Thomas Loring (bef. 1626 - bef. 1679)

Born before 5 Mar 1626 in Axminster, Devon, England

Husband of Hannah (Jacob) French — married 16 Dec 1657 in Hingham, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died before 25 Feb 1679 at about age 52 in Hull, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Thomas Loring immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Thomas Loring

Baptism/Birth

Thomas Loring was christened the son of (Deacon) Thomas Loring on 5 March 1626 at Axminster, Devon, England.^[1] The transcription did not include his mother's name or his birth date. He was the second of his name, the first Thomas Loring was christened just under 1 year earlier, 27 March 1625 and buried 3 days later 30 March 1625.^[2]Pope in "Loring Genealogy" identifies the mother of this Thomas Loring as Jane Newton, displaying her will where she mentions Thomas as her eldest son.^[3]

Immigration

Thomas came to New England with his parents when he was about eight years old circa 1634. ^[4] The "History of Hingham" gives the date as specifically 23 Dec 1634 and says that Deacon Thomas remained in Dorchester, Mass. for a "short time" before removing to Hingham. However, this would not seem to be a ship's arrival date, most ships (such as the "Elizabeth" or "Mary and John" of 1634) sailed earlier in the year when weather was better, leaving in March or April and arriving by June or July or September at the latest. However, ship's passenger lists are notoriously incomplete. At any rate, Deacon Thomas had been granted a lot for a house in Hingham by 1635.^[5]

His father lived in Hingham until his house burned down on 16 March 1645/46 when he moved to Hull. Thomas Jr.'s children were all born in Hull^[5] and he lived there until his death.

Marriage

He married at Hingham, Massachusetts Bay Colony on December 16, 1657, Hannah Jacob, daughter of Nicholas Jacob and Mary Gilman.^[5] and^[4] (Great Migration sources this to NEHGR vol 121 pg 107). Hannah's first name is also confirmed by the will of Thomas' mother in which she bequeaths to "Hannah Loring, my eldest son's wife".^[3]

Colonial Life

Thomas and brothers John & Ben(jamin) all appear in the 1657 town records of Hull when they received lots in town.^[6] More property record entries for Thomas appear on page 69 (image 32/33) of this same source and his brother John's name appears regularly as the town clerk, having written many of the original entries.

Thomas was apparently a selectman of the town in 1671, 1674 and 1675.^[3]

Children

Children of Thomas and Hannah Loring given in the "History of Hingham"^[5] and in "Loring Genealogy"^[3] without primary source citations are as follows

1. Benjamin b. in 1662, apparently died before 24 Dec 1678 when his father's will was written.
2. Hannah bapt. at Hingham, Apr. 2, 1665; m. (1) June 5, 1685, Rev. Jeremiah Cushing; m. (2) John Barker, Esq., of Scituate.
3. Thomas b. Mar. 15, 1667-8.
4. Deborah b. Mar. 15, 1667-8; m. May 20, 1687, John Cushing, Jr., Chief Justice of Plymouth court and a judge in the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.
5. David b. Sept. 15, 1671
6. Caleb b. June 9, 1674.
7. Abigail b. Feb. 5, 1676; d. Feb. 1, 1678.

Death and Estate

Thomas died at his residence in Hull in 1678 or 79; the date is not on record, but it was between December 24 1678 when he made his will, and February 25 when inventory of his estate was made;^[3] the will was proved March 12 1678/79.^[5]

The will showed Thomas to be well-off with many lots of land, farm stock and a total estate value of over 718 pounds. Colonial currencies are notoriously hard to convert but his horse was valued at 2 pounds and assuming it was a decent horse (a decent horse runs about $1,500 these days in 2020) his estate was worth about $540,000. Feel free to substitute your own math...

The will left his entire estate to his "well beloved wife" to raise his children as all were still minors when he wrote his will; if she remarried then she would receive only 1/3 of the estate. The remainder would be divided equally between all children (including daughters) except that eldest son Thomas would receive an extra half portion. This indicates that son Benjamin must have died before the 1678 writing of the will.

In the event, his widow Hanna apparently did re-marry while the children were under age, to "Captain Stephen French of Wey" (presumably Weymouth, Norfolk) although a specific primary source has not been found yet for this marriage.^[3] and^[5]

Research Notes

Note on sources: Most of the information in this profile is provided in "History of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts" page 26, a work commissioned by the town and published in 1893^[5] and in "The Loring Genealogy" by Charles Henry Pope^[3] Note that this latter book does not include it's primary sources but used the usual mix of state, city & town records along with sending letters to hundreds of Loring family members asking for any known information so should be treated as a valuable reference but not an infallible one.

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J79J-D9P FHL microfilm 916,807
2. ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NBSP-81M
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6} Charles Henry Pope. "Loring Genealogy" p. 1 & 7.see at archive.org
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} The Great Migration Begins Vol. 4 page 343. https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2496/42521_b158315-00450?pid=36028
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6} History of Hingham Vol 3 "Genealogical" https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofh0203hing/page/26/mode/2up
6. ↑ Plymouth Hull Town records 1657-1841 image 9 of 111 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G979-793T-J?i=8&wc=Q4D4-FMT%3A353350201%2C353460301%2C353460302&cc=2061550

See also:

• Dwight, Melatiah Everett. The Kirbys of New England (Trow Print, New York, 1898) Page 74