Josiah Smith

Josiah Smith (1742-1837) was the second child of Benjamin Smith and Abigail Church. He was baptized in the Congregational Church. In 1764, Josiah married Eleanor Taylor. Josiah and Eleanor had five children: Abigail, Rebecca, Benjamin, Susannah, and Barnabus Taylor. In 1774, as part of a town-wide effort, Josiah sent a sum of six shillings to support the people of Boston (that city’s port having been recently closed by the British). As of the 1774 Rhode Island Census, there was one black person (likely enslaved) living in the Smith household. During the Revolution, he served in Bristol’s militia company. Eleanor seems to have died in 1775, and in 1776, Josiah remarried to Elizabeth Reynolds. This wedding was officiated by Elizabeth’s father, Joseph Reynolds. Josiah and Elizabeth had five children: Josiah, George Reynolds, Jonathan, Elizabeth, and Mary. Elizabeth died in 1797, and in 1798 Josiah remarried to Mary Munro. In 1826, Josiah was a director of the Bank of Bristol. At the time of his death, he was the oldest person in Bristol.