Holbrook line: John Tidd 1655-1743

 John was the son of John and Rebecca Wood Tidd, and the grandson of John and Margaret Greenleaf Tidd.  All of these families lived in Woburn, Massachusetts; both his father and his grandfather were immigrants.  Because Woburn kept decent records, and because those records have survived, we know a little more about John than about some of our other ancestors.

John was born in Woburn February 26, 1655, the second child and first son of his parents.  He had at least 6 siblings, plus there were likely cousins of his living in the town, also, so he grew up surrounded by family.  Woburn was a small village; in 1790 the population was less than 1800 and during John's lifetime the population may have been only a few hundred people.  Everyone likely knew everyone then, and church attendance, at least in the early years, would have been expected of all. This was a Puritan town, so we can expect that John learned to read and write.  He had a few books in his inventory when he died, so he probably read what he needed to during his lifetime.  

Before John married in 1678, John had taken on some of the aspects of adulthood.  He served in King Philip's war, specifically at the garrison of Groton in December 1675, when he was paid 3-06-00.  Compared to other men on the page, it would seem that he had been there longer than some, who were paid considerably less.  Groton was about 30 miles west and north of Woburn, and was attacked by natives in March of 1676.  We don't know whether John was still there, or whether he was called back to duty when the attacks came (the town of Groton was for the most part abandoned after the attacks, at least by the women and children), but he was serving somewhere in June of 1676.  We do know he was a sergeant in the militia from 1694 to 1737, but don't know if he was a part of any of the recurrent wars of that time period. 

John's other milestone on the way to marriage was learning a trade.  He was a cooper, like his father, and as the oldest son would have probably begun his training at a young age.  We don't know, however, whether he worked in his father's business until his father died in 1703, or whether he was able to start his own business earlier.  (It's always possible that one or both men worked for someone else, instead of owning their own shop(s), but I've not found an indication of a larger operation.

John married Elizabeth Fifield, daughter of William and Mary (maiden name unknown) Fifield on January 12, 1678 in Woburn.  She was from Rockingham, New Hampshire. Rockingham is about 45 miles directly north of Woburn, so it's something of a mystery as to how the two met (Elizabeth's father died in Rockingham in 1700, so the family had not moved south.)  John and Elizabeth had at least 7 children together, with one daughter dying as an infant.  And yes, they had a son John, which means at least four generations of men in the same town with the same name!  

John was a selectman for the town.  It could be his father who was selectman in 1697 and 1701, but it was definitely this John who served as selectman in 1709 and 1717.  He also served on various committees to help find a minister for the church and to petition the general court to verity the land grant of 2000 acres that had been made earlier in the town's history, but not acted on by the town.  They were in need of land to expand on by 1716.   

Elizabeth died October 6, 1732, when she was 75 years old, and John died August 3, 1743 at the age of 88.  He left a will, in which he identified himself as a cooper.  He owned several parcels of land in "Willmington" at the time of his death, which was formed partly from land formerly included in Woburn.  I didn't see a mention of a house or dwelling in the will, so it's possible that his dwelling had already been disposed of and he was living with one or another of his children.  The inventory isn't totaled but included farm animals and household goods.  I hope it says "black mare" and not "black man", but my eyes won't assure me it's one or the other.  

It seems that John Tidd was a good man, a soldier when he needed to be, a husband and father, a civil servant, and (probably) a business man of sorts.  He's a good person to have in the family!

The line of descent is

John Tidd-Elizabeth Fifield

Elizabeth Fifield-Joseph Stevens

Elizabeth Stevens-William Snow

Lucy Snow-Josiah Whittemore

Josiah Whittemore-Betsy Foster

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Nathan Foster 1728-1809

  I'd like to hug Nathan Foster, just to thank him for leaving birth, marriage, and death records.  I don't care whether he was a rascal or a fine upright citizen at this point, I'm just glad to find an ancestor with records!  

Nathan was born March 27, 1728 in Stafford, Tolland County, Connecticut.  His parents were Nathan and Hannah Standish Foster, and he was one of at least eleven children born to that couple. Nathan would likely have had a typical upbringing, learning to read and write, but not necessarily educated much beyond that.  He was the first son, which typically meant more was expected of him in the family, and so he inherited a double share of his father's estate when his father died in 1753. 

 By then, Nathan was a married man, as he had married Elizabeth (Betsey) Lansford November 15, 1750 in Stafford. Rev. Eli Colton, who was the minister of the Congregational Church there.  (The Congregational churches were more or less descended from the Puritans, but some churches by this time were more liberal than others.)  Elizabeth was the daughter of Michael and Elizabeth Hackben Lansford (or Lunsford). 

Nathan gave a quitclaim deed to three of his brothers the same year he inherited his father's land, and it may be at this time that he and Elizabeth moved to Western, (now Warren), Massachusetts. However, birth records for the first five children are in Stafford, and the first child born in Western was noted as being in 1762.  Nathan and Elizabeth had either 8 or 9 children.  Most lists don't include Tirzah, and she (?) may have belonged to another Foster family.

Nathan was a selectman in Stafford in 1754, which indicates a certain social and financial status in the small town.  This was also the time period of the French and Indian War, and it seems at least possible that Nathan was involved in this to some extent, although I have not found records saying so.  He was certainly the right age, and there were Stafford men who were part of the British forces.  The pastor who married them died of smallpox in 1756, but I haven't determined whether there was an epidemic in town, or whether this was part of the epidemic that hit the military forces during that time period. 

We also don't know whether he participated in the Revolutionary War.  While he was older than the typical soldier by then, he was still under 50 when the war broke out, and he may be the Nathan Foster who seems to have been a part of a Hampshire county regiment that served at Fort Ticonderoga during 1776-1777.  If this is our man, he was a private, and served two terms of enlistment, and he would certainly have stories to tell.  We do know that at least one of his sons served during the war, because Jude was awarded a pension just three weeks before he died in 1789. 

Another question is whether, or how deeply, he was involved in Shays Rebellion in 1787.  Western was in the thick of the area that protested the whiskey tax, and we know from his will that Nathan grew corn, which many in that part of the country converted to whiskey because it was more profitable to sell whiskey than corn.  So after I hugged Nathan for leaving at least some records, I'd be asking him about his possible involvement in the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and Shays Rebellion.

Nathan's wife, Elizabeth, died February 27, 1797 and on January 4 of the following year, he married Betty Blackmer.  12 years later, just three months before he died, the couple sold some land.  Perhaps they moved in with one of the children at this time.  We do have tax records from 1798 which appear to show that he owned several pieces of land at that time.  

When Nathan died, Betty declined administration and Calvin Bellows was appointed administrator.  The estate was valued at $331in personal property and $875 in real estate.  This is confusing because it appeared that they had sold their land, but perhaps they held on to some of it, or perhaps the sale was still in progress at the time of the inventory.  The estate does include some books, and corn, but is not abundant and by the time the widow got her thirds, there wasn't much left to pass on.  However, there was the Foster name, which was a worthy one.  

The line of descent is

Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Hackben

Jude Foster-Lydia M

Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

   

Holbrook line: John Warren Immigrant, died 1677

 Earlier, I wrote a post about the John Warren of Watertown whom I believed to be the father of this John Warren.  I am no longer convinced the connection exists, so the search for this John's origins are still ongoing.  It appears that his first son may have been named Joshua, and there is a Joshua Warren born in 1594 who is sometimes given as John's father.  However, once bitten, twice shy, and I'm not ready to state that as a fact.

We really know nothing of John Warren until he shows up in Exeter, New Hampshire in 1649.  He was approved then as a member of a 5 person group who were given permission to set up (and possibly operate) a sawmill then.  I am supposing that means he had been in the area long enough to have built up some sort of reputation, so I'm guessing he may have been 25 years old then.  Working back, that gives us a potential birth year of 1624, which is what I'm seeing, with no documentation, on various family trees.  But he could have been 10-15 years older, or a few years younger than that.  

He married Deborah Wilson, daughter of Thomas and Ann Wilson in Exeter on October 21, 1650. Thomas had died in Exeter in 1643.  Thomas was part of a group of families who went to with the Boston theocracy.  The Exeter men were led by Reverend John Wheelwright, who was a supporter of his sister in law, Anne Hutchinson.  (That's a story for another day.)  We don't know if John arrived with this group, too young to be listed in documents, or if he arrived later.  However, he was given land grants in 1650, 1652, and 1664, which along with the saw mill permit, indicates he was an early settler there.  One possible reason that he would not be found in immigration records is that he was an indentured servant when he left England.  

John was a selectman for Exeter in 1655 and 1657, which means that he was probably a little bit wealthier, relatively speaking, than most of his fellow residents.  Poor people were not chosen for this job. So if John did come as an indentured servant, he had certainly come up in the world.

John and Deborah presumably had 18 happy years together in Exeter, and at least six children, before Deborah died in 1668.  John remarried the following year, to Elizabeth Royal Coombs, and they seem to have lived in Hingham, Massachusetts, where they had one child together.  Elizabeth had three children of her own, so there may have been as many as 10 children in the home when Elizabeth died in 1671/72.  John then married, date unknown, Elizabeth Danson, and they had two children together.  

Probably sometime during his second marriage, the family moved to Boston, where John set up a shop on land owned by the Coombs family.  He was a tobacconist, meaning he sold tobacco, and a  cardmaker, which seems to mean he made the combs used for carding wool.  I don't think these were high status jobs, but he seems to have been able to support his family.  

John wrote his will July 10, 1677 and died soon after.  His wife was left everything, in order to raise his son by his second marriage and his daughter by the third marriage, except son Thomas was given his shop, to be removed from the Coombs land at Thomas's pleasure, and Joshua was given his tobacco "engine".  The inventory, which I have not seen, is reported to have been valued at a little over 301 pounds.     

There are of course unanswered questions about John besides his parentage.  Was he a church member?  (Probably he was, since it's unlikely that he would have been chosen as a select man if not.) Was he involved in any military service?  He was over the age of 50 when he died, so it's not likely he was a participant in King Philip's war, but there may have been earlier skirmishes in New Hampshire.  It would be interesting to know, and to know why he died at a somewhat early age.  

The line of descent is:

John Warren-Deborah Wilson

Mary Warren-John Burr

Mary Burr-Thomas Marsh

Deborah Marsh-Isaac Lazell

Deborah Lazell-Levi Rockwood

Susanna Rockwood-Nahum Holbrook 

Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants                                                                

Holbrook line: Josiah Standish 1675 ish to 1753

 You might think that the grandson of one of our Mayflower immigrants would be easy to trace.  Surely his birth records would be readily available, and marriage records, and lots of information about his life.  Well, if you think that, like I did, you would be sadly mistaken.  I've found a few bits and pieces here and there, but not the volume of information I thought I would find as I researched for this post.  I hope someone has studied this man and has more information than I do, and I hope, if that's you, that you contact me!

Josiah Standish was the grandson of Myles and Barbara Standish, and the son of Josiah and Sarah Allen Standish.  He was born very near the site of his grandfather's home, in Duxbury, Plymouth Colony, but we don't know when.  Based on the list that is in his father's will, and on his age at his presumed marriage, he was probably born in about 1675, although I have seen dates ranging from 1660 to February 22, 1682 and I could probably be convinced of any of those dates, if I had documentation. 

Josiah may have spent some of his boyhood years in Duxbury, but his parents moved to Preston, Connecticut by 1687, which is about 107 miles from Duxbury.  It's not known whether they took a coastal ship, or whether they traveled by land, but either way, it would have been quite a trip for a young boy or youth, or even a young man.

There are two guesses as to the identity of Josiah's wife.  It's quite possible that he had two wives, each named Sarah.  In the manuscript documents of Wesley Weyman, she is named as Sarah Doty, which would possibly make her a descendant of Edward Doty, another Mayflower immigrant, although the Doty-Doten family books doesn't seem to leave any "Sarah" unaccounted for.  More often, her name is seen as Sarah Cary or Carey, but I have found nothing at all on which to base that name, except for undocumented trees.  The dates of the children's births are also not well documented, but there may be a gap in the births of the children that would allow for one wife to die and a second to take her place.  Josiah, whether with one wife or two, is thought to be the father of somewhere between 7 and 9 children.  

Sarah, wife of Josiah Standish, was admitted to the First Church of Preston, Connecticut in 1699 and Josiah in 1700.  Josiah is referred to as "Deacon" in the church records, and at least one researcher has given him the title of "Reverend".  Again, I find no documentation for the second title.  Sarah died in 1741 and sometime after that Josiah moved on to the town that would eventually become Stafford, Connecticut, a distance of about 45 miles from Preston.  

I've found no will or estate records for Josiah, so that leaves a big gap in our knowledge about the man and his family.  We don't know his occupation, although it probably included farming.  I have seen him referred to as "Lieutenant" but there may be some confusion with his father, who was eventually a captain, so I don't want to state that as fact.  There is always a question with the men, as to what part they might have taken in military action, which may have included Queen Anne's war, among others.  

There is so much we don't know about Josiah, and I'd love to know more about his life.

The line of descent is

Josiah Standish-Sarah (Doty? Cary?)

Hannah Standish-Nathan Foster

Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford (or Lunsford)

Jude Foster-Lydia M.

Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Edward Bussey, abt 1705 to about 1786

 We're back in Maryland, in the 1700's, where Edward Bussey was born about 1705 to Edward and Martha Evans Bussey.  As far as is known, Edward was their only child.  His parents had married in 1701 and Edward is reported to have died about 1705, so there was time for at least one other birth, but there seems to be no record of one.  Perhaps there had been one or more failed pregnancies. I've looked for a record of a second marriage for Martha, but have not found one.  So we don't really know how Edward was raised.  (Some trees show Martha as having died in 1705, some show Edward, and some show both.  No records have been found in this search to indicate which, if any, of these are accurate.) 

Edward, the father of this Edward, apparently had roots in Calvert County, which is north of Baltimore County, where we find most of the records for our Edward.  Edward married Mary, the widow of Edward Pendergrass, about 1729, and the couple had at least nine children together.  (Note: Mary is one of my most wanted ancestors, a brick wall at this point. I haven't found any records of her first marriage, and have no clue as to her maiden name.)

The main document I've found for Edward is his will, written August 7, 1786.  It's thought that he lived in Harford County at the time of his death, but the will is found in Baltimore County records, and his widow is found in Baltimore County in 1790, so perhaps the Harford County is just a guess, based on the location of at least one of his sons.  

Edward owned a farm (not described as a plantation, which was a bit of a surprise) with woodlands and "water rights", which he left to his wife Mary for the length of her widowhood.  Mary was probably not much younger than Edward, so she probably wasn't expected to live for long.  However, she can be found on the 1790 census, with a total of 4 females and, yes, 9 slaves in her household.  

In his will, Edward named 19 enslaved persons, whom he devised to his wife, children, and grandchildren, by name.  I have read that usually house slaves were the ones who were named and passed on to heirs, and that generally there were more field slaves than house slaves.  I don't know if that is true in this case, but if it is, Edward's "farm" was quite extensive.  It is also possible that he held some of the slaves but rented them out to others, as field hands, household workers, or general laborers.  This is such a sad part of his story.

The other part of the will that I found fascinating showed the lengths Edward went to to avoid giving anything except one English shilling to his son in law, John James, and two of his children.  Apparently he had no use at all for this man.  He willed slaves to Mary, wife of John James, but if John would not allow her to accept them, then two of his sons in law, Dixon Stansbury and Benjamin Amos, were to pay for hiring the two slaves out to Mary.  He also made it clear that John James was to have no ownership of the house and half the woodfield that he willed to Mary, only "provided that John James have no part of it."  Clearly this part of the family had problems.

The will was probated February 10 or 13, 1787, so Edward had probably died late in 1786 or early 1787.  

Edward would have lived through some interesting times, and he raised a family that was respected.  Some of his children and grandchildren fought in the Revolutionary War.  I have seen "Lt." attached to our Edward's name, but if he fought, it would have been in an earlier conflict.  He would have been 70 years old when the Revolutionary War began.  Perhaps he had at least served in the militia, or perhaps the honor of "Lt." goes to his son Edward.

I know there is more to his story;  I'd just like to find it.  And if anyone can tell me who Mary is, I will be grateful to the end of my days!

The line of descent is 

Edward Bussey-Mary widow Pendergrass

Sarah Bussey-Benjamin Amos

Elizabeth Amos-Robert Amos

Martha Amos-Peter Black

Elizabeth Black-Isaac Hetrick

Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Beeks line: David Demarest 1681-I don't know when

 We're back in or near Hackensack, Bergen County, New Jersey to take a quick glimpse of the life of David Demarest.  He was baptized October 3, 1681 at the Dutch Reformed church near there, the son of Samuel David and Marie de Ruine Demarest.  Samuel was an immigrant, but David's mother was born in New Harlem, in what became New York.  The Demarest family was Huguenot, (Protestant), and had fled their home to live in Germany when religious prosecution (France was Catholic, and these folks were Protestant) became too great to bear.  Because of the several different homes the Demarests had, their name is spelled a lot of different ways.  The records I've found for David most often (especially in church records) spell his name as Demaree or De Maree.  

The Demarests were a hard working family and they prospered in their new home near Hackensack.  It had been intended that this would be a home for French Huguenots and although a few families that fit that description settled there, it also attracted Dutch and other nationalities.  Unfortunately, the county was a heavy slave owning county in its early years.  We don't know whether the Demarests held slaves, but if they didn't, it was at least a system with which they would have been very familiar.  

David grew up working hard on his father's farm and perhaps in the family business, if his life reflected those around him.  He married Matie, sometimes seen as Martha, De Baun, daughter of Joost and Elizabeth Drabbe De Baun, on November 10, 1705, when he was 24 years old.  Matie had just passed her fifteenth birthday.  Their first child was baptized February 1, 1707, and they would go on to have 10 more children, with the last born in 1730.  Matie would have had to grow up very quickly, to deal with so many children.  The indications are that the couple did a good job of raising God-loving, patriotic children, with some children and more grandchildren involved in military service, particularly during the Revolutionary War.  

Other than church records of the baptisms of their children, I've found very little about David.  Some can be inferred by reading the book "Huguenot on the Hackensack", by David Major and John Major.  It was a sub-culture that was different, at least in the early years, from New England, or even Pennsylvania, which was not far away.  

The death date for David is frequently given as February 13, 1761, but that is the date his will was probated.  The will was actually written June 23, 1742, and refers to his wife, but she died in 1752, before he did.  So all we really know is that he died after October 26, 1752 and before February 13, 1761.  Since some of his estate was left as cash gifts, though, it seems more likely that it would have been closer to the 1761 date, as the adult children would have been eager for the funds.  I don't have an inventory, but he had given some lands away, or sold them, to some of his children earlier so this was not a poor man by any means.  Samuel declined to serve as administrator of his father's will, perhaps because he had moved from the area by then.

Did he serve in the military, or the militia?  How many languages did he speak (French and Dutch are pretty certain, but German? English? We don't know.) Was he the David Demarest who served as a justice in 1716 and again in 1722, and in 1743, or was this his uncle David?  There was a David Demarest who signed an oath of allegiance to the king and against the papacy in 1755, and this seems likely to have been our David.  We're left with many questions, as usual!

The line of descent is:

David Demarest-Matie De Baun

Samuel Demarest-Lea Demarest (yes, cousins)

Sarah Demarest-Benjamin Slot

William (Slot) Lock-Elizabeth Teague

Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom

Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge

Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

 

 

Beeks line: Peter Ruble about 1684-1750

 I hesitate to write this post because so little is known about this man, and because there is a possibility that the Rubles are not actually part of the family line.  Although I have no absolute proof, I tend to think the line is correct.  If not, at least someone else who is sure this man is theirs may learn something.  

I have actually found very little about Peter (Hans Peter, to give his full name).  His birth date is given as February 14, 1684, in either Lauperswil, Bern Canton, Switzerland or Bayern, Germany.  He was the son of Johann Peter and Margreth Ruble.  The possibility is strong that this was a Mennonite family, forced from Switzerland to Germany by Swiss authorities (Mennonites refused to belong to the state church, or to have their children baptized there) and then forced by economics or politics, again, to flee Germany for the British colonies, usually Pennsylvania.  And indeed, there are Rubles who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1736 and in 1742, the second year being the one that Ulrich Ruble arrived.  Peter had a son named Ulrich.  Hans Ruble, who may or may not be Hans Peter, arrived in 1736.  

I found a statement that the Ruble family changed from Mennonite to Methodist, but I'm not sure what time frame that was meant to describe, or whether an older man such as Peter would have made the change.

I've been unable to locate Peter in Pennsylvania unless he was the Hans of 1736.  However, by 1744 Ulrich was in Frederick County, Virginia and Peter was likely with him.  I found a statement in "Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendants" that Peter was one of the oldest settlers in the North end of Frederick and controlled large tracts of land.  But then it goes on to state that Peter saw service in the Revolutionary War.  So it may be that these statements combine the lives of two men.  Revolutionary War Peter may be a son or grandson of this Peter.  Since our man was born in 1684 and died about 1750, he didn't fight in the Revolutionary War, or even the French and Indian war.  

We know almost nothing about Peter's family.  His wife's name is given as Anna Katrina Mueller, but I've not found documentation for that.  The marriage would have taken place in Germany, as would the births of their children.  I have a birth date of 1710 for son Ulrich, and September 21, 1720 for Peter (possibly he of the Revolutionary War) but not even that much information for other sons, who may have included Robert, John, and Cunrad.  

I've not found estate records of any kind for Peter, which is strange if he indeed controlled or owned a lot of land.  There is a lot of work to be done before we can even feel that we have enough information for a sketch of his life.  These are mere hints for the most part, and I only hope they will lead us in the right direction.  

The proposed line of descent is:

Peter Ruble-Anna Katrina Mueller

Ulrich Ruble-Jane Jacob

David Ruble-Sarah Malin

Hannah Ruble-Samuel Dunham

Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight

Samuel Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: John Rockwood 1696-1778

 Here's the thing about John Rockwood.  His grandfather was named John Rockwood.  His uncle was named John Rockwood.  He was named John Rockwood.  His son was named John Rockwood.  His grandson was named John Rockwood.  And, although I haven't proved it yet, I'm reasonably sure he had one or more cousins named John Rockwood.  Do you see a problem here?  It has taken me quite some time to untangle these men and figure out which of the few records I've found actually relate to this John Rockwood.  To add to the fun, this John Rockwood and his son John Rockwood each married women named Deborah Thayer.  Ay-yi-yi!

Unfortunately, most of these men didn't leave much in the way of public records other than their birth, marriage, and death dates, so there is not a lot to write about them.   

John Rockwood, the subject of this brief post, was born August 22, 1696, to Joseph and Mary Hayward Rockwood, in Mendon, Massachusetts.  All four of his grandparents had died in Mendon, and both of his parents were born, lived, and died there, so John at least had roots and extended family, whether or not he had much in the way of material goods.  John had nine siblings, so that was a good start right there, to help fill up the village.  

John married Deborah Thayer, the daughter of Ebenezer and Martha Thompson Thayer, on December 19, 1716 in Mendon.  She, too, had deep Mendon roots, with her grandparents all having died in Mendon and her parents born there.  

Just about two years after his marriage, Joseph, John's father, died.  John received land in his father's will, valued, if I am reading the inventory correctly, at 70 pounds.  "To my beloved son John Rockwood, I give all the land and meadows belonging to me, where he now dwells on both sides the Second Bridge River, with seven acres of my Fifth Division lying upstream from his house, against William Hayward's meadow, bounded as by Town Record, with ten acres of my sixth division to lay out with a two acre and half right in the Town Commons."  John was to provide ten pounds to his sister Mary Wheaton, out of what he had been given.  John also received his father's new coat.  

Presumably John and Deborah lived happily every after, or at least until Deborah died July 24, 1750.  They had at least nine children together and John soon remarried, although all of the children were apparently old enough to be out of the house when she died.  The youngest, Deborah, was 16 but possibly didn't need a mother, or a mother figure, but John must have needed a wife.  He married Elizabeth Wheelock Daniels, a widow, on March 18, 1751 in Milford, Massachusetts, and they may have had a son together.  The towns of Mendon and Milford were just 3 miles apart, so they likely had known each other earlier.  

I have found one reference to John Rockwood as an ensign, at the time of his marriage to Elizabeth.  I haven't located his name in any military records, but perhaps he had served in King George's War, which took place from 1744 to 1748 and was more or less a precursor to the French and Indian War a few years later.  At a minimum, he was an ensign in the town militia.

I wish I could pin down the date, or even the year, that John and Elizabeth moved from Mendon to Warwick, Massachusetts.  This was a small town in Hampshire, now Franklin County, so at the center of the state, and bordering New Hampshire.  What caused John to move? Did he sell his land in Mendon, or lose it to the tax collectors, or was this a step up for him?  I haven't found his name in the town histories, so he seems to have been under the radar there.  Or, possibly, he was living in Warwick with one of his children, since I haven't been able to locate a will.   

John died at Warwick on September 7, 1778, when he was 82 years old.  The Revolutionary War was in progress, and some of his children and grandchildren were involved in that.  This seems to have been a family of patriots, for which we, his descendants, are grateful.

The line of descent is:

John Rockwood-Deborah Thayer

Joseph Rockwood-Alice Thompson

Levi Rockwood-Deborah Lazell

Susannah Rockwood-Nahum Holbrook

Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants