Hopestill was the daughter of Captain William Holbrook and his wife Elizabeth Pitts. She was born about 1647 in Weymouth; unfortunately, her gravestone, which was inscribed with her age at death, is no longer completely legible, so we don't know the exact year of her birth.[1]
"Captain William Holbrook came to Scituate in 1660, and purchased lands in Conihasseett, adjoining the farm of Capt. Michael Pierce, on the southwest. His house was built on the south side of the Cohasset Road, a half mile west of Capt. Pierce's."
He resided in Weymouth until 1663 when he moved to Mendon. The Native Americans drove him back in 1676 and after that he settled in Scituate by 1676. He was a freeman in 1646, selectman, deacon and Captain in the militia at Mendon.
Hopestill married Samuel Read. From Torrey's New England Marriages: "Read, Samuel (-1717) & 1/wf Hopestill Holbrook (-1706) daughter William; 10 May 1668, 5 May 1668; Rehoboth/Mendon."[2]
Hopestill was named in her father's Last Will and Testament, written 9 September 1696, named as "Hopestill Read."
Hopestill and Samuel were the parents of six children: "Samuel, son of John of Reboboth, was constable of Mendon in 1681; married Hopestill Holbrook in 1558. Made Freeman 15 October 1673. Children: Mary, who married Seth Chapin, 20 May 1689; Samuel; Ebenezer; John; Sarah, who married a Murdock, 12 April 1727; and Josiah. His wife (Hopestill) died 12 January 1706. His will is dated 5 April 1717."[3] Please note that Samuel only mentioned two children in his last will and testament: Samuel and Ebenezer. He also mentioned his son-in-law Seth Chapin. He did not mention John, Sarah or Josiah, so perhaps the family genealogy was not correct about John, Sarah and Josiah being his children.
Hopestill and Samuel were the ancestors of the Mendon, Uxbbridge, Northbridge, Milford, Oxford and Charlton Reads.
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H > Holbrook | R > Read > Hopestill (Holbrook) Read
Categories: Old Cemetery, Mendon, Massachusetts