Holbrook line: Joseph Rockwood, who are you?

I'd like to put dates in for his birth and death.  I thought I knew them.  I thought I knew who his parents were.  But now that I'm getting ready to write a little about his life (and it's little enough, I will say), I'm confused. 

So, I will say that Joseph was probably born in Mendon, Massachusetts in 1727 or in 1722.  His parents were either John Rockwood and Deborah Thayer, or Joseph Rockwood and Elizabeth Turner.  He comes from a long line of Johns and Josephs who lived in the same area for many years and who names their sons both John and Joseph.  So you can see the problem, which I haven't yet solved.  I'm posting this in the hopes that someone has documentation that proves, either by will or land records, which Joseph is which, and which parents are his.

Mendon, Massachusetts was founded in 1667 and John Rockwood, who is Joseph's great-grandfather, was one of the first founders of the town.  The town was burned during King Philip's war but was rebuilt in 1680.  Many of the first settlers stayed there for generations, and we find a lot of family names on the lists of those first founders.  But information about the later lines is sparse. 

Assuming that his parents were John and Deborah, Joseph had as many as eight siblings.  However, if he was the Joseph born in 1722, his parents were Joseph and Elizabeth, and his father died before our Joseph was even born.  That would have likely been a veryh difficult life.

We do know that Joseph married Alice Thomson or Thompson, daughter of Joseph and Mary Holbrook Thomson, on March 10, 1750 in Bellingham.  Bellingham was created from the very large land that Mendon had charge of, in 1719/  It is likely that Joseph didn't move very far at all when he married.  Joseph and Alice had nine children, all in Bellingham. 

I can't imagine the pain that Alice would have suffered as she lost her family.  On October 6, 1778, their son Joseph died, "on returning from the Army", so I'm not sure whether he made it home first or not.  Joseph himself died November 10, 1778, just a little over a month after their son had died.  Alice was not done grieving.  In 1786, just as her sons were reaching manhood, John and Cephas died while at sea.  Their death dates are given as one day apart.  Did a hurricane or a nor'easter take them? Where had they been?  Were they seamen or traders or what?  Regardless of the circumstances, Alice would have been overcome with sorrow.  Levi and Daniel seem to be the only sons left to her.

I haven't yet found a will that I think was Joseph's, nor have I found a father's will that clearly identifies his children.  I will continue to look, and to think.  Besides wanting to verify his parentage, I would also like to find his religion (many of the families in Bellingham were Baptist) and his occupation.  I'd also like to know if he was involved in the French and Indian war.  I know men from his area were drafted into the King's service, but I've not found a record for Joseph, at least not yet. 

I plan to keep looking for information about Joseph, and his parents.  Someone is right about his parents, and someone is wrong.  I'd like to declare the winner.  If you have records or documents that would help in straightening this out, I would be most appreciative if you'd contact me.  Thanks!

The line of descent is:

Joseph Rockwood-Alice Thomson
Levi Rockwood-Deborah Lazell
Susannah Rockwood-Nahum Holbrook
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Pheobe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants