Holbrook line: Simon Thompson, Immigrant 1619-1658

Simon Thompson was about 11 years old when he came to Massachusetts with his father, James Thompson or Thomson, and his step-mother, Elizabeth.  He was born to James and his mother, Ann, and was christened July 3, 1619 at Friesden, Lincolnshire, England.  He was one of four children born to this couple before Ann died about December 13, 1625.  Simon's father, James, married Elizabeth in 1625 and soon moved to the neighboring parish of Fishtoft.  This couple had two children born in England.  When James and Elizabeth came to Massachusetts they had four children with them, Simon, James, Jonathan and Olive.

James settled in Charlestown so that is where Simon spent his early teen age years, probably learning a trade as well as how to adjust to this whole new world he could explore.  James soon moved on to Woburn, as did Simon, and that is where Simon met and married his wife, Mary Converse, the daughter of Edward and Sarah Parker Converse,  They were married December 19, 1643 in Woburn, and had at least six children together.

After that, we don't know much about Simon.  He is not listed in the list of freemen in Massachusetts, although his father, James was so listed.  He was made a freeman of Woburn in 1648, according to information found on Wikitree, so I'm not sure why he didn't show up in the state record.

We know he had some land because it is mentioned briefly in a record of deeds for early Woburn.  This particular reference, the only one I found, refers to land in a meadow, so from that, we can infer that he also had a house lot.  Family tradition says that he was an early town clerk, but I cannot verify that-yet.  We can be pretty sure, with the designation of meadow-land, that Simon farmed, but we don't know if that was his only occupation.

We can also be sure that he attended what became the First Congregational Church of Woburn, whether or not he was a member.  During the early days of each "plantation" or settlement that I've read about, an appointed drummer walked through the village, beating the drum at each household, so the persons residing could fall in line and march to the meeting house for service.  Every resident was expected to be at service whether or not they belonged to the church.

The Wikitree that I referenced earlier states that Simon had helped to organize the town of Chelmsford, but it's not clear that he ever moved there.

Simon died while still quite young.  He was not yet 40 years old when he died in May of 1658.  He likely died of an illness because he reportedly wrote his will a few weeks before he died.  I have been unable to find a cause of death, nor have I found the will or inventory.   He left the widow's third to Mary, a double portion to his surviving son James, and the rest was left to his four daughters.  All of the children were minors, which is probably one reason that Mary remarried quickly.  She married John Sheldon of Billerica in 1659, the year after Simon's death.

This certainly is not a satisfying blog post.  There surely is more information about Simon than I've located.  However, it at least helps us remember Simon and a little of the kind of life he lived.  He's another of the quiet people who helped build America, and for that alone we should be thankful.

One of his famous descendants was Calvin Coolidge, "Silent Cal".  Perhaps he took lessons from this ancestor!

The line of descent is

Simon Thompson-Mary Converse
Jonathan Thompson-Thankful Woodland
Martha Thompson-Ebenezer Thayer
Ebenezer Thayer-Mary Wheelock
Abigail Thayer-Jesse Holbrook
Amariah Holbrook-Molly Wright
Nahum Holbrook-Susanna Rockwood
Joseph Holbrook-May Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants