John Holbrook
Settled at Scituate on a farm left him by his father, John Holbrook. Probably born at Weymouth about 1650, and possibly a son of Elizabeth Stream, he married Abigail Pierce and was the father of John Holbrook, born in 1686. He died at Scituate in 1731, aged 81.
Life
- c. 1650
- 1671Married Abigail Pierce1671compiledprobable
- 1731Died
- —BuriedScituate, Massachusetts, beside his wife Abigail
Scituate VR 2:397, from the gravestones.
documentedproven
Family
- Father
- John Holbrookdocumentedproven
- Mother
- Elizabeth Stream
Born about 1650, during Capt. John's marriage to Elizabeth Stream (c. 1645-1688); his first wife died in 1643/4. The link rests on that timing, from the Holbrook master tree; no record names his mother, so it stays possible until one is found (Oct 2026). Mollie's typescript does not name her: it follows another descent, through Peter and Eliphalet.
inferredpossibleSources
- Reasoning:
research/holbrook/Holbrook-Master-Family-Tree.md
- Reasoning:
- Spouse
- Abigail Piercedocumentedproven
Pedigree
Notes
The Scituate farmer of the family: he settled at Scituate on a farm his father left him. Named in his father’s will (1699) as “my son John who has a wife Abigail.”
The will, read on FamilySearch, settles his parentage. It leaves “my Son John Holbrooke all my housing and Lands in the Township of Situate which I purchased of Mr Loring [and] Mr John Saffin,” half of it afterwards to “his now wife Abigail” during her widowhood, and then all of it to “my Grandson John Holbrook the Son of my sd Son John Holbrooke,” who was to pay £40 “to the Six Daughters of my sd Son John Holbrooke.” It also remembers “my Grand Daughter Elizabeth the Wife of James Smith” and “my Grand Daughter Abigail Porter” (Suffolk Probate 14:111-113). Deane (1831) made the Scituate John a son of Capt. William Holbrook, Thomas’s younger son; the will shows that is wrong.
His father-in-law, Capt. Michael Pierce, was killed in the ambush near Pawtucket on 26 Mar 1676. No record of his own service in King Philip’s War was found (inferred).
The Plymouth court of June 1679, fining Scituate card players: “John Holbrooke, for playing att cards once in the woods, himselfe haueing comand there,” £1; “His man, Patricke, att the same time,” 10s; himself again “once in Gannetts chamber” and “once in the barne”; ten shillings of his fines were later abated (PCR 6:15-16). In 1686 Capt. John Williams won a debt case against him, and on 2 June 1691 he was admitted a freeman of Plymouth Colony (PCR 6:199, 262).
He lived to 81 and Abigail to 77; they are buried side by side at Scituate (Scituate VR 2:397, from the gravestones). Their children: Thomas (1671/2, d. young), Elizabeth (1672/3, m. James Smith), Abigail (1675, m. ___ Porter), Experience (1677, m. Robert Gowels), Hannah (1678/9, m. Josiah Turner), Sarah (1680), Deborah (1683, m. Joseph Briggs) and John (1686).
Connections
- In his ancestry
- 7 notable connections →
Every notable ancestor and famous relative that John's own ancestors lead to, with the lines drawn down to him.
- Small world