Thomas Holcombe
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Thomas Holcombe (1609 - 1657)

Thomas Holcombe
Born in Englandmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married before 1634 in Massachusetts Bay Colonymap [uncertain]
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 48 in Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut Colonymap
Profile last modified | Created 20 Mar 2017
This page has been accessed 10,260 times.
There are disproven, disputed, or competing theories about this person's parents. See the text for details.
There are disproven, disputed, or competing theories about this person's spouse. See the text for details.
The Puritan Great Migration.
Thomas Holcombe migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 2, p. 964)
Join: Puritan Great Migration Project
Discuss: pgm

Contents

Biography

Thomas Holcombe was born about 1609 (age at estimated marriage); the details of his birth and parentage are unknown or unproven. He died in Windsor, Connecticut Colony, 7 September 1657.[1]

Thomas married in Massachusetts Bay Colony, about 1634 (birth of child), Elizabeth ______ (assuming she was the mother of all his children), whose birth and parentage are unknown or unproven. She was born about 1617 (said about 52 in 1669).[2] She died in Windsor or Simsbury, 7 October 1679,[3] having married (2) in Windsor, 5 August 1658, James Eno, as his third wife.[4]

Immigration

The details of his immigration are not known. In 1995, Robert Charles Anderson placed Thomas Holcombe's immigration at 1633. Thomas settled first at Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony, removing 1635 to Windsor, Connecticut Colony.[5] See Research Notes.

At New England

(needs to be redeveloped and sourced)

Estate and Probate

Thomas Holcombe of Windsor died intestate. His inventory was taken 1 October 1657 by Benjamin Newbery and Daniel Clark.[6] His survivors were Elizabeth (widow); sons Joshua, Benajah and Nathaniel; and daughters Abigail and Debora, the youngest at 6 years 7 months.

Administration was granted 3 December 1657 to his widow, Elizabeth.[7]

The inventory of the estate of "Thomas Holcom of Windsor" was taken 1 October 1657 and totaled £294-09-08, of which £95 10s was real estate including "eleven acres in home lot with housing and orchard," £50; plus meadows, woodlands, brook and a three pound share in a farm. "He also owned two swords."

Family

Thomas and presumably Elizabeth (_____) Holcombe were the parents of ten children,

  1. Elizabeth Holcombe, born say 1634; married in Windsor, 16 November 1654, Josiah Ellsworth.[8]
  2. Mary Holcombe, born 1636; married in Windsor, 3 October 1655, George Griswold.[9]
  3. Abigail Holcombe, born (or baptized) in Windsor, 3 October 1655;[10] married in Windsor, 11 June 1658, Samuel Bissell.[11]
  4. Joshua Holcombe, baptized in Windsor, 27 September 1640;[12] married in Windsor, 4 june 1663, Ruth Sherwood.[13]
  5. Sarah Holcombe, born (or baptized) in Windsor, 14 August 1642;[14] died 1654.[15]
  6. Benajah Holcombe, born in Windsor 23 June 1644;[16] married in Windsor, 11 April 1667, his stepsister, Sarah Eno.[17]
  7. Deborah Holcombe, born in Windsor 15 October 1646;[18]died 1648.[19]
  8. Nathaniel Holcombe, born in Windsor 4 November 1648;[20] married (1) in Springfield, 27 February 1670[/1], Mary Bliss;[21] married (2) in Simsbury, 17 January 1722/3. Sarah (_____) Owen, the widow of Josias Owen.[22]
  9. Deborah Holcombe, born in Windsor 15 February 1650/1;[23] married in Hartford (recorded Windsor), 5 November 1668, Daniel Birge.[24]
  10. Jonathan Holcombe, born in Windsor 23 March 1652/3;[25] died. in Windsor, 13 September 1656.[26]

Research Notes

WikiTree Pages of Interest.

Holcombe Family Association. An excellent review of the literature on Thomas Holcombe can be found on the Holcombe Family Genealogy website, compiled by James H. Holcombe.

Tombstone not a source. See George McCracken, "Genealogical Vandalism: Thomas Holcombe's Tombstone," The American Genealogist, 44 (1968):58-60; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors. McCracken details the various misteps taken by well meanin family members wich resulted in the loss of his original stone and indormtion. He ocerviews the errors apparent on the memorial stone that now stands in Granby. McCracken writes, "Thomas Holcombe died at his farm in the section of Windsor called Poquonock, where he was the original settler. The tombstone in Granby, erected at a later date by descendants who had faulty data, is an "example of the wisdom of not accepting sepulchral information at its face value."

Not son of Gilbert Holcombe and Anne Courtenay. Both Seaver (page 8),[citation needed] and McPherson (page 9),[citation needed] using the Hiram Frank Holcomb Genealogical Research Collection listed Gilbert Holcombe and Ann Courtenay as parents of Thomas Holcombe, in their biographies of him. This parentage was disproved by George McCracken in 1950,[27] who found that Gilbert Holcomb's oral (nuncupative) will of 14 October 1623 stated "d.s.p." (which means died without issue), and that Gilbert left his estate to his brother-in-law, Richard Bonithon.

Not a son of Christopher Holcombe. In October 25, 1998, Bowman updated her Volume 2 with the comment that Christopher was the most likely ancestor of Thomas. The birth and deaths normally assigned to the son of Christopher are not correct nor the marriage to Joan Prideaux. The birth and deaths are those of Thomas, the actor, of London who married Francis Bartlett.

Wife not Elizabeth Ferguson. Several sources claim that Thomas Holcombe married at Dorchester on 14 May 1634 Elizabeth Ferguson. Anderson (1995) writes, "Such a marriage is not on record, and the date is that on which Holcombe was admitted to freemanship. In 1964 Jacobus noted that "[h]er maiden name has been stated as Ferguson, without proof or probability."[28]

Probably not a passenger on the ship Mary and John. Thomas has been said to have come on the 1630 voyage of the Mary and John, but there is no proof of it, all passenger lists for that voyage being hypothetical. Four publications list passengers that are known to have been, or may have been, on the Mary and John, (a) Charles E. Banks in 1930 and (b) Maude Pinney Kuhns in 1943. Neither of these authors used criteria that would pass today's standards of evidence and proof. (c) In 1986 Burton W. Spear gave a presentation in which he detailed his extensive research into the passengers of the Mary and John, published in the Nutmegger, June 1989. (d) Robert Charles Anderson in The Register, 1993, did not include Thomas Holcombe in his "synthetic" passenger list of 1630,[29] which totaled 124. Assuming there were 140 passengers aboard, that leave room for only 16 who were not identified.[30]

"If Thomas did not arrive on the Mary and John, it is possible that he arrived on or about 24 July 1633 on the Thunder.[citation needed] 1633 was when William Laud was elevated from Bishop of London to Archbishop of Canterbury; this led to more persecution of the Puritans and a tenfold increase in the rate of migration to New England."[citation needed]

Sources

  1. Citing "CTVR 43; TAG 57:66," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe); digital images (by subscription), Ancestry Record GreatMigration #54741; AmericanAncestors.
  2. Citing "TAG 23:124, citing WMJ 906," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe); digital images (by subscription), Ancestry Record GreatMigration #54741; AmericanAncestors.
  3. Citing "Grant 35," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe); digital images (by subscription), Ancestry Record GreatMigration #54741; AmericanAncestors.
  4. Citing "WiLR 1:56," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe); digital images (by subscription), Ancestry Record GreatMigration #54741; AmericanAncestors.
  5. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe); digital images (by subscription), Ancestry Record GreatMigration #54741; AmericanAncestors.
  6. Thomas Holcomb of Windsor, estate, citing probate records 105-106 and "Court Record, Page 109," Charles W. Manwaring, A Digest of Early Connecticut Probate Records, 3 vols. (Hartford, Conn., R. S. Peck & co., printers, 1904-1906), 1:129-130; digital images, HathiTrust.
  7. Citing "Hartford PD Case #2774," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe); digital images (by subscription), Ancestry Record GreatMigration #54741; AmericanAncestors.
  8. Citing "CTVR 42; Grant 35," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  9. Citing "CTVR 35," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  10. Citing "CTVR 35; Grant 44," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  11. Citing "Grant 24," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  12. Citing "CTVR 35; Grant 44," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  13. Citing "Grant 44," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  14. Citing "CTVR 35; Grant 44 (annotated 'dead')," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  15. Citing "Grant 81," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  16. Citing "CTVR 35; Grant 44," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  17. Citing "Grant 44," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  18. Citing "Grant 44 (annotated 'dead')," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  19. Citing "Grant 81," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  20. Citing "CTVR 35; Grant 44," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  21. Citing "Pynchon VR 58," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  22. Citing SimsVR Barbour 83, Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  23. Citing "CTVR 35; Grant 44," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  24. Citing "Grant 25; CTVR 11," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  25. Citing "CTVR 35; Grant 44 (annotated 'dead')," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  26. Citing "Grant 81 (giving only the year); CTVR 43," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe) at 966-967; digital images (by subscription), AmericanAncestors.
  27. Citing "J. L. Vivian's edition of Visitation of Devon (Exeter, 1887), p. 474," George E. McCracken, "The Parents of Thomas Holcombe," The American Genealogist, 26 (1950):109-110; digital images by subscription, AmeericanAncestors.
  28. Citing "McArthur-Barnes 169," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe); digital images (by subscription), Ancestry Record GreatMigration #54741; AmericanAncestors.
  29. Robert Charles Anderson, "The Mary & John: Developing objective criteria for a Synthetic Passenger List," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 147 (1993):148-161; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
  30. Robert Charles Anderson, "The Mary & John: Developing objective criteria for a Synthetic Passenger List," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 147 (1993):148-161; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.

See also:

  • Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 vols., paginated continuously (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 964-967 (Thomas Holcombe); digital images (by subscription), Ancestry Record GreatMigration #54741; AmericanAncestors.
  • George E. McCracken, "The Parents of Thomas Holcombe," The American Genealogist, 26 (1950):109-110; digital images by subscription, AmeericanAncestors.
  • George E. McCracken, "Thomas Holcombe's Earlier Posterity," The American Genealogist, 57 (1981), pages 65-76, 160-169, 225-229; digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
  • George McCracken, "Genealogical Vandalism: Thomas Holcombe's Tombstone," The American Genealogist, 44 (1968):58-60; digital images by subscripton AmericanAncestors.
  • Archived webpage, captured 28 March 2018 Descendants of The Founders of Ancient Windsor Through Five Generations: Family of Thomas Holcombe, Compiled by James Hallowell Holcombe Jr. (2006), Pages 1 - 6. Note: footnotes and sources, a more complete discussion of the Mary & John, a good source for longer entries of interest which have not been included in the WikiTree bio. NOTE: This link no longer works, but the website now has a detailed discussion of the subject at https://www.holcombegenealogy.com/g0/p3.htm#i111




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Comments: 18

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Hi. I have information on Thomas Holcomb d. 1657 He married Elizabeth Ferguson born in Wales. Died Simsbury CT Oct 7 1679. Remarried then to James ENO.

His parents were Gilbert Holcombe and Anne Courtenay (Anne's Lineage is impressive. Father was Peter Courtenay (powderham castle) and Kathrine Reskymer (cornwall) (the grand daughter to William Reskymer, Groom of the bedchamber to Kin Henry the VIII)

I have this and the ongoing lineage from a book my grandmother Edna Holcomb left behind. It was from Roots Research Bureau LTD, 39 West 32 St suite 704, New York New York, 10001 MANUSCRIPT # 1305 DATED /Copyright 1984 Gilberts father was Thomas H Holcombe married Margaret Tretford Thomas H father was Ellis Holcombe married Elizabeth Suydenham Ellis father was Charles Holcomb of Hull wife Jane? Charles father was Roger Holcomb married Margaret Avenell Rogers Father was John Holcombe II of Hull married Joane Folkeroy John II father was Sir John Holcombe of Hull married Isabel Downe Sir John father was Walter de Holcombe Walters fater was Sir John de Holcombe III Sir John de Holcombe II Sir John de Holcombe

I traced Anne Courtenay line to 420.

Lesli Lane Colis-Johnsen, Granddaughter of Edna Holcomb-Anderson, 9th Great Granddaughter of Thomas Holcomb d1657 email is [email address removed]

posted by Lesli (Colis) Johnsen
edited by Lesli (Colis) Johnsen
If you look at the Research Notes section, his parents as Gilbert Holcombe and Anne Courtenay has been disproved.
posted by Joe Cochoit
edited by Joe Cochoit
Gilbert Holcombe who married Anne Courtenay died without issue in Milor, Cornwall, England leaving a will dated 14 October 1623 which leaves his entire estate to a brother-in-law. Thomas Holcombe the immigrant cannot be his son. McCracken's article also points out several other errors found in The Holcombe Genealogy (1925) and The Holcombes, Nation Builders (1947), which is where I assume you found your information.
  • George E. McCracken, "The Parents of Thomas Holcombe," in The American Genealogist, 26 (1950): pages 109-110.
posted by Joe Cochoit
I removed a large section that had been lifted from the Holcombe Family Genealogy website. I added a note and link under research notes as it is a valuable source.
posted by M Cole
Actually, the first part of the biography is also largely a cut and paste, but from the Great Migration Begins. Inline citations to original sources have been added and the format changed to a timeline, but this is still not within Wikitree standards. Is anyone willing to do an original biography for Thomas Holcombe of Windsor?
posted by M Cole
Following your lead, have updated the formatting (including removal of over 2000 words extracted from copyrighted material), research notes and sources, leaving the section "At New England" to be redeveloped and sourced.

Hope this helps.--GeneJ

posted by GeneJ X
edited by GeneJ X
There is an interesting description of Thomas's sudden death by fever at his house and lands at Poquonock. The description is in that is in the Old unindexed records of Granby which are online courtesy of Family Search. The note is written by a descendant who makes and effort to explain how the various Holcomb branches spread in the area.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9BT-ZW6K-9?i=262&cc=2448940 (Image 263)

posted by R Adams
Holcombe-1130 and Holcombe-1006 appear to represent the same person because: I inadvertently created a duplicate for this oldest paternal ancestor. The attached parents on the match, Gilbert Holcombe and Anne (Courtenay) Holcombe, have been proven false per the bio on the project profile. This merge will automatically disconnect them, as needed, unless they are selected. Thanks!
posted by Steven Mix
Holcomb-211 and Holcombe-1006 appear to represent the same person because: same wife and son
posted by Robin Lee
The revision/reduction of the bio for Thomas Holcombe is completed, and the notice that it "needs pruning" is removed.

Gilbert Holcombe and Anne Courtenay have been removed as his parents, per sources including Great Migration, and the G2G discussion which had agreements and no opposition.

The biography is still over-long, and would ask that it be left in this form for as long as it takes for the evidence and sources here to percolate through the Internet and change the erroneous trees.

My husband's eleventh great-grandfather was a remarkable man, who was among those establishing both Dorchester and Windsor, raw new towns out of wilderness. He had ten children and died with a large estate of farm, orchard and meadow.

He was only forty-eight years old.

Five years later, it appears some merges have made a mess of the narrative; there is MUCH duplication in it; there also appears to be a lot of copy/paste from multiple sources.

Does one of the profile managers, or perhaps a PGM volunteer want to take a crack at drafting an originally-written single narrative, and combining the multiple paragraphs about his disputed origins?

posted by Jillaine Smith
Erroneous data on Thomas Holcombe has been accepted in good faith, based on a large tombstone monument, and on republished errors from the Hiram Frank Holcomb Genealogical Research Collection, and other articles.

The errors have been copied and become wide-spread, so I'm taking care in editing this profile, to make data points of facts, and move conflicting errors and corrections to the Research Notes section (newly added).

This serves to give emphasis in the biography to the life of Thomas Holcombe, and puts research in one handy section.

We can't legally publish entire articles - they are being removed, but the facts remain present, with footnotes and sources.

It might take a week to finish the editing.

Holcomb or Holcombe-1 and Holcomb-620 appear to represent the same person because: The date of death and the mother is the same (Anne Courtenay). Thomas's father was Gilbert Holcomb
Holcombe-586 and Holcomb-620 appear to represent the same person because: clear duplicate, though one profile is more complete than the other
posted by Deirdre Lavieri

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