Tuesday, August 30, 2011

WILLIAM BRACKETT 1520-1575

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Josiah Brackett, son of Roland Brackett, son of Peter Brackett, son of Richard Brackett, son of William Brackett.]
St. Gregory Church, Sudbury, Suffolk, England
William might have been a member of the St. Gregory parish (one of three parishes) in Sudbury. He requested to be buried in this churchyard. More information and pictures of this grand church can be found at www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/sudburystg.html
However, several family trees suggest he was actually buried at St. Peter's (another parish in Sudbury). See St. Peter's photo. William's great grandson was christened here in 1610.


St. Peter, Sudbury, Suffolk, England


So where was William Brackett buried? Was it here, as many family trees suggest? Or in the churchyard of St. Gregory's, as William had requested in his will? (See photo of St. Gregory's.) For more information and pictures of this beautiful old structure, see www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/sudburystg.html


Last Will and Testament of
William Brackett
"4 May 1575...The will of William Brackett of Sudbury, Suffolck, Butcher, being at this time in perfect memory...my body to be buried in the churchyard of St. Gregoryes...all my houses with the appurtenances in Sudbury which I have shall be sold by Richard Brackett my son and Peter Hallwell of Little Cornard within two years next and immediately ensuing my decease to the most advantage...the money to be disburst in manner and form following...


to Alyce Brackett my wife 40 pounds presently after sale is made. In consideration of it she shall keep William Brackett and Maud Brackett my children and if she die or sale be made, then I will give the same 40 pounds to William Brackett my son and Maud Brackett my daughter to be equally divided between them...


to Edmund Brackett my son 30 pounds to be paid after my houses be sold...if he die, to his children at 21...


to Maud Brackett my daughter 10 pounds which Alyce my wife is to receive and give bond to my executor to pay to Maud at age 18, but if Maud die before 18, the 10 pounds to go to William Brackett my son...


to Richard Brackett my son the residue of the proceeds of the sale...if the said Richard be able to bind the said houses, then I will that he should have the p'forment thereof giving for the same as another man will. Alyce my wife to have the occupation of all my said houses rent free until they be sold...


to George Brackett my brother my mase tipped with silver and all my apparell...


to William Brackett my son and to his heirs my staule in the m'kytte..


to Alyce my wife to recevie the profit thereof until he reaches 21 but if he dies before 21 then the same staule to Maud my daughter...


to Alyce my wife all the movable goods within the houses, one cow and all the swine, except one feather bed and one bolster which lyeth on the bed next to the entry which I do give unto Richard my son...


to Richard Brackett my son all my leases of all those grounds, lands and meadows which I now hold and occupy...all my corn now growing and all my goods, chattles and movables unbequeathed.


Richard to be my executor, Thomas Smyth to be overseer.
Witnesses: Lawrence Newman; Clarke, George Brackett, William Curd, Nicholas Ruggell, John Brackett and Thomas Smythe" with others.
Proved 5 July 1575.


Source: Eight Hundred Years Of The History Of The Name Of BRACKETT The Keepers of the Hounds, by William Brackett 1999-2008, brackettwilliam@yahoo.com

found on ancestry.com


Brackett occupations and Will of Edward
March 1540, Sudbury, Suffolk, England


The following information was obtained from Rootsweb.com (Ada Bickford Ancestry). She suggests that Edward is the brother of William. We have included his will in this record. However, we can find no record to prove Edward was William's brother. It is interesting to note that Edward also asked to be buried at St. Gregory's, just as William had requested. Also of interest, Edward (who was married to Maud) died in 1540, the same year as William's father (William who was also married to a Maud.) Could this Edward possibly have been William's father instead of brother???

William was a butcher and had a shop (or stall as it was called) in Sudbury. He left it to his son, William.


Abbrev: Fifty Great Migration Colonists to New England

Title: Fifty Great Migration Colonists to New England and Their Origins

Author: John Brooks Threlfall

Publication: Madison, Wisconsin 1990

Page: Page 87

William Brackett and Edward Brackett, probably his brother are mentioned in the Military Survey of Sudbury in 1522. William was listed as an able archer and Edward was listed as an able billman. No earlier record of the Brackett name is found in Sudbury.


Both are listed as butchers. One can reasonably assume that they grew up in the trade and learned it from their father who also must have lived in Sudbury. Two years later they both appear again on record as taxpayers in the 1524 Subsidy Return, each down for 4 pence on wages of 20 shillings.


Edward Brackett's will reads:


20 June 1540 The will of Edward Brackett, balie of the town of sudbury, Suffolk, hale of mind and in good and perfect remembrance ...


my body to be buried within the churchyard of St. Gregory in Sudbury ...


to every of my children John, James, Edward, George and faythe 5 marks at age 20 and if Faythe marry before age 20, then on day of marriage ...


to Maud my wife all those my copyhold lease, interest and term of years which I have and hold of the right worshipful Lady Dame Jane Corbett of an in certain lands and pastures lying in Assington, Suffolk, called by the name Perefield ...


Richard Barker of Sudbury to hold and occupy these leases during the nonage of son George Brackett, paying (pounds) 4 13 (shillings) 7 (pence) sterling yearly to Maud my wife and 6 c of fresh wood with the felling making and carrying of the same toward the keeping and bringing up of the same George and Edward my sons ...


Also, to wife Maud a certain lease in lands called Chyllton wente and Ducksdale ...


The resdue of all my goods and cattle, money, plate, debts and implements of household not assigned or bequeathed to Maud my wife whom I make sole executrix.


John Oxburghe of Sudbury, gentleman, and the said Richard Barker to be aydors and comforters to my said wife and for their pains 6 (shillings) 8 (pence) sterling.


Witnesses: John Bannasted, Raulff Feosdike, John Blanche, John Beele, Robert Cooke, Will(iam) Hayward. Proved 19 March 1540/41
found on ancestry.com

RICHARD BRACKETT 1550-1626

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Josiah Brackett, son of Roland Brackett, son of Peter Brackett, son of Richard Brackett.]
Richard Capt Brackett grave marker Norfolk County




All Saints, Sudbury, Suffolk, England
Richard Brackett and Alice Harper were married in this church on 25 September 1579. This structure is nearly all made of cement. The photo shows the south side with a door no longer in use. It is well worth the time to read more information and see the pictures at http://www.suffolkchurches.com/



Richard Capt Brackett 1540-1626

RACHELL (BRACKETT) (SAUNDERS) 1590-1651

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Josiah Brackett, son of Roland Brackett, son of Rachell (Brackett).]

Birth: unknown
Death: September 15, 1651, Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, USA

Martin Saunders married (1) by 1619 Rachel (_____) Brackett, widow of Peter Brackett. She died at Braintree on 15 September 1651.

They had 7 children: Mary Eliot, Martin, Leah Wheatley Parmenter, Judith, John, Martin again, and Daniel.

Rachel (_____) (Brackett) Saunders, first wife of Martin Saunders, was mother of Richard Brackett (1632, Boston), of Peter Brackett (1639, Braintree) and of Rachel (Brackett) Newcomb, wife of Francis Newcomb (1635, Boston

Rachel died September 15, 1651 at Braintee, Massachusetts.
Source: Anderson's Great migration Study project.
Find A Grave contributor treerpgmo adds
Rachel Brackett-Sanders maiden name and origin is not known. The earliest definite record of her is that of the baptism of her son Richard Brackett by her first husband Peter Brackett on 16d 9m 1610 at Saint Gregory's Church, Sudbury, Suffolkshire, England. She had three other children with Peter: Peter Jr. (no baptismal record), Rachel (baptized 1614), and Jonathan (baptized 1616). The inventory of her husband Peter Brackett's estate was taken 25d 8m 1616 in All Saints Par, Subury, Suffolkshire, England. Sometime between then and before 1619 she married second to Martin Sanders and they had seven children baptised in All Saints Parish from 1619-1632. Their last child, son Daniel Sanders was buried there 1d 8m 1634 and soon after Martin and Rachel Sanders emigrated to Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts where both of them died. Through both her Brackett and Sanders descendants, Rachel can be considered a "Grandmother" of Braintree as by 1800 a large portion of Braintree citizens were descended from her.
Burial:Unknown
Find A Grave Memorial# 37232942
found on findagrave.com

Rachel
Rachel emigrated in 1635.(266) (30) Rachel came with her second husband Martin Sanders 5 children and 4 servants aboard the ship Planter which left London in mid-April 1635 and arrived in Massachusetts Bay. She Slave or indentured servant owner When Peter Brackett's wife married second Martin Saunders, they emigrated with four servants in 1635 in Massachusetts.(30) According to the Winthrop Society's ships home page, Rachel came with her second husband Martin Saunders. There are four "servant" listed. I think three is more likely. Martin Saunder (age 4) seems an unlikely servant. Especially since the same sources also list a Martin Saunder age 4 as a child of Martin and Rachel. The other servants were Richard Smith (age 14), Richard Ridley (age 16) and Mary Fuller (age 17). I assume that these servants were indentured probably though their 21st year.

She married to Peter Brackett about 1609. I simply assumed they were married one year before the birth of Richard, the only child for whom I have a birth/baptism date. Children were: Captain Richard Brackett, Peter Brackett, Anthony Brackett, William Brackett.

She married to Martin Sanders about 1618 in England. Children were: Mary Sanders, Lea Sanders, Judith Sanders, Martin Sanders.

Robert Charles Anderson. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Vol. I (A-F). Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995. Page 206. 267. Ibid. Page 205. 268. Ibid. Page 206.

30. The Winthrop Society. The Winthrop Scociety Homepage. Most of my citations come from the passenger list pages (both the pre and post-1633 pages), but also an article entitled "Pre-1633 Planters of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.". http://www.winthropsociety.org/home.htm.
found on ancestry.com

PETER BRACKETT 1580-1616

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Josiah Brackett, son of Roland Brackett, son of Peter Brackett.]
Photo of All Saints Church in Sudbury from httpcommons.wikimedia.orgwikiFileSudbury_-_Church_of_All_Saints.jpg This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. See this photograph's page on the Geograph website for the photographer's contact details. The copyright on this image is owned by Oxyman and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.


Birth: 1585
Death: August 25, 1616, Sudbury, Suffolk, England



Son of Richard Brackett of Long Melford, County Suffolk.



First husband of Rachel ____, who subsequently married Martin Saunders and emigrated with him to New England.



Children: Peter Brackett Jr, Richard Brackett, Rachel Brackett Newcomb, and Jonathan Brackett.



Peter made his will on 18 August 1616 and died a week later and was buried on 25 August 1616. He was buried at All Saints, Sudbury, County Suffolk, England. The death date used is his burial date.



Peter Bracket will 1616:



"In the name of God amen in the year of our Lorde one thousand six hundred and sixtene, the of 8th day of August in the 14th year of the reign of his sovereign lorde Kinge James by the grace of god King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland defender of the faith viz of England the ffourteneth and of Scotland the ffiftyeth. I Peter Bracket of Sudburye in the countie of Suff and diocese of Norwich being sicke in bodie but whole in mynde being of perfect rememberance thanks be unto allmightie god doe ordaine and make this my testament and last will in maner and forme following. First I bequeath my soul to allmightie god trusting through his mercies in Christ Jesus to obtaine pardon and forgiveness of my synnse, my body to be buried in christian burial Item I will and my mynd is that Rachell my wiffe shall have all my goods, chattells and implements of householde in consideration that she shall bring up my children and pay unto every one of my children twentye shillings apeece as namelye Peter, Richard and Rachell and my will is that the childe wch my wiffe is wth childe wth shall have twenty shillings to be paid unto them at their severall ages of twenty and one years and if any of them doe dye before their portion to be divided among them that shalbe living Item I will and my mynde is that my Father Richard Bracket shall have the rents of my house in the parish of St. Peters in Sudburye wherein one Martyn London now dwelleth during his naturall liffe and after his decease I will and my minde is that my said house shalbe sold by my wiffe and the money thereof to be devided amonge my children that shalbe then liveing and my will is that my eldest sonne Peter Brackett shall have five pounds more than the residue. Item I ordaine and make Rachell my loving wiffe to be executrix of this my last will and testament.Peter Bracket



Sealed and delivered … will and testament in the presence of Rychard Bracket ... Ruggle William Strutt


Edward Strachie Thomas Grigges"



Proved 28 August 1616.



This will was transcribed by me, William Brackett, from a copy of the original in August of 2010.



Burial: All Saints Churchyard, Sudbury, Suffolk, England
Find A Grave Memorial# 54234701

found on findagrave.com



ST. Peter's Church, Sudbury, Suffolk, England,
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Bluffs/2806/stpeter.jpg
from ANCESTORS OF WINSLOW FARR SR. AND OLIVE HOVEY FREEMAN sketch signed by Peter Brackett?

Short Life/will
1616
Fifty Great Migration Colonists to New England
Title: Fifty Great Migration Colonists to New England & Their Origins
Author: John Brooks Threlfall
Publication: Madison, Wisconsin 1990
Page: Page 80

Peter had a short life. He evidently became ill and made his will 18 August 1616. He died a week later. Three days after his burial, his widow proved the will.

Peter Brackett's will reads: 8 August 1616 - I Peter Brackett of Sudbury in the countie of Suff and diocesse of Norwich being sicke in bodie but whole in minde ... Rachell my wiffe shall have all my goods chattells and impliments of householde in consideration that she shall bringe up my children and pay unto every one of my children twentye shillings apeece as namely Peter Richard and Rachell and my will is that that childe wch my wiffe is wth childe wth shall have twenty shillings to be paid unto them at their severall ages of Twenty and one yeares and if any of them doe dye before their portion to be divided among them that shalbe liveing. Item I will and my mynde is that my father Richard Bracket shall have the rente of my house in the pishe of St. Peters in Sudburye wherein one Martyn London now dwelleth during his naturall life and after his deceasse I will and my minde is that my said house shalbe solde by my wiffe and the money thereof to be devided amonge my children that shalbe then living and my will is that my eldest sonne Peter Bracket shall have ffive pounds more then the residue. Item I ordaine and make Rachell my Loving wiffe to be executrix of this my last will and testament. Signed Peter Bracket Witnesses: ... Ruggles, Rychard Bracket, Thomas Grigges, Edward Strachie and William Strutt. Proved 28 Aug 1616
found on ancestry.com

ANDREW VINCENT 1525-1580

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Elizabeth Waldo (Brackett), daughter of Josiah Brackett, son of Alice Blower (Brackett), daughter of Thomas Blower, son of Susanna Vincent (Blower), daugther of Andrew Vincent.]

Andrew Vincent
According to Threlfall's GMC50, Andrew Vincent "of Bildeston, Suffolk, England, was probably born 1520-1530 at Bildeston. He married Alice and had eight known children. He made his will on 3 December 1580, being sick and knowing that their death was near. He probably died the next day for he was buried on the 5th in the churchyard at Bildeston. An abstract of his will follows. From this will it can be seen that he owned a fair amount of property, and was a substantial man of his day. Some of this property, if not all, had been inherited from his father. His home was on Newbery Street in Bildeston."
found on ancestry.com

THOMASINE BELGRAVE (FROST) 1562-1616

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Elizabeth Waldo (Brackett), daughter of Josiah Brackett, son of Alice Blower (Brackett), daughter of Alice Frost (Blower), daughter of Thomasine Belgrave (Frost).]

ALSO ON MILLER-AANDERSON.BLOGSPOT.COM

[Ancestral Link: Marguerite Anderson (Miller), daughter of Hannah Anderson (Anderson), daughter of Mary Margaret Edmiston (Anderson), daughter of Martha Jane Snow (Edmiston), daughter of Gardner Snow, son of James Snow, son of Zerrubbabel Snow, son of Abigail Brigham (Snow), daughter of Gershom Brigham, son of Mary Rice (Brigham), daughter of Henry Rice, son of Thomasine Frost (Rice), daughter of Thomasine Belgrave (Frost).]

Thomasine Belgrave
Parents: John Belgrave (c.1535 in England buried 2-12-1590 in Leverington, Cambridgeshire County, England) and Joanna Strutt (c.1536 in Glemsford, Suffolk County, England buried 8-14-1577 in Leverington, Cambridgeshire County, England)

Married: 9-22-1560 at Glemsford, Suffolk County, England

Children: Thomasine (2-1-1561/62), Elizabeth (2-16-1563/64), Catherine (3-31-1566), Thomas (12-13-1567), Abraham (12-27-1569), George (8-31-1571), Barbara (6-12-1575 buried 5-4-1576 at Leverington, England), Barbara (6-27-1577 buried 9-17-1589 at Leverington, England)
Joanna Strutt

Parents: John Strutt (buried 4-22-1591 in Glemsford, Suffolk County, England) and Catherine (buried 8-18-1578 in Glemsford, Suffolk County, England)
Children: Joanna (Belgrave) (buried 8-14-1577), Thomas, Ambrose (3-22-1563 died young)

Grandparents: Thomas Strutt (died between 6-2-1544 and 12-10-1548 in Melford, Suffolk County, England) and Joanne (died after 6-2-1548 in probably Melford, England)
Children: John (? To 4-1591 in Glemsford, England), Erasmus, Audrey, Eustace, Ursula

Great grandparents: John Strutt (died between 9-16-1516 and 2-5-1517 in Glemsford, Suffolk County, England) and Isabelle (died between 9-22-1526 and 11-13-1526 in Glemsford, Suffolk Coonty, England)

Children: Thomas, John, Robert, Elizabeth, Alice, Katherine, Margery

Sources:
The Paternal Ancestry of Thomasine Frost, Wife of Edmund Frost of Sudbury, Massachusetts, Harold F. Porter, TAG 63 (1988): 131-137.

Strutt Ancestry of Thomasine Frost, Wife of Edmund Rice of Sudbury, Massachusetts, Porter, Harold F. Jr., TAG 61 (1985): 161-166.

Ancestry of the Wife of Edmund Rice, Archibald F. Bennett, Esq., TAG 26 (1950): 10-11.

Wife of Edmund Rice, Mary Lovering Holman, TAG 15 (1950): 227.

Alice (Frost) (Blower) Tilley, Anderson, Robert Charles, TAG 71 (1996): 113.

Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635, Vol. 1, Anderson, Robert Charles, Sanborn, George F. Jr., and Sanborn, Melinde Lutz, Boston, NEGHS, 1999.

English Origins of Philemon Whale of Sudbury, Massachusetts, Anderson, Robert Charles, TAG 6 (1985): 131-141.
found on ancestry.com

EDMOND FROST 1593-1672

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Elizabeth Waldo (Brackett), daughter of Josiah Brackett, son of Alice Blower (Brackett), daughter of Alice Frost (Blower), daughter of Edmond Frost.]

ALSO ON MILLER-AANDERSON.BLOGSPOT.COM

[Ancestral Link: Marguerite Anderson (Miller), daughter of Hannah Anderson (Anderson), daughter of Mary Margaret Edmiston (Anderson), daughter of Martha Jane Snow (Edmiston), daughter of Gardner Snow, son of James Snow, son of Zerrubbabel Snow, son of Abigail Brigham (Snow), daughter of Gershom Brigham, son of Mary Rice (Brigham), daughter of Henry Rice, son of Thomasine Frost (Rice), daughter of Edmond Frost.]



Edmond Frost Burying Ground
In Old Burying ground Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts
Edmond Frost grave in Old burying ground, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Church at Old Burying Ground

Edmond Frost and several members of his family buried here.

Edmund's House
House in Cambridge Middlesex, Massachusetts

Edmund Frost's history
Edmund Frost was born in the neighborhood of Hartest, County of Suffolk, England, about the year 1600. He must have early associated himself with the non-conformist or dissenting portion of the Protestant element in England. Even attendance at such services to the neglect of the established church, was visited with the severest punishment, which sometimes did not stop short of fine and imprisonment. Mr. Clinsworth in his “Counterpoyson” refers to the fact that while the famous English divine, Mr. Robinson, was preaching secretly near Norwich, Norfolk County, England, (1600-4), certain members of his congregation “were excommunicated for restoring unto and praying with him.” Edmund Frost married at Hartest, about the year 1630, a woman whose first name was “Thomasine.” His first son, John, was born in England about the year 1632. On October 16, 1634, Edmund Frost, with his wife and son John, boarded the ship great Hope (Captain Gurling) at Ipswich, England, for Boston, Massachusetts. He was one of the leaders of Rev. Thos. Shepard’s party, whom religious persecution had driven to seek refuge in America. Rev. Thomas Shepard, in his autobiography, referred to him as “his most dear brother Frost.” In the words of Edmund Frost’s great grandson, Rev. Amariah Frost, “he came to the then savage wilderness of America to escape the more savage oppression of England.” The Great hope was shipwrecked off Yarmouth, but Edmund Frost and all the rest of the passengers on the ship were saved. After some delay the ship “Defence” was secured (captain Bostock, master) and on his ship Edmund Frost sailed for Boston from Gravesend, Kent County, England, on August 10, 1635. Owing to the difficulties arising over the persecution of all dissenters by the government at that time, Edmund Frost, as well as Rev. Thomas Shepard himself and others, had to embark under an assumed name, else they could have not escaped the “poursuivants” as the officers were called. On October 2, 1635, the ship “Defence” arrived in Boston harbor. The company almost to the man at once moved over and located at Cambridge, Massachusetts. This place had already been settled by Rev. Thomas hooker and his party, but the latter had made their plans for emigrating to Connecticut. It thus appears that the first real permanent settlement at Cambridge, Massachusetts, was made by Rev. Thomas Shepard and his colony of immigrants. This included representatives of the following families, all of whom are connected with the earliest history of Cambridge, to wit: Shepard, Frost, Champney, Goffe, Cooke, and Norton.

In the first allotment of lands we find Edmund Frost located on what is known at this day as the westerly side of Dunster Street, between Harvard Square and Mt. Auburn Street. On March 3, 1636, Edmund Frost was admitted and enrolled as a freeman of Cambridge. Gov. Winthrop, in his Journal, speaks about attending on the 11th day of February, 1636, the installation of Rev. Thomas Shepard, as pastor, and his two elders into their respective offices in the first church at Cambridge.

The two elders were, undoubtedly, Edmund frost and Richard Champney. He describes the entire ceremony with great minuteness of detail. Then Colonel William Goffe in his “Diary,” speaks of visiting Elder Edmund Frost on August 23, 1660, and observed to him that a glorious saint makes a lowly cottage a stately palace. “Were I to take my choice I would rather abide with this saint in his poor cottage than with any of the princes that I know of at this day in the world.” Indeed, it appears from the records of Cambridge that Edmund Frost never prospered in the wordly sense, but always was poor in purse. But though not gifted with wealth, he was a most godly man and greatly respected. During his life at Cambridge, from 1635 until his death in 1672, eight children were born. He wife Thomasine, died and he remarried later. He was noted all his days as a most pious and humble Christian, a faithful disciple of the Master. In every way a worthy progenitor of the great family which bears his name. Thomas G. Frost, in Frost family in England and America, with special reference to Edmund Frost by Edward Lysander Frost
found on ancestry.com

Edmund Frost
Edmund Frost sailed from Ipswich, England on the Great Hope, but the ship was wrecked off Yarmouth. He later boarded The Defense with his wife and son and departed England from Gravesend, Kent on August 10, 1635. He arrived in Boston on October 2, 1635. He was one of the first members of the First Congregational Church of Cambridge and was installed as its first Ruling Elder February 11, 1636. He was sworn a freeman March 3, 1636. About 1639 he bought from Thomas Blodgett property on the west side of Dunster street between Harvard Square and Mt. Auburn street, which he later sold and bought a house on Garden street. After 1646 he occupied a homestead on Kirkland street.

When Colonel Goffe, the "regicide" (one of those who sentenced Charles I to death), came to New England, he went to see Edmund Frost and wrote of the visit in his journal, August 23, 1660, "In ye evening wee vissited Elder Frost, who rec'd us with great kindness and love, esteeming it a favour yt we would come into ye mean habitation, assured us of his fervent prayers to ye Lord for us; a glorious saint makes a mean cottage a stately palace; were I to make my choice, I would rather abide with ye saint in his poor cottage than with any of ye princes I know of at ye day ye world."

The revered Elder died July 12, 1672, and his will was signed with his written signature and named his children, all but the first born in Cambridge. To his wife Reana, he left the use of his land and 20 shillings a year during her lifetime, to be paid in corn or cattle by sons Ephraim and Thomas; also 20 shillings a year to be paid by son John. There were other cash bequests and the dwelling was left to Ephraim and Thomas.
found on ancestry.com

Generation #2
Edmund Frost was born 28 August 1593 at Hartest, Suffolk, England and died 12 July 1672 at Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He was a "preaching elder" and was obliged to leave England under an assumed name because he dissented from Church views. In 1635 he immigrated to Cambridge, Massachusetts with his first wife and son John, becoming a freeman there 3 March 1636. He was one of the original members of First Congregational Church of Cambridge and was installed as Elder 11 February 1636. He married first Thomasine c1630 at Hartest, Suffolk, England. (She was not surnamed Belgrave, Thomasine Belgrave was the wife of another Frost named Edward.) She died 13 June 1653 at Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Edmund Frost married second to Mary c1653. She died before 1669. He married third to Reana before 1669. She died before 3 November 1675 when an inventory of her estate was made. Reana had married first to Edmund James before 1640, second to William Andrews (-1652) c11 August 1640, and third to Robert Daniel (-1655) 2 May 1654.


Children of Edmund Frost and Thomasine:
John Frost born c1632 at England; died c30 September 1672; married 26 June 1666 to Rebecca Andrew at Massachusetts and had the following children: John Frost (19 November 1667-); Rebecca Frost (3 December 1669-1 July 1750); and Thomas Frost


Thomas Frost born March 1636/7 at Cambridge, (now Middlesex County), Massachusetts; died 1639 at Cambridge, (now Middlesex County), Massachusetts


Samuel Frost born 13 February 1638/9 at Cambridge, (now Middlesex County), Massachusetts; died 7 January 1717/8 at Billerica, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; married 12 October 1663 to Mary Cole; married before 1674 to Elizabeth Miller


Joseph Frost born 13 January 1639/40 at Cambridge, (now Middlesex County), Massachusetts; died 1692; married 22 May 1666 to Hannah Miller (1649-) (sister of Elizabeth Miller) at Charlestown, Massachusetts and had the following children: Jabez Frost (12 December 1667-); Susanna Frost (27 January 1668/9-); Joseph Frost (15 February 1670/7-); Stephen Frost (9 March 1672/3-); Nathaniel Frost (baptized 7 May 1676-); Hannah Frost (30 August 1677-); Abigail Frost (12 March 1679/80-); Miller Frost (28 February 1682/3-); and Faith Frost (9 September 1687-)


Deacon James Frost born 9 April 1643 at Cambridge, (now Middlesex County), Massachusetts;
died 12 August 1711 at Billerica, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; married 17 December 1664 to Rebecca Hamlet (-20 August 1666) at Billerica, Middlesex County, Massachusetts and had child: James Frost, Jr. (14 August 1666-5 January 1754); married 22 January 1667 to Elizabeth Foster (-1726) at Billerica, Middlesex County, Massachusetts and had the following children: Thomas Frost (18 October 1667-March 1742); John Frost (14 November 1668-3 March 1668/9); Samuel Frost (28 February 1669/70-); Elizabeth Frost (6 November 1672-); Edmund Frost (14 May 1675-18 May 1675); Mary Frost (6 May 1676-); Sarah Frost (15 July 1678-); Hannah Frost (31 January 1680/1-); Joseph Frost (21 March 1682/3-28 December 1737); Abigail Frost (3 August 1685-); and Benjamin Frost (8 March 1687/8-24 March 1753)


Mary Frost born 24 July 1645 at Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts


Ephraim Frost born 1646 at Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; died 2 January 1717/8; married before 1678 to Hepzibah Pratt and had the following children: Mary Frost (20 May 1678-); Edmund Frost (14 March 1679/80-6 November 1752); Ephraim Frost (23 September 1682-26 July 1769); Thomas Frost (c1688-3 May 1765); Ebenezer Frost (baptized 17 January 1696/7-1768); and Sarah Frost (c1669-11 August 1747)


Thomas Frost born 1647 at Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; died 1724; married 12 November 1678 to Mary Gibbs (1652-20 February 1690/1) at Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts and had the following children: Thomas Frost (23 August 1679-29 - February 1751); John Frost (14 September 1684-between 15 February 1758 - September 1763); Samuel Frost (23 November 1686 - 2 August 1736); and Mary (8 November 1690-died aged 3 months). Mary Gibbs had married first John Goodridge (1643-1676) 23 March 1674/5. married 9 July 1691 to Hannah Johnson (27 April 1656-3 May 1712) and had child: Sarah Frost (c1692-9 December 1717); married 12 December 1712 to Sarah Singletary


Child of Edmund Frost and Mary:
Sarah Frost born 1653 at Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Two generations: Frost family in England and America, with special reference to Edmund Frost ...
By Thomas Gold Frost, Edward Lysander Frost
http://books.google.com/books?id=B4BMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54& dq=%22reana+daniel%22%2Bfrost&source=bl&ots=IvaN2jdNgr&sig=s6YYeZlR9_fIjUJDCHAflDx6I6s& hl=en&ei=-2EQTMnBNpHkNaKD6I0D&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CA YQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22reana%20daniel%22%2Bfrost&f=false
found on ancestry.com

A bit of history
Edmund Frost was born 28 August 1593 at Hartest, Suffolk, England and died 12 July 1672 at Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He was a "preaching elder" and was obliged to leave England under an assumed name because he dissented from Church views. In 1635 he immigrated to Cambridge, Massachusetts with his first wife and son John, becoming a freeman there 3 March 1636. He was one of the original members of First Congregational Church of Cambridge and was installed as Elder 11 February 1636. He married first Thomasine c1630 at Hartest, Suffolk, England.
found on ancestry.com

On the first governing board of Harvard College
"Harvard College was founded in 1636 and by virtue of his office as church elder Edmund Frost became one of its first governing board, and donated books to its first library."

Encyclopedia of Massachusetts, Biographical--genealogical By William Richard Cutter, American Historical Society
found on ancestry.com

ALICE FROST (BLOWER) (TILLEY) 1594-

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Elizabeth Waldo (Brackett), daughter of Josiah Brackett, son of Alice Blower (Brackett), daughter of Alice Frost (Blower).]

American Women's First Collective Political Action: Boston 1649 - 1650
1996 , http://www.arts.cornell.edu/newsletr/spring96/norton.htm
Arts and Sciences Newsletter Spring 1996 Vol. 17 No. 2 American Women's First Collective Political Action: Boston 1649 - 1650 Mary Beth Norton

If asked when American women first began to organize collectively around reproductive issues, most people today would probably respond, "after the Roe v. Wade decision in 1972," or "when Margaret Sanger began to promote birth control in the early twentieth century." A few students of women"s history might recall the nineteenth"century feminist demand that women be allowed "bodily integrity""that is, that they should be able to refuse sexual intercourse with their husbands. But none of those answers is correct. The first such political action by American women occurred nearly 350 years ago.

Although I have studied colonial women for more than two decades, until recently even I was unaware of the remarkable case described herein. While researching my new book on gender relations in seventeenth"century America, Founding Mothers and Fathers (published by Alfred A. Knopf earlier this spring), I came across a sentence that led me to these important documents. A 1965 monograph on the early history of Boston mentioned that a group of townswomen had petitioned colonial authorities "on behalf of midwife Alice Tilly, accused of the 'miscarrying of many wimen and children under hir hand.'" The footnote implied that there was more than one petition but did not say how many, nor did it give any indication of the date(s).

I accordingly wrote to the Massachusetts State Archives, citing the footnote and asking for photocopies of any relevant documents. The response surprised me. There were six petitions in all, four from Boston and two from Dorchester, along with a deposition. Unfortunately, the archivist reported, the originals were now unreadable, but negative photostats made in the 1920s were available; she enclosed white"on"black copies of those. The astonishing aspect of the petitions was the total number of signatures (294), ranging from a low of eight and twenty"one on the first petitions to a high of 130 on the last.

The petitions were not dated, but the deposition was: March 8, 1648 [1649 by today"s calendar]. That explained why no historian had yet studied the case: the records of the Court of Assistants, before which Alice Tilly would have been tried, are missing for the years 1644 to 1673. Accordingly, most of what we know about the trial of Mistress Tilly (the title revealed her high status) comes from the petitions.

Those documents and a few other scattered records allow us to reconstruct at least a partial picture of the first known collective political action by American women. Although no exact account of the charges against Alice Tilly has survived, on May 2, 1649, the Massachusetts General Court (legislature) adopted a law forbidding either physicians or midwives from "exercis[ing] any force, violence, or cruelty upon or towards the bodies of any, whether yong or ould (no, not in the most difficult & desperate cases)." The law, unique among colonial statutes, implies that Mistress Tilly in the course of her medical practice had taken some action that the authorities thought unwarranted. The deposition (offered by another midwife) suggests the same, for it detailed a variety of situations that might arise during childbirth and contended that certain methods of handling them were common rather than unusual or cruel.

The female petitioners vehemently disagreed with the male authorities" assessment of Mistress Tilly. As the second group of Bostonians declared, they thought her "the ablest midwife in the land." The Dorchester women expressed their confidence in her, writing of how they were "affrayd to putt our selves into the hands of any besides our midwife that wee have had experience of," for she had helped them "even in such tymes as in the eye of sence or reason nothinge but Death was to be expected." Indeed, the Boston women insisted that Mistress Tilly "hath through the goodnes of God bin carried through such difficulties in her calling that none of those who are her accusers could Doe but have either sent for her or left the work undone."

The implication of the petitions, therefore, is that Alice Tilly was the preeminent Boston midwife, the one most likely to be summoned in "desperate" cases. That conclusion is borne out by the circumstances that elicited the six petitions, which fall into three groups. The first set of three, submitted before her trial, asked that she be permitted to leave jail to attend her patients. Evidently that request was rejected, because the fourth petition, written after she had been tried and convicted, renewed the request and alluded to "sad events" that had occurred in the interim, presumably because of her absence. Led by the wife of the chief pastor of the Boston church, twenty-six female Bostonians begged the judges to "heare the cryes of mothers, and of children yet unborn." This time the court acquiesced, allowing Mistress Tilly to leave prison whenever she was needed at childbeds. But her husband eventually threatened to move the family elsewhere "unless her innocencie may be cleared." Consequently, in spring 1650, the women of Boston and Dorchester again submitted two petitions on her behalf, entreating the General Court to free her from custody absolutely.

That angered the officials, who accused her of seeking "nothinge but a compleat victory" and testily asserted that there was "as much need to upphold magistracy in their authority as Mris Tilly in her midwivery." Yet the women pointedly reminded the General Court that they wrote not just for themselves but also on behalf of "the security of your children." That the 130 signatories to the final petition intended that phrase to be taken literally is demonstrated by the fact that included among their number were several relatives of the legislators. Apparently the petitions were successful; at least, the Tillys still resided in Boston fifteen years later.

I have identified all but twenty of the petitioners, and will soon submit the edited documents to a scholarly journal. Research conducted by my assistants A. Paige Shipman '94 and Cathy Simpson '96 proves that most of the signatories - as would be expected - were women in their prime childbearing years or, occasionally, the mothers or mothers-in-law of such women. These remarkable petitions demonstrate the centrality of reproductive issues in women's lives from the earliest years of the English colonies and thus provide a striking backdrop against which to interpret such currently contentious subjects as abortion rights, in vitro fertilization, and research on human embryos. They also reveal that the "gender gap" has a long history in American politics: the petitions leave no doubt that the verdict in the trial of Mistress Alice Tilly would have been quite different had women comprised the Bay Colony"s Court of Assistants in the spring of 1649.
found on ancestry.com

William Tilley, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, pg. 686
Tilley, William, Boston, had w. Alice, ±62 in 1665, a popular mid-wife and a trial to the magistrates, who having put her in jail for some offense, ±1649, were showered by petitions from Boston and Dorchester women in her favor. She, under his p/a, sold their Boston ho. 1649, he prob. at Cape Porpus where he was in 1650 and 1652. Both liv. 1665. Only kn. ch: Sarah, m. 1st Henry Lynn(2), 2d Hugh Gunnison(2), 3d Capt. John Mitchell(5), 4th Dr. Francis Morgan (2).
found on ancestry.com

Alice Frost Blower Tilley
Birth: 1594
Death: unknown

Thomas Blower married at Stanstead, Suffolk, 19 November 1612, Alice Frost; baptized at Stanstead, 1 December 1594, daughter of Edward and Thomasine (Belgrave) Frost.

They had 7-8 children: Hannah, Alice BRACKETT, Joshua, Thomas, Mary, John, Thomas, and (probably) Pyam.

She married (2) probably at Barnstable, soon after 6 July 1640, William Tilley. Alice (Frost) (Blower) Tilley was sister of Thomasine Frost, who married Edmund Rice, immigrant to Sudbury, and also of Elizabeth Frost, who married 1st Henry Rice and then Philemon Whale, the latter also an immigrant to Sudbury.

William Tilley married, soon after 6 July 1640 (probably at Barnstable), Alice (Frost) Blower, daughter of Edward Frost and widow of Thomas Blower (1635, Boston). (On 6 July 1640, John Mayo, minister at Barnstable, certified "that the purpose of marriage betwixt Mr. Tylly of Barnestable and Mrs. Blower of Boston hath been three several times published in the meeting at Barnestable"

Several interconnected topics in the life of William Tilly deserve discussion: the identity of his wife; a fine which he incurred soon after his arrival in New England; and whether he had any children.

On 18 February 1633/4, the Court of High Commission, convened at Lambeth Palace, considered the case of "Henricus [sic] Blower." On 24 January 1632/3, "she was fined in £100 for her notorious contempt of ecclesiastical laws and jurisdiction in her [illegible] carriages and so the [illegible] and the certifying thereof was respited until this day. This day inasmuch as neither the said Alice Blower nor anybody else for her gave in any petition to desire any mitigation of her fine imposed upon her, the said fine of an hundred pounds was [ordered?] to be certified into his highness exchequer and estreated to his highness use." On 26 June 1634, the case was considered again, the commissioners "finding that the said Alice Blower had removed herself long since from Sudbury where the offense was given, and thereby the scandal grown by her taken away, and for that she had in all obedience submitted herself and would continue herself conformable to the order's doctrine, and discipline of the Church of England, she was dismissed from further attendance touching this cause, and all bonds by her or any her sureties entered touching the same are ordered to be cancelled and delivered unto her." On 27 March 1668, "Alice Tilly the wife of William Tilly aged about 66 years testifieth that Martha Haffield late of Ipswich deceased and sometime wife of Richard Haffield of Ipswich also deceased was maidservant to this deponent about the time she was married to the said Richard Haffield and the said Richard had a son and two daughters by a former wife to which children the said Martha the latter wife carried herself very abusive and unreasonable both in want of necessary apparel and other ways as in many hard words and blows in my sight and hearing; further this deponent testifieth that the parents of the said Martha abovenamed were very poor and were not able to give her any portion that was known to their neighbors the which caused this deponent and other of neighbors to wonder at the strange and froward behavior to her said husband his children." (This deposition was part of the contest over the estate of Richard Haffield.)This deposition provides two pieces of information impinging on the identity of the wife of William Tilly. First, Richard Haffield (1635, Ipswich) derived from Sudbury, Suffolk, and married his second wife, Martha, about 1627, which places this deponent in Sudbury at that time, which is consistent with what we know about Alice (Frost) Blower. This also connects with the Court of High Commission record of 26 June 1634, which stated that "Alice Blower had removed herself long since from Sudbury."Second, she gives her age as "about 66 years" in 1668, which places her birth about 1602, whereas Alice (Frost) Blower was baptized in 1594, and so would seem to have been nearly a decade older than this deponent. However, the wife of William Tilly apparently made another deposition, in which she gave her age as about 62 in 1665, which would place her birth in about 1603, in accord with the 1668 deposition. Since these two stated ages are the only evidence inconsistent with the identification of Alice (Frost) Blower as the wife of William Tilly, and since all the other evidence points towards that identification, we suggest that in her seventh decade Alice chose to present herself as a younger woman, given that she was more than a decade older than William Tilly.Alice (Frost) (Blower) Tilly was a prominent midwife, who in 1648 ran afoul of the authorities and was jailed, which stimulated a number of undated petitions in her support, signed by dozens of Boston and Dorchester women. On 17 November 1648, "W[illia]m Tilly of Boston do hereby make and ordain my wellbeloved friend Hugh Gullison of Boston my true and lawful attorney for me and in my name to implead and arrest and prosecute and recover of W[illia]m Phillips of Boston and his wife or either or both of them or any person or persons that hath or shall hereafter defame or slander my wellbeloved wife Alice Tilly in respect of her calling or otherwise … and also in case my said attorney shall at any time be wanting or disabled to prosecute the said parties, then I do also hereby authorize my friend John Sherman to prosecute the said parties." (This document may also have authorized Alice Tilly to sell her husband's Boston land a few months later.)

Soon after his arrival in New England, William Tilly had been fined for not paying excise duties on wine he had imported. On 11 November 1647, "upon Mrs. Tyly her petition, the court doth think fit that the fine of £4, mentioned in her petition, stand charged upon her husband, and be forthwith levided according to law."

On 16 April 1649, "William Tylly," writing from "Cape Porpes," petitioned the General Court that he "was for certain years since by the Court of Assistants holden in the 10 month when Mr. Dudleigh was governor fine[d] £4 for refusing to take an oath and thereon to declare what he had done with a parcel of wine that he had lawfully bought that year before and as honestly paid for and as righteously sold according to an order of the General Court there produced though your petitioner told them he was ready to pay anything they proved against him and also of four butts that he had in all he could procure eleven quarter cask carried out of the province besides smaller rundlets and cases, but for the taking this oath was altogether against his conscience neither could a nice rule be given him from God's word to justify such a practice in him, now sithence the marshal still lieth at me to pay it and thinking that I have such good reasons to move the honored court to pity me herein I have made bold to present my desires that the marshal may cross his book or I may have my quietness considering (1) I have but little if debts paid, (2) the difficulty in getting £4 in my employment, (3) none required to take the oath but myself, (4) the order never published as I was credibly informed, I am sure that I never heard of it for if I had I hope I should have saved the imposing of that oath if all the springs in the country had not been dry, (5) another order on record extant at the same time repealing the order by which I was fined, (6) the great immunity that you have granted in that [once?] laws published to the world's view that no man's estate shall be taken under pretence of law, but by law established and sufficiently published, the request of your poor petitioner is therefore again to entreat to take off this fine from me and I shall ever rest yours as I hope I am in Jesus Christ." On 4 May 1649, Massachusetts Bay General Court "received a petition from W[illia]m Tilley, for the abatement of a fine of four pounds, the answer whereof was, that with the 10s. for fees for the petition, all the fine should be abaed to forty shillings."In this deposition, Tilly claimed that he was fined at a court "in the 10 month when Mr. Dudleigh was governor," which would be in December of 1634. This would imply that this deponent could not have been the 1635 passenger. In this case, however, Tilly's memory has failed him, for the court order under which he was fined was made on 13 December 1636 (when Henry Vane was governor) and was repealed on 12 March 1637/8. The record of the imposition of the fine itself has not survived, nor was the fine referred to in the general amnesty of 1638.William Tilley witnessed documents at Cape Porpus on 8 July 1650 and 1 July 1652 and at York or Kittery on 27 February 1651[/2?]. Note that his removal from Boston to Cape Porpus took place at the time his wife was under attack for her midwifing activitiesNoyes, Libby and Davis stated that the "only known child" of William Tilly was "Sarah, married 1st Henry Lynn, 2d Hugh Gunnison, 3d Capt. John Mitcvhell, 4th Dr. Francis Morgan." Some of this same information was included in the sketches of Henry Lynn (1630, Boston) and of Hugh Gunnison (1635, Boston). This conclusion was based on William Tilly's involvement in a dispute arising out of the estate of Hugh Gunnison, which gave rise to the following document, in which Sarah calls William her father.On 26 May 1660, "Sarah Gunison" wrote to "Captain [Richard] Davenport" that " I have here enclosed Mr. Robert Saltinstoone's bill and my earnest request unto you is that you will be pleased to do me that favorable courtesy as in my name and behalf and for me to draw up a petition and profer it unto the General Court according to law concerning my land due from the country. Sir, I suppose I need not write at large about it yourself being so well informed in the business and willing to help one which is not in a capacity to help herself. I have intimated concerning it unto Mr. Russell, pary also advise with him desiring his assistance. I have not it spoken with [Mr.?] Peter Coffin and therefore cannot fully inform who I desire should be appointed to bound the land." After dating and signing this letter, Sarah added this addendum: "For if you shall lack money for the proferring of the petition ask it of my father Tilly" [MA Arch 15B:58].

However, close attention to chronology shows that Sarah cannot have been William's biological daughter. On 13 April 1660, "William Tilly aged about fifty [altered to fifty-three] years" deposed regarding a bond engaged in by his son-in-law Hugh Gunnison. This would mean that William Tilly was born about 1607, which is in accord with his age given on the 1635 passenger list. On 29 June 1670, "Mrs. Sarah Morgan the wife of Mr. Francis Morgan aged about 51 years" deposed in a civil proceeding, which computes to an approximate year of birth of 1619, consistent with her marriage to Henry Lynn by 1636. Thus, William Tilly was only about twelve years older than Sarah.A possible solution arises when we look at the life of his wife. Alice Frost was baptized in 1594, married Thomas Blower in 1612, and had children born at Sudbury, Suffolk, between 1613 and 1630. Probably because of gaps in the parish registers of Sudbury, however, no baptismal records have been found for this family between 1615 and 1621. We propose that the Sarah who married Henry Lynn and three other men was Sarah Blower, born about 1619, daughter of Thomas and Alice (Frost) Blower. She would, then, have been William Tilly's stepdaughter. This hypothese derives some slight further support from the observation that Henry Lynn and wife Sarah had a daughter Sarah who married William Rogers, and that this latter couple named a daughter Alice.On 11 October 1665, in "answer to the petition of Mr. Willjam Tilley, the court, having heard what he & his wife could say for themselves, judge meet to order and enjoin Mr. Tilley and his wife forthwith to live together as man and wife, that Mr. Tilly provide for her as his wife, and that she submit herself to him as she ought, on the penalty of forty pounds on his part, & imprisonment on hers"
Find A Grave Memorial# 38442871
found on ancestry.com

Women's Action Heroine
Alice Tilly or Tilley, a prominent Boston midwife, was at the center of a huge feminist controversy—indeed, one that historians refer to as American women’s first collective political action. The dispute erupted in spring 1649 when she the 54-year-old Tilly was tried, convicted, and imprisoned on spurious charges in Boston, and hundreds of women rallied to her support—a precursor to future actions around reproductive rights. For more information, see the really excellent scholarly article “The Ablest Midwife That Wee Knowe in the Land: Mistress Alice Tilly and the Women of Boston and Dorchester,” by Mary Beth Norman, 1998. A citation, ordering instructions, and part of the article can be found at http://www.jstor.org/pss/2674325. Another article by Norman, “American Women’s First Collective Political Action: Boston 1649–1650” can be read and printed free at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/newsletr/spring96/norton.htm. (Alice, described as “an active Puritan” and as “a professed servant of Jesus Christ both in old England and new,” originally married Thomas Blower on 19 November 1612 in Stanstead; he died in 1639 in Massachusetts, and she remarried William Tilly, a wine merchant 13 years her junior, at Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, in 1640. William lived in Barnstable, Massachusetts, and the couple had what might now be described as “a commuting marriage.” While Mistress Tilly, as she was known, was being harassed for practicing midwifery, her husband originated a countersuit against Susannah Phillips, one of her detractors, for slander. Because of the impassioned protestations of Boston women that Alice was necessary to their health and survival, she was actually allowed to leave prison to attend to the needs of women in the throes of childbirth. Little is known about her life after 1650.
found on ancestry.com

THOMAS BLOWER 1587-1639

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Elizabeth Waldo (Brackett), daughter of Josiah Brackett, son of Alice Blower (Brackett) (Tilly), daughter of Thomas Blower.]

Thomas Blower & family
Thomas Blower Jr. [Parents] was born on 23 April 1587 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England and was christened on 23 April 1587 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England. He died in 1639 in Suffolk, Massachusetts, New England and was buried about 1639 in, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Thomas married Alice Frost on 19 November 1612 in Stanstead, Suffolkshire, England.

Alice Frost [Parents] was born on 1 December 1594 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England and was christened on 1 December 1594 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England. She died after 9 September 1639 in, Suffolk, England. Alice married Thomas Blower Jr. on 19 November 1612 in Stanstead, Suffolkshire, England.

They had the following children:
F i Hannah Blower was born in 1613 in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. She died on 7 May 1630 in All Saints, Sudbury, England and was buried on 7 May 1630 in All Saints, Sudbury, Suffolk, England.
F ii Alice Blower was born on 30 June 1615 and died on 3 November 1690.

M iii John Blower was born in 1617 and died in 1675.

M iv Thomas Blower III was born in 1619/1620 in All Saints, Sudbury, England and was christened on 22 February 1623 in All Saints, Sudbury, Suffolk, England was buried on 25 April 1625 in All Saints, Sudbury, Suffolk, England.

M v Joshua Blower was christened on 15 December 1621 in All Saints, Sudbury, Suffolk, England, was buried on 22 August 1623 in All Saints, Sudbury, Suffolk, England.

F vi Mary Blower was christened on 13 February 1625 in All Saints, Sudbury, Suffolk, England. was buried on 7 February 1639 in All Saints, Sudbury, England.

M vii John Blower was christened on 23 February 1627 and died after 9 September 1675.

M viii Thomas Blower was christened on 16 May 1630 in All Saints, Sudbury, Suffolk, England.

M ix Pyam Blower was born about 1632 in Of Sudbury, Suffolk, England.

M x Pyam Blowers was born in 1638 and died on 1 June 1709.
found on ancestry.com

THOMAS BLOWER 1556-1581

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Josiah Brackett, son of Alice Blower (Brackett), daughter of Thomas Blower, son of Thomas Blower.]

Thomas Blower Sr and family
Thomas Blower [Parents] was born about 1545/1550 in Stanstead, Sussex, England. He died on 27 February 1581 in Stanstead, Sussex, England and was buried on 1 Octtober 1597 in , Lavenham, Suffolk, England. Thomas married Susannah Vincent on 27 February 1582 in Bildeston, Suffolk, England.

Susannah Vincent [Parents] was born in 1560 in Bildeston, Suffolk, England. She died after 1597 in Bildeston, Suffolk, England. Susannah married Thomas Blower on 27 February 1582 in Bildeston, Suffolk, England.

They had the following children:
F i Susanna Blower was born in 1582/1585 in Stanstead, Sussex, England.
M ii Thomas Blower was christened on 15 December 1585 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England. He died before 1587.
M iii Thomas Blower Jr. was born on 23 April 1587 and died in 1639.
M iv Caleb Blower was christened on 7 Jul 1588 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England. He died before 1597.
F v Alice Blower was christened on 15 March 1590 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England.
F vi Rachel Blower was christened on 12 October 1591 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England.
F vii Mary Blower was christened on 25 February 1593 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England.
M viii Blower was born about 1595 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England.
M ix Blower was born in 1597 in Stanstead, Sussex, England.
M x Child Blower was born about 1597 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England.
found on ancestry.com

Will of Thomas Blower
I, Thomas Blower of Lavenham in the County of Suffolk, Tanner, being sick in body but whole in mind ...

Item: I will that Susanna my wife pay unto John Blower my eldest son when he shall of the age of twenty-three years the sum of thirty pounds of good and lawful money of England and twenty pounds when he shall be of the age of twenty-five years and if yesaid John so long shall live. But if the foresaid John do die before either of ye payments grow due then I will his portion to be equally divided amongst my sons and daughters then shall be living.

Item: I will that my land lying in Melford holden of the parsons of Melford as these lands, be equally divided between my two sons John and Thomas Blower either of them paying out of it unto ye child that now Susan my wife is withall, if it happens to be a son and lives to ye age of twenty-three years, at ye age of twenty-three years fifteen pounds apiece and if it happens to be a daughter then either of them to pay unto it fifty shillings in good and lawful money of England and so then further to payunto their other four sisters; Susanna, Alice, Rachel and Mary Blower, fifty shillings apiece of like English money when they shall be of age of twenty-one years and if either of my said daughters die before then their portion be divided then I will that those of them that live until it be due shall equally enjoy their parts.

Item I will that Susanna my wife shall have to her and her heirs forever all that my tenment with ye land and pasture thereunto belonging situate lying and being in Stanstead with all my debts and other my moveable goods what so ever yelding and paying to that child that now is withall if it be a daughter at the age of twenty-one years the sum of five pounds of lawful English money and also to my other four daughters, Susanna, Alice Rachel and Mary like sums of five pounds apiece to be payed unto eitherof them at ye like age of twenty-one years.

And to this my last will I appoint and ordaine for my executors, Susanna Blower, my wife and Nicholas Vincent, brother unto ye fore named Susanna and in testimony that this is my will and testament I the fore said Thomas have set my hand these being witnesses:
John Day by me Thomas Blower John Wright

Proved 27 October 1597
found on ancestry.com

WILLIAM THOMPSON 1576-1623

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Elizabeth Waldo (Brackett), daughter of Hannah Coggswell (Waldo), daughter of Elizabeth Thompson (Coggswell), daughter of William Thompson.]

The site of Hall Garth where many earlier Thompson’s lived, knocked down in the 1920’s. Viewed from the road at the bottom of Cold fell.
found on ancestry.com

ALICE (COGGSWELL) 1570-1616

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Elizabeth Waldo (Brackett), daughter of Hannah Coggswell (Waldo), daughter of John Coggswell, son of Alice (Coggswell).]

Will of Alice Cogswell

"In the name of God, Amen. The 25th June 1615, I, Alice Cogeswell, of Westburie leighe, in the countie of Wilts, widowe, bequeath my soul to God & my bodie to be buried in the churchyaarde of Westburie. To my daughter Margaret, wife unto Thomas Marchaunt, £40, 2 pair of sheets, two pair of Pillstaxes, one of my best gownes & Petticoat. To Margery, Alice, Margaret, & Philadelphis, their children, £4 each. Unto Thomas, children, Wlizabeth Marcharnt, £20. To Elizabeth Erneley, £40, and sundry articles of linen. To Bridget, Catharine, Marie and Anne Erneley, £4 each. To Margery Wilkinge, her daughter, £40, & certain articles of linen. To Anthony & Anne, children of John Wilkinge, £4 each. To Anthony Cogeswell, £100, at the age of 23, and to have his livinge of Ludborne, when he is 21 years aged. To Jeffrey Cogswell at 23, £100. To each godchild twelve pence. I give unto the poore, 10s. I give unto Westburie Church, 10s. The residue of my estate to John Cogswell, my sonne, whom I appoint my Executor."

Signed, Alice Cogswell

Overseers: Jeffrey Whittaker, of Westburie; Anthony Selfe, of Dilton

The Will was proven and Probate - pending suit ­ was granted to John Cogswell, 11 May, 1616, and subsequent sentence admitted Walter Cogswell, a son not named in the Will.
found on ancestry.com

EDWARD COGGSWELL 1554-1616

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Elizabeth Waldo (Brackett), daughter of Hannah Coggswell (Waldo), daughter of John Coggswell, son of Edward Coggswell.]

Edward; born circa 1554

Edward Cogswell was born circa 1554 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England. He was buried on January 12, 1616 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England. His occupation was Clothier.

In 1591 he built the ancient home at what is now known as 145 Westbury Leigh. Restoration work uncovered three irregular lumps above the hearth, and further inspection revealed three shields carved in relief. One in inscribed "ECA (Edward Cogswell and Alicia), another reads "1591" and the third bears the Cogswell cloth logo, the use of which became compulsory for clothiers. The house was privately restored during the 1980s by Peter and Mary Jones. "His estates were designated Ludboune, Horningsham, and Ripond Mylls... were located in Frome Selwood, a few miles from Westbury." "He appears to have been one of the most successful and prosperous clothiers of the region."

About the year 1578, he married Alice who was born circa 1559 in Westbury Leigh, England. She was buried on May 11, 1616 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England. They had the following Children:-

Margaret; born circa 1580 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England; married November 1599, Thomas Merchante; child: Elizabeth Merchante

Elizabeth; born circa 1582 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England. buried January 20, 1582 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England.

Elizabeth; born circa 1584 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England; married Erneley; buried April 1, 1661.

John; born circa 1586 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England; buried April 11, 1592 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England.

Robert; baptized May 28, 1588 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England; probably died in infancy.

Andrew; (twin); baptized November 20, 1590 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England; died in infancy.

Robert; (twin); baptized November 20, 1590 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England; died in infancy.

John; in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England.

Margery; born circa 1593 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England; buried 1626; married John Wilkins on September 3, 1610.

Anthonius; baptized August 30, 1595 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England; buried June 28, 1597 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England.

Anthoney\Arthur; baptized January 19, 1596/97 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England; died before 1651; married Margery Phipps circa 1617. She died a widow in 1651 at Ludbourne.

Geoffrey; baptized December 10, 1598 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England; married Mary Yonge in 1617.

Elenor; born circa 1600 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England; married Stephen Smythe circa 1620 in Westbury.

Walter; born circa 1602 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England.

Margerie; buried June 4, 1597
found on ancestry.com

Edward Cogswell (Coggswell)
Appears on the subsidy rolls for £6 in 1610. He had mills at Frome, which he left to John. Will names children Margaret, wife of Thomas Marchante, Elizabeth, wife of Richard Ernly, Margery, wife of John Wilkins; sisters Elinor Smythe wife of Stephen, widow Joane Freestone, widow Margaret Francklene, Margaret Whately, wife of John, Edith Stevens wife of Thomas; sons John, Anthony, Jeffrey, wife Alice. (NEHGR 25:185)

In 1591 he built the ancient home at what is now known as 145 Westbury Leigh. Restoration work uncovered three irregular lumps above the hearth, and further inspection revealed three shields carved in relief. One in inscribed "ECA (Edward Cogswell and Alicia), another reads "1591" and the third bears the Cogswell cloth logo, the use of which became compulsory for clothiers. The house was privately restored during the 1980s by Peter and Mary Jones. "His estates were designated Ludboune, Horningsham, and Ripond Mylls... were located in Frome Selwood, a few miles from Westbury." "He appears to have been one of the most successful and prosperous clothiers of the region." (http://members.aol.com/dcurtin1/gene/gen_cog.htm)
found on ancestry.com

ROBERT COGGSWELL 1510-

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Mary Barney (Barber), daugther of Israel Barney, son of Elizabeth Brackett (Barney), daughter of Elizabeth Waldo (Brackett), daughter of Hannah Coggswell (Waldo), daughter of John Coggswell, son of Edward Coggswell, son of Robert Coggswell.]

Robert COGSWELL; was born in 1510 and baptized on November 30, 1510 in Westbury Leigh, England. He was a manufacturer of wollen cloth. "Tax records of 1545 show them [the five brothers] quite well established, especially Robert, who was the grandfather of John Cogswell, the immigrant to America in 1635."

He married Alice Adlam, the daughter John Adlam and Marjorie____ circa 1541. She was born circa 1518 and was buried on August 1, 1603 in Dilton, Wiltshire, England. They had the following Children:-

Robert born 1562; baptized April 1604; died 1587

Edward

George

Roger; married Ann Goodridge; of Warminster; Children:- Elinor baptized 1613; Edward baptized 1614

Robert

Johnimus; born June 10, 1563; buried 1569

Stephen; buried November 1609

Robert

Richard; buried, November 11, 1605

Joane; baptized May 8, 1573; married H. Freestone

Anna; born March 18, 1573.

Margaret; married 1----; married 2. William Franklene

Margery; married John Whateley on May 20, 1588

Edith; (Her name may have been Alice); married Thomas Stevens on February 7, 1596. They rem. to London. Child:- Margery Stevens

Roger; buried November 28, 1643; married Frances Goodridge on December 1, 1606.
found on ancestry.com

From http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~kristin/fambly/Cogswell/CogswellName.html

COGSWELL FAMILY LINE.pdf of the Cogswell Family Register Report .pdf of the Cogswell Family Descendant Chart

Jameson claims that the Cogswell name is tied in with the town of Coggeshall, Essex, England. This town dates to Roman times, when it was called Canonium. When the Saxons ruled, the name became Coed Garr's Hall, with its subsequent morphing to Coggashael in the time of Canute the Dane and finally to the modern Coggeshall[3]. The family supposedly lost its standing during the time of Henry VI and suffered its own diaspora around England at that time[3].

In 1046, Coggeshall was turned over to the Church in support of the Benedictine Monks of Canterbury, with the Abbey being officially founded as a Cistercian Order in 1139 at the behest of King Stephen and Queen Matilda[3].

In 1337, the M.P. from Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England was one Johanus Coggeskale. Jameson then refers the reader to The Annals of Coggeshall by Bryan Dale and The Chronicles of Ralph de Coggeshall (Latin text)[3].

Supposedly, the Cogswells originated in Essex and moved west to Westbury, Wiltshire, England. Westbury is in the Domesday Book with the entry "The King holds Westburie. Queen Editha held it, and it paid geld for 40 hides." Queen Editha held the area in 1044. She was consort of King Edward the Confessor[2].

Westbury's Arms were officially registered with the Heralds in the year 16 Elizabeth (1573). Supposedly, they are identical to John of Gaunt (fourth son of Edward III, bore). It was granted its charter of incorporation by Henry IV. Jameson says, "It is a parish forming the Hundred of Westbury, County of Wilts, and comprising the borough of Westbury, the chapelries of Bratton and Dilton, and the townships of Hawkeridge, Hayward, and Leigh, and containging about seventy thousand inhabitants, upward of two thousand of whom are in the town of Westbury. This town is twenty four miles northwest from Salisbury and ninety-eight miles west by south of London. The place is of great antiquity. It occupies the site of the old Roman military and trading station, Verlucio..."[2] Supposedly, this town was the seat of the West Saxon Kings. The Avon flows nearby. The major industry of this town was clothing[4].

Name Variations Include: Cogswell, Coggswell, Cosewell, Cogshall, Cogswel, Coggeshall, Hoggeshale, Cogesholl, Cogeshole, Coggashael, Cogshol, Coxhall, Cockshall, Coggshale. Coggeshall and Cogswell were fairly interchangeable in England, but in America they are two distinct families descended from two different men[2].

Cogswell Coat Of Arms: The Ancient Family Arms are:Argent, a cross between four escallops sable.Crest, a stag lodged sable attired or.Motto, "Hec sperno nec timeo"[2].

G11. Robert COGSWELL m. Ann [surname not known] 15008/15009

G10. Edward COGSWELL m. Alice [surname not known] 7504/7505

G9. John COGSWELL m. Elizabeth THOMPSON 3752/3753

G8. John COGSWELL m. [not known] 1876/1877

G7. John COGSWELL m. Margaret GIFFORD 938/939

G6. Moses HAWKES m. Margaret COGSWELL 468/469
found on ancestry.com

ELIZABETH HILL (BECKETT) 1560-1602

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Polly Barber (Child), daughter of Ichabod Barber, son of Thomas Barber, son of Thomas Barber, son of Susanna West (Barber), daughter of Susannah Soule (West), daughter of Mary Beckett (Soule), daughter of Elizabeth Hill (Beckett).]

Representation: Elizabeth Hill mother of "Mary Beckett" Mary the Pilgrim's Wife

GRACE WHEELER (BROOKS) 1594-1664

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Alfred Bosworth Child, son of Hannah Benedict (Child), daughter of Hannah Carter (Benedict), daughter of John Carter, son of Ebenezer Carter, son of Mercy Brooks (Carter), daughter of William Brooks, son of Grace Wheeler (Brooks).]








Old Hill Burial Ground, Concord, Massachusetts, where Grace in Buried

HENRY BROOKS 1591-1683

[Ancestral Link: Lura Minnie Parker (Stagge), daughter of Minnie May Elmer (Parker), daughter of Mark Alfred Elmer, son of Hannah Polina Child (Elmer), daughter of Alfred Bosworth Child, son of Hannah Benedict (Child), daughter of Hannah Carter (Benedict), daughter of John Carter, son of Ebenezer Carter, son of Mercy Brooks (Carter), daughter of William Brooks, son of Henry Brooks.]





Henry Brooks - His Mark


This is his mark (or signature), dated in the year of his death. Photo from http://www.tributaries.us/



Bio
Henry Brooks was born about 1592, place and parents unknown, which is known from a December 1658 suit in which he testified he was then "about 66" years of age. He married (1), say 1620 in England, an unnamed wife with whom he had 6 children. (Here is included Hannah Brooks, who, while sometimes ascribed to Thomas Brooks of Concord, Massachusetts, was probably the daughter of Henry. Threlfall, examining Hannah's parentage, concludes that Thomas and Henry Brooks "most likely were brothers," as have Shattuck, Blake and several others.)



Henry Brooks first appears in Massachusetts Bay Colony on 14 March 1639, when, of Concord, he was admitted freeman. He appears as a property owner on the Woburn tax list between 1649 and 1657. On 20 December 1650 William Brackenbury of Charlestown conveyed to Henry Brooks six parcels of land in Woburn (178 acres) at a place commonly called Horn Pond, together with a house frame. Henry's homestead, described in Woburn records of 1678, was located on South Street (present lower Main Street), and as late as 1789 was owned by a direct descendant, Capt. Nathaniel Brooks.



Henry married (2), before 27 March 1651, Susanna Bradford, widow of Ezekiel Richardson of Woburn, with whom he had no children. Described by a contemporary authority as "an ancient and skilful woman, living at Woburn," famous for her attainments in medical science, she died at Woburn 15 September 1681. He was selectman of Woburn in 1667, 1671 and 1672. "Henry Brooks and wife Susanna conveyed property to Theophilus Richardson, the son of Ezekiel, which stands as a confirmation of this relationship."



He married (3), 12 July 1682, Annis Jordan, widow of Abraham Jacquith, and made his will six days later.



"In his will, dated July 18, 1682 (six days after his last marriage), he names wife Annes; son-in-law, John Mousall; sons John, Timothy and Isaac; and daughters, Sarah and Lestor [Hannah2 (Brooks) Lester]; also grandchildren, Isaac and Henry, sons of his son Isaac, and Miriam, their sister†. An abstract of the will of Henry Brooks is published in the Hon. Edward F. Johnson's Abstracts of Early Woburn Deeds, p. 31. He described himself in the will as a clothier, and as 'stricken in years,' his age being then about 91 years. "The will of Henry Brooks describes his lands with some particularity; to his daughter, Lester, or Lestor, he gives and bequeaths 5 shillings, and no more, because 'she hath received her portion already'; to his 'Rev. pastors, Mr. Thomas Carter and Mr. Jabez Fox,' he gives 20 shillings apiece. Isaac, his son, was his sole executor, and his trusted friend, Lieut. William Johnson, he desired should be overseer, and he gave him 20 shillings. He made his executor his residuary legatee, and desired that his two grandchildren should not alienate any of the land he gave them during their father's life. "The inventory discloses about 20 acres of upland on the east side of the highway; 7 acres of meadow, adjoining to said land; 8 acres of meadow in Forty Pound Meadow, given to the children of Isaac Brooks; about 80 acres of upland on west side of the highway on both sides of the river, given to the two sons of Isaac Brooks; the great lot in Woburn Common [meaning not the present Woburn Common, now a square in Woburn Centre, but lots in Woburn common lands or land], given to Miriam, daughter of Isaac Brooks, 42 acres; 3 small lots in Woburn Common, amounting to about 15 acres; for a division of woodland in Woburn Common land, the half given to the two sons of Isaac Brooks; 6 acres of meadow land in Shred Pine Meadow; for the town privilege in herbage, the half given to the two sons of Isaac Brooks; 5¼ acres of swamp bottom; and 15 acres of land by Mount Discovery. "These lands can be traced by deeds for three generations. (See Early Woburn Deeds, by Hon. Edward F. Johnson.)."



Henry Brooks died 12 April 1683 at Woburn, Massachusetts.
found on ancestry.com







Henry Brooks - Biographical Sketch
The following information is quoted from: Timothy Brooks of Massachusetts and His Descendants, By Robert Peacock Brooks, Limited Edition 1927, THE BIBLIO COMPANY Publishers, Pompton Lakes, New Jersey



"HENRY BROOKS, THE COLONIAL ANCESTOR



Authorities differ as to who is the first member of the large family bearing the name of BROOKS to come to America. Several writers state, with great positiveness, that the progenitor of the Brooks family on this side of the Atlantic was one Thomas Brooks who came in the ship "Susan and Ellen" in 1635 when about 18 years of age. Thomas Brooks is the ancestor of a very large family, among whom are many that became very notable.



The founder of the Brooks family in America arrived in August 1699) in the Delaware (River)," says Frank Willing Leach. Mr. Leach goes on to state that this immigrant, John Brooks with his wife and six children, Jonathan, Elizabeth, George, Abigal, James and Matthew settled in Salem, N.J. John Brooks' lineage was traced as far back as 1535 to Yorkshire, England. Shortly after the arrival of this family, the father died and was buried in the old Friends' Burying Ground at Salem. A few years after the death of John Brooks, the eldest sons, James and Matthew went over to Pennsylvania and settled on land near the Delaware River which their father had purchased from William Penn. There are today a great many descendants of these two brothers in eastern Pennsylvania.



Extensive researches have been carried on to establish relationship among these two early founders of the Brooks family in America but to date there appears to be no relationship between Thomas Brooks and John Brooks or Henry Brooks, of New England.



It is my opinion, and this opinion is held by several others who have made a study of this subject, that the first Brooks to come to America was not Thomas nor John but Henry. Mackenzie, in his "Colonial Families of the United States" says the ancestor of the Brooks family was Henry Brooks who came to America in 1615 apparently from Scotland since the coat of arms indicated that he is of Scotch ancestry. A writer in the Boston and Eastern Massachusetts Genealogy (vol. 2, page 652) says, "Henry Brooks came from Scotland and landed in Boston in the year 1630." Unfortunately, neither the date of Henry's arrival nor the place whence he came can be verified as there appears to be no record of either. The first record of Henry Brooks is of March 14, 1638, made in Concord, Massachusetts and is the date when he was given the rights of a freeman. His next appearance on the colonial records is in Woburn, Massachusetts where in 1699 he appeared on the tax lists and on subsequent tax lists there until 1657.



We have abundant documentary proof that Henry Brooks was one of the first settlers of Concord. He lived there with his wife, whose name is unknown, four sons and two daughters until about 1648, when he moved to Woburn.



While in Woburn, his wife died. This was prior to 1651 for on March 27, of that year Henry Brooks married Susannah, the widow of Ezekial Richardson of that place. The Brooks home in Woburn was on a tract containing six parcels of land of 178 acres at a section known as "Horn Pond." This tract, with a frame farm house, was purchased from William Brackenburg of Charlestown, December 20, 1650. In later days, this house stood on what was known as South Street now Main Street and stood there until 1789 when it was torn down by Captain Nathaniel Brooks, a descendant.



Henry Brooks was not only a farmer but a clothier as well. During the years 1669, 1671 and 1672, he served his town as a selectman. There are no records of the date of his birth and our best clue to this date is given in a record of a suit which was instituted in December 1658 wherein he describes himself as being aged 66 years. This places the date of his birth 1591-1592.



We may be satisfied, in spite of faulty records, that Henry Brooks was one of those who left Great Britain in pursuit of religious freedom. The exact date of his arrival will perhaps always be conjecture and the place whence he embarked unknown but the story of Henry Brooks and his descendants will forever be linked with the great history story of America. He and his descendants are closely connected with the various phases of American history -- its early New England settlements, the organization of new towns, churches and early colonial government. His children and grandchildren took active part in the Indian wars, especially King Philip's and the French and Indian. In the Revolution there fought many of his descendants. Some participated in the War of 1812, and they contributed their share in the development of the Nation through their agricultural pursuits, for most all of the descendants of Timothy were farmers. The first Western Reserve Bank had the assistance of two of his descendants in its founding. The Baptist Church of America has claimed many of Henry Brooks' descendants not only as members but as ministers.
found on ancestry.com



Turner Family Ancestral History Book 1600's, Woburn,Massachusetts.


I. Henry Brooks


Henry Brooks was a proprietor of lands (178 Acres) at a place commonly called "Horn Pond",in 1650.The homestead estate of Henry Brooks is described in Woburn,Massachusetts.


Records in 1678,the buildings then were located on what was called South Street (later lower Main Street),and as late as 1798 was still owned by a descendant.


An abstract of his Last Will and Testament is published in Hon. Edward F .Johnson "Abstracts of Early Woburn Deeds"Page 31 Dated July 18,1682. It describes his lands in detail, and mentions his wife, children, grandchildren, and son-in-law.
found on ancestry.com



Turner Family Ancestral History Book Reads
1600' , Woburn,Massachusetts.
Turner Family Book
There are numerous references to the early American pioneers of the Brooks Family in America.Some of them are:
New England Genealogical and Historical Register Vol.58 Page 48 Vital Records of Woburn, Massachusetts.
The Brooks Family of Woburn, Mass."-Cutter and Loring of Woburn Genealogy of Central New York State Vol.III
**************************************************************
The Brooks family is one of the oldest Massachusetts families. Many of the Brooks family papers are now in the library of Woburn, Massachusetts. As many as ten immigrants of this name came to America before 1650.
I-Henry Brooks-Born About 1600 in England
Died-April 12,1683 at Woburn, Massachusetts.
Last Will and Testament Dated-July 18,1682

Carolyn Springer added this on 3 Mar 2010
I-Henry Brooks,"Yeoman"Settled first in Concord, Massachusetts. He was a clothier by trade. He was admitted a "Freeman" March 14,1639. He soon after moved to Woburn, Massachusetts. In this town he became a prominent citizen, serving as "selectman"in 1649-1669-1671-1672.

found on ancestry.com



Children
Gilbert (1621-1695) William (1622-1688) John (1624-1691) Hannah (Anna) (1628-1658) Gersham (1632-1686) Sarah (1632-1686) Caleb (1632-1696) Timothy (1634-1711) Martha (1634-1665) Joshua (1636-1698) Thomas (1636-) Hugh (1638-) Samuel (1640-) Joseph (1641-1642) Isaac (1643-1688)

found on ancestry.com



better info in notes
Henry Brooks. Born ca 1592 in Suffolk. Henry died on 12 April 1683 in Woburn, Massachusetts. Occupation: farmer and clothier.



The mother of Henry’s children is unknown. His children were born close enough to each other so that they could easily all have the same mother, but perhaps the older ones were the children one of Henry’s wives, and the the younger ones by a later wife. In any case Henry married Susannah, widow of Ezekiel Richardson, by 1651, and he married Anne, widow of Abraham Jaquith, in 1682.



Henry was in Concord by 14 March 1639, when he was admitted freeman.



Children:


i. Hannah Brooks (ca 1620-1692)


ii. John Brooks (ca 1623-29 September 1691)


iii. Martha Brooks (ca 1626-3 August 1665)


iv. Mary Brooks (say 1630-24 February 1672)


v. Sarah Brooks (ca 1633-before 1706)


vi. Capt. Timothy Brooks (ca 1635-7 October 1712)


vii. Joseph Brooks (12 April 1641-before 16 July 1682)


viii. Isaac Brooks (1 January 1642-8 September 1686) before 27 March 1651



Henry second married Susannah [Richardson] in Woburn, Massachusetts. Susannah died on 15 September 1681 in Woburn, Massachusetts.



Susannah first married Ezekiel Richardson, second Henry Brooks. Susannah’s surname is sometimes given as Bradford, but there seems to be no reason ever mentioned why it should be Bradford.



On 12 July 1682 Henry third married Anne Jordan, daughter of James Jordan (ca 1592-29 March 1655) and [____] [Jordan], in Woburn, Massachusetts. Born ca 1622. Religion: admitted to the First Church of Charlestown 13 February 1642/3.

found on ancestry.com



First Emigrant BROOKS.
First Brooks Emigrant To The Massachusetts Colony.
Descendants: Miss Fanny Appleton (Mrs. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), Boston Arts Patron: Thomas Appleton, Rev. Horace Holley: (President of Transylvania University), Poet: e. e. Cummings, Playwright: Tennessee Williams, and Actress: Carole Lombard.


EMIGRANT: 1631.


FREEMAN: 1636."The first of the Brooks name in New England, came, it is supposed, from Suffolk, England, and settled in Watertown, where he had a lot assigned to him, on the main road, in 1631. He was made a Freeman, in 1636, and two years afterwards, his name, which had disappeared from the Watertown Records, is to be seen on those of Concord, where he was made a Constable, in 1638."He settled in this latter town and owned large estates there. Being highly regarded, he was appointed to many Town-Offices. In 1660, he, along with his Son-in-law, Timothy Wheeler, bought four hundred Acres of Land in Medford, for 404 Sterling. He owned this land until the time of his death. His land in Medford, was bought of Edward Collins and thus was probably part of the great Craddock Estate. He sold his Farm in Concord, on 22 October 1664, he died; 21 May 1667. His wife was Grace _ _ _ _ _ _, who died 12 May 1664." --Charles Brooks, History of Medford.


In his Will, dated August 23, 1726, probated December 03, 1733, are mentioned Wife: Mary; Sons: John, Timothy and Nathan; Daughters: Mary and Sarah; Granddaughter, Margaret Richardson; and Son-in-law, Timothy Winn, and two Grandchildren, Timothy and Elizabeth Winn, Children of the deceased Daughter: Elizabeth. _NEHGR_, 1875, p. 153.
NOTE: There is speculation, this Thomas Brooks is the brother of Henry Brooks, but it has not been proven.


Birthdates vary widely for Thomas."Yesterday, I stumbled onto the WILL of Thomas Fox of Concord, who was married to Hannah Brooks, (d/o Henry Brooks and his unknown first wife). The WILL was dated January 25, 1657, and states in part: Also, I appoint and Constitute my Loveing Uncle Thomas Brookes, my Loving brethren Moses Wheate and Thomas Batman ....the overseer of this my will and Testament.? Thomas Batman is most likely the Thomas Bateman that married Martha Brooks another d/o of Henry Brooks. It is only one Record, but it does tie Thomas and Henry together as brothers." --Kent De Geer"Most of the early authorities expressed the opinion that the first Thomas Brooks to arrive in New England came from Suffolk, England, but there does not appear to be any hard evidence cited to confirm this information." --Kent De Geer"According to three Historians who compiled Lists of the Early Passengers to the British Colonies in North America, (Banks, John Camden Hotten and Michael Tepper), a Thomas Brooke, aged 18, arrived with a Richard Brooke, age 24, on board the SUSAN and ELLEN in 1635. However, Banks reported, Thomas and Richard first settled in Lynn, Massachusetts. It appears that the early authorities may have mixed up the first Thomas Brooks (1631) of Watertown and Concord, with the Thomas Brooke that arrived in 1635, on board the "SUSAN and ELLEN" and initially settled in Lynn, Massachusetts" --Kent De Geer

Sources:1) Steve Davis Database, 12 May 2004,http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED &db=:2875065&id=I1244632) "THE BROOKS BOYS OF MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY", by Kent De Geer, Kdegeer@cs.com, Feb 2005.3) Virkus, Frederick A. - "A List of 2,500 Immigrants to the American Colonies before 1750", courtesy of Kent De Geer.4) "History of Medford" written by Charles Brooks, Boston, 1855, p. 506, courtesy of Kent De Geer.5) William R. Ferris, Jr. Database, 26 Jul 2003.http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET &db=bferris&id=I12065
Research Of
UID: 6C63C8413A284FF0B59563430F0F761F1C90
Research of Patricia McMahan Chambers.Marriage 1: Grace WHEELER, b: 1605, in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England.
Married: 1621.
Children:
Captain Joshua BROOKS, b: 23 Sep 1636, in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
THE COLONIAL POLITICAL SYSTEM
The Court
During the early years of Plymouth Colony, the leadership comprised two courts: the Court of Assistants and the General Court.


The Court of Assistants consisted of the Governor and his Assistants and acted as the judicial and executive authority between meetings of the General Court. From 1633 there were seven Assistants; in 1679 one of the Assistants formally became a Deputy Governor. In 1636 it was decided to have annual elections for a court clerk (or secretary), a coroner and a constable. An Assistant or other qualified person was chosen Treasurer. There was also an appointed position, called Marshall after 1645, for someone to serve warrants, act as jailer, executioner and keeper of the standard weights and measures. Other appointed positions included grand jurors, trial jurors, highway surveyors and military officers. The highway surveyors and military officers were eventually selected by the towns; the latter requiring the approval of the court.
The General Court orginally met quarterly; later it met three times a year.

The charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony required a Governor, Deputy Governor and 18 Assistants, all elected annually.
Reference:
Stratton, Euguene Aubrey, Plymouth Colony: Its History and People: 1620 - 1601, Ancestry Publishing Co., Salt Lake City, c. 1986.

Freemen
Before a man could vote, he was required to be made a Freeman by the general or quarterly court. The first General Court in Massachusetts, was held on 19 October 1630. It was decided that the freemen should choose the Assistants and the Assistants should chosse the Governor and Deputy Governor. One hundred and nine freemen were admitted at this court; many were not church members. The freemen resolved to choose the Governor and the Deputy Governor. All magistrates, officers and jurymen were required to be freemen. In 1631, it was required that all freemen be Church members. In 1639, the 'Freemen's Oath' was the first paper printed in New England.


Reference:
'Notices Concerning The Early "Freemen" in New England,' New England Historical and Genealogical Register 03, 1849, pps. 41-45.
Research Of Patricia McMahan-Chambers.
found on ancestry.com



Parents shown for Henry Brooks
Thomas Brooke Birth:1561 Norwich, Norfolk, England Death:13 September 1612 Whitechurch, Hampshire, England


Susanna Bradford Birth:1570 Norwich, Norfolk, England Death:1592 Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States
found on ancestry.com