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Across the Massachusetts line to the north, in the
Sandisfield Center Cemetery, Lieutenant Benjamin Smith’s headstone stands with the flag and star insignia which identify him as a soldier of the American Revolution.1
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“In Memory of
Lieut. BENJAMIN SMITH.
He died 10th February
1796
in the 72d Year
of his Age”
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Grandpa (5G) Benjamin reached a Biblically respectable age, and
5G Grandma Ruth Snow Smith
seems to have survived her husband by a number of years.
The vital records list two local widows named Ruth Smith, one of whom
died in 1822 and the other in 1826. If either of these is ours, she
lived to 96 or 100 years of age.
If Grandma Ruth had a gravestone here, it has
not survived. Her name does appears on her son Elkins’ marker,
(see below) and other family members share space in this and other area
cemeteries. In particular, the Center Cemetery includes a number of
descendants of Grandpa Benjamin’s brother, 6GU Solomon Smith
(1715-1790) who appears to have come from
Eastham at about the same time.
1Another Benjamin Smith lies nearby, also with a flag and star. His stone says, however, that he died in 1850 at age 87,
which doesn’t fit anybody in the immediate family of our
Benjamin and Ruth, as we understand it. Gotta be careful with these Smiths.
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