(Source of this document is unknown)
Ann
Smith was born in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Her christening record appears in the St. Paul’s Anglican Church
record in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) As the minister traveled
about in the country performing ordinances, she may have been born anywhere
within 50 miles of Ch’town (Charlottetown) Her birth was Oct. 31, 1798, Chr. 21
July 1799. Her parents, Joseph Smith
and Catherine Anderson appear to have been living in the Alexandra area of Lot
(TWP) 49, which is close to Ch’town. No
birth dates are available for her parents but app death dates are Joseph 1843
and Catherine 1852. Ann married an
English soldier, Joseph Bailey, in 1818 and eventually settled near Bath
England. Older children in family back
to 1819 were christened in Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada where Joseph Bailey was
stationed in the Army.
Information from wills and census – 1798 and 1841 – pretty well establish that her father was the son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Mary Wright who came from England in 1774. This group, from England, appear to have come over under the sponsorship of a Robert Clark who had land holdings in P.E.I. They landed on a bay on the north shore of P.E.I. and named their settlement New London. One or two sources give their ship as the Snow Elizabeth but others do not name the ship at all. No passenger lists for the Snow Elizabeth has been found in the Archives at Ch’town or Ottawa.
Most
of the information about this group is found in the diary of one of its
members, Benjamin Chappell. He was a
carpenter, cabinetmaker and keeper of the accounts. His diary, which is a kind of an account book runs from 1775 to
1788 on film at the public library in Ch’town.
In it he makes mention of Joseph Smith his wife and children, and also a
Mr. William Anderson. Mr. Wood and Mr. Shephered. Smith worked as the shoemaker.
By the year 1781, Chappell had located in Ch’town where he became the
first postmaster. The Smiths seem to
have moved also, as Mary Smith is mentioned in Ch’town items until her death
around 1811,
Benjamin
Chappell was born in London in 1740; his parents were members of the Church of
England. He became a follower of John
Wesley and seems to have been the spiritual leader of the group that came to
Canada. Joseph and Mary Smith were
undoubtedly of this faith also as the records of the Wesleyan Methodist Church
mention their meetings being held in Ch’town at the home of the widow, Mary
Smith. These facts about Chappell may give
some clues to the identity and origin of others in the group, particularly
Joseph and Mary Smith and William Anderson.