Holbrook line: Samuel Tubbs 1638-1696

There's a lot to think about when we think about Samuel Tubbs.  He must have had an incredibly difficult life, with his mother's scandalous behavior being the talk of the town.  Oh, wait...our Pilgrim fathers and mothers didn't gossip.  He certainly had an interesting life.  He would have known our ancestors William Brewster and Miles Standish and Edward Doty.   He moved to New London, Connecticut and fought in King Philip's War, for long enough that he was awarded land in Voluntown, Connecticut.  He may have known, and almost certainly knew of, that other famous ancestor of ours, Roger Williams.  And did I mention he lived in New England during some of its earliest years?

So, here's the story...Samuel Tubbs was born in 1638, probably in Duxbury, Plymouth Colony, the son of William and Mercy Sprague Tubbs.  I have written about their marriage and William's attempts to end it in another post.  The divorce between the parents was finally granted in 1668, when Samuel was 30 years old, but the difficulties between his parents, and Mercy's behavior, were evident during Samuel's teen aged years, if not before.  Nevertheless, he did have four (at least) younger siblings, assumed to be offspring of both parents. 

No wonder our hero took off for New London, Connecticut, just about as soon as he could.  He seems to have been there prior to 1664, because in that year he, along with other young single men, requested permission from the court to stay in New London.   (Typically, a young single man had to live with another family until he was married, but with a large group of young men, such as New London had, there may have been other arrangements made.)  Samuel probably was quite relieved when the request was approved.

William had taught his son several things.  One important skill was that he passed on his own trade of shoemaker to his son.  New London may have been a good place for a shoemaker to settle, because in addition to the colonists who lived there, this was a sea faring town and there were sailors and merchants who needed new shoes, or repairs.

Samuel married Mary Willey, daughter of Isaac and Joanna Lufton Willey, about 1666.  They had been called up on a charge of fornication, and generally the easiest way to get a light sentence for that crime was to marry the girl.  I haven't found a record of the trial or it's aftermath yet, but typically the woman was punished more heavily than the man.  Even though they married, there were consequences.  But if she was whipped, it was likely after the child was born,)

Despite what may have been a rough start to their marriage, Samuel and Mary apparently made the best of it.  They had probably 10 children, 9 of them named in Samuel's will, which I haven't seen.  Besides his shoemaker occupation,

Samuel was a busy man, but not too busy to engage in civic affairs.  I don't know of any civic offices that he held, but he did participate in a "riot" in 1671,  The dispute was about a meadow claimed by both New London and Lyme.  Samuel was on the side of New London, which eventually won the dispute.  I don't know the extent of the "riot".  Then, a few years later, King Philip's War broke out.  Samuel enlisted with other Connecticut men and apparently served during most if not all of the conflict, protecting both Connecticut and Rhode Island.  He was later, posthumously, awarded land in Voluntown, Connecticut (located on the border with Rhode Island), as a reward for service during that conflict.  Out of 180 men from Connecticut who were to be allotted land, he was number 62, in rough chronological order of when they enlisted.  He was awarded lot number 85 in the Cedar Swamp there.  Although he may have stayed active with a militia or training band, this is the last time we know of that he was actually involved in battle.

In fact, this is the last that I've found of Samuel.  He is reported to have died before May 31, 1696, at New London, and is supposed to be buried at East Haddam.  Mary died prior to 1726, but I've not found an exact date for her.

Samuel basically escaped from Duxbury, made at least one mistake in his early manhood, and then seems to have settled down. He likely  attended church on a regular basis, for that was expected if not required, and he raised a large family.  His military service alone is enough reason for us to remember him.  He got the family name back to a certain degree of respectability, and for that, we are grateful.

The line of descent is:

Samuel Tubbs-Mary Willey
Mercy Tubbs-John Crocker
Rachel Crocker=Kingsland Comstock
Rachel Comstock-John Eames
John Eames-Elizabeth Longbottom
Hannah Eames-James Lamphire
Susan Lamphire-Joseph Eddy
Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants