Individual Details

Wife of John Smith. Their daughter Deborah was married to Nathaniel Batcheller, son of Rev. Stephen Batcheller. After Deborah Smith died, Batchellor married Mary, widow of John Wayman and daughter of Mary Parkhurst & Thomas Carter. Another daughter of the Carters, Abigail, married a John Smith, probably a son of Deborah Parkhurst & John Smith.

John Smith who married Deborah Parkhurst is said by many to be the son of John Bland/Smith and Isabella Drake but that has been disputed and corrected by Robert Charles Anderson.
See The American Genealogist, Vol. 61, p.20-31, Jan-Apr 1985.
There were actually three John Smiths creating records in this area at the same time.
John Bland Smith, was said born in England to Anthony and Adrian Bland. Anthony must have died for we find Adrian married second to a James Smith which John took on the name of Smith for much of his life.
Adrian was married a third time to Jeremy Norcross who was of noble birth from London. We know that John probably lived in this area for a time. However in all of the records in the New World it says that John at the time of coming to America was from Colchester, England. And records indicate that John (Bland) Smith was a contemporary of Adrian and could NOT have been her child.
Isabella Drake was born abt 1579 probably in Halstead, Essex, England. She had a son born supposedly in 1600 who apparently did not survive until 1663, since the will of John (Bland) Smith states he has only two daughter, Isabel and Anabel, living. He named his second wife Joanna in the will. An Isabel Smith was buried 12 Oct 1639, at Watertown, age 60.
A third John Smith died in Lancaster in 1669, with a will dated 12 Apr 1665, naming sons John & Richard, a daughter Alice, and daughter Ann Moore married to John Moore. His wife, who may have been a second wife, was a Mary. This John first appeared in Sudbury about 1647.


"The American Genealogist," 61[Apr 1985]:18-31 "John Smith of Watertown, Mass.," by Robert Charles Anderson, FASG, sorted out the three John Smiths and definitively proved Deborah married a different John Smith (not alias Bland).

John Smith, husband of Deborah, wrote his will, 14 Feb 1670, Martha's Vineyard. He named his wife as Deborah, sons John, Samuel & Philip, and daughters Deborah and Abigail. The sons received land on Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard. His son John later lived in Hampton as did daughter Deborah who married Nathaniel Batchelder.

He first appeared in records of Martha's Vineyard about 1653-54. He probably had previously lived in Hampton. He married Deborah, daughter of George Parkhurst either in Watertown or Hampton about 1640 Some cite the marriage of John Smith & Deborah Parkhurst as 10 Jun 1643, Watertown - this said to be from "New England Marriages Prior to 1700", p. 684 - Robert Charles Anderson apparently did not find any such record as he stated they married about 1640. John was likely born by 1615.

There were land grants in Watertown, 1637, of one acre each to a John Smith Jr (Jr meaning simply a younger man of the same name as an older resident - not necessarily a kinship), indicating he was at that time a single man. By 1642, he is not found in Watertown. Not until the early 1650's does he appear in Martha's Vineyard.

Christen

1 Aug 1619

Saint Margaret, Ipswich, Suffolk, England

Father	GEORGE PARKHURST (1589 - 1675)
Mother	PHEBE LEETE ( - 1642)
Sibling	PHEBE PARKHURST ( - 1688)
Sibling	Mary Parkhurst ( - )
Sibling	Samuel Parkhurst ( - )
Sibling	George Parkhurst ( - 1699)
Sibling	John Parkhurst ( - )
Sibling	Abigail Parkhurst ( - )
Sibling	Elizabeth Parkhurst ( - 1727)
Sibling	Joseph Parkhurst ( - )