Holbrook line: Samuel Morse 1576-1654 Immigrant

What would it take for a man of 50 to decide to take his family across the ocean to a land they had only heard of, with challenges both known and unknown?  He was a "husbandman", meaning that he farmed either land owned by someone else, or a small farm.  So he didn't have much money in England, and perhaps he thought life would be better here. 

We do know a little more about Samuel than we do about some of our ancestors.  His parents were  Reverend Thomas and Margaret (probably King) Morse, and he was born on or shortly before June 12, 1576 in Boxted, Essex, England.  Boxted is a small village on the northern border of Essex, not far from the North Sea.  The current population is about 1350 people.  Two groups of religious dissenters had gone from this area to New England in 1630, so in addition to economic reasons, perhaps the Morses were following family, or certainly, neighbors. 

Samuel married Elizabeth Jasper, daughter of Lancelot and Rose Shephard Jasper, on June 29, 1602, at Redgrave, Suffolk, England.  This was about 40 miles from Samuel's home at Boxted, but we don't know how they met.  Perhaps Samuel's father had preached at Redgrave, or maybe Elizabeth visited someone in Boxted.  At any rate, they met, married, and settled down in or near Redgrave, where several of their children were born.  Their last three children were born at Burgate, Suffolk, England, which seems to be quite close to Redgrave. 

Samuel, Elizabeth, their twenty year old son Joseph and a 2 year old granddaughter traveled together on the ship Increase in 1635.  Samuel was listed as 50 and Elizabeth as 48.  It is uncertain how the other children got to New England but there are only ship and other records for a small fraction of those who arrived in New England, so that is not a problem.  Samuel and Elizabeth first went to Waterwon, and then to Dedham, which are both towns settled by those settlers who had come over from Boxted in 1630.  The Morses were iamong the first settlers of Dedham in 1637, when Samuel was admitted to the church.  He was made a freeman on October 8, 1640.

We don't know what education Samuel had but he must have had at least the basics because he served Dedham as a treasurer and a selectman, he was an assessor for the meetinghouse rate, and he was a fenceviewer and highway surveyor.  One would think that the treasurer's position would require basic math skills, and the selectman's job may have required literacy. 

In 1652, Samuel and Elizabeth moved on to Medfield, where they were early settlers.  I find it hard to fathom moving across the ocean, living in one town, going to another, and then finally, at the age of 67, starting over in another village.  Starting over may well have meant building one's own home, clearing one's own fields and helping with the common, and helping develop roads for the new village.  It would have been a lot of work!  Samuel still owned land in Dedham when he died in December of 1654, but it's unclear whether he also owned land at Medfield. 

His estate was valued at 124 pounds, 7 shillings, of which 40 pounds was real estate.  I don't know what his net worth would have been when he left England, but he seems to have improved his circumstances here. 

He left descendants who would not only improve their circumstances, but improve the country.  John Chapman, otherwise known as Johnny Appleseed, is a descendant, as are Wild Bill Hickock, Emily Dickinson, William Howard Taft, Calvin Coolidge, and the two Presidents Bush.  There are also some famous entertainers in the list such as Raquel Welch and Elizabeth Shue.  We are cousins, very distant, to all these people! 

The line of descent is:

Samuel Morse-Elizabeth Jasper
Mary Morse-Samuel Bullen
Elizabeth Bullen-Benjamin Wheelock
Benjamin Wheelock-Hulda Thayer
Mary Wheelock-Ebenezer Thayer
Abigail Thayer-Jesse Holbrook
Amariah Holbrook-Molly oh where are you Wright
Nahum Holbrook-Susannah Rockwood
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

If I have this figured right, Hulda Thayer was Ebenezer Thayer's niece, so Abigail Thayer's grandmother Hulda was also her aunt.  Can that be right?