son of William and Thomasine Axtell, was baptised in St. Peter's Church, Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, England, January 26, 1619 (N.S.). His father died in 1638. He married Mary -- probably in 1638; two children were born to them in England, and their baptism is recorded in St. Peter's. They left England as early as 1643, for in October of that year, Thomas purchased five acres of land in Sudbury, Massachusetts of Edmond Rice, who himself had come from Berkhamstead five years earlier. This land is described as "lying in ye south part of ye town-bounds, the southwest side lying to the commons and joined to the land of Edmond Rice, southward and northward to the highway leading from Sudbury to Mr. Duston's farm." This is what is now Wayland near "The Five Paths." Thomas took the oath of fidelity July 8, 1645. He died in March, 1646, and was buried the 8th of that month. The following is the inventory of Thomas Axtell of Sudbury, lately deceased, Imprimi:
His land and house 8Ð 10s
Cattle 8Ð 10s
Wearing apparel and bedding with his arms 10Ð
Brass and pewter 5Ð
Edmond Rice bought back the land, six acres, and dwelling house. This was near the spring. The story told in those words is short, indeed, but we are permitted to see what it stands for. The young Englishman was a soldier or at least trained to arms; he was of strong puritanical leanings, like his brother Daniel the regicide. With his wife and two little ones he followed his neighbor across the sea to make his home in a frontier settlement of New England. Scarcely had he set up his rooftree in the wilderness when hardships and exposure struck him down. With his last breath he leaves his little all for the helpless group about his death bed. Mary, the widow of Thomas, appears to have married John
Maynard, a widower with a boy of eight, on June 16, 1646.
Imbarked on th "Globe" from London, Jeremy Blackman, Master, in August 1635. He was examined by the Minister of Gravesend for his conformities and took the oath of allegience and supremacy. (NEHGS Vol 4 P 261)
Buried 8 (1) 1646(8 March 1646) (NEHGS vol 6 p 379 and vol 17 page 171]