [d.1677]).

Genealogy pursuit is fun, where the variety and breadth of ancestral anomalies found are simply striking. Several generations back on our paternal side we find two convicted murderers, one of these somehow arranged an early release from a life sentence in a Vermont prison, then removed to the mid-west where he became a significant landowner and local politician of some note.  A 7th Great Grandfather Thomas Sheldon (d.1758) was mortally-wounded-in-action serving as a militia soldier during the French and Indian War, Battle of Carillion, 8 Jul 1758 (aka The Battle of Ticonderoga). Our ancestry includes more than three dozen Revolutionary War Veterans (at least two died as POWs aboard British prison ships in New York Harbor), over a dozen American Civil War Union Veterans -- two of these infantry soldiers are 2nd great grandfathers and one distant cousin who died as a POW in rebel hands in that Andersonville hell-hole.  Additionally, our lineage holds a few senior British colonial military colonels, several company commanders, and a couple early New England militia generals. No murderers are known on our maternal side, but 75% of mom's ancestors are French, hailing from New France (now Quebec, Canada).  From what I know of "canucks" -- well, it seems unlikely these French ancestors were all pure as the driven Canadian snows. Finally, we also know mom's French ancestry likely holds some small percentage of DNA sourced by First Millennium Viking sailors.


      

A Message To The Brilliant Lefties Among Us

In the late 1970's, I was a student in a computing course taught by Dr. Roger Rockefeller, professor at Utica College of Syracuse University (now Professor-Emeritus of Physics at Utica College). Something this very fine technical professor then proclaimed and strongly emphasized – his factual statement has stuck with me over the years: “Never put anything in electronic messages that you would not yell to your mother across a crowded room.”

Those simple, intelligent words from the sage Professor Rockefeller would well serve those many center-left educated folks who seem to lack common sense when it comes to electronic communication (i.e., email, Facebook, Twitter tweets, etc.). Perhaps second only to Anthony Weiner, Mrs. H.R. Clinton comes to mind as a leading candidate for the dubious title – 

“The New-Millennium's Least Intelligent
E-Mail User.” 

Note: The unaccredited image displayed at the top of this post found by simple Internet search and posted here for educational free-use purposes only.

             

The Liberal Bigot Andrew Cuomo

Suck It Up Buttercup

We support President-Elect Donald Trump and most of the sound policies he cites, "Make America Great Again." The crap cited in your latest communication cited below is nothing short of liberal bigotry, we reject outright your unlimited "progressive" rants. Get a life Mr. Cuomo, staff, et al. Just who are the whiners and unsafe bigots in Albany and New York City?  Take a look in the nearest mirror.  

An important matter left off your bullet list -- New York State exceeds the national average of state and local taxes by over 3%, certain to grow considerably more high due to the claimed "liberalized benefits" you listed in your illogical communication. These liberal "benefits" are certain to cause more small business to flee New York State.  Seems obvious you and staff speak well for New York City liberals -- not for the growing majority of Central New York State residents.

David J. Paul

Member, Conservative Party of New York

German Flatts, NY

Cuomo Email Message:

Dear David,

The state of New York has a proud legacy as the progressive capital of the nation, and that is more important today than ever before.

As New Yorkers, we have fundamentally different philosophies than what Donald Trump laid out in his campaign.

So let me be absolutely clear: If anyone feels that they are under attack, I want them to know that the state of New York – the state that has the Statue of Liberty in its harbor – is their refuge.

Whether you are gay or straight, Muslim or Christian, rich or poor, black or white or brown, we respect all people in the state of New York.

It's the very core of what we believe and who we are. But it's not just what we say, we passed laws that reflect it, and we will continue to do so, no matter what happens nationally. We won’t allow a federal government that attacks immigrants to do so in our state.

We are a state of immigrants.

We are the state that raised the minimum wage to $15.

We are the state that passed Paid Family Leave.

We are the state that passed marriage equality.

We are New York, and we will stand up for you. And on that, I will never compromise.

Count on it.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

See Conservative Party of New York State reply -- Click Here 

Note: The caricature at the top of this post is an unaccredited image found by simple Internet search, and posted here for free-use educational purposes only.