Christening: 30 APR 1633 Hadleigh, Suffolk, England

He was one of the original settlers of Hadley, in 1659; home lot No. 7 on the east side of the street. He was a very prominent citizen of Hadley; succeeded his father as Lieut, at Hadley in 1678, and in the same year was appointed Lieut, of the "Hampshire County troop;" was deputy for Hadley several years and one of the Judges of the County Court. There were some peculiar circumstances attending his last sickness and death which, in accordance with the spirit of the times, was attributed to witchcraft. Cotton Mather gives an account of these circumstances in his "Magnalia" and describes Lieut. Smith as "a Judge of the Court, a military officer and a representative of the town of Hadley * * * son of eminently virtuous parents * * * a deacon of the church in Hadley * * * a man for devotion, sanctity, gravity, and all that was honest, exceedingly exemplary." He d. Jan. Tq, 1685.

Lived in Hadley, MA; representative 6 times ; deacon; Justice of the County Court. "murdered" says Cotton Mather" with an hideous witchcraft.

"As if Hadley had not enough to endure from within and without, to the natural fears of her citizens were added superstitious terrors, for in the midst of the second Indian war Mrs. Mary Webster, reputed to be a witch,began to cast an evil eye about her to see what mischief she might do. As a consequence, cattle would stop in front of her house and stand trembling until by her magic power she allowed them to pass. A load of hay, upset by her machinations,returned to its normal position without help from human hands, when the woman was threatened by the driver. She entered the door of a neighbor's house, when lo, the baby in the cradle was raised three feet in air, and replaced by an unseen power upon its pillow. A hen flew down the chimney into a pot of boiling water, and the witch was found to be suffering from a scald. Enraged, the citizens "haled her down to Boston," where, after trial, she was acquitted and returned in triumph to her home, only to revenge herself upon Deacon Philip Smith, "a man for devotion, sanctity, gravity and all that was honest, exceeding exemplary."

This valuable citizen was, according to Cotton Mather, "murdered with an hideous witchcraft." "A wretched woman of the town, being dissatisfied at his just care about her, expressed herself unto him in such a manner that he declared himself apprehensive of receiving mischief at her hands." He began to be "very valetudinarious" and, after wonderful manifestations in the sick-room, died, and his body was found "full of holes that seemed to be made with awls,"all of which is related in the Magnalia, with full particulars added. While the sufferer was yet alive, a number of brisk lads dragged the witch out of the house, hung her up until nearly dead, and then buried her in the snow, but,according to the record, "It happened that she survived and the melancholy man died." Mary Webster lived eleven years after her hanging, and died a natural death, a proof to many minds that she really was a witch." Historic Hadley,page 37

". . . in 1661, on the Meadow Plain, near the home lot of Edward Church, the body of an unnamed infant of Philip Smith, grandchild of Lieutenant Samuel Smith, the first settler, was buried without prayer or service. A few months later Governor John Webster was in the same rude fashion, near the grave of the nameless child, placed beneath the sod. This was the beginning of Old Hadley cemetery, and here within the area of two hundred and ten square rods of rolling upland were buried for more than one hundred and thirty years all who died in Hadley."

http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/witch.html This was 7 or 8 years before the Salem Witch Trials which occurred about 110 miles east of Hadley near Salem Sound.

He was the husband of Rebecca Foote Smith, who was the daughter of Nathaniel Foote and Elizabeth Deming Foote. He was the son of Samuel Smith and Elizabeth Smith Smith, and he arrived with them in the Colonies at one year old.

He was a right hand man to Cotton Mather in the Puritan Church. He died in 1685, believed to have been caused by spell placed on him in 1680 by a witch in Salem.

Children: Samuel Smith, an infant child, John Smith, Jonathan Smith, Philip Smith Jr , Rebecca Smith Stillman, Nathaniel Smith , Joseph Smith, and Ichabod Smith .

Samuel Smith+ b. Jan 1659, d. 28 Aug 1707
Smith b. 22 Jan 1661, d. 22 Jan 1661
John Smith, Deacon+ b. 18 Dec 1661, d. 16 Apr 1727
Jonathan Smith+ b. 1663, d. bt Oct 1737 - Nov 1737
Philip Smith+ b. 1665, d. 25 Jan 1725
Rebecca Smith+ b. 1668, d. 7 Oct 1750
Nathaniel Smith+ b. 1672
Joseph Smith+ b. c 1674, d. 8 Sep 1736
Ichabod Smith+ b. 11 Apr 1675, d. 6 Sep 1746
Note

Note: Philip, first of Wethersfield, removed to Hadley after 1659. He was one of the first men of his time to be a lieutenant, deacon, and representative in Hadley.

From The Magnalia Christi Americana, by Cotton Mather - 1702. Mr. Philip Smith, aged about 50 years, a son of eminently virtuous parents, a deacon of a church in Hadley, a member of the General Court, a justice in the County Court, a selectman for the affairs of the town, a Lieutenant of the troop, and which crowns all, a man for devotion, sanctity, gravity, and all that was honest, exceeding exemplary. Such a man was in the winter of the year 1684, murdered with an hideous witchcraft, that filled all those parts of New England, with astonishment. He was, by his office concerned about relieving the indigences of a wretched woman in the town; who being dissatisfied at some of his just cares about her, expressed herself unto him in such a manner, that he declared himself thenceforth apprehensive of receiving mischief at her hands. Early in January, he began to be very valetudinarious. He shewed such weanedness from the weariness of the world, etc. . . . While he remained yet of a sound mind, he solemnly charged his brother to look well after him. Be sure to have a care for me.... There shall be a wonder in Hadley. . . . In his distress he exclaimed much upon the young woman aforesaid, and others, as being seen by him in the room. Some of the young men in the town being out of their wits at the strange calamities thus upon one of their most beloved neighbors, went three or four times to give disturbance unto the woman thus complained of; and all the while they were disturbing her, he was at ease, and slept as a weary man; yea, these were the only times they perceived him to take any sleep in all his illness. Gally pots of medicine provided for the sick man were unaccountably emptied: audible scratchings were made about the bed, when his hands and feet lay wholly still, and were held by others. They beheld fire sometimes on the bed; and when the beholders began to discourse of it, it vanished away. Divers people actually felt something often stir in the bed, at a considerable distance from the man; it seemed as big as a cat, but they could never grasp it. Several trying to lean on the bed's head, tho' the sick man lay wholly still, the bed would shake so as to knock their heads uncomfortably. Mr. Smith dies; the jury that viewed his corpse found a swelling on one breast, his back full of bruises, and several holes that seemed made with awls. After the opinion of all had pronounced him dead, his countenance continued as lively as if he had been alive; his eyes closed as in a slumber, and his nether jaw not falling down. Thus he remained from Saturday morning about sunrise, till Sabbath day in the afternoon. When those who took him out of the bed, found him still warm, tho' the season was as cold as had almost been known in any age; and a New England winter does not want for cold. But on Monday morning they found the face extremely tumified and discolored. It was black and blue, and fresh blood seemed running down his cheek upon the hairs. Divers noises were also heard in the room where the corpse lay; as the clattering of chairs and stools, whereof no account could be given. This was the end of so good a man.