Catharine McCord Smith (1803-1874)

Catharine McCord Smith (1803-1874). Daughter of the Revolution, Sing Sing Wife and Mother. As with many women in the early years of this country. Catharine Smith's history is hinged to the men in her life. She did not own land, and her work was within the parameters of hearth and faith. Her obituary offered the highest praise of the day. Her life was the “model of a devoted Christian life.” We are fortunate to have her portrait because she married two well-to-do sons of Sing Sing (Ossining) first families. , Catharine was the daughter of Revolutionary War veteran James Trowbridge (1754-1821) of Bedford, who served in Colonel James Holmes' Regiment in 1775 and the following year under captains Elijah Hunter and Samuel Lawrence. James died in Sing Sing in 1821 and is buried nearby. In 1820 Catharine married James McCord (also son of a Revolutionary War veteran), part of the family that owned a farm covering more than 200 acres high above the village. James and Catharine had three children: Sarah, James and Hannah, before James Sr. met an early death in 1826. Catharine joined the Methodist Church the following year and proceeded to raise her children as a widow within the large McCord family. , In 1854 Catharine married Captain Isaac C. Smith, a successful Hudson River ship builder and river captain, who was also known as the Father of Sing Sing Methodism. Catharine knew the family well through the church; seven years earlier, her daughter Hannah had married the captain's son Malcolm (who became Westchester County Clerk). Catharine and Isaac had 20 years together before she died in 1874. She is buried here with her first husband James McCord; Captain Smith was laid to rest three years later with his first wife a few yards away.