The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: CT
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service
Bethiah Doolittle was born August 17, 1746, at Wallingford, Connecticut; the sixth child was born to Hezekiah Doolittle and Hepzibah. She would be raised on the edge of the wilderness of western Connecticut, at the town of Litchfield, to be a brave and resourceful woman, strong of character, who, 75 years after her death in 1842, would be recognized a true American Patriot.
In 1765, Bethiah married Jonathan Smith, Jr., and the young couple moved to the wilderness of Northfield to farm and raise a family. Over the next ten years, the family was blessed with six children.
In 1775, Jonathan Smith was among the first to respond to his country's call. He joined the 1st Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers in response to the Alarm at Lexington and Concord. His regiment marched through northern New York to attack Montreal. He was discharged at Montreal in the winter of 1776 with sickness.
He returned to his loving wife Bethia and his children. In May 1777, he re-enlisted in the 5th Regiment of the Connecticut Line.
During the summer of 1777, while he was on furlough, Bethiah made Jonathan a new suit of clothes, and the couple spent several evenings melting down their pewter ware to make bullets. Jonathan said goodbye to his wife and children and went off with General Washington's troops on the Pennsylvania Campaign. He was killed October 4, 1777, in a bloody engagement with British troops at Germantown, Pennsylvania.
When the news of his death was brought to Bethiah, one of her brothers said, "You are now reaping the fruits of your rebellion," to which she spiritedly replied, "If there are not men enough to drive the British from the country, I will go." He responded, "If the American Army is made up of such spirits, it will surely win."
Bethia was left to raise six children in a wilderness region where many of her neighbors were loyalists to the Crown. She suffered much from the depredations and enmity of the surrounding Tories. British troops, on several occasions searched her home and destroyed her wheat field, however; she managed to hide enough provisions to feed her family. When the local miller, who was a Tory, refused to grind her wheat, she visited the mill when he was not there, and ground her own flour.
One night in the winter following her husband's death, she was startled in her sitting room by a large Indian climbing through her window. She grabbed a musket and killed him where he stood, tomahawk in hand. Her neighbors came running and found that her house had been set afire in three places.
Bethiah remarried and raised her children. She lived to the age of 96, passing away in 1842.
She is buried in Northfield Cemetery, at Litchfield, Connecticut.
In 1917, Bethiah Doolittle and her husband Jonathan Smith, Jr., were each officially recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution as Patriots. In 1999, the Sons of the American Revolution made that same honored recognition.
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