Pulling these immigrant stories together is never easy. Either there is too much information, or not enough information, or both. This is a case of too much information (Thomas cannot have two sets of parents, and he can't have been born in two separate locations), but then there is too little information about his life in America. I hope he will be researched further and some of the mysteries of his life answered.
So, Thomas Silver was born about 1622 in Ropley, Hampshire England, possibly the son of Thomas Silver, or he was born in 1622 at Newbury, Berkshire, England, the son of Thomas Silver and Elinor Backster. (This second record is from www.genealogieonline.netherlands, which is generally an accurate source). Newbury at the time of Thomas's birth was a cloth town, meaning that wool was produced here, including what was possibly the first factory in England, and so it is likely that there were sheep farmers here, too. I don't know which, if either, would be a more likely occupation for Thomas's father, but most likely the family was not well to do.
Thomas came to Massachusetts Bay Colony as a young man. He would have been about 15 when he arrived at Ipswich in 1637, so he likely came over as an indentured servant and may have had to serve his master for several years. I've not located records to support this, and it's possible he went to a relative's home but I've not found that, either. We do know that he stayed in Ipswich just a few years.
By 1641 he was in Newbury, in what became Essex County, and there he stayed for the rest of his life. He had rights in the commons to one cattle, in 1641, and he was on a list of freeholders in 1642. Had had a house lot by 1645 and apparently shared in other land divisions, also, although the "History of Newbury, Massachusetts 1635-1902" was not clear on that. He is on a list of persons who took an oath of allegiance in 1678, which was tied up in politics as well as a simple statement of loyalty to King Charles II.
Thomas, according to the genealogieonline website mentioned above, married Mary Thomas, probably before 1645, in Newbury. Mary must have died soon, perhaps in childbirth, and he married Katherine Coker on August 16, 1649. Our line of descent is through Mary, so it would be nice to learn more about her. Thomas and Mary's daughter, Mary, would have several half brothers and sisters, as Thomas and Katherine's family grew.
Until Thomas's death, this is all I have been able to learn. I don't know his occupation, or his religion, or any civil offices he might have held. I don't know how he might have been affected by King Philip's War. Katherine died in July 23, 1665, and we have no record of a third marriage. I wonder how Thomas cared for his children? Did Mary, as the oldest daughter (20, at the time) take over this responsibility? She had married in 1664, so she had responsibilities of her own. Thomas died September 6, 1682. I have a copy of his inventory but it's not very readable. All that I can make out is that apparently his estate was valued at 104 pounds, which was modest for the time.
This is what we know of Thomas. He was courageous, to come to America when such a young man. He worked to support his family. He suffered the loss of two wives. He lived in some sort of relationship with his neighbors, as he signed petitions with them. He was a freeholder, (landowner) and therefore likely paid taxes of some sort. "And further, I say not".
The line of descent is"
Thomas Silver-Mary Thomas
Mary Silver-Robert Robinson
Mary Robinson-Abraham Foster
Nathan Foster-Hannah Standish
Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford
Jude Foster-Lydia M
Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore
Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph R Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
Showing posts with label Silver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Silver. Show all posts
Friday, June 22, 2018
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Holbrook line: Robert Robinson 1628-1689
Oh, my goodness. Robert Robinson might be Robert Robertson. He might be from Scotland or he might be from Newbury, Berkshire, England. He might have been born in 1628 or he might have been born in 1638. He might have sailed here in 1635 (highly doubtful) or he might have come in 1663, according to his own testimony. And I might be able to write a better blog post, if I were able to read what his will and inventory say .
The good news is that we do have a will and inventory, so we know approximately when he died (between May and October o 1689). That gives us names for his children, and some sense of how he lived. Much of this blog post will be written based on these documents (found on AmericanAncestors.org from the Essex County, Massachusetts Probate FIle Papers number 23914), if someone reading this blog post has not yet seen these papers).
So, let's back up to what is known. We know that he arrived in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts in 1663 because he gave deposition in 1675 that he had come to Newbury 12 years before and agreed on land to settle on. He married Mary Silver there on October 26, 1664 and stayed in Newbury the rest of his life, as far as we know Newbury was established in 1635, so Robert would not be considered an early settler there. (Among other settlers there was Jonathan Singletary Dunham, who is my children's ancestor on their Beeks side of the family. I always think it's cool when I can find connections like this!)
From names in his will, it appears that Robert and Mary had at least the following children: Daniel, John, Mary, (all seem to be adults) and Thomas, Sarah, Hannah, Robert who were all identified as being under age 21. The widow was to have full custody of the younger children as well as much of the estate, as long as she remained a widow. Part of the will is torn away (the last of each line) but I think this is what someone would write if they were doing an abstract of the will. It was dated May 18, 1689 and signed by mark, not signature.
The inventory was taken on May 22, 1989 so he must have died shortly after writing the will, and it was filed on November 11, 1689. Although the writing is clear, it also has many flourishes and I'm not sure of a lot of the words. I do know that it appears to be the inventory for a farmer who had quite a few animals-nine cows, three steers (I think) one heifer, four yearlings, eight calves, a bull, 26 sheep, four oxen, hogs, and what might be horses, not numbered. He had the required gun and sword, and some farm implements, and several items I can't decipher. I hope someone else can do this and will be able to transcribe it. The appraisal was for 166 pounds, which, along with the number of animals he was raising, seems to indicate a life above the poverty level
There are notes regarding the will that it was never probated, or possibly that the records for that event have been lost. Perhaps the problem was that Mary was also ill, as she died shortly before March 11,1690/91. There are guardianship papers for Hannah Robinson and Robert Robinson, appointing William Moody as their guardian in 1694, and it looks like final settlement of Mary's estate was made then. Hannah and Robert, the two youngest of the children of Robert and Mary, may have now been of an age to be trained for a trade. It was common for orphaned children to be apprenticed out of the household, and that may have happened here. This is pure speculation at this point.
In this case, most of our limited knowledge of Robert comes from his inventory and his will. I don't know what church he attended (if he was from Scotland, was he a Presbyterian?), or what his education may have been. I don't know who his parents were. I don't know if he ever was called to protect his community from native Americans, or his home and land from wild animals. I don't know how, if at all, William Moody was related to the family. I would love to know all of these things. But we do know that he raised a family, that he died earlier than he would have liked, and that he is one of the reasons we, his descendants, are here. Thank you, sir!
The line of descent is:
Robert Robinson-Mary Silver
Mary Robinson-Abraham Foster
Nathan Foster-Hannah Standish
Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford
Jude Foster-Lydia M
Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore
Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph R Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
The good news is that we do have a will and inventory, so we know approximately when he died (between May and October o 1689). That gives us names for his children, and some sense of how he lived. Much of this blog post will be written based on these documents (found on AmericanAncestors.org from the Essex County, Massachusetts Probate FIle Papers number 23914), if someone reading this blog post has not yet seen these papers).
So, let's back up to what is known. We know that he arrived in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts in 1663 because he gave deposition in 1675 that he had come to Newbury 12 years before and agreed on land to settle on. He married Mary Silver there on October 26, 1664 and stayed in Newbury the rest of his life, as far as we know Newbury was established in 1635, so Robert would not be considered an early settler there. (Among other settlers there was Jonathan Singletary Dunham, who is my children's ancestor on their Beeks side of the family. I always think it's cool when I can find connections like this!)
From names in his will, it appears that Robert and Mary had at least the following children: Daniel, John, Mary, (all seem to be adults) and Thomas, Sarah, Hannah, Robert who were all identified as being under age 21. The widow was to have full custody of the younger children as well as much of the estate, as long as she remained a widow. Part of the will is torn away (the last of each line) but I think this is what someone would write if they were doing an abstract of the will. It was dated May 18, 1689 and signed by mark, not signature.
The inventory was taken on May 22, 1989 so he must have died shortly after writing the will, and it was filed on November 11, 1689. Although the writing is clear, it also has many flourishes and I'm not sure of a lot of the words. I do know that it appears to be the inventory for a farmer who had quite a few animals-nine cows, three steers (I think) one heifer, four yearlings, eight calves, a bull, 26 sheep, four oxen, hogs, and what might be horses, not numbered. He had the required gun and sword, and some farm implements, and several items I can't decipher. I hope someone else can do this and will be able to transcribe it. The appraisal was for 166 pounds, which, along with the number of animals he was raising, seems to indicate a life above the poverty level
There are notes regarding the will that it was never probated, or possibly that the records for that event have been lost. Perhaps the problem was that Mary was also ill, as she died shortly before March 11,1690/91. There are guardianship papers for Hannah Robinson and Robert Robinson, appointing William Moody as their guardian in 1694, and it looks like final settlement of Mary's estate was made then. Hannah and Robert, the two youngest of the children of Robert and Mary, may have now been of an age to be trained for a trade. It was common for orphaned children to be apprenticed out of the household, and that may have happened here. This is pure speculation at this point.
In this case, most of our limited knowledge of Robert comes from his inventory and his will. I don't know what church he attended (if he was from Scotland, was he a Presbyterian?), or what his education may have been. I don't know who his parents were. I don't know if he ever was called to protect his community from native Americans, or his home and land from wild animals. I don't know how, if at all, William Moody was related to the family. I would love to know all of these things. But we do know that he raised a family, that he died earlier than he would have liked, and that he is one of the reasons we, his descendants, are here. Thank you, sir!
The line of descent is:
Robert Robinson-Mary Silver
Mary Robinson-Abraham Foster
Nathan Foster-Hannah Standish
Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford
Jude Foster-Lydia M
Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore
Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph R Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
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