Captain Samuel Smedley Of Fairfield Conn

A biography of an eighteenth-century New England privateer that “takes a deep dive into the life and adventures of this colorful figure” (Fairfield Sun). From the shores of Long Island Sound to the high seas of the West Indies, against British warships and letters of marque, Samuel Smedley left a stream of smoke and blood as he took prisoners and prizes alike. At twenty-three years old, Smedley, a Fairfield, Connecticut native, enlisted as a lieutenant of marines on the Connecticut ship Defence during the American Revolution. Less than a year later he was her captain, scouring the seas for British prey. In this biography, Jackson Kuhl delves into the life and times of this Patriot, sea captain and privateer.

In accepting the task of compiling the history of a town, rich with historic lore, the author was fully sensible of the labor connected with it; but she resolved to go bravely on and accomplish all that health, perseverance, research and industry, would eventually achieve. Fairfield is her native town, and in Southport, which is a part of it, she was born. For over two hundred years her ancestors have lived and died within the limits of the township. On the hill which summoned the inhabitants of Green's Farms, by the beating of a drum, to the meeting-house on the Lord's day, her honored father, the late Jonathan Godfrey, was born. Her great grandfather, Lieutenant Nathan Godfrey, of Colonel Whiting's company, fought the battles of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. On her mother's side, she is a direct descendant of Richard Hubbell and of Joshua Jennings, and on both sides of the house of the Couch family. The blood which nerved some of the bravest men and women of Fairfield to deeds of courage, endurance, and military and political achievements, runs in her veins. It therefore, has proved no reluctant task for her to write the history of the men and women who took part in the settlement of New England, and more particularly of Fairfield. It is at all times interesting to study the history of our New England ancestry, which, like the seed of Abraham, has become throughout the vast domain of the United States, in numbers like unto the sands upon the sea-shore: and for their intelligence, sound religious principles, thrift, ingenuity, indomitable perseverance and industry, they are honored by all the nations of the earth. Therefore, to write of their political and military prowess, their religious views, their manners and customs, will prove interesting to all who love old Fairfield. This is book two of two of this series and presents the years 1700 through 1818.