Holbrook line: William Stone, 1603-1660, Immigrant

First, a disclaimer:  I am not 100% confident with this ancestor because our connecting link is not listed as his son in some of the trees I've looked at.  Also, there are few cources to refer to, which makes sense if you consider the turbulent times of frontier Maryland.  But wouldn't someone know for sure who the goernor's children were?  Yes, this man was the third governor of Maryland, and his life is intriguing.  Most of our Maryland ancestors were not men of "consequence", except to their descendants, so it's fun to find this one. 

Well, perhaps "find" is a bit too strong beabeth cause there doesn't seem to be a consensus, or documentation, for exactly when he was born, or for the identification of his parents.  He is likely to have been born in or around the London, England area, however, based on the odds.  Many of the early settlers of Virginia and Maryland were from the London area.  The most common christening date I've seen is October 7,1603 at Twiston, Clitheroe, Lancashire, England.  Doubtless a William Stone was baptized there on that day.  But was it this William Stone?  I need more than this to be reasonably sure of his early years. 

I'm also not sure on whether he had one wife, or two.  A William Stone married Elizabeth Sprigg, probably in England and probably about the year 1625.  The William Stone we are discussing had a wife, Verlinda Cotton, but the approximate wedding date for this couple is 1628-1630.  It's believed our ancestor, Thomas, was born about 1628 so I tend to think, at the moment, that he would be the child of William and Elizabeth.  I honestly don't think anyone knows for sure, at this moment in time.

What we do know is that he was a man of some substance, or consequence.  A daughter married William Calvert, son of Leonard Calvert, first proprietary governor of Maryland, and he would not have married just anyone.  The Stone family were "people of quality". 

William Stone was in Virginia by 1628, and latter went to Maryland.  He had two residences by 1648, one in Charles County and one in St Mary's County.  He served Accomack County, Virginia as justice of the piece for several years, was a vestryman, a shefiff, a burgess, and then governor of Maryland. He was later on the governor's Council, a Provincial court justice, and was also a military captain.  At his death, he owned 3000 acres of land, indicating that he most likely raised tobacco.  Perhaps the thing I like best about him is that he is described as an advocate for religious freedom. 

He probably had 6 children and perhaps more.  He wrote his will on December 3,1659.  It was proved on January 15, 1660, and probated December 21,1660.  His will is said to have mentioned his eldest son, Thomas, his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, and other children.  I have not yet seen a copy of the will myself, and I would love to find a copy on line. 

So this is our ancestor-mysterious, important, protector of religious freedom, and governor of  Maryland.  I need to learn more about him! 

The line of descent is:

William Stone-Elizabeth Sprigg (possibly)
Thomas Stone-Christiana Parrish
Barbara Stone-Dennis Garrett
Johanna Garrett-John Cole
Sarah Cole-Charles Gorsuch
Hannah Gorsuch-Thomas Stansbury
Rachel Stansbury-Alexis Lemmon
Sarah Lemmon-Abraham Hetrick
Isaac Hetrick-Elizabeth Black
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

Holbrook line: Francis Garrett 1610-1691, Immigrant

Francis Garrett is a fun ancestor because he came to Virginia early, in 1635 in the "Thomas and John".  He apparently was the son of John Garrett, and possibly Bridget unknown, but documentation is lacking.  Some have tied him to the Gerard line that goes back decades is not centuries further, but I wonder if that is just wishful thinking.  I consider that unproven at this point-but wouldn't it be fun if it were true?  Francis's birthplace is listed as Graesend, Kent, England, and there is a John Garrett who died at Deptford, Kent in 1655, who may be Francis's father, but that is as far as I'm willing to go at this point.

So Francis arrived in 1635 in Virginia and may have married Mary in Northumberland County, Virginia in 1649.  His two sons, William and Dennis, were born 1650-1652.  Mary's maiden name is often given as Dennis but there is some question, since a single Mary Dennis gave livestock to her daughter in 1664.  If this was the same Mary, then she couldn't have been married to Francis since approximately 1668.  If there was a divorce and that is why she was single in 1664, no one seems to have found records for that yet.  Since some give the birthplace of their children as Baltimore County, Md, maybe they married and went "north" soon after, and the Mary Dennis who gave livestock to her daughter is someone else entirely. 

I'm still looking for documentation about his life in either Virginia or Maryland.  He seems to have died in 1691, about the time his son Dennis was killed by a neighbor.  (Lots of websites call this a murder but it may have been an accident, manslaughter, in our legal terms, but not murder). I hope Francis wasn't alive to see his son wounded and then die a month later from his injuries. 

I hope to locate land and probate records for Francis.  Perhaps he owned no land and was a merchant, tradesman or sailor, since he's not listed in Peter Wilson Coldham's "Settlers of Maryland 1679-1783.  Or perhaps he acquired land earlier than that.  I will keep looking for these records, because we have two or three lines of descent from this ancestor.  I guess what we know now is that his life was probably different than our New England ancestors, in economics, military history, religion, and government.  That's enough to make me want to learn more! 

The line of descent is

Francis Garrett-Mary possibly Dennis
Dennis Garrett-Barbara Stone
Joanna Garrett-John Cole
Sarah Cole-Charles Gorsuch
Hannah Gorsuch-Thomas Stansbury
Rachel Stansbury-Alexis Lemmon
Sarah Lemmon-Abraham Hetrick
Isaac Hetrick-Elizabeth Black
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

Holbrook line: John Dennis 1587-1679 or 1652, Immigrant

It's going to be fun to write about a Virginia ancestor in the Holbrook line.  So many of this line were New England people that it's interesting when someone outside that geographic area pops up.  Of course, it's difficult, too, because I know far less about early Virginia history.  But I love a challenge, and good people who are also part of this family have done so much research it's almost a matter of just putting my slant on his life.

Just knowing that John Dennis went to Virginia instead of New England tells us a couple of things.  He was not a Puritan, and he may very well have come to Virginia for economic reasons.  He came here prior to 1634, for records are found in 1634 in which he was ordered to pay Mr. Obedience Robins 24 lbs tobacco, and Goodwife Haynie 166 pounds tobacco.  There was a John Dennis who was admitted to the Shareholders of the Virginia Company in 1621-22,  but we don't know that it was this John Dennis, or even a relation.  A John Dennis was transported in 1635 on the "Merchant's Hope" but it is unclear whether this was John Dennis son of the first immigrant, or whether the immigrant had returned to England for some reason and was now on his second voyage to the colony.  .

We don't know for sure who John Dennis Junior was, either.  It is believed that he was not the child of John Sr and his second wife, Barbary, but he may have been John Sr's son by an earlier wife, or possibly the result of an "indiscretion."

John Jr. died in 1652 and we find varying dates of John Sr's death, either in 1652, after John Jr.s death, or in 1678-79.  If John Senior died in 1652 then he was 65 when he died, which was a reasonable age to die in Virginia at that time period (many, many men died much younger than 65).  If he lived till 1678-1679, then he was over 90 years old, a venerable age indeed considering all the hardships that he would have endured.

It's not know how many children John Senior may have had, or whether John Junior may have been an only child.  We do know that he had land, 350 acres, on a branch of the great Wicocomoco River called Dennis Creek, bordering land of Thomas Gascoigne and William Spicer in Northumbrland County.  We can wonder if he had slaves, since, he was ordered to pay fines in tobacco.  We can wonder how he felt about the Lord, since not all Virginians worshipped on a regular basis.  And we can certainly wonder who his parents were, and what connection, if any, he had with "Sir Thomas Dennis", who was a member of the Virginia Company of Bicton and Holcombe.  We can also wonder what sort of relationship he had with the native Americans, and whether he was called upon to fight at any time.

I know there are Dennis researchers because I've found these bits and pieces on line, but I am responsible for the conclusions and questions I've written.  I'd love to hear from these folks, our distant cousins, about our common ancestor and their search for the details of his life.

Our line of descent is:

John Dennis-
John Dennis Jr-Barbary
Mary Dennis-Frances Garrett
Dennis Garrett-Barbara Stone
Johanna Garrett-John Cole
Sarah Cole-Charles Gorsuch
Hannah Gorsuch-Thomas Stansbury
Rachel Stansbury-Alexis Lemmon
Sarah Lemmon-Abraham Hetrick
Isaac Hetrick-Elizabeth Black
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

Updated to correct date in title, and a spelling error