Thomas Lynde (1615 - 1693)

Born 7 Feb 1615 in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Lynde — married about 1647 in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 15 Oct 1693 at age 78 in Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Thomas Lynde immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Thomas Lynde was born probably in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England about 1615. This date is calculated, based upon his gravestone inscription that he was 78 years of age at his death in 1693 and a similar statement in his will. Anderson suggests that he may have been about seven years younger. He was the son of Thomas Lynde and Hannah (Unknown) Lynde.He was married by 1647 to Elizabeth (Unknown). Some sources say that her name was Tufts, but Anderson found no evidence of this, and suggests confusion with his daughter, Elizabeth, who married Peter Tufts.

Ensign Thomas died in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts October 15, 1693, "aged 78 years". He is buried in Bell Rock Cemetery, Malden. ^[1][2]

Thomas Lynde was the eldest son of Thomas Lynde and his first wife, named Hannah. There were five children in this family, all born in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. See likely reference to the christening of Thomas below. When Thomas was still a boy, his mother passed away, and the elder Thomas remarried to Margaret Hudson. After the first of their six children came, the family relocated to America, settling in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1634.

In 1647, Thomas married a woman named Elizabeth, but her surname was likely not Tufts, as is often proposed.^[3] She was several years old than him, and also born in England. They had four known children together at their home in Malden, three boys and a girl. It is thought that Thomas was a veteran of King Philip’s War (1675-1678) and was named an Ensign, a title he carried for the rest of his life.

The Ensign Thomas Lynde House is at 86 Main Street in Melrose, Massachusetts. It was said to have been built in 1670, when Thomas would have been about fifty. The house was demolished in 1956, but a marker placed there in 1930 was lost for many years until being unearthed in 1994.

Elizabeth preceded her husband in death by just over one month in 1693. Ensign Thomas Lynde’s will, dated twelve days prior to his own passing, named sons John and Joseph as co-executors. The two would split the farm on which their father lived. As they were the only two children still living, most of the other gifts (land and money) went to grandchildren, a sister, cousins and maids^[4] Thomas Lynde's death on 15 October 1693 was noted in Malden records.^[5]

Thomas and Elizabeth Lynde were buried at the Malden Churchyard, also known as Bell Rock Cemetery in Malden.

MEMENTO MORI – “Remember you will die” FUGIT HORA – “The hour flees”

HERE LYES Ye BODY OF ENSIGN THOMAS LYND AGED 78 YEARS DYED Ye 15 OF OCTOBER 1693

ALSO Ye BODY OF ELIZABETH HIS WIFE AGED 81 YEARS DYED Ye 2 OF SEPTEMBER 1693

THE MEMORY OF Ye IUST IS BLESSED

Research Notes

There's a Thomas Lyne, son of Thomas Lyne baptised at Dunstable Bedfordshire on 14 Apr 1620^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, volume IV, I–L. (Boston: NEHGS, 2005): pages 374-378.
2. ↑ Find a Grave memorial with Headstone Photo
3. ↑ New England Marriages prior to 1700; page 481 (1647 - Charlestown)
4. ↑ Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991, Middlesex Probate Records, Vol. 7-10, 1689-1704, image 239 of 748; Ancestry.com.
5. ↑ Massachusetts Town & Vital Records 1620-1988; Malden Record of Deaths, page 259 (also indicates he was age 78 at death in 1793)
6. ↑ The Parish Register of Dunstable 1558-1812. Bedfordshire County Record Office 1951 Archive.org

See Also:

• Ancestry.com link The source for the birth date on this profile indicates he lived in New Hampshire.
• NEHGS Register; volume 010 (1856), page 242 (death)
• Massachusetts Marriages 1633-1850 (marriage)