Smith, Mercy (née Bridgham)

Anglo-American

Merchant's wife

Mercy married John Smith on November 24, 1728. They had five children. One of their daughters married Ebenezer Pemberton, the author of the so-called "Oliver letter" sent to London in 1765 to discredit Samson Occom.

Mercy Smith was the wife of John Smith, an affluent Boston merchant who supported Samson Occom and Nathaniel Whitaker on their fundraising tour of Great Britain. She appears to have been remarkably active in her husband’s public affairs: she sent Wheelock bills and kept him informed about donations raised in Boston, ran John’s business while he was in Britain (1765-1768), and seems to have continued engaging in some degree of business after John’s death in 1768.

Dartmouth College Library. A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Papers of Eleazar Wheelock. Hanover: Dartmouth College Library, 1971. Glover, Anna. “John Smith.” In An Account of John Glover of Dorchester and His Descendants. Boston: David Clapp & Son, 1867. Accessed via Archives.org. pp. 133-135. Richardson, Leon B. An Indian Preacher in England. Dartmouth College Press 1933.