Holbrook line: Isaac Lazell 1701-1783

Some of our relatives play hide and seek with us.  I was never much good at that game as a child, or a mother, or for that matter, a grandmother.  Possibly Isaac knew that, and knew he could hide his tracks fairly well.  I have found a few nuggets of information about him, so I will share what little I've found, so far. 

Isaac Lazell was the son of Israel and Rachel Lincoln Lazell.  He was born August 30, 1701 in Hingham, Massachusetts, where his family had lived since the 1630s or so. He was one of four children in the family, all boys, and all born between 1701 and 1707.  This family was probably prominent in the town because I've seen reference to a Lazell Street in Hingham. 

Isaac obviously survived his childhood, but he was fairly old when he married Deborah Marsh on June 4, 1741 in Hingham.  She was fifteen years younger than her husband, and was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Burr Marsh, also of Hingham.  There is no indication of an earlier marriage for Isaac, but we can't rule it out either.  Maybe the late marriage was due to economic circumstances. 

Isaac shared a home with his parents in Hingham Centre, "over the river".  By the time his father died in 1755, 7 of the nine new Lazells were born, so this must have been a bustling household.  I've not found Israel's probate records so I don't know whether or not Isaac received the home, but he stayed in Hingham until about 1773, when he took the family to Bellingham, Massachusetts.  This was quite a change for the family.  Hingham was almost on the edge of the ocean, and Bellingham was 45 to 50 miles inland and a farming community.  He apparently took his family there because he was a Baptist, and there was a Baptist church in Bellingham.  He didn't stay in Bellingham long, because, at the age of 72, he bought land from Isaac Bates, an 18 acre farm on the Bellingham-Mendon line.  

The only mention I found of Isaac's public service was as a constable in Hingham in 1746.  Isaac died at Mendon, also recorded in Bellingham records, on June 29, 1783, so he lived through the Revolutionary War.  I didn't find him listed as a patriot on the DAR website but we shouldn't draw any conclusions from that.  Bellingham was, in general, a patriotic town that supported the American cause, and Isaac may well have shared that feeling.  He was too old to fight in the Revolution but he may have served in some capacity in the French and Indian war.  There were other "minor" wars, involving battles with native Americans, during most of Isaac's earlier life so although I can't say he was ever a soldier, I certainly can't say he wasn't. 

Isaac's wife, Deborah, outlived him by 8 years, dying in Mendon in 1791.  I have not yet located a will or estate for either of these people, which is disappointing.  We know he was a farmer and a Baptist, but we don't know whether or not he was literate, nor what his military service may have been.  There is still more research to be done to document Isaac's life, but this gives us a start.  He was another in a long line of honorable, brave, hard working men, and I salute my fifth great grandfather.  

The line of descent is:

Isaac Lazell-Deborah Marsh
Deborah Lazell-Levi Rockwood
Susannah Rockwood-Nahum Holbrook
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Wwhittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants