John Smith of Watertown/Martha's Vineyard

Biography

John Smith's life connected several early New England settlements. His wife was Deborah Parkhurst, and their daughter Deborah married Nathaniel Batchelder at Hampton.

By 1653 John appears in the records of Edgartown, on Martha’s Vineyard, the island south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. His activities included civic responsibilities and landholding, and in 1659 he became one of the associate proprietors of Nantucket, the island farther east off Cape Cod. He also appears in the Martha's Vineyard trainband in 1662. His interests thus extended beyond a single island.

In 1670 John made a will at Nantucket naming his wife and five children: Philip, John, Samuel, Deborah, and Abigail. His sons John and Samuel were to share the Nantucket property, while Philip received the Martha's Vineyard property. By 1674 his son John was selling Nantucket land inherited from him. John Smith had died by then, although his exact death date remains unknown.