1Abram English Brown, History of the Town of Bedford, Middlesex County, Mass: from its Earliest Settlement to the Year of Our Lord, 1891, p. 32 (1891).
URL = http://books.google.com/books?id=YXYUAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA32&lpg=RA1-PA32&dq=%22John+Smith%22+%22Bethiah+Rogers%22&source=bl&ots=Scg1GQqjOq&sig=-mOL7G-fxHhVvUVlIv3bYqNNqxQ&hl=en&ei=QqDJTeuuCZOgsQOXvPCjAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22John%20Smith%22%20%22Bethiah%20Rogers%22&f=false.
"SMITH, John, settled here in 1838. He was from the south shore of Massachusetts, and was probably descended from John of Plymouth, who had children there whose marriages are recorded between 1640 and 1650. Our John was the 8th ch. of Benjamin and Sarah (Peterson) of Duxbury, b. Jan. 4, 1792. The generation is uncertain, but probably the fifth. He m. 1817, Mercy Tilden of Marshfield, who d. Oct. 25, 1820; m. 2d, 1821, Bethiah Rogers of Marshfield. He d. Aug. 8, 1863; she d. May 14, 1878. Ch. Lucy Drew, b. July 11, 1819, m. Silas F. Wild of Medford. By 2d wife, Elizabeth, b. Aug. 26, 1822, m. Moses F. Brown. h John Allyn,6 b. Feb. 4, 1824. h. George Henry,6 b. Sept. 19, 1825.
John Smith was of a seafaring family, and followed the sea in early life, sailing under his brother, Capt. Jacob Smith, who commanded the ship that brought the first Brazil nuts to the United States. John was in South America (aged about twelve years) when his mother died. During the French war (previous to the war of 1812) his brother's ship was captured and burned, and the crew taken prisoners. John, with three hundred others, was confined the hold of a brig, which was so low studded that he could not stand upright. His possessions consisted of a pair of duck trousers, a guernsey frock, and five doubloons concealed in his stockings. The fare of the prosoners was "horse bean" soup, damaged rice, and bread. Their allowance of water was one pint a day per man. The imprisonment of John Smith during the time time when the English impressed American sailors, which caused the war of 1812. When liberated he walked four hundred miles to reach home, begging his way. He started in business in Boston, on Codman's Wharf, where Quincy Market now stands. His business was supplying ships' stores. Later, with George Merriam of Brighton, he formed the firm of Smith & Merriam, dealers in West India goods, at No. 21 Long Wharf. In 1828 he kept the Half-way House between Boston and Plymouth. It was situated in West Scituate, near the Hingham line. He bought the Pollard farm in Bedford in 1838, and settled there, where he completed his life."