Henry More Smith

The Mysterious Henry More Smith

• NOTE: For quite some time there was a false story going around the community that Henry was imprisoned in the jail that was built in 1841 and is now located in Hampton. HENRY WAS NEVER IN THIS BUILDING. This gaol was not built until 1840. Henry was imprisoned in the second jail in Kingston, the one mentioned in the Detailed History of the Gaol that was built in 1807 and that was replaced by this current gaol building. 

• Henry was a con man and a rogue, an accused horse thief who was sentenced to hang, but had his sentence commuted and was expelled from the province. His story as written by Sheriff Walter Bates is told in the book "The Mysterious Stranger" which is available for purchase at the museum.

• NOTE 2: The case of the portrait: 

The portrait on the left is not an accurate depiction of Henry. When the book “The Mysterious Stranger” came out in 1817 the publisher wanted a portrait of Henry so they apparently grabbed a random guy off the street and drew him. The picture on the right is believed to be more accurate. Titled “Lunar Rogue in Chains” the image is from another print of the book and it is a more accurate depiction of him when compared to the physical descriptions we have. The description of Henry from his wanted poster is as follows “..of slender make, dark hair and eyes, had a scar on or about the chin of some length, appeared to have been cut…” 

Henrys cell is described as being 22 by 16 feet, stone and lime walls three feet thick of the sides, the fourth wall having been a partition 12 inches thick.

Henry’s Origins: Henry claimed that his real name was Henry Moon, and that he was the son of a merchant in the south of England. There was a Moon family in that area at about the right time and that they were merchants however he had used other false aliases so there’s no way to know if this one was accurate.