Thomas Blanchard (1590 - 1654)

Born 1590 in Goodworth Clatford, Hampshire, England

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Blanchard — married about 1620 in Goodworth Clatford, Hampshire, England [uncertain]

Husband of Agnes (Bent) Blanchard — married 15 May 1637 (to 28 Apr 1639) in St. Edmunds, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England

Husband of Mary (Shrimpton) Blanchard — married after 1639 in Charlestown, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 21 May 1654 at about age 64 in Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Richard Draper [send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Steven Barcomb [send private message], Keith Tucker [send private message], Jeanie Roberts [send private message], Steven Tibbetts [send private message], and Edward Ettel [send private message]

Thomas Blanchard migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 33) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed Parents

Thomas Blanchard was previously attached to parents Pierre Blanchard and Martha Blanchard (possibly Baker), and was supposedly born in Cotentin, Basse-Normandie, France. The story is that they were Huguenots who fled France and settled in England. There is not a single source yet found for this linkage.

The following is taken from the Blanchard rootsweb site:

Much is known about Thomas Blanchard, who emigrated to Massachusetts in 1639 on the ship Jonathan in a voyage that was memorialized because of a lawsuit that arose in part from the death of Thomas' wife, infant daughter, and mother-in-law on the way (all of them named Agnes, by the way). Thomas came from a family that had apparently been living in the town of Goodworth Clatford at least since the earliest surviving parish records (dated around 1540). Thomas was a natural-born English yeoman, not a naturalized Frenchman. (Thomas' marriage licence for his second marriage is clear about that.) Unfortunately, there are gaps in the parish records at Goodworth Clatford, which means that Thomas' parentage is not known.^[1]

A search of the Hampshire records find multiple Blanchard families living in and around Goodworth Clatford well back into the 1500's. To ignore these well established families and claim that his parents were instead completely unsourced, unknown French Hugenots, seems like flying in the face of reason. I think these parents need to be removed. (or researched better)

Biography

This profile is part of the Blanchard Name Study.

Thomas Blanchard was born about 1590 in or around Goodworth Clatford, Hampshire England. (or possibly 1586 in Cotentin, Basse-Normandie, France) His first wife, who he married by 1620 was Elizabeth _____. Her Ancestry is unknown. The source of her name is a baptismal record for one of her children. She was the mother of Thomas' first seven children. Baptismal records can be found for all but eldest son George. ^[2]

Elizabeth died and was buried on 23 July 1636. ^[3]

On 15 May 1637 at St Edmunds, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, Thomas Blanchard posted the bonds of marriage to widow "An Barnes"^[4][5] Agnes Bent Barnes was the daughter of Robert and Agnes (Gosling) Bent and the widow of Richard Bent of Weyhill, Hampshire. ^[6]

Thomas did not have a brother Joseph who immigrated to the Colonies. This has be proved by DNA testing of the descendants of both men.^[7] Neither did Thomas have a son named Joseph.

Thomas and Agnes "Ann" Blanchard departed from London for America on the Jonathan soon after April 12, 1639. Passengers included Thomas and Ann, Thomas' four sons by his first wife, Ann's son, Richard Barnes, by her first husband, Ann's mother, Agnes "Ann" Bent, and Ann's niece, Elizabeth Plimpton. Ann (Bent) (Barnes) Blanchard's brother John had emigrated the year before with his family and with Peter Noyes, a neighbor and probable relative. Noyes had returned to organize the transport of these additional portions of the extended family.

The journey on the Jonathan did not go well. Thomas Blanchard's mother-in-law was ill and confined to her cabin the whole trip. Her granddaughter, Elizabeth Plimpton, who was supposed to be her maid, was described as "a big girl" who "did little or nothing." Thomas became his mother-in-law's nurse, tending to her needs night and day. Meanwhile, his wife gave birth to their child, and died in childbirth. The passengers on board the Jonathan conducted a "gathering"--a collection of funds--to pay for a nurse for the newborn baby. However, the baby soon died. Before the ship could land, Thomas' mother-in-law also died. Thomas Blanchard's first task in this new land was to make provision for the decent burial of his loved ones. The Jonathan landed in Boston June 23, 1639, with Thomas Blanchard, his four sons, his step-son, and his step-niece still among the living.

Mark Hume, a fellow passenger, said this about the voyage: "Mark Hume of Boston aged 33 years or thereabouts deposeth and Sayth: That about thirteen years since this depont Came into New England in a Shipp called the Jonathan, wth Thomas Blanchard and his wyfe and two children, and his wives mother (as the depont was informed) an old Sickly Wooman and very weak. And this depont Sayth that he well remembers that the sayd Thomas Blanchard took very much paynes wth the said old woman, and was very carefull of her, and Kept a candle burning by her (for the most part) all the night long, in so much that this depont, (having a Cabbin over against her in the said Shipp) did marvaile that he was able to endure the paynes & charges he continually had about her and the two children. Sworne 5.-2.-1652. before me, R. BELLINGHAM."^[8]

Thomas Blanchard lived for a while at Braintree, Massachusetts, and then moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts.^{[citation needed]}

At some point between his arrival in America and his death he married for the third time. His third wife, who became his widow, may have been Mary Shrimpton. It is also said, without proof, that she was Mary Maverick. Torrey in "New England Marriages to 1700" does not guess her surname and says that they were married after 1639 first appearing as a married couple in Charlestown. He says this about the marriage:

BLANCHARD, Thomas (-1654) & 3/wf Mary ____ (-1676); aft 1639; Charlestown {Charlestown 88; Abington Hist. 353; ?Bent 10; Essex Ant. 9:26; Sv. 1:196; Brown-Parker 18; Reg. 17:156}^[9]

Death

Thomas Blanchard died May 21, 1654, at Charlestown. On May 16 he had spoken his last will and testament to his friends. They wrote it down and he marked it with his "X." Through his will we can see briefly into the mind of a man occupied with the concerns of an active dairy farm.

Last Will & Testament

Probate: Thomas Blanchard, Location: Charlestown, Date: 1654, Will Number 1920^[10].^[11]

Will of Thomas Blanchard, May 16 1654 Charlestown, Massachusetts.^[12] (Reformatted for easier reading.)

I, Thomas Blanchard, of Charlestown, being weak in body, but through mercy in sound memory, do make this my last will and testament.

Unto my wife, Mary Blanchard, and my son, Nathaniel, the use of the new end of my dwelling house, and the dairy house during the life of my wife;

also, unto my wife, eight cows, whereof three or four are called and known by the name of her cows, also I give unto my wife, free summer feed and winter store or food for the said eight cows, or so many other cows to be kept and provided for, by my Executors in all respects in matter of food among their own cows.

I give unto my wife, fifty bushels of corn a year, during her life, to be paid by my Executors yearly, at of before the first of the 2d month, in wheat, rye, peas, barley, and Indian, in equal proportions;

also, I give my wife one of the beds I now lie on, with all things appertaining there unto, as also one third part of all other my household stuff (excepting the bedding) to be set out, or apportioned by my overseers.

I give my wife, my old mare, the aforesaid cows, household stuff and mare to be her and her heirs forever.

I do dispose and betrust Benjamin Tompson, unto and with my wife to provide for, and bring up in learning (at her own pleasure) so as to fit him for the University, in case his parents please to leave him with her, and she live to that time.

I give unto my son, Samuel, besides all former gifts now in his hands, the sum of four score pounds, whereof thirty pounds to be paid in cattle, upon valuation of my overseers, at or before the first of the 9th month next after my decease, and ten pounds in corn, at or before the first of the second month following, and ten pounds a year, in cattle or corn, at or before the first of the tenth month, for the space of four years following.

I give unto my sons George and Nathaniel, all my farm, housing and appurtenances after my decease, unto them and their heirs forever, excepting as before expressed, to the use of my wife.

I give unto my grandchild Joseph Blanchard, my two teat heifer, to be kept for his use by my son George, hos father.

I give unto my Reverend and well beloved friend Mr. Mathews, one cow, and to the church of Malden one cow, and to Jno. Barrit 40s.

I give unto my son Nathaniel, my colt to run with the dame until the first of the 10th month next; also, I give unto Nathaniel, my six working oxen, but Buck and Spark to be none of the six, and to George, my horse.

All other my estate of what kind soever not before disposed of, I give unto my sons George and Nathaniel (my debts and funeral charges first discounted) who I do make joint executors unto this my last will and testament. I appoint my well beloved friends, Mr. Edward Collins, and Mr. Joseph Hills my overseers, to whom as a remembrance of my love, I give 10s a piece, beside what my Executors shall allow for their pains on their occasions; whom also I do appoint and empower to apportion the land and estate hereby disposed of as need shall be, and to settle all other things that may be of doubtful understanding, as to them shall seem just, and equal, for the establishment and preservation of peace, love and unity among all my relations.

The mark of THOMAS X BLANCHARD & seal. In the presence of William Sargent, the mark of Jno. Barrett, Joseph Hills

Memr: that we, Edward Collins and Joseph Hills, who took in brief notes from Thomas Blanchard's mouth the particulars expressed in this will, did understand the reservation of his wife's dwelling in the house, and provision for eight cows to be during the time of her widowhood and not otherwise: witness our hands this 22 3d month, 1654. Joseph Hills, Edward Collins

Children

1. George Blanchard
2. John Blanchard
3. Joseph Blanchard
4. Thomas Blanchard
5. Samuel Blanchard
6. Nathanial Blanchard
7. Mary Blanchard

NOTE: sons born in England prior to 1620's-1630's: George, Thomas, Stephen, Samuel, Nathaniel, David are all listed as children of his first wife Elizabeth ___, who died in England in 1636; and were born prior to his marriage to Agnes Bent Blanchard in May 1637. See: From the Great Migration to the Greatest Generation, by Wayne Blanchard, Lulu.com, 2013 - 218

He settled first in Braintree, Massachusetts, where he was living from 1646 to 1650. He bought of Rev. John Wilson and his son John Wilson Jr. two hundred acres of land with buildings on the south and west sides of the Mystic river, in February, 1651. and removed to Charlestown in 1651. His first wife died in England. He married (second) in England, Agnes (Bent) Barnes, died in 1639, on the passage, sister of John Bent, who settled in Sudbury, Massachusetts. He married (third) Mary, of Noddle's Island, in 1663. She died in Charlestown. During the religious controversy in Malden she sided with the orthodox Mr Marmaduke Mathews. The Blanchards lived at what is now Malden.

Sources

1. ↑ Re: [BLANCHARD] Pierre Jean Blanchard 08/09/2008 06:46:53 Rootsweb Mailing List Wayback Machine Archive
2. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N15H-KRS : 6 December 2014), Thomas Blanchet, 12 Oct 1623; citing GOODWORTH CLATFORD,HAMPSHIRE,ENGLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 1,041,258, 918,606.
3. ↑ "Hampshire Burials," index, Find My Past (findmypast.com: accessed 19 March 2017) search for Elizabeth Blanchard.
4. ↑ Wiltshire, England, Marriages, 1538-1837
5. ↑ England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973
6. ↑ http://www.jeaniesgenealogy.com/2012/10/thomas-blanchard-of-goodworth-clatford.html
7. ↑ http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~blanch-l/bldna.html
8. ↑ The Historical Magazine and Notes and Queries Concerning the Antiquities, History and Biography of America, Volume 8. John Ward Dean, George Folsom, John Gilmary Shea, Henry Reed Stiles, Henry Barton Dawson. Henry B. Dawson, 1864. p. 344
9. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. By 1639 marriage of Thomas Blanchard Vol. 1 p. 160
10. ↑ Middlesex County, Massachusetts Probate Index, 1648-1870
11. ↑ “Probate records v. 1-3 1654-1673”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89D5-BQF2  : 2 May 2023), FHL microfilm 007554513, image 23-27, Middlesex, Massachusetts, Vol 1, 1654-1661, Pages 31-39.
12. ↑ New England Historic and Genealogical Register, 17:156-57

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 02 November 2017, 21:50), entry for Thomas Blanchard(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LC84-RHB); contributed by various users.

• Stearns, Ezra S. Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire (Lewis Publishing Company, 1908) Page 785

• Massachusetts Genealogy, Vol. IV

• Blanchard Fam. Notes, Mrs. D. Rubsam

• Ancestral File(R): The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R) (Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998)

• Geni World Family Tree Publication: MyHeritage Text: The Geni World Family Tree is found on www.Geni.com. Geni is owned and operated by MyHeritage. Type: Collection Media: 40000 Record ID Number: MH:S11

Thomas Blanchard

Gender: Male

Birth: Circa 1596 - England

Marriage: Spouse: Agnes Bent - 812

Death: Mar 21 1654 - Melden, Essex, MA

Burial: Circa May 1654 - Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Wife: Agnes Bent

• Hobart, Benjamin, History of the town of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement, Boston, T.H. Carter and son, 1866, pg 353
• Maxfield, Charles A. "Some of the Descendants of Thomas Blanchard Who Came to New England in 1639 First Seven Generations on MaxfieldGenealogy.com
• "Blanchard Genealogy," Essex Antiquarian, Salem, MA: 9(1905):26