Lieutenant Philip Smith

     Philip was born before November 1632 in Hadleigh, County Suffolk, England. In November 1632, he was christened in Hadleigh, County Suffolk, England, at St. Mary the Virgin. Philip married Rebecca Foote *** circa 1657 in Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut. In 1659, Phillip received land from his father in Wethersfield, a household next to his father's property. This was probably done at the time of Phillip's marriage. On 18 April 1659, Phillip, his father and his brother Samuel, along with 56 other men agreed to remove their settlement from the jurisdiction of Connecticut to that of Massachusetts. This was the beginning of the actual settlement of Hadley. Phillip moved his family there in 1662, but had already become a freeman and considered to be one of the original proprietors. Over the course of the rest of his life Phillip was a very influential member of the settlement, serving in numerous positions, both civil and military. His most noted service undoubtedly was his last as he served as judge in the trial of Mary Webster for “being under the suspicion of having familiarity with the devil or using witchcraft”. Mary was acquitted of the crime, but after the trial, Phillip's health rapidly deteriorated and the illness was blamed on the evil powers of Mary Webster. Even more so as Phillip became delirious and made some fantastic claims. Others in the community also began telling of strange happenings, all pointing to the powers of Mary Webster. Her perceived powers caused Cotton Mather to write the following at the time of Phillip's death: “Mr. Phillip Smith, aged about fifty years, a son of eminently virtuous parents, a Deacon of the Church in Hadley, a member of the General Court, a Justice in the County Court, A Selectman of the affairs of the Town, a Leiutenant of the Troop and which crowns all, a man of devotion, sanctity, gravity and all that is honest exceeding exemplory. Such a man in the winter of the year 1684 murdered with a hideous witchcraft that filled all those parts of New England with astonishment.”.¹ Philip departed this life on Thursday, 10 January 1685/86 in Hadley, Hampshire County, Massachusetts.