children of william holbrook and elizabeth pool (part 2 of 2)

According to the History of Weymouth  book on ancestry.com (3_273), the following are the children of William Holbrook and his first wife, Margaret Torrey :

children born at weymouth by first wife:

• william b. 20 Oct. 1734; d. 21 July, 1736
• Samuel b. 2 Dec. 1735

The same book lists the following as the children of William Holbrook and his second wife, Elizabeth Pool, all born at Weymouth:

• William b. 16 Mar. 1739; d. at Lake George, 10 Sept. 1756, about 19 yrs.  A soldier under General Winslow
• Abner b. 9 Mar. 1741
• Cornelius d. 14 Dec. 1742
• Nathaniel b. 7 Mar 1744
• Margaret b. 16 Feb. and d. 30 June 1747
• Adam b. 4 Aug. 1750, d. 13 or 19 Sept. 1832 ae 82 yrs.  He was non compos and never married
• Margaret b. 18 Apr 1754, d. unm 17 jan 1816, ae 62 or 65 yrs
• Mary, m. ____ Hunt of Cummington
• William, bp. 5 Mar. 1758; resided in East Abington

As mentioned in my last post, not all of these births are recorded in the Weymouth Vital Records;  Cornelius and Mary are both not found in the above Record Book.  Looking quickly, it may be that Cornelius was not a son of William and Elizabeth, but actually William's father Cornelius, who died in 1742.  I will have to look closer at these dates and records.

Looking at William and Elizabeth's family with the information from the Weymouth book, they had at least 8 children, 7 of which survived to adulthood.  Also, most likely in their household was Samuel, from William's first marriage. 

The Weymouth book also states that William and Elizabeth resided in South Weymouth.  The first federal census of 1790 shows the following Holbrook families living in Weymouth, MA : Ab, Jon, Elisha, Nathan, Silvanus, and widow Holbrook.  It looks like at least Abner and Nathaniel stayed in Weymouth.  I will have to do a little more research to find Adam, Margaret, Mary and William.  Perhaps some of them are living together and are not listed indivually in the census.  It is likely that William and Elizabeth had died before this census was taken, William would have been 81 and Elizabeth about 75 years old in 1790.  The Weymouth Vital Records book does not have an obvious match for the death of Elizabeth or William; but according to the History of Weymouth book, William made his will in 1767, and it was distributed 20 years later in 1787 (3_273). 

The book also has a couple of paragraphs of the location of the house of William's grandson, James Holbrook, on Union Street (2_933).  I have been to this area of South Weymouth to locate the gravestones of James and his wife Hannah Holbrook. Perhaps this land was handed down to James through his grandfather William.  The earliest map I have found from Weymouth, MA (Historic Land Ownership database on ancestry.com) is from the late 1800's, so I am not able to see where William owned property.  I will have to check the suffolk deeds to see where exactly he lived.  I also was not able to find where Elizabeth and William were buried.  Maybe they were also buried at the Elmwood Cemetery on Union Street, like their grandson James, if their house was located in this area.

To do:
1.  Locate probate in Suffolk index and order probate. at NEHGS
2.  Locate any deeds of William in suffolk deed books. at NEHGS
3.  Trace children of William and Elizabeth to see which towns they settled in.

books:
1.  Representative men and old families of southeastern Massachusetts ... on google books

william holbrook and elizabeth poole (part 1 of 2)

William Holbrook and Elizabeth Poole,  6th great-grandparents of mine, recorded their intent to marry in Weymouth, MA. The entry is noted in the book,

Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850: Marriages and deaths

for May 11, 1738. The annotation next to their marriage of CR2 stands for the church record of the First Church of Christ, South Precinct.

 

According to the History of Weymouth book, this was William's second marriage, and Elizabeth's first. (3_273) Most of the information I have on this couple is from this book, which I was able to access on ancestry.com.  The weymouth book lists 9 children of William and Elizabeth, although I was only able to find 4 (including my 5th great grandfather Abner) in the Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850: Births. Perhaps the other children are listed in church records from the town. I had looked into locating church records from their church while researching another ancestor, Hannah Canterbury White, and found that the NEHGS library holds,

The book of records of the Second Church of Christ in Weymouth, Massachusetts : baptisms and marriages/ by John J. Loud. F74.W77 W76 1900.

I am not sure if this is the same church, but definitely worth looking at. The book is only 36 pages, but the notes state the records extend from 1722 to 1818; which may include William and Elizabeth's marriage in 1738, and their children's birth dates.

Another source of information for William and Elizabeth's children could be William's will and probate records.  The History of Weymouth book states the following...

He made his will 23 Nov. 1764, and his estate was distributed to his heirs 6 July, 1784.

Weymouth was still a part of Suffolk County at this time (until 1793), so I will need to locate William's probate from the following source:

Probate: George, Elijah, "Index Probate Records, Suffolk Co., MA 1636-1893" Boston, MA: 1895 3 Vol.'s

(to be continued...)

abner holbrook

I did not post yesterday about Abner Holbrook's birthday on March 9, so I am posting today instead. He was born March 9, 1741 in Weymouth, MA to William Holbrook and Elizabeth Poole. Most of my ancestors on my maternal grandmother's side resided in Weymouth, which is interesting as that is where I grew up too. I love finding out about these ancestors and the familiar areas they lived in.

According to the vital records of Weymouth, Abner had an older brother William that died in 1756 as a "soldier in the Army Under General Winslow...[died at age] 19, at the Camp at Lake George." General Winslow was the man that helped remove the Acadians from New England in 1755. As I do not have the dates that William was in the army, I am not sure William was a part of this removal or the other war activities of General Winslow. He was most likely a part of the large group of seven thousand men General Winslow took to New York with the plan of marching on to Lake Champlain (which never happened). William probably died of illness before he was able to march back home with General Winslow. Abner was only 15 years old when his brother William died in the French and Indian War (Seven Years War), fighting for the British.

Abner was most likely too young to fight in the French and Indian War, although he may have been old enough during the later part of the war. However, Abner was definitely old enough to be involved in the Revolutionary war; he was about 34 years old when the war started. He does not have a pension in the Revolutionary Pension Files on footnote.com, but I did find a record for an Abnar (prob. Abner) Holbrook in the Revolutionary Rolls database on Footnote. This Abnar was in Capt. Able Mason's Company in Colonel J. Davis' regiment of militia from July 20, 1780 to August 8, 1780. After looking into Capt. J. Davis' regiment, it looks like this is not the correct Abner as this regiment was based in Worcester. Further research brought me to the book online at Ancestry.com, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War..., which states there was an Abner Holbrook in a company commanded by Captain Thomas Nash of Weymouth, in Colonel Solomon Lovell's Regiment for a service of 4 days. It is more likely that this is the correct Abner as it is a more local regiment. This regiment "marched to take possession of Dorchester Heights March 4, 1776; roll endorsed "Minute Roll". The book goes on to state that Abner also was in "Capt. Thomas Nash's Co, Col. Solomon Lovell's regt.; service 5 days, subsequent to March 10, 1776; roll sworn to at Weymouth." There may have been another Abner Holbrook in Weymouth at this time, so I need to check the Holbrook families living in Weymouth to see if there was another Abner that this record may be for.

The few other records I have for Abner come from the database on newenglandancestors.org, the Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850. According to the vital records, he was born, married, and died in Weymouth. He married Jerusha Vining on November 3, 1763, together they had at least 10, maybe 11 children. (Chamberlain's History of Weymouth book lists a daughter Betty Holbrook who died in 1789 - I have not found her in the vital records). Abner lived only for 47 years, dying on May 31, 1788. His youngest child, Daniel, was only 1 year old when Abner died. Since Abner died before the first US Census was taken in 1790, I do not have any census records for him, but I did find some entries for his family.

Abner's wife Jerusha is listed in the 1800 and 1810 Census in Weymouth, MA. I have been unable to find Jerusha in the 1790 Census. Since the censuses at this time period only list head of households, I would not be able to find her name listed if she was living with someone else, a relative or friend, soon after her husband Abner died. I would think she would have had Abner's property after his death, but I have not obtained any land or probate records for Abner to see where his property went at his death. His oldest son was John Holbrook, who would have been 23 years old at the time of his father's death. Perhaps Abner left his property to John. I looked at the Census for Weymouth in 1790 and searched for any Holbrooks. There was a Jon listed, however in this household there were 3 males over the age of 16 and 3 females. It seems unlikely this was Abner's son John as there would have to be at least 3 males under the age of 16, along with 4 females if he was supporting his mother and siblings. John does not marry until 1792, so he would not be living with his wife at this time. There are two John Holbrooks living in Weymouth in the 1800 Census, which would support the idea that this Jon in the 1790 Census is not the John we are looking for. I will have to check the History of Weymouth book to see if there is another John with a family living in Weymouth for 1790.

Chamberlain's History of Weymouth book has a chapter in volume 2 on Century Old Houses. On page 293, he talks about two of Abner's sons, James (my 4th great-grandfather) and Abner. They both resided in Weymouth around the early 1800s. They each had a house near Elmwood Cemetery on Union Street. Chamberlain states that the elder Abner originally built his son Abner's house on Union Street and describes it as "a fine example of the sturdy old houses." He states that one of Abner's daughters, Thais Holbrook Totman (Abner's granddaughter), lived in the house after Abner, then she and her husband sold it to the Carney family in 1857. Also in this chapter, Chamberlain has a section on John Holbrook and Silas Holbrook's house. This John would be Abner's oldest son that I looked for in the 1790 census after Abner's death. Maybe John left the house before his father died to build his own house. Perhaps Abner then left his land to his second oldest son, Abner, as mentioned in Chamberlain's book. If Abner had his father's property, perhaps Jerusha is living with him in the 1790 census. There is an Ab Holbrook listed in Weymouth for the 1790 census, with 1 male over 16 (himself), and one female (could be Jerusha). Abner does not marry until 1796, so he would not be living with his wife at this time. It is possible that this could be another Abner from another Holbrook family, again I will have to check for other Abners in the vital records at this time. If this is the correct son of Abner though, maybe the Jon Holbrook I mentioned above has the siblings living with him, while Abner has his mother.

I did find the map on ancestry.com that lists the houses on Union Street in Weymouth in 1876. You can see on the map both R. Torrey (who is Lucy Holbrook's husband who lived in James Holbrook's house later) and Mrs. Carney (the owner of Abner's house after Thais Holbrook sold it to them) in two houses across from the cemetery on the far right side of the page.

To Do List:

1. find property information on Abner - probate record, etc.
2. find where Jerusha was living in 1790 census - UPDATE: I was searching for Jerusha's father, John Vining, since he was still living during the 1790 census. Above the entry for John Vining was a listing for Wid. Holbrook - which is most likely Jerusha, she was just not indexed for the census on ancestry.com. This widow has living with her the following: 1 male over 16 (John or David), 2 males under 16 (James, Jacob, Daniel), and 5 females (Jerusha, Sarah, Jerusha, Lydia) - the discrepancies are missing maybe one male above age 16 if John is still living with them, missing one or two males under 16 and 1 too many females (maybe Betty), but looks like a close fit to Jerusha's family. Some of the children may be living with other relatives. It will also be good to check the probate of Jerusha's father John Vining to see if any of his grandchildren are listed.
3. read up on General Winslow - I think there is a diary - to see if he mentions any Holbrooks
4. Look into Holbrook families in Weymouth - see if there are other Abners that may have fought in the revolutionary war and other Johns and Abners that would be listed in the 1790 Weymouth census.