Holbrook line: Nathaniel Hawes 1660-1714

As I started this post, I had very little information about Nathaniel Hawes beyoun the basics.  He is like many other second generation ancestors.  The immigrants themselves may have quite a bit of information available about them, but these second generation folks are not so easily traceable.  Well, we know who their parents are and usually vital records, but not much more than that.  Such is the case with our Nathaniel.

He was born August 14, 1660 at Dedgam in Suffolk COunty, Massachusetts, and he died there October 18. 1714.  His parents were Edward and Eleanor or Eliony Lombaard Hawes, and they were the immigrants.  Nathaniel was one of at least nine children, so he had a lot of siblings.  the Hawes family was probably in the lower half of Dedham residents, as far as economics go, so Nathaniel was probably let out at a young age to learn a trade.  That trade eluded me until I saw his inventory.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We don't know how or whether Nathaniel was involved in King Philip's War.  He wasn't 15 yet when the war broke out, and by the time he turned 16, the war was winding down.  We do know that Dedham was a gathering place for militia, and that quite a few men from Dedham were at the "Great Swamp Fight", but it is likely that Nathaniel stayed home to help protect this family.  

At the age of 27, Nathaniel married Sarah Newell, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Curtis Newell, on March 29, 1688.  Sarah was 22 at the time, so they would likely have been considered mature enough to marry and perhaps to set up their own household.  Nathaniel and Sarah had eight children, and there was another daughter who apparently did not survive infancy.  Of the eight, only one was a son, Nathaniel Jr., who was born in 1701, when there were already five girls.  (Nathaniel Jr must have been one spoiled child, wouldn't you think?)  Two more sisters were born after Nathaniel, to complete the family.

That's what we know of Nathaniel.  We can draw some inferences that he was somewhat respected, because several of his daughters married into families that were important in Dedham history (Puffer, Bacon, Aldis).  Nathaniel died October 14, 1714, when he was 54 years old. 

And then, there's the inventory.  It included two parcels on land, farm animals, wearing apparel, woodenware (a clue that the family was not weathy), books worth one pound (so he was literate), and, interesting to me, cooper's tools.  So he built barrels or other wooden containers for liquids, most likely, to help increase the family income.  This was a skill that he must have learned somewhere, perhaps as a young man when he may have been an apprentice or at least a laborer in someone's shop. Nathaniel left most of his estate to his wife, with the stipulation that when Nathaniel Jr. reached the age of 21 he would receive a double share, and the estate was to be given to his children when Sarah died or remarried.

Sarah did remarry, to Deacon Samuel Rocket or Rockwood) and she presented another inventory when the estate was closed out in 1720.  I'm not sure whether the daughters had received their shares by then or not.  The youngest daughter would have been just 13. 

I'm glad to know that Nathaniel had a trade as well as a farm, orchard, and dwelling.  I'm glad to know he had some books.  I wish I knew more about him.  I didn't locate his name as any kind of town office holder, and that is a little bit curious given the families his daughters married into.  I need to do more research on that.  I like to imagine Nathaniel as a cooper, making barrels or buckets or pails.  I can smell the wood now, and can imagine what equipment he might have had.  I'd like to hear his story about King Philip's War, though. 

The line of descent is

Nathaniel Hawes-Sarah Newell
Elizabeth Hawes-Samuel Wilson
Rebecca Wilson-Jonathan Wright
Molly Wright-Amariah Holbrook
Nahum Holbrook-Susanna Rockwood
Joseph Holbrook-Maary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants