Holbrook line: Abraham Foster 1659-1741

 Too many Abraham Fosters, I say, in the same time period and place.  I hope I've got them straightened out now; this at least seems to make sense.  Sometimes that's a dangerous thought, because people don't always make sense.

Abraham Foster was born October 16, 1659 in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts.  His parents were Abraham and Lydia Burbank Foster, and he was one of at least nine children.  Abraham would have attended the local church until much later in his life, and he probably learned to read and write (there are books noted in his inventory).  

He was not yet sixteen when King Philip's War broke out, and it's not likely that he played a significant part in that, based on his age and location.  He would, however, have heard stories of men who did serve in that war, and possibly of friends or relatives who were in harm's way.  Even though there were no newspapers at that time, news did travel from town to town with merchants, tradesmen, and others.  Young Abraham may have been quietly hoping he would someday get a chance to go to war.  

Before that happened (if it did), Abraham married Mary Robinson, daughter of Robert and Mary Silver Robinson, on November 15, 1693 in Newbury, Massachusetts.  The two towns are about 14 miles apart, and there may have been reason for the two young people to have met.  As far as we know, the couple lived in Ipswich, but likely close to the town of Topsfield, because in 1714 and again in 1718 Abraham, along with some of his neighbors, signed petitions asking that their church "rate" (tax) be paid to Topsfield since it was much closer for them to attend church there, it being only about three miles away from where most of them were living.

Topsfield is interesting because three women from Topsfield were executed in the 1692 Salem witch trials, including one who lived on the border of Topsfield and Ipswich.  So once again, the stories surely reached Abraham and Mary, and they may have learned to keep silence about such a touchy subject.  Again, perhaps not...perhaps Abraham was in the crowd that saw the hangings.  We hope not, but we just don't know.  

Mary and Abraham seem to have had a small family, just three sons who were mentioned in the estate papers.  If there were others, I didn't note them in looking at the town records for Ipswich.  This was a small family for the time, and there may be an explanation but I don't know what it was.  Since the expectations were for families to have several, if not many, children, the couple may have been embarrassed, but most of the blame would have gone to Mary, according to society's thinking at the time.

Abraham was wounded in the service of his country, and awarded 8 pounds "smart money", which may have been a one time pension payment or something of the sort.  I've been unable to determine when he served and where he was wounded, but there is an Abraham Foster from Essex County who served in the 1710 Port Royal expedition.  There were other Abraham Fosters from Essex County, but it appears to me that the Abraham Foster I've found in Andover would have been too young, and Abraham's son Abraham was also too young.  So the Port Royal expedition, which finally took the fort there from the French and their indigenous allies, is a definite possibility.  (As a result of this action, Port Royal became Port Annapolis, and Acadia became Nova Scotia.) 

We don't know Abraham's occupation, but it was not particularly wealth inducing.  When he died on May 22, 1741 without a will, his son Daniel became the administrator, and the inventory was quite modest.  As mentioned earlier, it did include some books, and farm animals.  It also included a "manufactory five shilling bill", money seals and weights, and "a lot of hoops for cart wheels", which may or not not be a clue as to his occupation.  The total was valued at just over 37 pounds, and expenses and debts were deducted.  The amount of money that Mary and each of the three sons received would not have been enough to keep the wolf away from the door.  I hope one of the sons took Mary in, if she needed a place to live.  I haven't yet located a death date for her.

Abraham (and Mary) lived through some unsettled and exciting times in our country's early history.  King Philip's War, the Salem witch trials, King William and Queen Anne's wars were the highlights, and I'd love to hear them talk about those events.  

The line of descent is:

Abraham Foster-Mary Robinson  

Nathan Foster-Hannah Standish

Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford

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