Descendants of Edward Small
And
Allied Families

By
Underhill
Revised Edition
1934
By
Jim Small

[Excerpted]

Many individuals quote various modern day sources stating Edward was Kinsman of the Sir Francis Champernowne, and related to Sir Walter Raleigh through some deep dark mysterious circumstances to protect his family or such thing; and many embellishments have been made concerning Francis as being named for "his famous kinsman" Sir Francis. But what did Laura Woodbury have to say about all this? Below is what she had to say about much of the early history of the Maine Family, and is in her own words, excerpted from her Preface and Introduction of her book, exactly as she wrote it, and without modern interpretation of what she actually said. In other words, the truth, as per Woodbury.

Preface to Revised Edition
The first edition of this book, privately printed by the Riverside Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, was donated largely to individuals, historical and patriotic societies, by Mrs. Ada Small Moore, as a memorial to her father, the late Edward A. Small, a leading corporation lawyer of Chicago, who passed away in 1882. He was intensely interested in the ancestry of his own family and that of his wife, spending part of his summer vacations in Maine in research; but the unfinished notes he left were fragmentary. Many years later, his daughter, Mrs. Moore, engaged the writer to gather such material as she could for a Memorial Volume.
The historical value of this work has created a demand in small town libraries, as well as genealogical departments of larger libraries. This continued long after the first edition was exhausted, hence the revised edition, which contains considerable new material, and correction of all known errors, involving rearrangement.
To silence criticism as to the origin of the Smalls in England, the late Colonel Charles E. Banks spend several months in research in England, with the result that he confirmed all that has been written in the first volume, about the Smalls, adding somewhat to it. Before starting for Bideford, on the river Torridge, Colonel Banks asked the writer for further information, and was told that he would find a copy of the first edition of this book at the British Museum, in London, where he was then stopping. His reply states that he had a lively sense of appreciation of this work on the Small family, etc., which he termed "a Genealogical Classic." Extended research, however, in Devon and adjacent counties, failed to reveal the parentage of Edward Smale, or that he ever returned to England, though his wife, Elizabeth, is supposed to have died in Bideford, County Devon, where her burial is recorded, February 10, 1665. That she was mentioned as "wife," not widow, suggests that Edward was still living.
This work, which has long been delayed from various causes, has been accomplished by the writer and her assistant, Mr. Sidney A. Merriam, of Marblehead, Massachusetts, whose services have been invaluable, as an expert genealogist and historian, familiar with research in this country and in England. The societies to which Mr. Merriam belongs are: The Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts; The New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, New York City, New York; and Kent Archaeological Society of County Kent, England.
Mr. Clarence A. Torrey, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, assistant librarian, for some years, of the University of Chicago, who is a descendant of Edward Smale, of the Province of Maine, and of John Smalley, of Eastham, Massachusetts, and East New Jersey, has also been a contributor.
The writer wishes to thank everyone who has been helpful in furnishing suggestions and material.

PREFACE
Double dating gives rise to much confusion. It began in New England almost with the first settlement, and continued until September, 1752. Before that time, the year began with March 25, with the result that March was the first month, and October, November, and December were the 8th 9th and 10th months respectively. Double-dating consists in adding to each date between January 1 and March 25, according to the old style, the year in the new style which would include these days. March 20, 1689-90, is definite; whereas, without the double-dating it is impossible to tell whether March 2-, 1689, means 1688, 1689 or 1690, and Old or New Style. "It was not until 1751 that the correction of the calendar was legalized by Act of Parliament (24 Geo. II, Ch. 23). It was then enacted that throughout all his majesty's dominions the 1st of January, 1752, should be reckoned the first day of the year, and to correct the error of eleven days, the 3rd of September should be reckoned the 14th."

INTRODUCTION
In the early history of the District of Maine two men stand out prominently, "
Edward Smale" and "Francis Smale" "Frances sonne of Edward Smalle" was baptized October 6, 1625, in St. Mary's parish, Bideford, County Devon, England; the oldest of six children of Edward and Elizabeth Smale baptized in that parish.

County Devon, England, appears to have been the original habitat of the Smale, or Small family. They were of Saxon origin, and probable were there in the time of Alfred the Great (born 849, died 900). Following the occupation of England by William the Conqueror, in 1066, the Saxons were, for a long period, a much despised and down-trodden race. But their hardy persistence, which has ever accounted for England's achievements, let to the English revival. In a few generations, charters were proclaimed in English, and the descendants of the victors of Senlac were proud to call themselves Englishmen. Yet, during the period of English revival, several Smales achieved some prominence, early appearing among members of Parliament:

1302: John Smale, member of Parliament for Taunton Borough, County Somerset.
1350-1362: William Smale, member of Parliament for Clifton, Dartmouth Borough, County Devon.
1405-1406: Thomas Smale, member of Parliament for Winchester City, County Southampton.
1345: John le Smale,* engages as Clerk of the Wardrobe in the king's household. In consideration of John le Smale King's clerk, to his father and himself, the king [Edward III] has thought it right to retain the same John, his clerk and household servant of the wardrobe, for life.

*This use of the surname Small with the article "le" prefixed is sufficient evidence of the fact that this name belongs to the descriptive type of surnames.
The name Smale, or Small,* appears seldom in the Heralds' Visitations of the County of Devon, 1531, 1564, and 1620. While Burke gives the arms of "Smale or Smalley, in Co. Middlesex�Smalley, in Co. Leicester, [and] Small in co. Edinburgh," he makes no mention of a coat of arms in the Devonshire family. Several members of the family, however, intermarried with families who bore arms. The Visitation of Devon, 1564, in the family of "William Fynamore & Jylyan," daughter to Walter Lovell, mentions one "Nicholas Small" who married "Jone," daughter and heir to "William and Ciciuly [Fitz Stevin] Fiunamour." They had a "son & heir�John Small," who married ____; his "son & heir�.John Small" married Jone, daughter and heir to William Holway.

Like other English surnames, the name of Small has numerous variations; Smale, Smalley, etc., being among the most common. The following extract from an :Act to change the names of the several Persons therein mentioned,: passed April 25, 1838, was published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth (of Massachusetts), in 1893: "James Smalley, and his minor children, Joshua P. Smalley, Betsey C. Smalley, James H. Smalley, Mary T. Smalley, and Benjamin F. Smalley; Samuel Smalley Jun., and Ruth S. Smalley, his minor child; Samuel Smalley, and his minor children, Lot Smalley, Sally Smalley, and Peggy H. Smalley; Nathaniel H. Smalley, and his minor children, Esther T. Smalley, Uriah Smalley, and Mary S. Smalley; Taylor Smalley, and his minor children, Jonah G. Smalley, Benjamin T. Smalley, Alexander Smalley, and Abigail Smalley; Abraham Smalley, Jun., and his minor children, Norman S. K. Smalley, Jane C. Smalley, and Abraham Smalley, 3d; John Smalley, and his minor children, Arnold Smalley, John Smalley, Rebeckah H. Smalley, and Pamela H. Smalley; Abraham Smalley, Isaac Smalley, 2d, Heman Smalley, Nathan Smalley, Isaac Smalley, 3rd, Thomas R. Smalley, Leonard Smalley, and Benjamin Smalley, all of Provincetown, may severally take the surname of Small; all of Barnstable county. And the several persons before mentioned, from and after the passing of this act, shall be known and called by the names, which, by this act, they are respectively allowed to assume as aforesaid, and said names shall hereafter be considered as their only proper and legal names, to all intents and purposes. [April 25, 1838]"

Until the baptismal entry of "Frances sonne to Edward Smalle" October 6, 1625, was found by Mrs. Frances RoseTroup in 1903, at St. Mary's, Bideford, England, the relationship of Edward and Francis Small was uncertain.

Francis Small, the more widely known, has been called son to John Small, of Dover, New Hampshire; and some of the descendants of Francis, in Truro, Massachusetts, have been assigned to the line of John Smalley, of Eastham (earlier, of Plymouth), Massachusetts, as though Francis Small might have been son of that John. It has also been claimed that Francis Small was a near kinsman to Sir Francis Champernoune, of Kittery, Maine. The records of Dartington, County Devon (mentioned in the will of Sir Francis), and surrounding towns show no Smales or Smalls; neither do the Champernoune pedigrees in England, which are very complete, show intermarriages with the Smalls. With the idea that the friendship or acquaintance between Francis Small and Nicholas Shapleigh might have begun before they came to New England, the records of Dartmouth and Kingsweare, in South Devon (the home of Nicholas, and his father, Alexander Shapleigh), were searched. Excepting a few Smales of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, no other mentions of the name were found in the neighborhood of Dartmouth.

Writers Note:
"[In short, research of English records show no relationship between Edward Smale and Sir Francis Champernoune, (mentioned numerous times by current researchers as "kinsman") and Edward or Francis Smale and Nicholas Shapleigh. Prior to any of them reaching the shores of New England. That they were "kinsman" and the New England Small family was somehow connected to either the Champernoune or Shapleigh family of England through marriage has no basis in truth. That this connection has been researched in English parish records over the past three centuries has still not revealed any connection between these families."]end.

All the grants of land in Kittery, previous to its incorporation in 1647, were from Sir Ferdinando Gorges*, the recognized founder of Maine. He is said to have encouraged the expedition that landed (August 19, 1607) at the mouth of the Kennebec River from the good ships, the Gift of God and the Mary and John, with one hundred men, under charge of George Popham, brother to Sir John Popham, Lord Chief Justice of England, and Raleigh Gilbert, son to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the explorer, and nephew to the famous Sir Walter Raleigh. The point upon which they landed was on, or near, Cape Small Point, adjoining Popham Beach. George Popham died February 5, 1608, whereupon Raleigh Gilbert succeeded to the command. In the autumn of that year, the settlement was abandoned and the colonists returned to their native land.

*Sir Ferdinando Gorges is mentioned as a descendant from and old Norman family and the kinsman of Raleigh. No record of his birth or education is found; no tomb raised to his memory. He was the foremost patron of colonization; "a man of great patience, persistency and astuteness, coupled, we suspect, with a cold, selfish nature."

Champernowne is called Gorges' nephew because his father and Sir Ferdinando Gorges married sisters. The latter, though several times planning to go to New England, never did so. He died in 1647, a discouraged and disappointed man. After his death, two factions struggled for supremacy; but when Massachusetts asserted her right of domain over Gorges' whole province, "the overthrowing of all that he had set up was complete." The epitaph to his failures is written by his own hand." )Life and Letters of Gorges, by Baxter)

Captain John Smith published in 1616, at London, a description of New England, embodying the results of his voyage two years before. This work, which was accompanied by maps that exist today, created a great stir among the English people, and is said to have induced Sir Ferdinando Gorges to send out Sir Richard Vines with four ships, in the summer of 1616, prepared to establish a colony. He stayed at the mouth of the Saco River a year, but his sojourn, beyond proving that it was possible to "live' through the severe winter months in this inhospitable climate, was barren of results.

In 1620, "The Royal Charter for the settling of New England" was granted by "King James unto forty persons consisting of Lords, Knights, and merchants who constituted a body politic and corporate for the Governing of New England in America." This body was called "The Councill established at Plymouth in the County of Devon." Sir Ferdinando Gorges was one of the Council. Its authority was almost unlimited; it could appoint Governors, Priests, Councils, bestow title upon whom it chose, and make laws for the Colonies. This grant extended between the fortieth and forty-eighth parallels of latitude, or from the line of Philadelphia to the ""northernmost point of Maine;" but the English idea of distances, in this and other grants, was very vague.

Those who first settled the coast of Maine, from the Piscataqua River to Pemaquid, - with their principal settlements at "Winter Harbor," the mouth of the Saco river (1623), Pemaquid, near the mouth of the Kennebec River (1625), Agamenticus, Gorgiana, now York, Richmond's Island, and Kittery, - were detached companies without any definite bond of government or union. In 1635, efforts were made to establish some sort of restraint for the idle and lawless; and the first legal tribunal, constituted by authority, which existed in Maine, was held at Saco, on the eastern side of the river, March 21, 1636, by Captain William Gorges, nephew and deputy to Sir Ferdinando Gorges. This court held sessions two or three years.

Under the new Charter of 1639, the first session of the court was at Saco, June 25, `640; and it was also "ordered" that henceforth there should be "one General Court holden at Saco for the whole Province of Maine, every year on the twenty-fifth of June, or next day if Sabbath."

The Grand Jury sworne to enquire for our Sovereign Lord the King, and the Lord of this Province, " consisted of
George Cleeves, gen. Richard Foxill, gen.
Arthur Mackworth, gen. Jno West, gen.
Thomas Page, gen. Jno Smith, gen.
Richard Tucker, gen. Tho. Smith, gen.
Tho. Williams, gen. William Cole, gen.
George Frost, gen. Edward Smale, gen.


Writers Note.
"[Since the publishing of both the first and second edition of the books on Descendants of Edward Small and Allied Families by Underhill, much speculation has been made by later researchers concerning relationships between Edward Smale and Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Champernoune and others, and the assertions of these individuals who wish to tie the more famous English families into the Small family line of New England has no basis in truth, as evidenced by the above narration by Underhill."

"What can also be surmised therefore, as per Underhill above, is that the English Smale family of Maine did not have benefit of a connection to a coat of Arms or Crest. That the Small family of Ireland, Scotland and England, and even perhaps of Prussia, may indeed have had Armor, and a place in Heraldry, for there have been found several references to them, and one is displayed prominently on the main page of this website. But the connection between these crests and Coats of Arms has not been established for any particular family. Underhill has this same coat of arms in the front of her book, but as noted, she does not tie it directly to this New England family."

One last note. That Edward Smale was the first of that surname to be in New England is beyond doubt, however, assertions by some that he was the first white man in the area should now be dispelled. Likewise, Francis Small, a well documented individual was indeed likely the first white settler among the Indians of the area, and likely was the first trader to settle in that area. He received a deed of land from Chief Sandy for an area some 20 miles square for repayment of debts owed him for supplies, which is narrated further in Woodbury's book."]

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