Holbrook line: William Holbrook 1620-1699 Immigrant

William was born in or near Glastonbury, Somerset, England shortly before June 14, 1620.  His parent were Thomas and Jane Powyes Holbrook.  William was an immigrant, probably about 15 years old, who may or may not have arrived with his parents when they came to America in 1635.  His name is not on the manifest of the Marigold, as his parents and siblings are, so the record could have been a mistake or it is possible that William traveled separately.  He went first to Weymouth with his family, and was made a freeman there in 1647.

He married Elizabeth Pitts about 1643, probably in Weymouth.  They had ten or possibly 11 children together, but not all lived to adulthood.  He must have been a man who was admired, because I've found reference to him both as "Deacon Holbrook" and "Captain Holbrook".  He was assigned land in the new settlement of Mendon and went there in 1663.  I have also seen comments that he owned "vast tracts" of land although the records I've looked at indicate more modest holdings, as he bought and sold perhaps 40 acres at a time.

We don't know much about his life but we can guess that it was upended when King Philip's War began in 1675.  Half a dozen settlers were killed in the first raid in 1675.  The settlers left the area in great haste, and a few months later the settlement was burned to the ground.  William did not return to rebuild in Mendon.  Instead, he want to Scituate, Plymouth Colony, where he and Elizabeth lived out their lives.  We don't know when he was given the title of "Captain", or whether he served in the militia during this time. 

From William's inventory, it appears that he was either a weaver or a merchant in textiles, or possibly both. William Bradford II was involved in the paperwork of settling the estate.  Elizabeth died about 1696 and William married that same year to Abigail Wright Sharpe Clapp.  He provided for her out of his estate, which totaled about 170 pounds, plus whatever real estate he had.  He scratched his initials instead of signing his name, but that could have been due to age and illness rather than illiteracy. 

Here's the sad thing about his life.  His inventory included a "Negro man" with a value of 26 pounds.  We don't know when and under what circumstances he was purchased or acquired (perhaps he came with second wife, perhaps not).  We don't know how old he was. We don't know his name. We don't know so much about this man, but we know there was a connection with William.  This is hard to write about.  We have a few other New England ancestors who "owned" slaves, but not many.  This is hard to accept and to write about, but we need to know the good, the bad, and the ugly about our ancestors, if we are to understand them and their world. 

There's much we don't know about William Holbrook, but it's a joy to know this much.  I treasure every ancestor and look forward to the hunt to learn more about him.

Our line of descent is:

William Holbrook-Elizabeth Pitts
Jane Holbrook-Alexander Balcom
Sarah Balcom-Timothy Sheldon
Martha Sheldon-Thomas Mathewson
Deborah Mathewson-Joseph Winsor
Lillis Winson-Nathan Paine
Deborah Paine-Enos Eddy
Joseph Eddy-Susan Lamphire
Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

This is Gladys Holbrook's maternal line.  She also has a paternal line that ends up with William's parents, Thomas and Jane Powyes Holbrook.  So, as so often happens, she is her own distant cousin.