Ubiquitous Smiths: The Smiths in Brooklyn

Bring it on! Smith is the most prevalent surname in the country. Let's meet the challenge to track the ancestry of The Smiths in Brooklyn.

Before Minnesota became a state, 172 people with the surname Smith lived in Hennepin County. Two Smith families had settled in the area of Brooklyn Township as documented in the Minnesota Territorial census of 1857. In 1860, about 50 people, including women with the maiden name Smith, lived in Brooklyn Township.

It is probable that sorting the earliest land records in Twp 119-R 24 will show family groups, such as, on October 30, 1857, both Horace H Smith and Stephen Smith received their land warrants…were they brothers? And on July 1, 1859, both David H. Smith and Harris N. Smith received their land warrants ... were they brothers? And then on September 5, 1861, Hiram Smith’s land warrant was registered…was he related to the others?

So, searching with keywords “Smith” “Brooklyn township, Hennepin, Minnesota” and "1860" at the familysearch.org database, the results DID NOT include a David Smith, or a Hiram Smith. David and his wife Urtilla sold their property for $4000 on March 18, 1857 (a huge amount!) and a record of their residency was not found. He was NOT the brother of Harris N. Smith. Hiram’s residency during his early days was in Champlin, not Brooklyn; it does not appear that he was related to the aforementioned Smiths.

Horace H. Smith, his wife Caroline Shepard, and DeWitt Clinton Smith, his wife Melissa Shepard, were double brothers and sisters, who were born in New York, migrated to Michigan, and came to Minnesota with the “Adrian Colony”. They settled in Brooklyn Township and were the patriarchs of many descendants that remained in the township. They WERE NOT brothers to Stephen Smith.

Stephen and Patience Smith were from New Hampshire and may have come with several other Brooklyn pioneer families of Strafford County, i,e, the Plummer, Chase, Merrill families. The couple did not have sons to populate the Smith surname. It is also probable that Stephen and Patience (also a Smith) were related to a John Smith that settled in Brooklyn Township. [Tracking that John Smith is a future blogpost].

And that John Smith is not to be confused with John M. Smith from New Brunswick. He came to Brooklyn Township with two daughters, one who married Thomas Warwick and another who married William Stevens…but again, no sons to populate the Smith surname. And that John Smith, is not to be confused with the John and Rhoda Smith family: The Ohioans that came in 1880.

There was a Smith couple that migrated from Germany and settled in Brooklyn Township; Robert and Christina. But neither the Ohioan Smiths or German Smiths should have resulted in my search filter of the year 1860.

The most interest generated is Nathaniel Smith, a veteran of 1812, and his son, Harris, who stayed in Brooklyn Township. They are both on the Federal 1850 census in Minnesota Territory. See WikiTree Profile.

The grandson of Nathaniel Smith (son Harris, grandson Harry), and the granddaughter of Horace Smith (son George Haskell, granddaughter, Nettie), married. Harry and Nettie had both been born in Brooklyn township, and they raised their family and died in Brooklyn Township. Result: Brooklyn Super Smiths!