Thomas Holcombe

Thomas Holcombe was born circa 1601 at Devon, England. He died on 1 October 1657 at Windsor, Hartford Co., CT. He was buried at Poquonock, Windsor, Hartford Co., CT, in the Old Graveyard at Poquonock Ave, at Marshall Phelps Rd. He was the founder of the large Holcomb(e) family that grew from his arrival in Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony, in the ship Mary and John in 1630.

Thomas' history is derived mostly from land and probate records

At the time of Thomas' birth, the Renaissance was ending as was the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Perhaps one of the major events of his childhood was the publishing of the King James Bible, which may have affected his life more than any other event of the early 17th century. The Mayflower landed in Plymouth in 1620 and Thomas certainly would have heard of it and perhaps been excited by the possibilities for a young man. The Colony of Massachusetts was founded in 1628 and the Colony of Connecticut was founded in 1633. The stage was set for the second wave of English colonists of which Thomas was a part.

Ancestry

The sources on Thomas Holcombe differ considerably on Thomas' ancestry. Thomas was born in England, most probably in one of the southwestern counties, Pembrokeshire, Wales, or Devonshire. We do not know the date of his birth even approximately, but his wife seems to have been born about 1617 and their first child born about 1634; McCracken believes this would place his birth somewhere about 1610; Seaver says 1601, but does not give any reasoning for that date.

Jesse Seaver thought that English records indicated that Thomas Holcomb was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales or Devonshire, England to Ann and Gilbert Holcomb. Several of Seaver's contemporary researchers agreed with him. A disagreement appeared recently; George McCraken writing in The American Genealogist, Vol. 26:109 found that Gilbert Holcomb's oral (nuncupative) of 14 October 1623, will stated d.s.p. which meant died without issue and that Gilbert left his estate to his brother-in-law, Richard Bonithon. McCraken's research is based on J.L. Vivian's, The Visitations of the County Devon, on pages 474 and 533. However, Richard Bonithon himself died before execution of the will and his next of kin was nephew John Bonithon (Bonython).

Several early authors state he was a member of Reverend Ephraim Huit's church, and Huit was from Kenilworth in Warwickshire. But, no Holcomb births or records were found from the Diocesan Court at Worchester. The Register of Wroxal, 300 @24, for the year 1634 did list the following; Sarah Huit daughter of Ephraim and Isabell his wife was baptized, and Nathaniel Griswold the son of Samuel Griswold and Anne his wife was baptized. Bowman has found clues recently that Thomas may have been from county Somerset, the city of Bridgewater. She has recently discovered that one of the early Holcomb births in Connecticut was recorded as James the eighth. This could be a clue to ancestry of Thomas Holcomb in that the birth occurred in the third generation of American Holcomb's, i.e. not time to have had eight generations.

Bowman lists the ancestry of Gilbert and Ann Courtney Holcomb in her Volume 2 without resolving the question of Thomas' parentage in order that future researchers not duplicate others' efforts in delineating this line.

Most recently (October 25, 1998), Bowman updated her Volume 2 with the comment that Christopher was the most likely ancestor of Thomas. The birth and death dates normally assigned to the son of Christopher are not correct nor the marriage to Joan Prideaux. The birth and death dates are those of Thomas, the actor, of London who married Francis Bartlett.

The ship Mary and John

Thomas has been said to have come on the 1630 voyage of the Mary and John, but there is no proof of it, all passenger lists for that voyage being hypothetical.

In 1986 Burton W. Spear gave a presentation to the Connecticut Society of Genealogists and the Descendants of the Founders of ancient Windsor in which he detailed his extensive research into creating a synthetic passenger list for the MARY AND JOHN. The speach was published in the June 1989 Nutmegger. Burton continued to update his information until his death.

Robert Charles Anderson in NEHGR, April 1993, addressed the many different lists of passengers on the Mary and John. He went about objectively establishing specific criteria for determining the likelihood that a specific individual was on the ship. By the criteria he established, which seem reasonable, Mr. Anderson concluded that Thomas Holcombe is not likely to have come on the Mary and John in 1630. Those that Mr. Anderson concluded had a solid basis for being considered passengers were: Roger Clap, George Ludlow, Roger Ludlow, John Maverick, Richard Southcott, Thomas Southcott, and John Warham. Additional passengers, based on other criteria were: Aaron Cooke, George Dyer, Thomas Ford, William Gaylord, John Holman, Thomas Lombard, Richard Louge, William Phelps, William Rockwell, Henry Smith, Thomas Stoughton, Stephen Terry, Nicholas Upsall, and Henry Wolcott. Another group of families, with less reliable connection to the Mary and John were John Benham, Bygod Eggleston, Christopher Gibson, Matthew Grant, John Greenway, John Hoskins, William Hulbird, Davy Johnson, George Phillips, John Phillips, John Pierce, and Roger Williams. Mr. Anderson assigns five other families that do not meet his criteria, but may, for other reasons, have been on the Mary and John: John Drake, John Gallop, Johathan Gillet, Nathan Gillet, and Henry Way. Mr. Anderson does not mention Thomas Holcombe anywhere in his discussion. However, he does leave room for three or four families that would be unaccounted for if the total number of passengers was 140. The information here, whether it describes Thomas' voyage specifically or not, does describe the similar circumstances which brought him to Dorchester.

In March, 1630, Thomas was in a company which assembled at Plymouth, Devonshire, where a large ship of 400 tons, the Mary and John, chartered by Captain Squeb, for the voyage to America, was fitted out. The Mary and John was the first ship of the Winthrop Fleet which brought 1500 Puritans to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

John Hunt (NGSQ 63:1) notes that the early settlers of Dorchester, Mass., like the founders of Plymouth, were in some fear that they might not obtain leave to depart from England. There seems to have been some worry on the part of their organizer, the Reverend Mr. John White, that the group might be considered schismatic by the London authorities headed by the powerful Bishop William Laud. Consider the fact that White's recruiters included two unlike clerics, John Warham, a nonconformist, and John Maverick, a conformist.

Robert Charles Anderson states that this group of Puritans was organized by Rev. John White of Dorchester, Dorsetshire, and that he solicited the Rev. John Maverick and Rev. John Warham to lead the group and he orchestrated the entire migration process. Warham had been minister at Crewkerne in Somersetshire and at Exeter in Devonshire; Maverick had been rector at Beaworthy in Devonshire. It is of note that the church was organized BEFORE they left England. Anderson characterizes this period of migration as "The Era of Gentlemen's Companies".

The Mary and John was destined for the Charles River. This "Godly Company," of 140 persons, assembled with their two ministers in the new hospital at Plymouth, kept a solemn day of fasting and prayer, and chose Bishop John Maverick and Bishop John Wareham to be their officers. There was a dispute with the captain, who refused to attempt the passage without pilot or chart.

The ship would have supplied each passenger with a simple ration of food which each family or group cooked at a common hearth as opportunity and weather permitted. Often the food was served cold and beer was the principal drink. The rigors of this journey together with the stresses of the New England climate combined to bring high rates of sickness and death among the early settlers.

"The Word of God was preached and expounded every day during the voyage," of 70 days and the ship arrived at Nantasket, May 30, 1630. There is no evidence that any large ship had ever penetrated further into the harbor previous to this time.

If Thomas did not arrive on the Mary and John, it is possible that he arrived on or about 24 July 1633 on the Thunder, possibly with Humphrey Pinney and Henry Wolcott. This would still fit within the time frame of a marriage in may of 1634 and the children that followed. It should also be noted that 1633 was when William Laud was elevated from Bishop of London to Archbishop of Canterbury; this let to an increase in the persecution of the Puritans and thus a tenfold increase in the rate of migration to New England.

Massachusetts

Ten of the men from the Mary and John procured a boat, left the ship at Nantasket, and went in quest of the "promised land." Later they were ordered to return to the ship as other members of the company had found a convenient place at Mattapan, where pasture for famished cattle could be had. Tradition has always fixed upon the south side of Dorchester Neck (South Boston) in Old Harbor, as the place of landing. Here they founded the town of Dorchester (named for Dorchester, England), so called to the present day and now a part of the City of Boston.

There was a tribe of Indians, of whom Chickatobot was Chief that dwelt in the vicinity. Whatever may have been their former number and importance before their destruction by a pestilence in 1618, our forefathers found them few in numbers, depressed in spirits and, for the most part, very docile. Much interest was felt for them by the settlers and great efforts were made to civilize and convert them to Christianity, and a duty which they felt they owed, as their charter for ground upon which they located was based upon the "desire to propagate the Christian religion to such as live in darkness, and to bring savages to human civility." The Indians had but little use for land. They attached but a trifling value to it and parted with it without reluctance.

On whatever ship he crossed, Thomas Holcombe was in Massachusetts Bay by 4 May 1634 on which day he became a freeman, and he is recorded as a resident of Dorchester (Massachusetts Bay Colony Records, 1:369).

Thomas owned land in Dorchester as detailed in the Great Migration. Granted an eight acre Great Lot at Dorchester, 1 December 1634 ; granted Lot #65, three acres, in the meadow beyond Naponset ; on 12 August 1635 Thomas Holcombe of Dorchester sold to Richard Joanes of Dorchester four parcels of land: four acres "with my houses and all things thereto pertaining"; eight acres in Great Lots; six acres meadow on this side Naponset; and three acres meadow on the other side Naponset . (DTR cited by the Great Migration is Fourth Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston. 1880. Dorchester Town Records (Boston 1883))

His wife was named Elizabeth but the common statement that her maiden name was Ferguson is highly improbable and completely undocumented. It has lately been suggested that the name "Ferguson" results from a misreading of the correct name on a tombstone, but if so, no one has ever found her recorded on a tombstone. She is not mentioned on the tombstone of her first husband which is reported in McCracken's note in TAG 44:58-60. While married to Eno she was attended in 1669 by John Winthroop the Younger and was recorded in his medical journal (TAG 23:124) as then aged 52, which datum gives us a probable birth year of 1617. As this would have made her only 13 when the Mary and John arrived at Boston, it is probable that the marriage of Thomas and Elizabeth took place at Dorchester, and if she came on the same ship as Thomas, she was a child at the time. Winthrop's statement that she was aged 52 in 1669 may, however, be too low, in which case the wedding may have occurred in England. Founders and Patriots gives their marriage date as May 14, 1634. Daughter Elizabeth Holcomb's birth date is also given as 1634, but inasmuch as the year at that time began the first of March, instead of the first of January, this is possible.

Windsor

In 1614, Adriaen Block explored what Native Americans termed Quinni-tukqut, the "Long Tidal River," in the ship Onrust ("Restless"), sailing upstream at least as far as Hartford and perhaps as far as Enfield. However, although the Dutch continued to trade with Native Americans and began to consider the area part of New Netherland, no settlement was established. At about that time, Captain John Smith, best known for his efforts on behalf of the Jamestown settlement of 1607, explored the northern Atlantic coast and proposed English settlements in what he called "New England." Based on his recommendations the Pilgrims left England to settle a plantation along the Hudson River but were blown off course and instead settled at what became Plymouth.

Meanwhile, Pequots, driven out of their original territory along the Hudson River by Mohawks, had invaded and conquered tribes living along the shore of what is now Connecticut and began to venture further up the river. Encouraged by tribes that were threatened by the Pequots, members of the Bay Colony, led by Edward Winslow in early July 1632, explored the river to determine the potential for trade and colonization. In 1633, Winslow commissioned William Homes to establish an outpost at the site Winslow has selected the previous year, the site that was to become Windsor. And so, on September 26, 1633, William Holmes landed at "Plymouth Meadow" in what was to become Windsor, and erected a trading post surrounded by a palisade, the first English settlement on the Connecticut River, about 200 yards from where the Loomis Chaffee School's dining hall now stands.

In the Summer of 1635 some Dorchester people had already reached the river and sat down at the place where William Homes, and others of Plymouth, had erected a trading house and made preparations for bringing their families and settling permanently; and in November, 60 persons with a large number of cattle, traveled from Dorchester and arrived in safety at the river, after much tribulation. During the first winter the sufferings of these persons were intense and they lost nearly all their cattle. Some individuals wandered back to Dorchester and others avoided starvation by dropping down the river and taking refuge in a vessel at anchor at the mouth.

In the spring of 1636, Reverend John Wareham left Dorchester and came to Windsor, Connecticut, bringing his flock, including Thomas Holcomb, with him. Maverick resisted the move and died late in 1635.

Before leaving Dorchester Thomas Holcomb sold his estate to Richard Jones (8-12-1635). Later, 1639, he moved to Poquonock, Hartford County, four miles west of Windsor, where he engaged in farming. He was a Representative from Windsor and Hartford in the Convention that framed the now famous Constitution of the Connecticut Colony.

"Although Windsor was located in Connecticut, it and the other new settlements on the river were under the political and legal jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They were governed by a court of five magistrates who held their authority from Massachusetts. These five persons represented the three different communities in Connecticut and consisted of two members from Windsor, two from Hartford, and one from Wethersfield. The citizens of these three towns elected a committee in May of 1635 for the purpose of assisting the Court in enacting local ordinances. On January 14, 1639, a general meeting was held at Hartford; at which time, a separate constitution was written and adopted, the first constitution in America." (Note: it seems that Saybrook, at the mouth of the river, was not under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony).

The settlers from Dorchester had to confront two challenges beyond the usual difficulties of clearing the wilderness, providing shelter, and dealing with the indigenous population. The first of these was the presence on the site they had chosen for settlement of a trading post established two years earlier by Plymouth Colony. The Plymouth party resisted, briefly and civilly, the competing claims of the Dorchester immigrants, but by 1637 Plymouth sold fifteen-sixteenths of their land to the settlers from Dorchester.16 On May 15th of that year, Thomas Prince, in behalf of the Colony of New Plymouth formally transferred and sold to the inhabitants of Windsor, Conn., the lands owned by said Company, by a deed.

In mid-1635, at the same time that the vanguard of the Dorchester group was arriving at the site of Windsor, there appeared also the passengers of the Christian, mostly single, young men who were skilled at carpentry, or were to be trained in that trade, sent out by Sir Richard Saltonstall and others of the Puritan Lords. This group of wealthy Englishmen with strong Puritan inclinations had been trying for years, and would continue to try for some years more, to create a plantation which would meet their own peculiar requirements, along manorial lines. Despite the wealth and standing of these gentlemen, they were destined to be disappointed every time, and that was again the case with their attempts at Windsor. Many of the passengers on the Christian remained at Windsor, but not according to the plan set out by Saltonstll and his partners.

The migrants from Massachusetts built their First Church in 1640, a log cabin with a thatched roof. Growth of the community and the congregation would require a second and third meetinghouse within the next century. The original community and first two meetinghouses lay on the north side of the Farmington River. The third meetinghouse was on the sourth side, where the greatest population growth was taking place. However, there was no bridge across the Farmington, only a ferryboat, and communication between north and south was difficult at best. The church split into the North and South Societies. As America became a free and independent nation, a bridge finally spanned the Farmington river; the two societies resolved their differences and, in 1794, a fourth meetinghouse was raised on the high ground above the Farmington, near its confluence with the Connecticut river. Several times updated and remodeled, that structure is still the church's home today - the third oldest Congregational church in continuous service worldwide, and the oldest surviving Congregatinal Church Community in America.

"Thomas acquired a home lot in the first tier of allotments in Windsor paralleling the Connecticut River. His lot lay between that of Thomas Gunn and Philip Randall and extended westward to the foot of Meadow Hill. His meadow lot lay eastward to the river. The fact that he had lots assigned in the first tier is a strong indication that he arrived when the allotments were originally made in 1636. By 1649, however, Thomas had moved to a section of land on the Farmington river several miles northwest of Windsor known as Poquonock where his neighbors were the Griswold brothers -- Edward, Frances and George -- and John Bartlett. His property lay near Indian Neck and Stony Brook.

On 14 April 1654, Thomas along with Edward Griswold, and Samuel Phelps, purchased from John Tinker a 226-acre tract of land in Poqonnoc, including an area called as late as 1863, "Tinker's Swamp."

The Great Migration details his lands: The Windsor land inventory on 25 December 1640 states that "Thomas Holcom his former grants sold to Josyas Hull, William and George Phelps." He had then granted "by virtue of purchase at Paquannick for an homelot with meadow adjoining twenty acres," also adjoining "four acres and half more or less," also on the west side of the brook before his house "twenty-five acres more or less," also by purchase from Henry Clarke "twenty-five acres with upland adjoining sixty-eight acres more or less" . On 7 February 1655 Thomas Holcombe had twelve acres of woodland bounded out to him . On 4 March 1655 he had ten acres of woodland bounded out . (WiLR cited by the Great Migration is Windsor, Connecticut, Deeds (microfilm of original at Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut)).

Thomas Holcomb died at Windsor, Connecticut, September 7, 1657. His grave was located in an old cemetery near the old homestead at Poquonock, Connecticut. His grave was marked by a brown stone about two by four feet in size. The stone, having crumbled with age, was removed. It was replaced with a new marker that was inscribed with family information, much of which is wrong.

His widow married, second, August 5, 1658, James Eno (Enno) (his second wife). She died October 7, 1679.

Some of those who have asserted that Thomas and Elizabeth were married before leaving England believe that the first two of the children were born there, but, the birth dates given below seem to discredit this supposition. It is quite certain that all who bear the name of Holcomb(e) in New England are descended from Thomas Holcomb, through his sons Joshua, Benajah and Nathaniel.

Although Thomas Holcomb and most of his descendants usually spell the name `Holcomb', it bears an `e' on Dorchester and Boston records.

The Estate

The inventory of the estate of "Thomas Holcom of Windsor" was taken 1 October 1657 and totalled £294 10s., of which £95 10s. was real estate: "eleven acres in home lot with housing and orchard," £50; "four acres and a half adjoining to the home lot," £6; "ten acres and a half of meadow," £10 10s; "in the fourth meadow twelve acres," £15; "twenty-five acres of woodland over the brook against the house," £3; "forty-eight acres of woodland," £7 10s; "ten acres of woodland," 10s; and "his part in that called Tinker's Farm, eighty acres and a barn," £3 [Hartford PD Case #2774]. He also owned two swords. Great Migration

The surviving children are listed with ages as Joshua (17), Benajah (13), Nathaniel (9), Abigail (19), Deborah (5-7), but this overlooks the two eldest daughters Elizabeth and Mary who were already married, and had probably received their portions at marriage. The widow Elizabeth was granted administration, date not stated. The distribution was as follows:

Widow £42/18/00 Nathaniel £28/12/00
Joshua 42/18/00 Abigail 28/12/00
Benajah 38/07/00 Deborah 28/12/00

Just how these sums were computed is not clear, certainly not by the usual third to the widow, a double share to the eldest son and a single share to the other children. In any case, George and Edward Griswold (husband of the daughter Mary and his father) entered a claim for a part of the estate but withdrew it. On 15 Dec. 1660 Samuel Bissell (husband of Abigail) receipted to James Enno, who was by then husband of the widow, for Bissell's wife's portion, and on 17 Dec. 1660 Joshua Holcombe receipted for his.

Following is a record taken from Probate Records, Hartford District:

`This 17th day of December 1660 I do acknowledge to having received of my Father Enno ye full sum of my portion. Witness my hand, Joshua Holcomb.'

James Eno, with his three children, came to live at the Holcomb house, after the death of his first wife, and his marriage to Elizabeth.

Generally, Thomas Holcombe is credited with ten children of whom three died in childhood, but there is a curious record which suggests there may have been an older son named John. The son Nathaniel had a son Nathaniel recorded at Springfield on 11 June 1673, this because the child's mother, Mary Bliss, came from Springfield, but the same Vital Records attribute the birth of a daughter Sarah on 6 Oct, 1673 to a John Holcum. Nothing more is known of this John, either at Springfield or Windsor, and I am inclined to think that an error was committed by the original town clerk at Springfield and that the surname Holcum is what is wrong. The learned Savage and also Drs. Holcombe and Stiles knew of the same entry, and they thought that John may have gone to Virginia.

Children

* Elizabeth (b. 1634, d. 18 Sep 1712)
* Mary (b. 1635, d. 4 Apr 1708)
* Abigail (b. 6 Jan 1638, d. 17 Aug 1688)
* Joshua (b. 7 Apr 1640, d. 1 Dec 1690)
* Sarah (b. 14 Aug 1642, d. 1654)
* Sgt. Benajah (b. 23 Jun 1644, d. 25 Jan 1736)
* Deborah (15 Oct 1646, d. 1649)
* Nathaniel (4 Nov 1648, d. 5 Mar 1740)
* Deborah (15 Feb 1649/50, d. 26 May 1686)
* Jonathan (23 Mar 1651/52, d. 13 Sep 1656)

Famous Descendants

General Thomas Holcomb, Comandant of the Marine Corps; Gov. Marcus H. Holcomb, Governor of Connecticut.

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