Holbrook line: John Staples 1608-1683

 How can one many have been born in at least two places, married without leaving a record of his wife's name, and died in two or three different places?  Those are just some of the mysteries surrounding our ancestor John Staple or Staples.  His father was Jeffrey (Geoffrey) Staple and his mother was Margery Chrismas, according to the best scholarship I've found, and he was born about August of 1608 in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England.  The town is very old, dating back to before the Norman Conquest, and it still has at least one building standing that our ancestors would have laid eyes on. John was one of at least seven children born to the couple, with all the surviving children coming to the New World.

I've not found specific immigration records for John but his father immigrated in 1636 and it's likely that's when John came, too.  He is said to have married Rebecca, perhaps Borroridge but not proven, probably after he arrived in the New World.  He was in Weymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony early, for he was granted land there in 1636, and at least five children were born there starting in 1638.  

After that, I have been unable to track this ancestor.  I don't find his name listed as a soldier in King Philip's War, or in any church or civic records, other than a few references to land he owned.  He may have lived in Weymouth most of his life but he died in Dorchester.  Weymouth was 12 miles south of Boston and Dorchester was just north of Boston, so we don't know what prompted his move.  Dorchester does show names that were the in-laws of at least two of his children, so perhaps he didn't go there until his age or infirmities caught up with him.

Two of his daughters married Sumner men and went to form Dorchester, South Carolina, as a Puritan outpost.  I found one source that said John Staple died there in 1693, but I don't believe it was this John Staple, because our John Staple is clearly shown in the death records of Dorchester, Massachusetts on July 4, 1683.  This was before the establishment of the South Carolina "missionary" post.  When he wrote his will on March 18, 1681/82 he identified himself as being of Weymouth, so any move to Dorchester must have been in his last months.  

John's inventory was somewhat small.  Almost two thirds of the 95 pound inventory was in "money in hand and due by bill", so he probably sold most of his land before going to Dorchester.  The only land mentioned in the will was one acre of marsh in "Brantry" (Braintree) that was to go to his son, John.  Abraham was to be paid twenty shillings, as his father had provided a trade for him and given him other "estate". The other four children were to share in the rest of the estate.  There is a reference to "goods and armes" in the inventory so he had weapons of some kind, but we don't know whether the goods referred to were food for the family or perhaps something used in some sort of trade. 

Surely there is more to be learned about our ancestor John.  We know he was brave, for he came to News England when there wasn't much to come to.  He married and raised a family and was enough of a steward to be able to leave something to his children.  And he must have been a Puritan, as it was to form a Puritan settlement that led at least two of his children to South Carolina.  

The line of descent is:

John Staples-Rebecca

Rebecca Staples-Samuel Sumner

Rebecca Sumner-Ephraim Wilson

Samuel Wilson-Elizabeth Hawes

Rebecca Wilson-Jonathan Wright

Molly Wright-Amariah Holbrook

Nahum Holbrook-Susanna Rockwood

Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants