Thomas Fox (abt. 1607 - 1693)

Born about 1607 in England

Husband of Ellen (Unknown) Fox — married before 1647 in Concord or Cambridge, Massachusetts [uncertain]

Husband of Elizabeth (Norcross) Fox — married 24 Apr 1683 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 25 Apr 1693 at about age 86 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message] and Gillby Weldon [send private message]

Thomas Fox migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Thomas Fox (1608 - 1693) was “Known as ‘Thomas of Cambridge’ to distinguish him from Thomas Fox of Concord.

It is said that he was from London and that he was the son of Dr. Thomas Fox, a physician in that city. ^[1] A tradition that has some claim for belief states that he immigrated in anger and disgust because of injustice done to him in a law suit which he believed was decided against him because he was a grandson of John Fox, the author. This suit concerned a lease for three lives on seventeen houses in London. As this occurred in the reign of Charles I, when the Puritans found little favor from men in authority, it is quite probable that Fox had good reason to think the decision unjust.

Immigrated to the United States about 1634.^{[2] [1]}

Became a Freeman at Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1637/8.

One of the Original Proprietors of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

He dealt extensively in real estate, was executor and administrator of many estates, a selectman in 1658 and repeatedly afterwards. He was an esteemed and enterprising citizen, and was referred to in the church records as a beloved brother of the church. ^[1]

"The house at Cambridge where he lived, later called the Holmes House, stood on the north side by the college grounds. In the early days of the colony, the place belonged to Mrs. Ellen Green and became by her second marriage the property of her husband, Mr. Fox. Their grandson, Jabez Fox, the merchant tailor, made extensive additions and repairs to the house in 1707, bequeathing it at his death to his son, Thomas Fox of Woodstock, who sold it to his uncle, Rev. John Fox of Woburn. It eventually came to be owned by Harvard College. General Ward made the house his headquarters while in command of the American forces that invested Boston, and was there at the time of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Dr. Holmes, while chaplain of the college, resided there, and his son Oliver Wendell Holmes, the poet, was born there."^{[citation needed]}

Thomas died April 25, 1693, aged 85 years.^[1] He is buried at the Old Burying Ground, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States with a death date of 26 April 1693.^[3]

Family

Marriage to First wife, name unknown. (Anne Honeywood, per some without source)

Date: 19 JUN 1631

Place: Charing, Kent, England^[4]

NOTE: This mention of Anne Honeywood is without any primary source.

Marriage to Elizabeth (Norcross) Chadwick: Watertown, Middlesex, MA Vital Records Marriage to Rebecca (Moore) Wyeth: ^[5] NOTE: The above reference does not provide birth names for either of these wives. See the individual profiles.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Fox, N.M, A History of the Fox Family..of Cambridge, page 11.
2. ↑ Filby, P. William, ed., Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2006
3. ↑ Memorial: "Find a Grave", database with images, Find A Grave: Memorial #8240492, Memorial page for Thomas Fox (1608-26 Apr 1693), citing Old Burying Ground, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by CMWJR (contributor 50059520).
4. ↑ Unknown, unsourced family tree
5. ↑ Fox, N.M, A History of the Fox Family..of Cambridge, page 12

• Fox, Nathaniel M. A History of That Part of the Fox Family Descended From Thomas Fox of Cambridge, Mass. (Union Printing Company, St. Joseph, Mo., 1899).