Holbrook line: John Cole of Maryland 1669-1746

I've put off writing about John Cole.  It's not because I don't like him, but because he is so confusing.  Is he one man, or two men, or three?  Which set of parents are really his?  And there are other questions.  So I'm going to proceed here with caution.  Please understand that this may not be entirely correct, and it could be entirely wrong.  I am following primarily (when I have a question) the work of Robert Barnes, who is a noted genealogist and who is relatively error free.  He is also an expert in Baltimore County, Maryland, genealogy.  I'm not.

John Cole was born in or about 1669, based on various court testimonies he gave.  All the records I have seen list his birth place as Anne Arundel County, Maryland, which was formed from St. Mary's County prior to the time of John's birth.  (So his parents may have been found in St Mary's County prior to the division).  I've seen several listings for John's parents, some with a bit of reason to them and some not.  But Robert Barnes lists his parents as John Cole and Mary Beedle, so we'll go with that while acknowledging that further analysis or new records could result in a different understanding.

We are reasonably sure that John Cole married Johanna Garrett, daughter of Dennis and Barbara (last name not found) Garrett about 1690.  He was a witness to and therefore testified in the trial of John Oldton (who is our distant relation as he was married to a Gorsuch), who was charged with the murder of Dennis Garrett.

Sometime within the next 10 years, John moved his family to Baltimore County, in the area of the Gunpowder Meeting, where he owned at least two pieces of land and probably more.  There are indications that John was or became a Quaker, or at least that other members of his family were members of the Society of Friends.  I haven't been able to verity that.  However, it does show that they were in the area and he would have possibly been influenced by their beliefs, even if he did stay a member of the Church of England.

John and Johanna had at least seven and possibly as many as ten children.  Barnes lists seven.  Johanna died probably about 1715 and John next married Dinah Hawkins, in 1716.  He had at least three children with her, so Dinah must have been at least a few years younger than John.

John was a planter.  His crops would have included tobacco, so that likely means that he owned slaves, or at the least, had indentured servants.  I haven't located records yet that indicate the status of his farm laborers, but he would have needed help and most if not all families had either slaves or indentured servants, or both.  Yes, in this time period some Quakers had slaves, too.

John wrote his will in 1745 and it was presented on November 3, 1746.  It named his wife, Dinah, and their three, or three surviving, children.  His children with Johanna were all adults and presumably he had given them land or other assets earlier, since the will was not contested.  The value of his inventory was just short of 100 pounds.

It's a pretty scanty sketch of a man in our ancestry and in our genes, but it is what we have, at the moment.  I think it's important to at least mention these men and women who built America, especially since so many of our ancestors were from New England.  We have Southern and almost Southern roots, too.

The line of descent is

John Cole-Johanna Garrett
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: Thomas Cole, Immigrant

Thomas Cole is believed to be the son of Humphrey Cole and May Mott.  Humphrey must have been a person of some means because a son and a son in law were each rectors, and that would probably indicate a certain degree of schooling.  Humphrey himself had a BA from Pembroke College (part of Cambridge University) in 1593 and an MA in 1598.  The family was oriented toward education.

Thomas Cole was born about 1603 in Essex, England and had arrived in Virginia on July 4, 1635.  It's possible that he came in 1632, had returned to England for some reason and then come back to Virginia. Either date would put him in Virginia early.  He married a woman named Priscilla, who may or may not be Priscilla Godfrey, the daughter of John Godfrey.

Thomas and Priscilla were in Maryland by 1649, and were acknowledged Quakers a few years later.  Perhaps they left Virginia because they felt persecuted there, but that is speculation.  In 1666, he was voted 1000 pounds of tobacco in recompense for the loss of his stock, killed or stolen in raids by the native Americans.  John owned 550 acres of land, called Cole's Harbor in 1668.  This was in what is now the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, and even then may have been considered valuable.  It may also have been marshy, because we don't know that Thomas and Priscilla actually lived there.  He also patented 450 acres called Mayden's Choice in 1674, and a 200 acre tract called Saint Mary Borne in 1675. 

They seem to have settled in what is now Anne Arundel County, then called Providence County.  Thomas and Priscilla had just one known child, or at least one child who lived to adulthood. There may have been a son, John, but nothing more is known of him.  Sarah and her husband, Charles Gorsuch, sold the three Baltimore County tracts on December 8, 1679, Sarah being described as the sole heiress of Thomas Cole.  Priscilla therefore must have been gone by then, and Thomas also, although we don't have dates for either of them.  They may well have been buried in the early Quaker fashion, which was in unmarked graves, with only a flagstone to indicate the place of burial.

I wish we knew more about Thomas.  For instance, during the Indian attack when his stock was stolen, where was he and where was his family?  Did the family suffer other losses, or was this a one time thing?  As a Quaker, he probably wasn't part of the militia but I'd like to confirm that.  Was he a slave owner?   Was he educated, or at least literate? (I think yes, because his father and brother were educated, and because his daughter married into an influential family, but I'd like to know for sure).  What words of wisdom could he share with us, if we could talk face to face?

The line of descent is :

Thomas Cole-Priscilla
Sarah Cole-Charles Gorsuch
Charles Gorsuch Jr-Sarah Cole (it appears that these two were cousins)
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: Charles Gorsuch, Immigrant

I've written before of Charles's mother, Anne Lovelace Gorsuch, and a bit about his father, John Gorsuch.  I wrote about Anne because after all, she is a "gateway" ancestor with ties that go way back into history, and I mentioned John because, even though he didn't live to come to America (killed just after England's Civil War "ended"), he of course had great influence on his family's life. 

Now I'd like to look at the life of one of their children, Charles.  He was born about August 25, 1642, in Walkern, Hertfordshire, England, where his father was the rector.  He was just a wee lad, about five years old, when his father was killed.  How unsettling that must have been!  Fortunately, his parents were better off financially than many in the area, and there was enough money that the family could immigrate to Virginia.  They arrived about 1652, and it may have been that his transportation was paid for by Thomas Hoane, as he claimed headrights, and Charles may actually have served as an indentured servant, unless Thomas paid for the transportation out of the goodness of his heart.  At any rate, at age 15 in 1657, he appointed his older brother, Richard, as his guardian, which was legally required for an "infant". 

Some of Charles's siblings moved to Maryland but Charles remained in Virginia until about 1660 (note the choosing of his brother as guardian in 1657.)  He may have had to stay, if he was indentured, or it may have been his choice.  However, he was in Maryland by 1661 when land was surveyed for him in what later became part of Baltimore, Md.  In fact, the land makes up part of Fort McHenry, but before the Fort, there was a town called Whetstone Point, founded in 1706, and this is Charles's original land.

Charles was a Quaker, likely converted in Virginia and left for Maryland when the Colony cracked down on religious freedom there.   We may be missing records, or Charles may have worked for a long time to both start his home and find a wife.  Neither was an easy task in early Maryland.  He eventually married Sarah Cole, daughter of Thomas (William?) Cole and Priscilla, who were his neighbors. 

There are five more entries in "Settlers of Maryland" by Peter Wilson Coldham, that also appear to be our Charles Gorsuch, all in Baltimore County.  If he owned all of these at the same time, he owned about 825 acres at the time of his death.  The acquisition of so many acres indicates that he likely was growing tobacco. 

Charles and Sarah had four sons together-John, Robert, Thomas, and Charles Jr, not necessarily in that order.  Sarah died about 1690 and Charles on June 27, 1716 (may be a court record date?).  I found a court record showing an inventory but it is not available on line that I have found.  I would certainly love to see it.  It might answer some questions, or prove my assumption about tobacco farming to be incorrect.  I wonder if he was still a Quaker when he died?  And I wonder a lot of other things, too.  How educated was he?  Did he hold any kind of political office?  If he was a Quaker, what was his relation with native Americans?  Oh, the mysteries!

The line of descend it:

Charles Gorsuch-Sarah Cole
Charles Gorsuch-Sarah Cole (two different Sarah Cole's, but they may be related)
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: 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

Holbrook Line: Anne Lovelace, "gateway" immigrant and heroine

Gateway immigrants are precious jewels in the world of genealogy.  These are people who immigrated to America before the year 1700 and have proven ancestors back to one or another line of royalty.  Anne Lovelace Gorsuch fits this definition.  We have to go back 11 generations to get to Anne, born about 1610, and then another 15 generations to get to royalty through at least one of her lines, but there he is, King Edward I, married to Eleanor of Castile, who was the daughter of King Ferdinand III of Castile, and through those two gentlemen there is royalty all the way back to Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, and most of the other royal lines of Europe.  So, we now have reason to be termed "royal pains", I guess.

Anne Lovelace has always fascinated me.  Her brother was a famous poet, some were governors here in the colonies,  her parents were important people ("Sir William"), and she married an educated minister, John Gorsuch.  Her parents were William Lovelace, who was a member of the Virginia Company that founded the Jamestown colony, and Anne Barne, who was also of a famous family. She was the granddaughter of the Archbishop of York. Reverend  John Gorsuch was a Royalist, and during the English Civil War, in 1647, he was killed by opponents.  His name is still listed in the English Book of Common Prayers, as being a martyr. 

At that time, Anne was the mother of as many as 11 children.With her husband gone and extremely difficult and uncertain times in England, she came to America with three of her children about 1650, and four more followed shortly.  Anne died in 1652 in Lancaster County, Virginia, so she did not enjoy life in America for long.  It was difficult to leave England during this time period (Civil War still in progress), so she must have had some help in making her escape, if that is what it was. I sometimes think about what she must have gone through, in making the decision to leave, in taking only part of her family with her, and in starting life anew in America.  It surprises me that she didn't remarry, because widows typically remarried quickly, so she must have had steel in her backbone. 

There is an excellent article posted on line from the Carolina Journal, called "They Were Cavalier About It", by John Hood, and this is worth Googling if you're at all interested in this family. There is much more information available on the web, too, but this is a blog, not a book, so I've tried to keep it short.  

This is our line of descent:

John Gorsuch/Anne Lovelace
Charles Gorsuch/Sarah Cole
Charles Gorsuch/Sarah Cole  (it looks like they were first cousins)
Hannah Gorsuch/Thomas Stansbury
Rachel Stansbury/Alexis Lemmon
Sarah Lemmon/Abraham Hetrick
Isaac Hetrick Elizabeth Black
Mary Alice Hetrick/Louis E Stanard
Etta Stanard/Loren Holbrook (my grandparents)

Anne is one of my most interesting ancestors. I'd love to sit down to English tea with her, wouldn't you?