Col. Josiah Smith, American Revolution Hero, Honored In East Moriches

CENTER MORICHES, NY — The Sons of the American Revolution's Long Island Chapter and the Eastport American Legion gathered recently to honor Colonel Josiah Smith, a veteran of the American Revolution.

A New York State roadside marker was dedicated in his honor East Moriches on Saturday, December 3 at 11 am. The marker states that he was an American Patriot who fought at the Battle of Long Island and was a treasurer of Suffolk County.

Daughters of the American Revolution, Josiah Smith Chapter, also attended. The event was held at Col. Josiah Smith Cemetery, located on Paquatuck Avenue in East Moriches, and included a wreath laying at his grave.

According to LongIslandGenealogy.com, Colonel Josiah Smith was born in East Moriches on November 28, 1723;he was the son of Nathaniel Smith and grandson of Richard (Bull) Smith, the founder of Smithtown.

He married Susannah, daughter of Judge Hugh Gelston of Southampton, in 1742., the site said. He was a man of considerable property "as he inherited a large estate from his father, and occupied a high position in the county," the site added.

Before the revolution, Josiah Smith was a colonel of the militia, and at a meeting of the residents of the parish of South Haven on June 13, 1774, it was voted that Captain Josiah Smith, William Smith, Colonel Nathaniel Woodhull, Colonel William Floyd, Thomas Fanning, Captain David Mulford and Captain Jonathan baker, "be a standing committee for this place to correspond with the Committee of Correspondence in the city of New York," the site said.

When the revolution broke out, he was appointed colonel of the regiment of Minutemen; he also organized the Suffolk County Regiment.

"On August 12, 1776, Colonel Smith returned to his home in East Moriches, and according to 'Mather's Refugees to Connecticut' went to Connecticut in November, 1776, to escape the British who were in possession of Long Island at that time. He must have returned to his home sometime later as an item copied by town historian Osborn Shaw from an old notebook of Colonel Smith (formerly in the possession of the late Riley P. Howell), states that he was seized at his home by two British soldiers on July 1, 1779, and taken to the Provost in New York, where he was kept until September 24 of that year, when he was liberated and he returned to his home."

He died in 1786, the site said, and was buried in a corner of a field near his homestead. His tombstone is currently maintained by Brookhaven Town as a historical landmark, the site said.