Holbrook Line: Richard Rockwood 1602-1660 Immigrant

Richard Rocket or Rockwood came to America in or before 1633, but Robert Charles Anderson has not included him as a featured immigrant in his Great Migration series.  I don't know why he has been missed, but fortunately there are other sources that help tell his story.  It's just that Anderson would have done a superb job, and he missed that opportunity. 

Richard was born in 1602 in Weymouth, Dorset, England.  His parents were Richard and Elizabeth (maiden name not known) Rockwood.  Weymouth is a town on the south coast of England, and has always had a port since is was founded in the middle of the 13th century.  So much of the townspeople would have either worked as merchants or in the maritime trade itself.  Probably there were fishing fleets that sailed from here as well.  Richard, therefore, would have lived in a town that was very different from the hometowns of some of our other ancestors, who either lived in a large city or in a small inland village. 

It's believed that Richard sailed to Massachusetts in 1633, when he was given land in Dorchester.  He first married an unknown wife in 1628, and then married Agnes Lovell, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Dunckley Lovell in 1636/37.  She died in 1643, after giving birth to John Rockwood and possibly one other child.  Robert then married Ann as yet not identified, but they apparently had not children together. 

By 1641 it appears that the Richard and Agnes and their children were living in Braintree, where they lived out their lives.  Agnes died in 1643 in Braintree and Richard died July 6, 1660 in Dorchester,  with third wife Ann surviving. 

We don't know Richard's occupation, or his religion, and although there seems to be a will and an appraisal or inventory I have not yet located it. I do find notes that the estate was balued at slightly over 38 pounds, but I don't know whether or not that included his land, and I don't know how much land he owned when he died.  At one time, he had 40 acres in Dorchester. 

Richard is the ancestor of President James Garfield, so this President is also our distant cousin. 

The line of descent is:

Richard Rockwood-Agnes Lovell
John Rockwood-Joanna Ford
Joseph Rockwood-Mary Hayward
John Rockwood-Deborah Thayer
Joseph Rockwood-Alice Thompson
Levi Rockwood-Deborah Lazell
Susanna Rockwood-Nahum Holbrook
Joseph Rockwood Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants