Holbrook line: Nathaniel Treadway, Immigrant

I didn't put the birth date of Nathaniel in the title for this post, because as far as I can tell, it's undetermined.  There are a lot of trees on line that give him a birthdate of August 7, 1604 in Wiltshire, England.  No doubt there was a Nathaniel Treadway born on that date in that location but we have little reason to think this is "our" Nathaniel Treadway.  Our Nathaniel was likely born about eleven years later.  His parents were Nathaniel and Mary Howe Treadway, who were married in Colchester, Essex, England on September 23, 1614.  This makes a birth date in 1615 more likely, although as far as I know, no records have yet been found for his birth. Colchester at the time was a town built around the cloth trade, and Nathaniel was a weaver, so it may be a matter or missing records that keep us from locating his birth records.

Nathaniel was in Sudbury, Massachusetts by 1639, which is where he is presumed to have married Suffrance Haynes, daughter of Walter and Elizabeth Gourd Haynes.  The date is generally given as May 10, 1640 but it's possible that it was a year earlier.  Their first child, Jonathan, was born November 11, 1640, and they had at least six other children.  Sometime between 1642 and 1646 the family moved to Watertown, Massachusetts which was their "forever" home.

Nathaniel seems to have been a man of some influence.  He was a selectman in Watertown for seven different years.  He was also a highway surveyor.

Nathaniel died July 20, 1689 at the age of 73.  His estate indicated a value of 377 pounds, including four books.  He also owned four cows, two oxen, and fifteen sheep, as well as several parcels of land. Suffrance had died seven years earlier.

There is much yet to be learned about Nathaniel.  I found a brief mention that he was a "meeting house man".  I'm not sure whether this means he was a member of the church, or had some town or church position, or what it means.  I've not found a record of him as a freeman, which seems a little bit out of the ordinary.  How educated was he?  As a selectman, one would think he could probably read and perhaps write, but four books are not sufficient to make a judgement that he was or was not literate.  Perhaps more of his books had already been given away.  I'd like to know more about this ancestor of ours.

The line of descent is:

Nathaniel Treadway-Suffrance Haynes
Elizabeth Treadway-Joseph Hayward
Lydia Hayward-John Hanchett
Hannah Hanchett-John Stannard
Libbeus Stannard-Eunice Pomeroy
Libbeus Stannard-Luceba (Euzebia) Fay
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

Holbrook line: Walter Haynes 1583-1665, Immigrant

How do I condense the life of this immigrant ancestor into a few paragraphs and still tell a little of his story?  We are fortunate to know so much about Walter Haynes, as he was a linen-weaver by occupation.  We would probably have been considered a tradesman, rather than a farmer but most likely raised at least some crops for his family.  Not everyone is so fortunate as to have this much information about a tradesman ancestor, so I'm not complaining.

Walter Haynes was born in 1583 in Sutton, Mandeville, Wiltshire, England.  It's a small village not far from the south central coast of England,  There is a 13th century church there, with the tower built in the 15th century.  Walter's parents, probably John and Alice Lambert Haynes, would have been very familiar with this church and likely Walter was, too.  We don't know when or if Walter became a Puritan because despite considerable information about him, I don't find mention of a church allegiance.

He and his wife Elizabeth left England on April 24, 1638 on board the "Confidence" and arrived in New England in June of that year. Boston and the surrounding small towns would have been new then, and anxious for skilled men such as linen-weavers to arrive and help build the colony.  When Walter arrived, it was with five of their six children, and three servants.  Walter was already 55 years old so it was likely that servants were necessary to do some of the hard work of building a home and a town.

Walter first lived in Watertown, probably while the plans were being completed for the founding of the town known as Sudbury.  He was granted land there in December of 1639, and the first houses or lean tos were constructed then.  Let's hope that he had a house constructed!  The first church was organized in 1640, and it seems likely that Walter was a member if only because he was made a  freeman in 1641 and was frequently a selectman, and also a representative to the General Court.  .  We are also told that Walter Haynes's first house was made into a garrison during King Philip's War (1675-1677), after Walter and his wife had both died.  This indicates that the house he constructed, or had constructed, was substantial.

Elizabeth tied in 1659 and Walter wrote his will at about that same time.  He lived for six more years, dying February 14, 1665.  At his death, he left property in England to the daughter who had stayed in England, and his inventory amounted to 495.18.10, which would not seem insubstantial for a linen weaver.  I'm proud to call him an ancestor.

The line of descent is:

Walter Haynes-Elizabeth
Suffrance Haynes-Nathaniel Treadway
Elizabeth Treadway-Joseph Hayward
Lydia Hayward-John Hanchett
Hannah Hanchett-John Stannard
Libbeus Stannard-Eunice Pomeroy
Libbeus Stannard-Luceba Fay
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis E Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants