Holbrook line: Sergeant Samuel Judd 1653-1720

Well, OK, maybe he wasn't born in 1651.  Maybe it was 1653.  Records seem to be lacking.  However, his father was Deacon Thomas Judd and his mother was Elizabeth, maiden name unknown.  He was born in Farmington, Connecticut, which is just west of Hartford, and he was one of nine children.  Since his father was the church deacon, it is probably safe to assume that this was a Puritan family.  About 1670, the Puritan churches started having difficulties and we don't know how seriously Samuel took his religion, but presumably he would still have attended church even if he wasn't an official member of the congregation.  There are church records but one has to be on site in Connecticut to view them, it appears.

Samuel appears to have been in Northampton, Massachusetts at the time of his marriage in 1681 to Mariah Strong, daughter of Thomas and Mary Hewett Strong, who were also of Northampton. He may have gone there with his father and step mother, because they also were of Northampton by the time they died.  However it happened, Samuel became a resident of Northampton and stayed there for the rest of his life. I show that Samuel and Mariah had 10 children, He seems not to have been much involved in town service, other than as a juror on several cases.  He was made a freeman on 684, so at least he had voting rights and responsibilities.    

In his death record, Samuel is referred to as "Sergeant" Samuel Judd.  I have tried to locate (on line) records that would tell us how he acquired that rank (generally, elected by the men) and where he might have served, but the only reference I found showed a Samuel Judd serving in 1709,  This may or may not be our Samuel; he would have been 56 years old at the time.  If Samuel was in Northampton in 1675, then he would surely have been involved in King Philip's War, because the town was attacked and some homes destroyed during that time.  However, the town was heavily garrisoned and defended, so the whole town was not lost, and it doesn't seem that the townspeople fled.  The colony was also involved in Queen Anne's War and King William's War, so Samuel may have taken part in battles there.  He may also have responded to the native American attacks on Harfield and Deerfield later in the 1700s.  It's frustrating to have all these possibilities and no answers!  Maybe when the Allen County Public Library is able to re-open...

I did locate Samuel's will.  It's a little unusual because he gives half of everything to his wife, Mariah, but if she re-marries she is to get only one third and then only for as long as she lives.  Samuel did sign the will but it is printed rather than cursive writing.  I don't know if that means anything; perhaps it only means that he was ill and uncomfortable when he signed it.  I've not located an inventory but he also left each of his six daughters fifty pounds, besides what he left his wife and each of his three sons.  It appears that he was doing OK financially, perhaps greatly helped by that bequest from his step mother.  Mariah lived until 1751, so his sons waited a while for their bequests. 

I would love to know more about Samuel, especially about his military service.  I'd love to find his inventory, as well as church records that might tell us something of not only his religious character, but also where he was seated in the meeting house.  That would give us an indication of his status in the town.  This is a start, but only a start, to Samuel's story.

The line of descent is:

Samuel Judd-Mariah Strong
Elizabeth Judd-Ebenezer Southwell
Eunice Southwell-Medad Pomeroy
Eunice Pomeroy-Libbeus Stannard
Libbeus Stanard-Luceba Fay
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants