Research cases from the Holbrook-Low Colonial Tree

From the Holbrook-Low Colonial Tree (trees/holbrook-low-colonial-tree.html, version of early October 2026), kept as written so nothing is lost when the tree page is retired. Each case is one open question: what was found, in order, what it means, where things stand and what to look at next. The conclusions are also on the people's pages, under Open questions.

People are given with their archive page ID in backticks. Tiers in brackets: [D] documented, [C] compiled, [I] inference, [T] tradition, [Q] unproven, [F] family record. "Frances" is Frances Fairchild Holbrook (b. 1931), from whom the tree is drawn.

Where did Richard Warren come from?

Status: Waiting on records. People: Richard Warren (Richard Warren); Elizabeth Walker (Elizabeth Walker); Augustine Walker (Augustine Walker); Mary Warren (Mary Warren).

Richard Warren came on the Mayflower in 1620. He enters the tree through his daughter Mary, wife of Robert Bartlett. His marriage in England is proven, but his birth, parents and birthplace are not. We are testing whether he was the Richard Warren who became a freeman (a full member, after finishing an apprenticeship) of the Drapers' Company, the London cloth merchants' guild, in 1609.

What has been found

1. Called "of London" in 1620 (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Mourt's Relation (London, 1622), the earliest printed account of the Plymouth colony, names Warren as one of "three of London" in the exploring party of 6 Dec 1620. Nathaniel Morton (1669) names "Mr. Richard Warren" in the party that found Plymouth harbour on 11 Dec 1620.
   • Source: Mourt's Relation, Dexter ed. 1865, pp. 51-59 (archive.org: mourtsrelationo00dextgoog); Morton, New-Englands Memoriall (1669) (archive.org: newenglandsmemor00mort_0)
   • What it shows: He lived in London by 1620. It does not say where he was born.
2. Marriage at Great Amwell, 1610 (1 Oct 2026) [D]. The parish register of Great Amwell, Hertfordshire, records that Richard Warren married Elizabeth Walker on 14 April 1610.
   • Source: S. G. Doree, ed., The Parish Register and Tithing Book of Thomas Hassall of Amwell (Hertfordshire Record Society 5, 1989), p. 157; Edward J. Davies, TAG 78 (2003): 82
   • What it shows: This is the earliest record of Richard himself. Nothing earlier about him is proven.
3. Augustine Walker's will, 1613 (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Augustine Walker of Great Amwell, yeoman (a farmer of some standing), made his will on 19 April 1613: "I give & bequeath unto my daughter Elizabeth Warren wife of Richard Warren Sixteene pounds of lawefull money of England, and unto her three Children Marey, Ann and Sarey Warren Fower pounds." Davies showed that Mary, Ann and Sarah are the passenger's first three daughters, in the same order as in the Plymouth records, and that their ages at death fit births about 1610-1613.
   • Source: Essex Record Office D/ABW 41/186; printed in full by Edward J. Davies, "The Marriage of Richard1 Warren of the Mayflower," TAG 78 (2003): 81-86 (http://www.craigrich.net/TAG_Warren.pdf)
   • What it shows: This ties the Great Amwell couple to the Mayflower family. The identification is now accepted by the Mayflower Society, Caleb Johnson, Robert Charles Anderson and Pilgrim Hall.
4. Elizabeth's family and a London draper (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Elizabeth was baptised at Baldock, Hertfordshire, in September 1583 ("Elizabeth daughter of Augustine Walker"). Her sister Dorothy married, second, Simon Adams, "Citizen & drap[er] of London," at St Martin Ludgate on 23 Sept 1599. Simon Adams was the overseer (supervisor) of Augustine's will. He was baptised at Great Amwell in 1571 and made free of the Drapers' Company on 22 Jan 1596.
   • Source: Baldock register, via Davies, TAG 78:84; Augustine Walker's will (above); London Roll (londonroll.org) entry DREB53
   • What it shows: The Walker family had a direct link to the London cloth trade through Elizabeth's brother-in-law.
5. Every published origin reviewed (2 Oct 2026) [Q]. Candidates still standing: a Richard baptised at Therfield, Herts, 9 Nov 1589, son of John (suggested by Caleb Johnson, 2003); a Richard baptised at Newport, Essex, 22 Sept 1583, son of Richard and Joan (Hadsley) Warren (L. W. Throop, California Mayflower Quarterly, 2023-26; the register entries do exist); a Richard baptised at Rickmansworth in 1576 (WikiTree). Rejected: St Albans 1585 (that man stayed and was buried there in 1638); Ware 1579 (buried a week after baptism); St Peter Cornhill 1579/80 (a cutler buried in London in 1624); the Devon "Greenwich" pedigree; and descent from the Norman de Warennes.
   • Source: Warren_Line_Research.md, section 10.2: FreeREG transcripts for Newport, Debden and Little Clacton; soc.genealogy.medieval threads of 2002-03 and 2022; CMQ issues 2022-2026; WikiTree Warren-66
   • What it shows: None of the named candidates has any record tying him to Elizabeth Walker, Great Amwell or London. Caleb Johnson's current page: "countless different ancestries have been published for him, without a shred of evidence to support them."
6. The Drapers' Company freeman of 1609 (2 Oct 2026) [D]. The London Roll index has "Richard Warren ... New freeman, Co Draper," 1609, by servitude (after serving an apprenticeship), master Edward Dobson. He then took apprentices of his own: Henry Mellyn in 1610 and Nicholas Simpkins on 3 Mar 1612/13, each for 9 years. Simpkins took his freedom on 3 Mar 1623/24, still entered under master Richard Warren. No apprentice was bound to this Warren after March 1613, and no transfer ("turnover") of his apprentices to another master was found.
   • Source: London Roll (londonroll.org), entries DRML4603, DRHT3600, DRLL1623, DRLL1624; searched by hand, 2 Oct 2026
   • What it shows: A draper running his own household in London in 1610-1613 fits the passenger, who married in 1610 and had daughters born about 1610-1613. The 1624 entry is neutral: a freedom entry names the master the boy was bound to, whether or not that master was still alive or in London.
7. A rival Richard Warren in the cloth district (2 Oct 2026) [D]. A search of 32 printed London parish registers (about 25 City and Westminster parishes) for every Warren entry of 1606-1622 found no baptism of any Warren daughter. It did find, at St Stephen Walbrook, 1 Jan 1610/11: "Richard Warren, of Aldermary, & Hanna Gathorne, d. John Gathorne, skiner." St Mary Aldermary parish lies in the cloth district around Bow Lane, Watling Street and Budge Row.
   • Source: Printed registers on archive.org, mostly Harleian Society editions (Warren_Line_Research.md, section 11, item 8)
   • What it shows: This Richard Warren of Aldermary is a plausible candidate for the draper. If the draper is the man who married Hanna Gathorne nine months after the passenger married Elizabeth Walker, then the draper is not our Richard. Nothing yet ties the two together.
8. DNA (2 Oct 2026) [C]. Male-line Warren descendants who have tested share the Y-DNA (passed from father to son) haplogroup E-FTC19215. There are four testers, and their common ancestor lived about AD 1644. A "landed family of Essex" match claimed in a withdrawn 2024 article is 19 differences at 111 markers, against FamilyTreeDNA's cut-off of 10 for a family match. Elizabeth Walker's maternal-line (mtDNA) haplogroup is H1j10a.
   • Source: FamilyTreeDNA Discover (tree version of 27 Sept 2026); Mayflower DNA wiki; WikiTree summaries
   • What it shows: DNA confirms the American line but does not yet point to any English Warren family.

Reasoning

Nothing before the 1610 marriage is proven. Our rough odds for his origin: Therfield about 5%, Newport about 4%, Rickmansworth about 1%, four unexamined baptisms of 1579-81 about 2% together, and a man not yet identified about 88%. [I]

The draper fits in several ways: freedom in 1609 followed by marriage in April 1610 is the usual order for a London tradesman; the bride's sister was married to a draper from Great Amwell; and the passenger was "of London" by 1620. Against that, the Drapers' index alone has other Richard Warrens, and nothing yet ties the 1609 freeman to Elizabeth. [I]

Our estimate that the draper is the passenger was about 20%. After the Hanna Gathorne marriage turned up, it dropped to about 15%. It now turns on whether the draper is the Richard Warren of Aldermary. [I]

If the draper does prove to be the passenger, the Therfield candidate is ruled out: he would have been 20 in 1609, and the City of London required a man to be 24 to take his freedom. It would not prove the Newport candidate, since a freedom record names no parents. [I]

Where it stands

Richard Warren married Elizabeth Walker at Great Amwell on 14 April 1610, was the father of Mary, Ann and Sarah, and lived in London by 1620. His birth, parents and birthplace are unknown. There is about a 15% chance he was the Drapers' Company freeman of 1609, and about an 88% chance that his origin lies with a man not yet identified. The Drapers' Company archive has been asked about the draper's apprentices.

Next steps

• Email to the Drapers' Company archive asking about the apprentice bindings of Richard Warren, draper (Henry Mellyn, 1610; Nicholas Simpkins, 1612/13) (Sent, waiting). Where: Drapers' Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, London (free enquiry service: heritage@thedrapers.co.uk). Cost: free. Why: The original binding entries may give Warren's parish or the boys' fathers, which could separate the draper from the Richard Warren of Aldermary. The binding of Warren himself (about 1601-02) probably falls before the Company's bindings books begin in 1603.
• Follow-up questions for the archivist: does Richard Warren appear in the Quarterage Book that begins in 1617 (the list of members and the quarterly dues they paid, with notes on where they lived), and does he pay after 1620? What does the original freedom entry of Simpkins (3 Mar 1623/24) say about his master: "late", "deceased", "beyond the seas", or a second master? Did Henry Mellyn ever take his freedom? Do the records give the draper's parish or wife? (To do). Where: Drapers' Company archive (same address). Cost: free. Why: If the draper is still paying dues in London in the 1620s, he is not the passenger. If his payments stop in 1620, or carry a note about New England, that would be the first record tying the draper to the Mayflower.
• Boyd's Inhabitants of London family units for Richard Warren (To do). Where: Findmypast. Cost: Findmypast subscription. Why: These often link a citizen's livery company to his marriage, so they may show whether the draper is the man who married Hanna Gathorne.
• Baldock parish register, Warren baptisms 1570-1610; and the Great Amwell, Ware, Hertford, Therfield, Baldock and Royston registers for any record of Richard and Elizabeth in 1610-1620 (To do). Where: Findmypast or Hertfordshire Archives (these parishes are not on FreeREG). Cost: Findmypast subscription, or a quote from the archive. Why: A Drapers' record of 1699 names a Richard Warren, cooper, of "Balbuck" (almost certainly Baldock), where Elizabeth was baptised. Warrens at Baldock would test whether Richard and Elizabeth could have met there.
• Big Y (Y-DNA) tests of male-line Warrens from the Therfield/Kelshall, Newport and Saffron Walden families, and of a descendant of Joseph Warren (Optional). Where: FamilyTreeDNA. Cost: test fee. Why: A match inside E-FTC19215 would point to an English family; a different haplogroup would rule that family out.
• Chancery suit Franketon v Walker (TNA C 2/Eliz/F2/28), which names an "Augustin Walker" as defendant (Optional). Where: The National Archives, Kew. Cost: page check £9.92, then a quote. Why: May show whether the defendant is Elizabeth's father and where he came from.

Research files: Warren_Line_Research.md.

Who were the Holbrooks in England before Thomas the immigrant?

Status: Active. People: Thomas Holbrook (Thomas Holbrook); William Holbrooke "the elder" (William Holbrooke); Thomas Holbrooke "the elder" (Thomas Holbrooke); Edith, widow Sanders (Edith Holbrooke).

Thomas Holbrook, who sailed from Weymouth, Dorset, in 1635, was the son of William Holbrooke of Glastonbury, Somerset. We are trying to confirm who William's own parents were (most likely Thomas Holbrooke of Norton Malreward and his wife Edith), to find Edith's own family, and to see whether the generation above Thomas of Norton Malreward can be found.

What has been found

1. William's will, 1625 (30 Sept 2026) [D]. William Holbrooke "the elder" of Glastonbury, yeoman, made his will on 11 Dec 1625 (proved 1 Feb 1625/6). As summarised by Lord (1942) and Davis (1945), it names sons Thomas, John "if he be livinge" and William the younger, daughter Basell, and grandsons Thomas Holbrook Jr., Edmund Tyly and Clement Weaver Jr. The Glastonbury register has Thomas's marriage to Jane Powyes (12 Sept 1616) and his son John's baptism (1618).
   • Source: Somerset Heritage Centre (SHC) D/D/ct/1/H/137 (original survives; not yet read by us); A. R. Lord, Holbrook and Allied Families (1942), pp. 6-8; W. G. Davis, The Ancestry of Joseph Neal (1945), p. 128; St John's, Glastonbury register (FamilySearch index)
   • What it shows: This fixes William as Thomas's father. The Glastonbury register only begins in 1603, so William's own baptism and his older children's cannot be in it.
2. William's own sworn statement, 1617 (1 Oct 2026) [D]. On 9 May 1617 William Holbrook of St John's, Glastonbury, yeoman, gave evidence in a church-court case about unpaid tithes. As witnesses usually did, he stated his history: at Glastonbury for the last 19 years; before that at Compton Dando for 20 years; before that at "Norton Mareward," where he was born; aged 65. So he was born about 1551-2.
   • Source: Burton W. Spear, Search for the Passengers of the Mary & John 1630, vol. 26, printing an abstract by Robin Bush, former Deputy Archivist of the Somerset Record Office, cited as "D/D/Cd 42 50"; probably now SHC D/D/cd/50 (1616-1618), a fragile volume
   • What it shows: It places William's birth at Norton Malreward, and explains why the baptisms of Thomas and his brothers and sisters have never been found: they were probably born at Compton Dando, which has no surviving register before 1602/3. It also rules out Lord's proposed parents, a couple married at Thornbury in 1560, eight years after William was born.
3. Thomas of Norton Malreward's will, 1571/2 (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Thomas Holbrooke of Norton Malreward, yeoman, will of 11 Jan 1571/2 (the original is lost; it is known from an abstract). He names sons John the elder, Thomas, William, John the younger and Robert, daughter Margery, his wife Edith (executrix) and "his wife's son" Richard Sanders. He leaves his son William the lease of "the park" at Compton Dando, with Edith to use it during her widowhood.
   • Source: Abstract in SHC DD/X/HBS/1; printed by Davis (1945), pp. 125-127 (HathiTrust: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89069671295)
   • What it shows: A William, son of Thomas of Norton Malreward, held land at Compton Dando: the same birthplace and the same place William described in 1617.
4. Edith's will, 1592 (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Edith Holbrocke of Compton Dando, widow, will of 12 Nov 1592 (proved 13 Feb 1592/3): a feather bed and furnishings to her son William; a bed to her son Robert; 10s. to her "cousin and godson William Horsington the younger"; the rest to her son John, including debts owed her by her sons Richard and Thomas Sandes (from her first marriage). William Holbrooke and Robert Holbrooke were her overseers and witnesses.
   • Source: Original SHC D/D/ct/1/H/135 (not yet seen); abstract in Davis (1945), p. 126
   • What it shows: Thomas's widow had a son William, and a William Holbrooke was acting for her at Compton Dando in 1592, in the years William of Glastonbury says he lived there.
5. Compton Dando leases and accounts (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Archive catalogues describe a lease for lives (a lease that lasts as long as the people named in it live) of 30 Apr 1565 from John and Anne Hungerford to "Edyth Holbrooke, and Robert and John her sons," and executors' accounts of 23 Mar 1592/3 in which "William Hollbrooke" was overseer and administrator for William Horsington the elder of Compton Dando, including "letters of tutorship for William the Younger" (the boy Edith called her cousin and godson).
   • Source: Bristol Archives AC/D/26/8; SHC D/D/cta/H/37 (catalogue descriptions; documents not yet seen)
   • What it shows: An independent record of a William Holbrooke acting at Compton Dando in 1593. Robert and John the younger were certainly Edith's sons; William is not in her 1565 lease because his father gave him a separate holding, the park.
6. The generation above Thomas (1 Oct 2026) [Q]. Roger Holbroke of Chew was a surety (guarantor) at the bishop's manor court of Chew in 1463 and left a will in 1503 naming a son Thomas as executor. A Chancery suit (a case in the court of equity) of 1533-1538 was brought against "Elizabeth Holbroke alias Hedge and Thomas, her son" over pasture in Chew Stoke. Robert Holbrooke of Queen Charlton's widow was probably Elinor Holbrooke alias Hedges of Chew Stoke (will 1627).
   • Source: SHC DD/CC/B/131911a/8 (court roll of 1463, printed in Ambrose Heal, Records of the Heal Family, 1932, p. xxvii); TNA PROB 11/13/574 (Roger, 1503); TNA C 1/833/14, Ive v Holbroke (catalogue description only)
   • What it shows: Roger was an adult by 1463, so he is more likely Thomas of Norton Malreward's grandfather than his father. The "alias Hedge" suit suggests a hypothesis: Elizabeth's son Thomas could be Thomas of Norton Malreward.
7. Two free downloads (2 Oct 2026) [D]. The 1457 will of Richard Holbroke, merchant of Bristol: buried at St Stephen's, Bristol (diocese of Worcester); wife Margaret; "Richard my son and heir"; no land and no other Holbrookes named. The 1536 will of John Horssyngton of Corston: sons Richard, Giles, Thomas and William; no daughter named.
   • Source: TNA PROB 11/4/176 (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D968925); TNA PROB 11/25/610 (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D977319); transcribed in Holbrooke-PCC-Wills-1503-1617.md, sections 7 and 8
   • What it shows: Neither changes the line. The 1457 will is a dead end for the Somerset family. The Horsington will neither shows nor rules out that Edith was born a Horsington.
8. The Suffolk knights and "Sir Thomas" (1 Oct 2026) [T]. Family accounts (Lord 1942; Mollie's typescript) link the family to the de Holebrok knights of Holbrook, Suffolk, and call Thomas "son of Sir Thomas Holbrooke of Broadway." The Suffolk main line ended with daughters in 1376. Three people of the surname were already taxed in Somerset in 1327, none at Chew or Norton Malreward.
   • Source: Copinger, Manors of Suffolk, vols 3 and 6; Kirby's Quest (Somerset Record Society 3); early-holbrook-family-england.md, sections 5B, 7 and 8
   • What it shows: No record connects the Somerset Holbrookes to the Suffolk knights, and the "Sir Thomas" story has no source and conflicts with William's will. A separate, local origin of the surname is likelier.
9. Y-DNA (1 Oct 2026) [C]. The FamilyTreeDNA Holbrook project's group for Thomas of Weymouth's descendants (haplogroup J-FTD548) rests on two testers, probably second cousins, who match each other but no other Holbrooks; their closest matches are mostly Freemans. The project administrator has asked more distant cousins to test.
   • Source: https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/holbrook/about/results (administrator's write-up of 26 July 2025)
   • What it shows: The Holbrook Y-DNA signature is not yet confirmed. A male-line Holbrook descended from Richard Blackmer Holbrook would add a third, independent line.

Reasoning

William was born at Norton Malreward into the north Somerset Holbrooke family: about 95%. This rests on the 1617 deposition abstract, which fits every independent date (Compton Dando leases from 1577, a Glastonbury baptism for a son of William in 1598, his family in the Glastonbury register from 1603). [I]

William was a son of Thomas of Norton Malreward: about 85-90%. Same birthplace, same generation, same Compton Dando holding and years, and no other William of the right age and place is known. Thomas's other sons were too young to be his father. Davis (1945), writing without the deposition, had made William a grandson through John the younger; a birth about 1551-2 no longer fits that. [I]

Edith (a widow Sanders) as William's own mother rather than his stepmother: about 75%. Her will calls him "son" and leaves out Thomas's two eldest sons by an earlier wife, and Davis lists William among her children. Against: if Margery (baptised 1555) was the earlier wife's daughter, Edith married Thomas after 1555 and would be William's stepmother. [I]

Thomas of Norton Malreward's own parents are unknown, well below 50% for any specific link. Davis had abstracts of every Somerset Holbrooke will from 1457 to 1631 and still could not connect him to Roger of Chew, so the wills probably do not hold the link. The Chancery bill of 1533-1538 is the best remaining chance. [I]

Where it stands

Thomas the immigrant's father, William Holbrooke of Glastonbury (c. 1551-1625/6), is documented. William's parents are very probably Thomas Holbrooke of Norton Malreward (d. 1571/2), at about 85-90%, which meets the 80-85% standard these files use, and Edith, at about 75%. Edith's own family (a Horsington lead, and a Saunders lead for her first husband) and Thomas of Norton Malreward's parents are open. Two free will downloads made on 2 Oct 2026 are done; neither changed the line.

Next steps

• Free will downloads A3-A5: William Saunders of Chew Stoke, 1539/40 (PROB 11/28/50); Thomas Horsington of Corston, 1612 (PROB 11/119/416); Edward Saunders of Chew Stoke, 1591 (PROB 11/78/75) (To do). Where: The National Archives website, signed in to a free account. Cost: free. Why: William Saunders's son Thomas is a candidate for Edith's first husband. The Horsington and later Saunders wills may name Holbrooke or Sandes kin.
• Somerset Heritage Centre item B1: Edith's original will (D/D/ct/1/H/135), with William's 1617 deposition (probably D/D/cd/50) if it can be copied (To do). Where: Somerset Heritage Centre, Taunton (email somersetarchives@swheritage.org.uk with their Research and Copying Request Form). Cost: £44 an hour in 15-minute steps, minimum £22; the two short items may fit within the £22 minimum. Replies take about 10-12 weeks. Why: Not yet ordered. The original may describe her son William (for example "of Compton Dando"), name his children, or name her own kin. If it ties William to Glastonbury, the Thomas-to-William link would rise from 85-90% to the high 90s. The link already meets the 80-85% standard without it, so this would confirm rather than decide it. A copy of the deposition would confirm Spear's abstract.
• The rest of Somerset Heritage Centre batch B: Horsington accounts (D/D/cta/H/37), William's original will (D/D/ct/1/H/137), the Holbrooke will abstracts (DD/X/HBS/1), Compton Dando deeds (DD/BR/su/6) (Optional). Where: Somerset Heritage Centre, same request. Cost: £44-£88 for the whole batch (one or two hours of staff time). Why: William's will would settle who his overseers were (Lord and Davis differ). The abstracts include the Dundry wills and Elinor alias Hedges (1627), which bear on the generation above Thomas. Skip DD/X/HBS/1 if Davis's typescript at NEHGS (below) has the same abstracts.
• Chancery suit Ive v Holbroke, 1533-1538 (TNA C 1/833/14, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7482887) (To do). Where: The National Archives, "Order a copy" link (a page check, then a quote). Cost: £9.92 page check, then perhaps £12-£36 for images. Why: The bill should say how the Chew Stoke pasture came to Elizabeth and her son Thomas, and may name her late husband. The best chance at the generation above Thomas.
• Edith's 1565 Compton Dando lease (AC/D/26/8) and the Compton Dando surveys (AC/M/6, AC/M/11/13) (To do). Where: Bristol Archives (archives@bristol.gov.uk). Cost: quote on request. Why: Edith's own lease, and surveys that may list William's holding, with the lives named, before he left about 1598.
• Typescript "The Horsingtons of Corston, Pucklechurch, 1510-1673" (Acc/269/6) (To do). Where: Bath Record Office (archives@bathnes.gov.uk). Cost: quote on request. Why: May show whether Edith was born a Horsington.
• Walter Goodwin Davis's typescript Holbrook Records, England 1544-1698 (NEHGS call number G HOL 604), and Mss C 1374, four Holbrook family wills (To do). Where: NEHGS library, 97 Newbury Street, Boston (a family member in Boston could visit; email library@americanancestors.org about a week ahead). Cost: library entry by donation; manuscripts may need membership ($34.95 for 3 months). Why: Davis's own working file on the English Holbrookes. It may show how far he got above Thomas, and could make the SHC abstracts (DD/X/HBS/1) unnecessary.
• Y-DNA test by a male-line Holbrook descended from Richard Blackmer Holbrook (Optional). Where: FamilyTreeDNA Holbrook project. Cost: test fee. Why: Would show whether J-FTD548 is really Thomas of Weymouth's signature. It cannot reach the Suffolk knights, whose male line ended in 1376.

Research files: early-holbrook-family-england.md, Holbrook-Records-Order-List.md, Holbrook-Master-Family-Tree.md, Holbrooke-PCC-Wills-1503-1617.md.

The Holbrooks in New England: the two weakest steps

Status: Active. People: Capt. John Holbrook (John Holbrook); Deacon Elisha Holbrook (Elisha Holbrook); Capt. Gideon Holbrook (Gideon Holbrook).

From Thomas the immigrant down to Capt. Richard Blackmer Holbrook Sr. (1821-1894), every parent-child step is documented except two: Capt. John Holbrook (b. 1686) to Deacon Elisha Holbrook (b. 1716), and Elisha to Capt. Gideon Holbrook (c. 1765-1842). We are looking for a record that names each father. A smaller question: which of two Plymouth men named Gideon Holbrook was selectman (one of the town's governing board) in 1817-1820.

What has been found

1. The upper steps are documented (2 Oct 2026) [D]. Thomas's will (1668) names his "eldest son John." Capt. John's will of 12 July 1699, read in full, leaves "unto my Son John Holbrooke all my housing and Lands in the Township of Situate," half to "his now wife Abigail" while a widow, then to "my Grandson John Holbrook the Son of my sd Son John Holbrooke," who was to pay forty pounds "to the Six Daughters of my sd Son John Holbrooke." The Scituate records have "John, s. John, Nov. 19, 1686."
   • Source: Suffolk Probate 6:201 (Thomas); Suffolk Probate 14:111-113, docket 2547 (FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9Y5-4W1L and the next two images); Vital Records of Scituate to 1850 (NEHGS, 1909)
   • What it shows: This closes John (1618) to John (1650) to John (1686). It also shows that Samuel Deane's History of Scituate (1831) was wrong to make the Scituate John a son of Capt. William.
2. Elisha's birth at Scituate (1 Oct 2026) [D]. "Elisha, s. Jo[h]n Jr. and Sarah, May 25, 1716." John (b. 1686) had married Sarah Chittenden at Scituate on 3 May 1709.
   • Source: Vital Records of Scituate, Massachusetts, to 1850 (NEHGS, 1909)
   • What it shows: Elisha was born to the right John. The question is whether this Scituate-born Elisha is the Elisha later found at Eastham and Wellfleet on Cape Cod.
3. The family moves to Cape Cod (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Court records call John "of Hingham in the County of Suffolk now of Eastham in the County of Barnstable, Gent." (1738). Barnstable probate, 1749: administration (a court appointment to settle the estate of someone who left no will) on the estate of "Capt John Holbrook late of Eastham ... Gent Deceased," granted to his son "John Holbrook of Eastham ... Seafaring man." His sons John, Thomas and Ezekiel also appear at Eastham and Wellfleet. Daniel Mayo of Eastham's will (1754) names "Sarah the wife of Elisha Holbrook" and "Martha the wife of Ezekiel Holbrook."
   • Source: Suffolk County court records, 1734-1745; Barnstable County Probate, 1749; will of Daniel Mayo Sr., 8 Nov 1754, proved 29 Jan 1755 (all via FamilySearch full-text search)
   • What it shows: The Scituate John moved to Eastham and died there, his other sons settled there, and Elisha and Ezekiel married two Mayo sisters. This makes the Eastham Elisha very probably the Scituate-born son.
4. Mollie's route checked and rejected (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Mollie's typescript, following W. T. Davis, Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth (1899), made Elisha a son of "Eliphalet, son of Peter." The only known Eliphalet son of Peter was born 27 Feb 1691/2 and died at Bellingham, Mass., 19 Oct 1775; his children were born at Mendon and Bellingham, 1717-1736, and he deeded his Bellingham homestead in 1767.
   • Source: Davis (1899), Part II p. 135; Mendon and Bellingham records (Holbrook-Master-Family-Tree.md, Part Five)
   • What it shows: Nothing places that Eliphalet, or any son Elisha of his, on Cape Cod. Davis's own entry is muddled, listing the same sons under both Eliphalet and Elisha. Mollie and the records agree from Elisha downward.
5. Elisha's estate, 1779 (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Elisha died without a will before 11 June 1779. The probate papers call him "Deacon Elisha Holbrook late of Wellfleet." His widow Priscilla was made guardian of their minor children Daniel, Sarah, Joseph and Ezekiel, and "Eliphalet Holbrook of Wellfleet ... Yeoman" of the youngest, Jeremiah. No guardianship was found for Gideon, who would have been about 13 or 14.
   • Source: Barnstable County Probate, 1779-1780 (FamilySearch image https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YY-JY28 and related). Most of Barnstable County's early records burned in 1827; these papers survive.
   • What it shows: The papers name Elisha's younger children by his second wife but not Gideon, so they neither prove nor disprove him.
6. Gideon's age and birthplace (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Gideon's gravestone at Manomet Cemetery, Plymouth: "GIDEON HOLBROOK / Died / Jan. 23, 1842 / Æ. 76 Y'rs." (Æ., for aetatis, means "aged"). His daughter Mary's death record (1899) gives his birthplace as Wellfleet.
   • Source: Find a Grave memorial 40957263 (photograph read; the memorial's own "born 1786" misreads 76 as 56); Massachusetts death record, Mary Holbrook, 1899
   • What it shows: Gideon was born at Wellfleet between January 1765 and January 1766, while Elisha's first wife Sarah Mayo was living, which fits him as her son.
7. Gideon and Eliphalet in partnership (1 Oct 2026) [C]. On 20 Nov 1795 Eliphalet and Gideon Holbrook, "both of Plymouth ... Mariner[s]," sold "our Dwelling house" at Monument Ponds, which they had bought together, to Caleb Bartlett. They co-owned a schooner (with Jesse Harlow) in 1803-1804. (A Gideon was also master and co-owner of the schooner Endeavour with Eliphalet in 1809; that may be this Gideon or his nephew.) Gideon named sons Elisha and Eliphalet. Davis (1899) and Radasch (1973) both call Gideon a son of Elisha.
   • Source: Plymouth County Deeds; Ship Registers of the District of Plymouth (1939); Davis, Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth (1899); Radasch, The Thomas Clark Family (1973)
   • What it shows: Eliphalet (c. 1745-1815) was Elisha's eldest son. The long partnership and the sons' names point to Gideon as Eliphalet's brother, but no record yet states Gideon's father.
8. Elisha as deacon (2 Oct 2026) [I]. The Wellfleet precinct records give other deacons their title but call him plain "Elisha Holbrooks" in 1747 and 1760, and "Mr" in 1762. The Newcomb genealogy (1874) has "Priscilla, m. Dea. Elisha Holbrook, at Wellfleet, Nov. 19, 1771."
   • Source: Mayflower Descendant 11:75-76 and 13:212-217 (Wellfleet precinct records); Genealogical Memoir of the Newcomb Family (1874), no. 692
   • What it shows: He was probably chosen deacon between 1763 and 1771. The church's own records could give the date.
9. Which Gideon was selectman? (2 Oct 2026) [D]. Hurd's History of Plymouth County (1884) lists a Gideon Holbrook as Plymouth selectman in 1817, 1818, 1819 and 1820, and a Gideon Holbrook was the town's representative in 1819-20. A complaint of 1 March 1819 against Edward Doten, sail maker, is signed "Gideon Holbrook, James Spooner, Wm P. Ripley, Selectmen of Plymouth." Two Gideons lived in Plymouth then: Capt. Gideon (c. 1765-1842) and his nephew Gideon (1786-1868), son of Capt. Eliphalet, who was counted in 1820 as "Gideon Holbrook, Junior."
   • Source: Hurd (1884) (archive.org: historyofplymout00hurd); Massachusetts Pocket Almanack for 1820; Plymouth Probate Records 1818-1820 (FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L97D-8HMQ); 1820 census
   • What it shows: The 1819 signature has no "Jr.", but that alone does not settle which man it was.

Reasoning

John (1686) to Elisha: about 95%. The birth is documented; that the Scituate-born Elisha is the Eastham and Wellfleet deacon is inferred from his father's move to Eastham, his brothers' presence there, and the two Mayo marriages. (An earlier summary in the England file gave 85-90%; the later checks in the same file and the master tree put it at about 95%.) [I]

Elisha to Gideon: about 80-85%. It rests on two compiled genealogies plus four fits: a Wellfleet birth, a birth date during Elisha's first marriage, a long partnership with Elisha's son Eliphalet, and sons named Elisha and Eliphalet. No record yet names Gideon's father. [I]

The selectman question is open. It bears on Gideon's life story, not on the line of descent. [I]

Where it stands

Every step from Thomas to Richard Blackmer Holbrook Sr. is documented except John (1686) to Elisha, at about 95%, and Elisha to Gideon, at about 80-85%. Both rest partly on inference, and a single record naming the father would close each one. Which Gideon was selectman in 1817-1820 is not settled.

Next steps

• The rest of the 1749 administration file for Capt. John Holbrook of Eastham (inventory, accounts, any division naming his children) (To do). Where: FamilySearch, Barnstable County Probate images following the letter of administration. Cost: free. Why: A division or account naming Elisha as his son would close the John (1686) to Elisha step.
• The Mayflower Descendant vol. 29, p. 13 (index entry for Elisha and Sarah Holbrook), and the Holbrook entries in vols 26-34 (To do). Where: A library copy or AmericanAncestors.org (these volumes are not on archive.org). Cost: subscription or library visit. Why: The index suggests a record of Elisha and Sarah's children, which could be the first record naming Gideon's parents.
• Wellfleet First Congregational Church records, 1730-1786, and the Wellfleet town book of births from 1763 (To do). Where: FamilySearch (not reached by the full-text search so far). Cost: free. Why: The date Elisha was chosen deacon, and possibly a baptism or birth entry for Gideon.
• Eastham and Wellfleet deed copies naming Elisha's heirs, and any sale by Gideon of Wellfleet land or rights after 1779 (To do). Where: FamilySearch full-text search (Barnstable County's own deed books burned in 1827). Cost: free. Why: A deed by Gideon as one of Elisha's heirs would settle the Elisha to Gideon step.
• Plymouth town meeting records, 1817-1820 (To do). Where: FamilySearch. Cost: free. Why: Should show which Gideon was chosen selectman and representative.
• Places in Capt. John's (1618-1699) will not yet located: the "Phisical Spring" (a medicinal spring) in Weymouth, Kingman's neck, and his house in Boston; Chamberlain's History of Weymouth (1923) may help (Optional). Where: HathiTrust (Chamberlain, record 008882453, full view in a browser). Cost: free. Why: Life detail only; does not affect the line.
• Suggest a correction to Find a Grave memorial 40957263 (born about 1765, aged 76) (Optional). Where: Find a Grave. Cost: free. Why: Stops the wrong 1786 birth year spreading to other trees.

Research files: Holbrook-Master-Family-Tree.md, Holbrook_New_England_Life_Details.md, early-holbrook-family-england.md, Mayo_Line_Research.md.

Was Sally Ginn the daughter of Capt. James Ginn, and where did he come from?

Status: Parked. People: Capt. James Ginn (James Ginn); Thomas Genn (Thomas Genn); Cecilia (Sicely) (Sicely Genn).

Sally Ginn (b. 20 Feb 1784) married Rowland Tyler and was the mother of Hannah Read Tyler, Harriet (Low) Holbrook's mother. Mollie's typescript makes Sally a daughter of Capt. James Ginn of Orrington and Bucksport, Maine, and Ann Riggs; a 1912 Tyler genealogy names her father as "William H. Ginn." The whole Ginn, Riggs, Millett, Wheeler and Stanwood ancestry depends on which is right. A second question is whether Capt. James was the James Genn born in 1745 to Thomas Genn and Cecilia of the Choptank River, Maryland.

What has been found

1. The Tyler genealogy's version (1 Oct 2026) [C]. Rowland Tyler "married (1), March 28, 1804, Sally Ginn, born February 20, 1784; died March 12, 1834; daughter of William H. Ginn, a shipbuilder of Ellsworth, Maine."
   • Source: Brigham, The Tyler Genealogy (1912), vol. 1, pp. 220-221, no. 701
   • What it shows: A different father from Mollie's. Both give the same birth date.
2. Mollie's version (1 Oct 2026) [C]. Mollie's Ginn chart lists Sally (b. 20 Feb 1784) among the twelve children of Capt. James Ginn and Ann Riggs. WikiTree (Ginn-138) has "ix. Sally Genn; b. 20 Feb 1784 at Orrington," with no record cited.
   • Source: Mollie's typescript, pp. 165a-187; WikiTree Ginn-138
   • What it shows: The case for Capt. James as her father rests on compiled lists so far.
3. Capt. James's marriage and first children (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Gloucester, Mass.: "GENN, James [Geen. int.], and Anne Riggs, June 3, 1768." Children recorded there: James (3 Apr 1769), Anne (30 Apr 1771), Abraham (7 Jan 1773), Samuel (baptised 12 Mar 1775).
   • Source: Vital Records of Gloucester 1:277, 283 and 2:226, 452
   • What it shows: The family moved to the Penobscot River in Maine about 1775. No birth records have been found for the children born there, including Sally.
4. How many children? (1 Oct 2026) [C]. Rufus Buck's history of Bucksport (written by 1857): "He married Anne Riggs, of Gloucester, Mass., by whom he had six sons and six daughters. The only surviving child is William R. Ginn, who is extensively known as the best ship-builder on the river." A list of the children printed in 1888-89 (Porter) omits Sally.
   • Source: Bangor Historical Magazine 1:105 (Buck); 4:237-238 (Porter)
   • What it shows: Buck's "six sons and six daughters" adds up only if Sally is counted and the 1788 child was a daughter.
5. Ties between the Ginns and the Tylers (1 Oct 2026) [C]. Sally's sister Anna Ginn married Josiah Brewer in 1793, and Josiah's sister Lavinia married Ebenezer Tyler, Rowland's brother, in 1799.
   • Source: Bangor Historical Magazine, vol. 1
   • What it shows: The two families were already connected before Rowland married Sally, which fits her being Capt. James's daughter.
6. From Maryland (1 Oct 2026) [C]. Buck: "Capt. James Ginn came to Orrington, from Maryland, in 1775." A death notice: "April, in Bucksport, Capt. James Ginn, aged 71" (1818). He was commissioned 2d Lieutenant in Col. Josiah Brewer's Penobscot regiment on 20 July 1776.
   • Source: Bangor Historical Magazine 1:105 and 6:157; Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War 6:472
   • What it shows: Points to a Maryland birth about 1746-47 but does not name his parents.
7. Thomas Genn of the Choptank River (1 Oct 2026) [C]. NEHGR (1880): "Thomas Genn ... the father of Samuel, Thomas, James and Josiah Genn, was located in Caroline Co., Md., on East bank of Choptank River, on a plantation called 'Cape Ann.' ... He died about 1769." A family study (The Genn Family of Canada, drawing on an 1883 history by Rev. Nathan Genn) gives Thomas b. 14 Mar 1718, a shipbuilder, married about 1743 "Sicely Stewart," died 1767 or 1768 with Sicely as administratrix; son James b. 4 Oct 1745; and 1771 deeds by "James Genn, eldest son of Thomas Genn." The study says itself that it does "not provide direct documentary proof" that this James is the Maine captain.
   • Source: NEHGR 26 (1872): 196 and 34 (1880): 199-200; David Genn et al., The Genn Family of Canada (rootsweb), chapters 4-6
   • What it shows: A reasonable circumstantial case for Capt. James's father, from compiled sources only.
8. The surveyor and George Washington (1 Oct 2026) [T]. A family tradition (Upton, 1963) says a Ginn "taught George Washington to survey." The surveyor James Genn did lead the 1748 survey party that the young Washington joined.
   • Source: Upton (1963), p. 103; Washington Papers editors (as summarised in Tyler_Ginn_Line_Research.md)
   • What it shows: Leading the 1748 survey is documented; "taught" is only a possibility. No source makes the surveyor a direct ancestor; at most he was an uncle or great-uncle, and even that is unproven.

Reasoning

Sally's father: Capt. James is the better fit. No "William H. Ginn of Ellsworth" has been found in any record. The name looks like a garbled form of William R. Ginn, Capt. James's son and the Bucksport shipbuilder, who was born in 1786 and so could not be the father of a child born in 1784. Buck's count of twelve children works only if Sally is included. [I]

Until a record names her father, the Ginn, Riggs, Millett, Wheeler and Stanwood ancestry in the tree is provisional. [I]

Capt. James's Maryland origin is a reasonable circumstantial case (age, repeated family names, Buck's "from Maryland"), but no primary record links the Gloucester and Maine James to the Maryland family. His mother is probably Cecilia (Sicely), though Rev. Nathan Genn suggested the children were by an earlier wife, perhaps a Sarah; the maiden name "Stewart" has no source. [I]

Where it stands

Sally Ginn's father is unresolved. Capt. James Ginn is the likelier answer, but no record yet says so. Capt. James's father is probably Thomas Genn of the Choptank River, Maryland, on compiled sources only. The story that the family "taught George Washington" is unproven, and the surveyor James Genn was at most a collateral relative.

Next steps

• The marriage intention (notice of intended marriage) of Rowland Tyler and Sally Ginn, 25 Feb 1804, and the marriage record (To do). Where: Bucksport town records. Cost: free to search where online; otherwise a quote. Why: One of the two records the files name as able to settle her parentage.
• Probate of Capt. James Ginn (1818), and Hancock County deeds 1800-1818 (To do). Where: Hancock County Registry of Probate and Registry of Deeds, Ellsworth, Maine. Cost: free to search where online; otherwise a quote. Why: A probate naming Sally Tyler, or her children, as heirs would settle who her father was.
• Orrington town records of the Ginn children's births, 1776-1790, especially Sally on 20 Feb 1784 (To do). Where: Orrington town records. Cost: free to search where online; otherwise a quote. Why: A birth entry would name her parents.
• Thomas Genn's estate administration, about 1767-1769 (Sicely as administratrix), and the Caroline and Dorchester County deeds of 26 Jan and 7 Mar 1771 (Optional). Where: Maryland State Archives (Prerogative Court and Testamentary Proceedings; county land records). Cost: quote. Why: Should name Thomas's heirs. The 1771 deeds may give the seller James's residence as Gloucester, which would tie the Maryland James to our Capt. James.

Research files: Tyler_Ginn_Line_Research.md, Mollie_Typescript_Review.md.

Who were Mary (Foster) Thompson's parents?

Status: Parked. People: Mary Foster (Mary Foster); Thomas Thompson (Thomas Thompson); Rebecca Thompson (rebecca-thompson-d1836).

Mary Foster (c. 1745-1836) married Thomas Thompson at Roxbury in 1765, and they settled at Deer Isle, Maine. Their daughter Rebecca married Major Nathan Low, Harriet (Low) Holbrook's grandfather. Mollie's typescript makes Mary a daughter of John Foster and his wife Jane, and builds a long Boston ancestry above them (Foster, Kneeland, Payson, Bate, Bigg, Briscoe, Hawkins). That whole branch rests on this one link, which the records have not confirmed.

What has been found

1. Mary's marriage (1 Oct 2026) [D]. "Foster ... Mary, and Thomas Thompson, Oct. 28, 1765," Roxbury.
   • Source: Vital Records of Roxbury 2:153 (also 2:394 under Thompson)
   • What it shows: She married at Roxbury, among Foster families, not "in Boston or Dorchester" as Mollie has it.
2. Her age and her brother (1 Oct 2026) [C]. Hosmer's history of Deer Isle (1886): "1836, Mrs. Thompson, widow of Thomas Thompson, aged 91," so she was born about 1744-45. He also says Thomas Thompson's wife "was the sister of Mr. William Foster," and that William Foster of Deer Isle came from Dedham.
   • Source: G. L. Hosmer, Historical Sketch of Deer Isle (1886), pp. 47, 218 (archive.org: historicalsketch00hosm)
   • What it shows: A brother named William is the best clue to her family.
3. Mollie's parents for her (1 Oct 2026) [C]. Mollie makes Mary a daughter of John Foster (1722-1760) and Jane, and repeats a story that Mary was "half French and Indian," which Mollie herself rejects.
   • Source: Mollie's typescript, pp. 110-134
   • What it shows: The claim to be tested. Nothing supports the "French and Indian" story; everything found places Mary among English Congregational families at Roxbury.
4. John and Jane married in 1750 (1 Oct 2026) [D]. John Foster married Jane Lindsey at Boston on 20 Apr 1750 (intention 9 Apr 1750, "Jane Linsey"). Their children recorded at Roxbury: Samuel 1751, William 1753, Jane 1755, and Martha 1760, entered as "d. John [deceased July 6. C. R. 1.], and Jane."
   • Source: Boston Record Commissioners 28:287, 344 (image checked); Vital Records of Roxbury 1:134-135
   • What it shows: Mary, born about 1745, cannot be a child of this marriage.
5. John's estate and the guardianships (1 Oct 2026) [D]. The Suffolk Probate index has an administration for John Foster in 1760 (no. 12403), and guardianships in 1773 for his children John (15400), Martha (15401) and Jane (15599). No Mary appears in the Roxbury births or among the 1773 guardianships. Mollie cites an estate division as "Lib. 73, fol. 14."
   • Source: Suffolk County Probate index (documents not yet read)
   • What it shows: The division of John's estate has not been read. If Mary was his daughter by an earlier wife, it is the record most likely to name her.
6. William Foster of Deer Isle (1 Oct 2026) [I]. A William Foster married Mary Draper at Roxbury on 11 June 1778. Mollie takes him to be John and Jane's son William (b. 1753) and the William Foster of Deer Isle who, Hosmer says, came from Dedham and was Mrs. Thompson's brother. The marriage is documented; that these Williams are one man is an inference.
   • Source: Vital Records of Roxbury; Hosmer (1886)
   • What it shows: If so, Mary was at least a half-sister of John and Jane's son William.
7. Other possibilities checked (1 Oct 2026) [D]. No marriage of a John Foster in 1743-46 was found at Boston or Roxbury. A Boston intention of John Foster and Elizabeth Woods, 14 Nov 1747, is too late. A Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary Foster, was born at Dorchester on 2 Feb 1741/2, but she would have been 94 in 1836, not 91.
   • Source: Boston and Roxbury vital records; Dorchester records
   • What it shows: No earlier wife of John Foster, and no other good candidate for Mary, has turned up yet.
8. The generation above John (1 Oct 2026) [C]. That John Foster was born in 1722, son of Samuel Foster (periwig-maker) and Rachel Kneeland, rests only on Pierce's Foster genealogy: "JOHN, b. in 1722; m. Jane." No birth or baptism record was found.
   • Source: Pierce, Foster Genealogy, p. 539
   • What it shows: Even if Mary is John's daughter, the next step up is compiled, not documented.

Reasoning

Mary was born about five years before John and Jane married, and she is missing from the Roxbury births and the 1773 guardianships, so Mollie's pairing cannot be right as it stands. [I]

She could be John's daughter by an earlier, unidentified wife, which would make her William's half-sister and fit Hosmer's word "sister." Or she belongs to another Foster family altogether. Neither is proven. [I]

Everything in the Foster branch above Mary depends on this link and on the John-to-Samuel link, which rests on one compiled source. [I]

Where it stands

Mary (Foster) Thompson's parents are not proved. Mollie's John and Jane Foster cannot both be her parents, since they married when she was about five. She may be John's daughter by an earlier wife. Until a record names her parents, the Foster ancestry above her is provisional.

Next steps

• Suffolk Probate no. 12403 (John Foster, 1760), with its division (Mollie's "Lib. 73, fol. 14"), and the 1773 guardianships nos. 15400, 15401 and 15599 (To do). Where: FamilySearch (Suffolk County probate images). Cost: free. Why: A division naming "Mary Thompson," or Thomas Thompson on her behalf, as an heir would prove she was John's daughter.
• Mary's baptism, about 1744-45, in the Roxbury First Church records (To do). Where: Roxbury First Church records. Cost: free to search where online. Why: A baptism would name her father.
• A first marriage of John Foster, about 1743-45 (To do). Where: Massachusetts town records beyond Boston and Roxbury (both already searched). Cost: free to search where online. Why: Would identify Mary's mother if she was John's daughter by an earlier wife.
• Typescript "A true copy of the most ancient vital records of Deer Isle ... abt 1757-1833" (Optional). Where: Geneanet. Cost: free or Geneanet subscription. Why: For the Thompson children, the 1792 Low marriage and Rebecca's birth.

Research files: Low_Line_Research.md, Mollie_Typescript_Review.md.

Where in England did Thomas Low come from?

Status: Parked. People: Thomas Low (Thomas Low); Margaret Tod (Margaret Tod).

Thomas Low (c. 1605-1677), maltster of Chebacco in Ipswich, Massachusetts, heads the Low line that leads to Harriet (Low) Holbrook. Family accounts say he came from Polstead or Boxford in Suffolk and married Margaret Tod there in 1630; Mollie's typescript also makes his father Capt. John Lowe of the Winthrop Fleet ship Ambrose. We want to know whether the Suffolk records are really his.

What has been found

1. His age (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Thomas Low deposed (gave sworn evidence) on 25 Sept 1660 "aged about 55."
   • Source: Essex County Court Files 5:80, abstracted by William G. Low, A Genealogical Quest (1908)
   • What it shows: Born about 1605.
2. Rev. Nathaniel Rogers's company (1 Oct 2026) [D]. An Ipswich grant of 6 Apr 1641 mentions "ten acres due to him by grant unto Mr. Rogers company." Rev. Nathaniel Rogers and his company arrived in New England in November 1636 (Winthrop's journal).
   • Source: Ipswich land grant of 6 Apr 1641 (as quoted in Low_Line_Research.md); Winthrop's journal
   • What it shows: He probably came over with Rogers's company in 1636.
3. Death and will (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Thomas Low died 8 Sept 1677. His will of April 1677 names his wife Susannah and children Thomas, Margaret (m. Daniel Davison), John (m. 1661 Sarah Thorndike) and Sarah (m. Joseph Safford). Rev. Thomas Cobbet's will (about 1685) mentions "Malt at old Goodman Lowe's malt house."
   • Source: Ipswich Vital Records 2:625; will abstract in Merriam (1901), p. 14; Hammatt, p. 56
   • What it shows: Susannah was a second wife. His first wife is not named in any Ipswich record.
4. The Suffolk parish entries (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Polstead register: "Thos. Lowe & Margaret Tod married 22 June 1630." Groton: Thomas, son of Thomas and Margaret Lowe, baptised 8 May 1631. Boxford: John, son of Thomas and Margaret, baptised 2 Mar 1633.
   • Source: Polstead, Groton and Boxford (Suffolk) parish registers, as quoted in the Low genealogies (images not yet seen)
   • What it shows: A Thomas and Margaret Lowe with sons Thomas and John, the names of two of the Ipswich children.
5. The identification (1 Oct 2026) [C]. William G. Low and V. B. Redstone both call the identification of the Polstead Thomas with the Ipswich man "a probability."
   • Source: Wm. G. Low, A Genealogical Quest (1908); V. B. Redstone
   • What it shows: A careful compiled judgment, not a proof. No record found ties the Polstead couple to Ipswich.
6. A conflicting age for the son (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Deacon Thomas Low died 12 Apr 1712, "a. 80 y." by his gravestone, which fits the Groton baptism of 1631. But a 1676 deposition gives "Thomas Low, jr., aged about thirty-six," which would put his birth about 1640.
   • Source: Ipswich Vital Records 2:625; Essex Quarterly Court records 6:159
   • What it shows: One record fits the Groton baptism and one does not.
7. The Ambrose story (1 Oct 2026) [T]. Mollie's typescript says Thomas's father was Capt. John Lowe of the Ambrose, a ship of the Winthrop Fleet (1630). The source is a statement by Capt. Winthrop Low to Rev. Robert Crowell. William G. Low, who looked hardest, concluded "probably not."
   • Source: Mollie's typescript, pp. 70-72; Wm. G. Low, A Genealogical Quest (1908)
   • What it shows: No evidence supports it.

Reasoning

The Suffolk entries fit in names (sons Thomas and John) and in time (married 1630; in Ipswich by 1641 with a company that sailed in 1636). Against that, no record links the Polstead couple to Ipswich, and the 1676 deposition age of Thomas Jr. does not fit a 1631 baptism. [I]

The files give no percentage for this link. It stands as a compiled "probability." [I]

Where it stands

Thomas Low of Ipswich (c. 1605-1677) is well documented in New England. That he was the Thomas Lowe who married Margaret Tod at Polstead, Suffolk, in 1630 is a probability, not proven. The tradition that his father was Capt. John Lowe of the Ambrose is unsupported.

Next steps

• Edward E. Steele, "Descendants of Thomas Low, the Immigrant to Ipswich ... for Three Generations," NEHGR 174 (2020) (To do). Where: AmericanAncestors.org, or a library that holds the Register. Cost: subscription (not yet seen). Why: The most recent scholarly account. It may settle the Polstead and Groton identification, and who his second wife Susannah was.

Research files: Low_Line_Research.md, Mollie_Typescript_Review.md.

Was Mercy Ellis born a Nye?

Status: Parked. People: Mercy [Nye?] (Mercy Ellis); Benjamin Nye (Benjamin Nye).

Lt. Matthias Ellis of Sandwich (1657-1748), a grandson of Edmund Freeman, married a woman named Mercy. Published genealogies identify her as Mercy Nye (b. 1652), daughter of Benjamin Nye and Katherine Tupper, which would add the Nye and Tupper families to the tree. No primary record yet gives her maiden name.

What has been found

1. Her first name (30 Sept 2026) [D]. The Sandwich register records nine children "of Matthias Ellis and Mercy Ellis his wife," born 1679/80 to 1699, beginning with Joel (17 Jan 1679/80), the next ancestor in the line.
   • Source: Kardell, Vital Records of Sandwich 1:33-34; McLean, NEHGR 119:265-266
   • What it shows: His wife was Mercy. The "Mary Burgess" of the Freeman Genealogy (1875) and later trees is wrong; that name probably drifted over from his brother Manoah's wife Mary.
2. A Mercy Nye of the right age (1 Oct 2026) [D]. "Benjamin Nye and Katherne Tupper marryed the xixth october 1640." "Mercy Nie the daughter of Beniamen Nie was borne the 8th of Aprill" 1652.
   • Source: Sandwich vital records; Plymouth Colony Records 1:153
   • What it shows: A Mercy Nye was born in Sandwich at the right time to marry Matthias about 1678.
3. The published identification (1 Oct 2026) [C]. Brownson and McLean, in their article on Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis, identify Matthias's wife as Mercy Nye. The earlier Genealogy of the Nye Family (1907), p. 30, says the same without a source, and its list of her children has several errors.
   • Source: Brownson and McLean, NEHGR 119 (1965): 262, 265-266 (not read directly; known from Pane-Joyce and other citations); Genealogy of the Nye Family (1907), p. 30
   • What it shows: The identification rests mainly on one article we have not yet read.
4. Weak supporting links (1 Oct 2026) [C]. Matthias Ellis Jr. witnessed the will of John Nye (Mercy's putative brother), proved 1722, and a later Nye will mentions woodland bought "of Mathias Ellis and William Bassett."
   • Source: Freeman_Ellis_Line_Research.md, section 13.3
   • What it shows: The families dealt with each other, which fits a family tie but does not prove one.
5. A deed that may point the other way (1 Oct 2026) [C]. WikiTree's summary of a deed of 9 June 1704 has Benjamin Nye giving his lands to his son Jonathan "in exchange for keeping himself, his wife Katherine and daughter Mercy in their infirmity."
   • Source: WikiTree summary only; Barnstable County's own deed books burned in 1827
   • What it shows: A daughter Mercy still dependent on her parents in 1704 fits badly with a wife whose husband lived until 1748, unless the deed actually reads "daughter Mercy Ellis."
6. Matthias's will (1 Oct 2026) [D]. Will of 30 Nov 1744, proved 4 Oct 1748: to "my Loveing wife Mercy" the use of part of the house and "the Little Orchard"; executors "my said wife Mercy and my said son Malachi." Administration was granted to "Mercy Ellis & Mallack Ellis Executors" on 4 Oct 1748.
   • Source: Barnstable Probate (FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YB-793Z and 793P)
   • What it shows: Mercy was living in October 1748. The will does not give her maiden name.
7. Other Mercys (1 Oct 2026) [I]. Three other Sandwich girls named Mercy were born in 1650-52 (Mercy Wing, Mercy Wright, Mercy Lander). Matthias's brother Freeman Ellis also married a Mercy, so later "Mercy Ellis" entries are ambiguous. None of Matthias and Mercy's nine children was given a Nye family name.
   • Source: Sandwich vital records (Freeman_Ellis_Line_Research.md, section 13.3)
   • What it shows: Mercy Nye is not the only candidate.

Reasoning

Probable, not proven. The case rests on Brownson and McLean (1965) and the 1907 Nye genealogy, with some weak supporting links. The 1704 deed summary and the other Sandwich Mercys are the reasons for doubt. The files give no percentage. [I]

Where it stands

Lt. Matthias Ellis's wife was Mercy, and she was living in 1748. That she was Mercy Nye, daughter of Benjamin Nye and Katherine Tupper, is probable but unproven, and the tree marks the Nye and Tupper link that way.

Next steps

• Brownson and McLean, "Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis of Sandwich," NEHGR 119-120 (1965-66), read directly (To do). Where: AmericanAncestors.org. Cost: subscription. Why: The main source for the Nye identification; it should show what evidence they used.
• The exact wording of Benjamin Nye's deed to his son Jonathan, 9 June 1704 (To do). Where: A later recorded copy, or the Nye Family Association's transcript (the original county deed books burned in 1827). Cost: unknown until a copy is found. Why: If it reads "daughter Mercy Ellis," it supports the Nye identification; if it describes an unmarried daughter, it argues against it.

Research files: Freeman_Ellis_Line_Research.md, Freeman_Ellis_Master_Family_Tree.md.

Planned: the McMillan line

Status: Planned.

Frances's mother was Lucille M. McMillan (1905-1996), who married Richard Clifford Holbrook in May 1927 at San Jose, California. Her ancestry has not yet been researched.

What has been found

1. Lucille and her marriage () [C]. Lucille M. McMillan, 1905-1996, married Richard Clifford Holbrook in May 1927 at San Jose. The family history book calls her "Lucille McMillan of Tacoma," and Frances was born in Tacoma on 26 July 1931.
   • Source: Family records; Holbrook-Master-Family-Tree.md (Part Two, last entry); Molata-First-Edition-v1.3-Final-Text.md ("Down to us")
   • What it shows: The starting point: a Tacoma family, by 1927 at the latest.
2. Family tradition () [T]. Frances recalls that the McMillans were of Scottish ancestry and that there was "some kind of pharmacist" in the family.
   • Source: Frances Fairchild Holbrook, passed on by the page's author
   • What it shows: Leads to test, not yet checked against any record.

Reasoning

Nothing about the McMillans has been checked against records yet. [I]

Where it stands

Not yet researched. What we have is Lucille's name, dates and marriage, a Tacoma connection, and the family tradition of Scottish ancestry and a pharmacist.

Next steps

• Lucille's marriage record, May 1927, San Jose (To do). Where: Santa Clara County records (search FamilySearch first). Cost: free to search; certified copies carry a county fee. Why: California marriage records of that period usually give the parents' names and birthplaces, the first step back.
• Lucille and her parents in the 1910-1940 censuses and Tacoma city directories (To do). Where: FamilySearch and other online census indexes. Cost: free. Why: Would identify her parents' household, birthplaces and occupations, which would also test the pharmacist story.

Research files: Holbrook-Master-Family-Tree.md, Molata-First-Edition-v1.3-Final-Text.md.