Holbrook line: Henry Wilson, Immigrant

Henry Wilson is supposed to have come from Kent, England but that is as much as I know about his early life.  I'm not sure on what basis the claim is made but it is in very old town records, old enough that he himself may have been the source of the information, or if not, then one of his children likely gave the information.  But I can't pin it down further than that.  "Henry Wilson" os a common name, not quite as bad as John Smith, but still...

We don't know when he was born but he was accepted into the church at Dedham, Massachusetts in 1640 and became a freeman shortly after that.  As a round number, let's guess 1615, and it may have been a few years earlier.  He died in 1688 so that gives room for an earlier birth date.  It wouldn't have been much later than 1616 because generally men had to be 24 to become a freeman, although this may have varied from colony to colony.  His wife, Mary, was born in 1619, the daughter of Michael and Sarah Elwyn Metcalf.  Henry and Mary were married at Dedham November 24, 1642.

We don't know much of Henry's life.  He seems to have been a congenial fellow because when there was a slight problem with a piece of land he had been given, he cheerfully "laid it down" and willingly took the piece of land he was given in its stead.  I found one reference to Dedham's founding as being intended to be "Utopian" in 1636 and perhaps people there were just relatively easy to like. 

Henry was given or acquired several pieces of land, for meadow and upland and a house "lott", and in 1656 he had six cow common rights, 3 sheep common rights, 7 "divident" acres, plus 1/2 of another acre and 28 roodes  As an early settler, he likely attended church on a regular basis, farmed a little, and perhaps had another trade also, although I found no hint of what that might be. 

Henry and Mary had at least five children together, all born in Dedham.  Mary died May 5, 1676 and Henry died February 8, 1688/89.  I was unable to locate a will or an inventory, or any kind of probate, but presumably there is one still waiting to be found.  Perhaps that will tell us more about his life.  Were there some kind of trade tools listed?  Books?  Land?  We know that he lived long enough to see Ephraim married, and that must have brought him joy.  I hope that one day, we will learn more about his life, but for now, we know he came to America, he was a "church man" who apparently stayed out of trouble and got along with his neighbors, and he raised a family.  That is reason enough to honor him. 

The line of descent is:

Henry Wilson-Mary Metcalf
Ephraim Wilson-Rebekah Sumner
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

Holbrook line: Michael Metcalf, Immigrant

Michael Metcalf is one of several ancestors who are "new" to me, found when I finally broke through the Molly Wright Holbrook brick wall I've had for many years  When I started researching him, I found that he's an interesting man who came to New England with his wife, nine (!) children, and a servant.  More than that, there is some information about him prior to his coming to New England, which is a bit unusual.

It is not certain who Michael's father was.  Many genealogists think his father was the Rev. Leonard Metcalf.  Others think that Leonard was probably is uncle.  Regardless, we know that he was born at Tatterford, Norfolk, England sometime between 1586 and 1591, depending on which argument you believe.

Facts that seem to be documented are that he came from a fairly substantial family, probably Puritan, and that his occupation was a dornix (tapestry) weaver.  One article said that he owned a cloth factory in Norwich that employed 100 people  He was made a freeman there on June 21, 1618.  He married Sarah Elwyn, the daughter of Thomas Elwyn and Elizabeth Benslye on October 13, 1616.

Perhaps because Michael was a factory owner, he caught the attention of the Star Court run by Bishop Wren, and suffered persecution because of his religious beliefs.  Finally, in 1636 he decided to leave for the New World.  He may have actually left then by himself but been driven back to England by bad weather.  The following year, he and his wife and 9 surviving children (two had died young) came to America.  The faily almost immediately went to Dedham, where he was admitted a townsman in 1637, admitted to the church in 1639, and was a selectman in 1641.  He was also a schoolmaster, which indicates he must have had considerable schooling in England.

Sarah died November 10, 1644, when her youngest child was 9 years old.  Michael needed a wife, and soon married the widow Mary Pigge, who had several children of her own  It must have been quite a household.  Michael died December 27, 1664, leaving land and books to his sons and varying monetary amounts to his daughters, and to one of Mary's daughters.  Probably those who got the lesser amounts had already received dowry gifts.  I didn't find a copy of the appraisal of the estate, and I also didn't find anything that clearly states an occupation in Dedham.  Michael did own a clay pit, used for brick making, but I have no idea whether this, along with farming for the family, was enough to support them

I want to do more research about Michael, particularly to learn more about his religious life at Dedham, why he became a schoolmaster at age 70 or so, and what his occupation was here  There may be more stories, too, waiting to be uncovered.

The line of descent is:

Michael Metcalf-Sarah Elwyn
Mary Metcalf-Henry Wilson
Ephraim Wilson-Rebecca Sumner
Samuel Wilson-Elizabeth Hawes
Rebecca Wilson-Jonathan Wright
Molly Wright-Amariah Holbrook
Nahum Wright-Susanna Rockwood
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants