Thomas Holbrook Sr (abt. 1630 - 1705)

Born about 1630 in England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Shepard) Holbrook — married 28 May 1656 in Medfield, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay

Husband of Margaret (Bowker) Holbrook — married 26 Jan 1668 (to 9 Apr 1690) in Medfield, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 11 Apr 1705 at about age 75 in Sherborn, Middlesex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Kyle Grindberg [send private message], Bob Fields [send private message], Tracy Duncan [send private message], and Whitney Fitzgerald [send private message]

[Note: Birth is an estimate based on the evidence that in 1652, he was one of the first settlers at Medfield. Thomas origins are unknown/undertermined. Thomas Holbrook, was originally of Dorchester, Massachusetts then Medfield and later Sherborn. There is also a Thomas Holbrook of Weymouth, who was conflated with this Thomas in some of the early genealogies, and then repeated. Please be sure to keep them separate. Also, there is no evidence linking this Thomas as a son of John Holbrook and wife Sarah]

Biography

On May 8, 1652, Richard Parker transferred 538 acres of lands that would later become the towns of Medfield and Sherborn, to Nicholas Wood, Thomas Holbrook and Andrew Pitcher of Dorchester. ^[1]

Thomas Holbrook married Hannah Shepherd at Medfield, Massachusetts on May 26, 1656. ^[2]

Hannah died on August 26, 1688. ^[2]

Thomas married Margaret Bouker January 26, 1668/9 at Medfield. ^[2]

Margaret died at Sherborn, Masssachusetts on April 9, 1690. ^[3]

Thomas died at Sherborn on April 11, 1705. ^[3]

Thomas wrote his will on May 15, 1704. In it he names;

• son Thomas
• son Eleazer, executor
• son Nathaniel
• son John
• daughter Experience Mackintosh
• daughter Hannah Battle
• daughter Patient Layland
• daughter Susanna
• a boy and a girl, children of my deceased daughter Bethiah Mors ^[4]

On May 4, 1705, the following heirs of Thomas Holbrook acknowledging they had received their legacies of household goods, from brother Eleazer Holbrook, administrator, discharging Eleazer from any further claims.

• Experience Mackintosh, wife of William
• Hopestill Leland Sr. and Patience Leland
• Daniel Morse and Susanna Morse ^[4]

The document was also signed by John Holbrook, Nathaniel Holbrook and Jona. Fairbanks^[4]

Children

by Hannah

1. Nathaniel born on March 6, 1657/8; died on March 6, 1676/7. ^[2]
2. Thomas born on September 2, 1659. ^[2]
3. Eleazer born on on December 20, 1660. ^[2]

by Margaret

1. Patience born on January 27, 1669/70 ^[2]; married Hopestill Lealand at Sherborn on February 2, 1691; died at Sherborn on October 5, 1740. ^[3]
2. Hopestill born on July 1, 1671. ^[2]
3. Nathaniel born on June 20, 1677. ^[2]
4. John born ___. ^[4]
5. Hannah born ___: married ___ Battle. ^[4]
6. Experience born ___; married William Mackintosh ^[4] of Dedham by 1700; died at Dedham on August 29. 1714.^[5]
7. Susanna born ___; married Daniel Morse ^[4] on May 22, 1696; died on April 14, 1717. ^[3]
8. Bethiah born ___; married ___ (?Samuel) Morse; died by May 1704. ^[4]

Research notes

Entry from Torrey, NE Marriages before 1700: "HOLBROOK, Thomas (?1659-) & Margaret/Mary BOWKER (-1692), wid; 20 Jan 1684; Sherborn {Beebe (1951?); Sherborn Hist. 125, 141; Morse (,1) 14; Belcher 18; Holman Ms: Holbrook 4}"

There are at least two Thomas Holbrooks in Massachusetts at the same time. Thomas SR (this profile) was married to Margaret Bouker and was the father of Patience Holbrook born in 1669. Thomas JR married Mary (Bonks?) in 1684. Thomas JR may also have been previously married to Hannah Sheppard (she passed away in 1668). Thomas SR's death is listed as 1705 and Thomas JR as 1717, but the actual death records are unclear as to which Thomas Holbrook died first/last. Still looking for a copy of a will which would help clear that up.

There is some interesting names on the [1] Archived page: North American Holbrook Lines research

There are claims that Thomas Holbrook was married four times:

• 1) Experience Leland, daughter of Hopestill & Elgin (Hatherly) Leland, about 1646 - parents of Experience & Abigail
• 2) Hannah Shepard, daughter of John & Margaret (Squire) Shepard, on 28 Mar 1656 at Medfield, Norfolk, MA - parents of Hannah, Nathaniel, Thomas & Eleazur
• 3) Margaret Bowker on 26 Jan 1668/9 - parents of Patience, John, Susanna, Nathaniel & Bethia
• 4) Mary Rogers, daughter of John & Mary (Bates) Rogers, on 31 Oct 1683 at Sherborn, Middlesex, MA

Birth

Birth:

Date: 1627

Death

Death:

Date: 11 Apr 1705

Place: Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Hamilton, Duane Hamilton. History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Volume 1, J. W. Lewis & Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1890, p. 681
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts io the End of the Year 1849, NEHGS, Boston, Massachusetts, 1903, p. 62-3: 149: 218
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Baldwin, Thomas, compiler. Vital Records of Sherborn, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, NEHGS, Boston, Massachusetts, 1911, p.140: 155: 207-8: 210: 216
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7} Case 11678:p. 1-7: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871 Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized mages provided by FamilySearch.org). Will of Thomas Holbrook of Sherborn.
5. ↑ Hill, Don Gleason, editor. Town of Dedham, Massachusetts, Volumes I & II, 1635-1845, Printed at the Dedham Transcript, Dedham, Massachusetts, 1886, p. 40
6. ↑ Ancestry.com Massachusetts Town RecordsAncestry Record matownvital #7603667 Thomas Holbrook vital date: 11 Apr 1705 vital place: Sherborn, Massachusetts death date: 11 Apr 1705 death place: Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA

See also: Form more details on Thomas see

• Sprague, Waldo Chamberlain. Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, MA. 1640-1850 (2001). Pages 1992-1993. Subscription, NEHGS
• Hamilton, Duane Hamilton. History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Volume 1, J. W. Lewis & Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1890
• Andersen, Robert Charles. The Great Migration. Pages 354-5. Subscription link
• Andersen. "The Trouble with Thomas Holbrook" in The Great Migration Newsletter Vol 11, page 16. NEHGS: 2002. [hhttps://www.americanancestors.org/DB1567/i/21155/16/0

Subscription Link]

• Morse, Abner. A Genealogical Register of the Inhabitants and History of the Towns of Sherborn and Holliston (Damrell & Moore, Boston, Mass., 1856). Pages 125, 141. Note: Anderson in the Great Migration Notes that Abner Morse was one of the "least accomplished genealogists of any generation." This source should not be relied on. The conflation of the two Thomas Holbrooks is clearly an issue.
• Morse, William Inglis, Genealogiae or Data Concerning the Families of Morse, Chipman, Phinney, Ensign and Whiting (including new and unpublished material) (Boston: N. Sawyer & Son, 1925). Page 14. view on FamilySearch.org (Online page 31).
• Bartlett, Joseph G. The Belcher Families in New England. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1906. Page 18 [This source gives Hannah, daughter of Thomas Holbrook and Mary of Braintree marrying Thomas Belcher, Nov 8, 1732]
• Ancestral File Number: 82VV-82
  • Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. View on Ancestry.com with subscription: Ancestry Family Tree 58961345 Ancestry Family Tree 28407175
• [2] "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHNH-DVH : 13 July 2016), Thomas Holbrook and Margaret Bowker, 26 Jan 1668; citing Marriage, Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 721,179. (Bouker misspelled)
• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4J5-DNL : 13 July 2016), Patience Houlbrooke, 27 Jan 1669; citing Birth, Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 721,179. (Holbrook misspelled)
• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29L-BCTV : 13 July 2016), Thomas Sr. Holbrook in entry for Margret Holbrook, 09 Apr 1690; citing Death, Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 872,789.
• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29L-B8CP : 13 July 2016), Thomas Holbrook, 11 Apr 1705; citing Death, Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 872,789.
• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29L-BCL9 : 13 July 2016), Thomas Holbrook, 12 Dec 1717; citing Death, Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 872,789.

Acknowledgements

Created through the import of grant2.ged on 07 February 2011. Holbrook-706 created through the import of Grindberg Family Tree.ged on Apr 9, 2012 by Kyle Grindberg.

Holbrook-1031 was created by Whitney Fitzgerald through the import of Freemesser Family Tree.ged on Jul 23, 2014