Holbrook line: Joseph Holbrook 1683-1750

Joseph Holbrook, our ancestor, lived a quiet life, but thankfully left a few clues behind him so that we have some idea of his life.  He was born May 8, 1683, in Mendon, Massachusetts to Peter and Alice Godfrey Holbrook.  Joseph was of the fourth Holbrook generation to set foot in America.  His father was also born in Massachusetts Bay Colony, and his grandfather and great grandfather were the immigrants of the family. 

Joseph grew up with his ten siblings in Mendon, but eventually the town started getting crowded, and younger sons weren't likely to receive as much land or other parental help as the older brothers.  Joseph married Mary Cook, daughter of Nicholas and Joanna Rockwood Cook, on December 19, 1710, in Mendon and they apparently lived there for a few years.  Joseph's name, however, was on a petition asking to have the town of Bellingham formed in 1729.  I haven't figured out yet whether Joseph's land was actually in what became Bellingham, or whether he had to physically move to go to Bellingham.  At any rate, he lived out the rest of his days in Bellingham, without making many waves.

He was a husbandman, a farmer who owned his own land, and he had nine children to support.  So he worked hard, as did Mary.  There is a story that he was a Baptist, but I've not found anything to substantiate that yet.  Stories that he rode to New Jersey to get a professor for Brown University in Rhode Island apparently confuse our Joseph with another, perhaps his son Joseph, because Brown University wasn't founded until 14 years after our Joseph died.  However, we know that son Jesse was a Baptist, jailed for refusing to pay taxes to the state church, so perhaps Joseph was indeed Baptist, or became one in his later years. 

Bellingham was a small town.  in 1739, Joseph was one of only fifty men living within town boundaries who were eligible to vote in the town elections.  He may or may not be the Joseph who was town clerk, and who was selected as town treasurer in 1743.  The son Joseph was born in 1714, so may have been a little young for such a responsibility, but it's hard to tell from the references I've seen.  He wasn't referred to as Senior or Junior, as Deacon or any other title. 

Joseph died in Bellingham April 25, 1750 intestate, without a will.  His widow Mary asked that son Joseph be appointed administrator and that was approved.  A partial inventory, not totalled, is found on American Ancestry.  It looks like his estate was valued at over 350 pounds, with several tracts of land, husbandry tools, five beds, a Bible and other books included.  Mary lived until 1766, so she had the worry of watching several of her sons fighting in the French and Indian War.  She was undoubtedly a strong lady, as Joseph was a strong man. 

The story of the Holbrooks touches many parts of our nation's history.  Joseph was a part of that, and when I think of him, I will think of him as just that, part of our family history as well as our nation's history. 

The line of descent is:

Joseph Holbrook-Mary Cook
Jesse Holbrook-Abigail Thayer
Amariah Holbrook-Molly Wright
Nahum Holbrook-Susanna Rockwood
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen.