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Claudius Smith (1736 – January 22, 1779) was a notorious Loyalist guerrilla leader during the American Revolution. Events 565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. Year 1779 ( MDCCLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common This article concerns Loyalists in the American Revolution. For information on the role of those Loyalists in Canadian history after their emigration see United Empire In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" He led a band of irregulars who were known locally as the 'cowboys'.

Claudius was the eldest son of David Smith (1701–1787), a respected tailor, cattleman, miller, constable, clergyman, and finally judge in Brookhaven, New York. A tailor is a person whose occupation is to sew and scissor menswear style jackets and the skirts or trousers that go with them A ranch is an area of landscape including various structures given primarily to the practice of ranching the practice of raising grazing livestock such as Cattle For other uses see Miller (disambiguation A miller usually refers to a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a Cereal A constable is a person holding a particular office most commonly in law enforcement. A cleric ( Ancient Greek κληρικός - klērikos clergyman (pl The Town of Brookhaven is located in central Suffolk County, New York, USA, and stretches from the North Shore to the South Shore His mother was Meriam (Williams) Carle, a daughter of Samuel Williams of Hempstead, New York. Hempstead is a village located in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. David Smith was the son of a Samuel Smith, but the identity of this Samuel is not certain. [1]

Contents

Claudius as a guerrilla leader

During the Revolutionary War, Claudius, along with several members of his family, including three of his four sons (William, Richard, and James), allegedly terrorized the New York countryside in an area formerly known as Smith's Clove (presently Monroe), Orange County, New York, where David Smith and his family had moved about 1741 from Brookhaven. Monroe is a Village in Orange County, New York, United States. Monroe may refer to two municipalities in Orange County New York in the United States Monroe (town New York Monroe (village Orange County is a County located in the US state of New York.

Accounts differ on Claudius Smith's size and stature. A 1762 French and Indian War muster roll lists him as 5'9". The French and Indian War (1754&ndash1763 was the North American chapter of the Seven Years' War. In Tudor England, musters were periodic assessments of the availability of local Militia to act as a defence force when needed However, a 1778 wanted poster for his arrest claims he stood nearly an unbelievable seven feet tall!

All accounts agree that Claudius was a Loyalist and took part in Tory raids alongside the Mohawk Indian Chief, Joseph Brant. This article concerns Loyalists in the American Revolution. For information on the role of those Loyalists in Canadian history after their emigration see United Empire Mohawk ( Kanienkeh, Kanienkehaka or Kanien’Kahake, meaning "People of the Flint" are an indigenous people of North America Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant ( c 1743 &ndash 24 November 1807) was a Mohawk leader and British military officer during

Though he gained a fearsome reputation among the Patriots, Claudius is not actually known to have killed anyone. He was even viewed by some as sort of a Robin Hood, helping to defend the Loyalists in the area. Robin Hood is an archetypal figure in English folklore, whose story originates from medieval times but who remains significant in popular culture where At one point, Smith even ended up in jail with a close relative of Capt John Brown (1728–1776), the grandfather of John Brown the abolitionist. John Brown (May 9 1800 December 2 1859 was an American Abolitionist who advocated and practiced armed Insurrection as a means to end all Slavery

However, when one of Smith's men did apparently rob and kill a Patriot leader, Major Nathaniel Strong, on October 6, 1778, New York Governor George Clinton posted a reward of $1,200 for Smith's arrest. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 1778 ( MDCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or This page is for the US Vice President For others of that name see George Clinton. Claudius was soon captured and was hanged on January 22, 1779 in the town of Goshen, Orange County, New York. Events 565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. Year 1779 ( MDCCLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Goshen is the county seat of Orange County, New York, United States. Orange County is a County located in the US state of New York. Two of his sons, William and James (the latter captured in February of 1779 by an Abner Thorpe, according to: Erastus C. Knight's New York in the Revolution (1901, Supp. ), p. 165 [the Accounts of Governor Clinton]) would suffer the same fate.

Richard Smith remained at large at least through 1781, when his name appears in a letter addressed to Governor Clinton from Gen George Washington warns Clinton that he was the target of a planned kidnapping by the remaining members of the Smith Gang. George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the

Claudius Smith in fiction

Richard Smith is a character in Elizabeth Oakes (Prince) Smith's 1867 novel Bald Eagle; or, The Last of the Ramapaughs, which portrays Claudius's son as seeking vengeance on the people of Orange County for the killing of his father. Elizabeth Oakes Smith (1806-1893 was a poet fiction writer editor lecturer and women’s rights activist whose career spanned six decades from the 1830s to the 1880s

Endnotes

  1. ^  He may have been a Samuel Smith Jr. of Barbados, who is conjectured to have a direct relationship since a David Smith of Long Island, New York who married another Elizabeth Lewis in 1703 , and many inhabitants of the New York area at this time traveled back and forth between the West Indies and northern coastal areas. Long Island is an island located in southeastern New York, USA, its western shores directly across from Manhattan, from which the island stretches The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting Most genealogists, on the other hand, feel as though David was in fact descended somehow from an Arthur Smith, as is partially "proven" in the manner in which he originally signed his name: with an "A".

References

For discussion

"NOTE: The residence of Abraham Lynsen is now No. ___ Wall Street. Thomas Smith, who married his daughter Elizabeth, was the brother of William Smith, the Historian. He was the owner of the famous 'Treason House' at Haverstraw, where Benedict Arnold and Major André held their conferences. Haverstraw is the name of two locations in Rockland County New York: Haverstraw (town New York Haverstraw (village New York It was then occupied by his brother, Joshua Hett Smith, the unfortunate dupe of Arnold and André. – W. S. P. "
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