General Notes

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BIOGRAPHY
Thomas and Sarah Follansbee lived in Portsmouth, England from 1665 to 1671.  At some time prior to 1677 they came to Newbury, Massachusetts with four of their children - Thomas, Francis, Hannah and Sarah.  The two elder daughters must have come on another ship very shortly thereafter, for Rebecca married Thomas Chase in November of that year. Anne married Moses Chase, the youngest brother of Thomas, seven years later.
[BO:[UL:The Follansbee Fami ly:UL]:BO]
The first recorded mention of the name Follansbee was a knight by  the name of Sir Follansbee who accompanied William the Conqueror from Normandy to England in 1066.  The Follansbee coat of arms is a beehive and a swarm of bees.  The name originated from Followingbees, Followbees, Follansbee.  A grea t estate of 702 acres was given to him by Wm. the Conqueror in the county of Durham, where Follansbee Hall was later built and maintained by the heirs and d escendants.  There is now a village by the name of Follansbee which became established on the estate grounds, located near the town of Durham.  In the end, one of these descendants had a quarrel with his 3 or 4 sons who left home never to return.  When the father died, no heir could be found so the government took it into their hands.
In 1750 the land came into the possession of three men, recorded as Redhead, Esq., Mathew Russell, Esq. of Browspith Castle, and Thomas Wade, Esq.  This transfer of entitlement has long been held in dispute  by many descendants of the Follansbee clan in England and America, who learned of its passing out of the family several years after the fact.

In the early 1850's and 1860's an earnest case was pursued by a consortium of Follansbee hei rs to reclaim the family estate, but to no
avail. Several legal documents wer e revealed in the effort to obtain information about the above questioned estate.  Among these was a will noted in London, England on 16 March 1619 from William Follansbee to his wife, Frances and his brother, Robert of all the goods, chattels, effects and credits of the said William Follansbee, and an inventory was annexed to the bond of administration.  Also, a Thomas Follansbee, by his will dated at Rockwood Hill, in the Parish of Hasten, April 12th, 1630, beq ueathed several legacies to his children Robert, Henry, John, William, Grace, Alice, and William Hodgeson, and all other effects to his wife, Margaret, who he appointed sole executrix to this will.  The will of Robert Follansbee, date d 12 April 1676 bequeathed legacies to his son George and his daughter Jane. George Follansbee also left a will dated 16 June 1690, bequeathing his honorable furniture , &c, and appointing Anna Wilkinson executrix.

A certain Thomas and William Follansbee are said to have come to America from Derbyshire, Engla nd in 1642.  William returned to England and became a stockholder in the East India Company, and went to India in the employ of the company, where he was very successful.  His relation to the American branch of the Follansbee family is not clearly established.

The first record of the Follansbee name in the American colonies was from "Thomas Follansbee, of Newbury, to one Stephen Greenle af,
Feb. 16th, 1690, half of 5 acres, it being the rate lot."   It seems that he had bought land, but his deed or deeds were not put upon
record.  The seco nd deed was to "Thomas Follansbee from Moses Chase, his brother-in-law, November 21st, 1698, in the tenth year of his
majesty's reign."  The third deed found was from "Thomas Huse, Thomas Bancroft, wives and others, to Thomas Follansbee, Dec. 14th, 1700; the rate lot, 11 acres; the year of the reign of King Wil liam, the Third."

Thomas Follansbee is said to have lived at Portsmouth from 1665 to 1671, at which time he moved to Newbury, Massachusetts. There is
record of a deed of Thomas Follansbee to his son-in-law, Thomas Chase in 1711.

Thomas Follansbee's occupation was described in old records as a "joiner" or carpenter. He finished the Portsmouth church and schoolhouse, where he is first recorded as living in New England. In 1671 he moved from Great Island to Strawberry Bank where he rented a house from Abraham Corbett. The Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire describes his experience there as follows, "when Mr. Henry Dering, also removing to Strawberry Bank, hired the same house under a better title, whereupon the sheriffs turned Thomas Follansbee out without notice in the depth of winter with no habitation provided for his wife and many small children." He moved from Portsmouth to Newbury, MA about 1677.310  In 1711, Thomas Follansbee, "joiner" sold his homestead in Newbury to his son-in-law Thomas Chase, house carpenter. Chase in turn sold the same property to his son Aquila in 1713.