General Notes

Thomas Holbrook was born about 1590, the son of William Holbrook.  It is believed he had six siblings:  Joane, Basell, John, Elizabeth, Rebecca and William.  He married Jane Powyes September 12, 1616 at St. John the Baptist parish church in Glastonbury, Somersetshire, England.

Thomas came from Broadway, County Somersetshire England.  He and wife Jane with four sons and daughters aged 11 to 1 year sailed from Weymouth on or near 20 Mar 1634/5 on the ship "Marygold" with Rev. Joseph Hull's Company of families who were going to settle together in New England to form a town.  They came ashore at Dorchester the 7th of June 1635, remained a "fortnight" and then they went to the place now called Weymouth and built a house, etc.

    The family settled in the northern part of Weymouth on the Tide-water.  Ten acres were granted to Thomas in the first division, and 30 acres in the second, in that part of Weymouth called "Old Spain."  They lived next door to Thomas' sister Rebecca and her husband Clement Weaver.  Thomas was a grantee of Rehoboth, Massachusetts in 1643 although he forfeited the grant two years later by remaining at Weymouth.  He owned the salt meadows at Kingman's Neck.

Thomas  was made a freeman of the Massachusetts Bay Company in May 1645 and served as selectman at Weymouth six times (1641-1654).  In 1649 he was appointed a member of a commission to lay out a highway from Weymouth to Dorchester.  Thomas made a statement November 7, 1666, giving his age as 77 years. 

His will reads "being sick and weak" he made his will on 31 Dec 1668 and divides his goods between children and grandchildren.  He stated his grandson Peter had been "serving him and his wife in their old age for about 8 yrs for which he was to have his dwelling in Weymouth with orchard and arable land." But he did not die until 1675.  He owned 40 A. in Weymouth in 1663. Children living when he died:  John b. 1622, Thomas b. 1624, William b. 1627, Anne b. 1629, Elizabeth b. 1633, & Jane b. 1656.

Thomas and Jane became ancestors of Presidents GARFIELD, BUSH and TAFT (the latter through three lines).

Citations

   1. [S1298] Dorothy C. and Gerald E. Knoff, Thirty-One English Emigrants Who Came To New England By 1662 (Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press, 1989), pg. 124. Hereinafter cited as 31 Emigrants.
   2. [S1003] C.B., LL.D., Ulster King of Arms 1853-1892 Sir Bernard Burke, compiler, Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry Including American Families with British Ancestry (London, England: Burkes Peerage Limited, 1939), pg. 2745. Hereinafter cited as B:LG.
   3. [S441] Kinnexions.com, by Stephen M. Lawson, online http://kinnexions.com/index.htm. Hereinafter cited as Kinnexions.com.
   4. [S1003] C.B., LL.D., Ulster King of Arms 1853-1892 Sir Bernard Burke, B:LG, pg. 2745, "1601".
   5. [S1298] Dorothy C. and Gerald E. Knoff, 31 Emigrants, pg. 124 - the mistaken age (born 1601) stems from a mistake made on the ships list..
   6. [S1298] Dorothy C. and Gerald E. Knoff, 31 Emigrants, pg. 127.
   7. [S832] Parish Register Copies in the Library of the Society of Genealogists as of December 1994 (or Not), online http://www.sog.org.uk/prc/index.html, yes: GLASTONBURY, St Benedict 1607-63 Ext 1670-1805 [17,87]; St John 1597/8 Ext 1653-1796 [17,87]. Hereinafter cited as Parish Register Copies at the SOG, or not.
   8. [S260] M.S. George Walter Chamberlain History of Weymouth, Massachusetts, I - IV (32 Derne Street, Boston: Wright and Potter Printing Company, 1923), Vol I - pg. 72-75. Hereinafter cited as Weymouth History.
   9. [S260] M.S. George Walter Chamberlain Weymouth History, Vol I - pg. 73.
  10. [S260] M.S. George Walter Chamberlain Weymouth History, Vol 3 - pg. 268.
  11. [S260] M.S. George Walter Chamberlain Weymouth History, Vol 1, pg. 174.
  12. [S260] M.S. George Walter Chamberlain Weymouth History, Vol 1, pg. 199.
  13. [S803] William Richard Cutter
      New England Families Genealogical and Memorial: Third Series, Vol I-IV (New York: ., 1915), Vol 1., pg. 108. Hereinafter cited as NEFGM.
  14. [S1003] C.B., LL.D., Ulster King of Arms 1853-1892 Sir Bernard Burke, B:LG, pg. 2745, "1677".
  15. [S1298] Dorothy C. and Gerald E. Knoff, 31 Emigrants, pg. 125.
  16. [S260] M.S. George Walter Chamberlain Weymouth History, Vol 3 - pg. 270.
  17. [S803] William Richard Cutter
      NEFGM, Vol I, pg. 108.
  18. [S245] LDS, online http://www.familysearch.org/, LDS (.).
  19. [S260] M.S. George Walter Chamberlain Weymouth History, Vol I - pg. 74.
  20. [S819] Elizabeth French, "Hatch," in English Origins of New England Families, 1500s-1800s, From the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., Series 1, Vol I-III, 1984; Series 2, Vol I-III, 1985). Hereinafter cited as "EO: Hatch".
  21. [S111] Frederick A. Virkus, First Families of America, the Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy, The Standard Genealogical Encyclopedia of The First Families of America (440-442 S. Dearborn Street Chicago, IL: F. A. Virkus & Co. Genealogical Publishers, 1925), pg. 3475. Hereinafter cited as Virkus Comp..