Thomas Barrett (abt. 1600 - 1668)

Born about 1600 in England

Husband of Margaret (Unknown) Barrett — married before 1625 in England

Descendants

Died 6 Oct 1668 at about age 68 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Bob Fields [send private message], and D'Ann Moseley [send private message]

Thomas Barrett migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

This profile is part of the Barrett Name Study.

Thomas Barrett and his wife Margaret, emigrated from England to America sometime between 1635 and 1640, (the exact date is not known, nor can it now be definitely ascertained, one reference says they came in 1635 on the ship "Increase"). They settled in Braintree, MA, where he and his sons with their families continued to reside until 1663. He was made a Freeman in 1645 and he purchased lands in 1651

April 10th, 1663, he and his son Thomas Barrett, Jr., (who had removed to Chelmsford, Mass., some time prior to March 1660), purchased a house and fifty-two acres of land in Chelmsford, Mass., on that was then and is now known as "Robbins Hill," and settled there (Chelmsford) immediately afterwards (April 10th, 1663). The homestead of Thomas in currently maintained by the Chelmsford Historical Society http://www.chelmhist.org/. The society owns what is said to be the original trunk that Thomas posessed when he arrived in Massachuetts.

Other researchers list a different wife: Margaret Spaulding Ward.^[1]

Others say that a different Thomas 1590-1664 was the son of Christopher and Elizabeth Clarke. ^[2] This cannot be true because that Thomas Barret registered a pedigree in Norwich England in 1671, 3 years after this Thomas died.

This Thomas did not arrive on the ship The Increase. That Thomas Barrett is listed as age 16- neither Thomas nor his son Thomas would have been that age in 1635. It is likely our Thomas and some of his family arrived before 1640 (most Puritans immigrated by 1640: note from the book Albion’s Seed). In 1645, Thomas signed a petition in Braintree. He also became a freeman that year. In the records of Braintree Mass, Thomas purchased land in 1651. Two of his children are married in Braintree. By 1659 he is appointed to a ‘committee to state the highway’ in Chelmsford. In 1662 he is surveyor in Chelmsford. In 1662 he wrote his will in Chelmsford. In 1663 he bought property in Chelmsford. In 1664 he’s ‘chosen to the order of swine’. In 1668 he buys more property in Chelsmford and on Oct 6 1668 he died in Chelmsford. He is likely buried in Forefather’s Burial Ground in Chelmsford.

After years and years of research we still have no good answers as to our Thomas Barrett’s parents, birth or marriage. We don’t even know his wife Margaret’s true maiden name. We have dug through tons of records online and many English marriages are suspect but no proof. We have been attempting to tie a marriage of a Thomas Barrett with a Margaret and THEN find a few of their children’s baptisms. Here is what we do know:

Thomas Barrett was born about 1591-1605 All b. in England, according to Snow-Estes. He married Margaret before 1625 in England. They had children:

• John b. abt 1625 England, d.May 19 1706 Chelmsford, Mass.
• Mary b. abt 1630 likely England, d. Feb 2 1657 Braintree, Mass.
• Thomas b. abt 1634 possibly in Braintree, Mass (no record), d. Dec 8 1702 Chelmsford.
• Joseph b. abt 1639 Braintree ,Mass (no record - Braintree records started in 1640), d.Oct 31 1711 Chelmsford

? Margaret b.abt 1647 (no other information on her). ^[3] Margaret is not in the list given in the Snow-Estes Genealogy.

Most of these original records about Thomas are available for free but with patient searches at familysearch.org under Massachusetts Town Clerk Vital and Town Records 1627-2001- BROWSE IMAGES- go to Middlesex Co, then to Chelmsford, then to Town Records 1650-1720 Vol 1- these are hand copies of the originals. The originals are the ones listed as Birth, Marriage, Deaths Town Records Land Records 1645-1699 Vol.1. The Braintree records are there as well, just under Norfolk County.

Thomas is an ancestor of President #30 Calvin Coolidge.

Name

Thomas Barrett^[4][5][6]

Birth

England^[4][6]

Marriage

England^[4][6]

No, though Barnett, Descs. of Moses and Mary Barrett says they are^[6]

Immigration

BET 1635 AND 1640 Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts^[4][6]

BEF 1662 Chelmsford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts^[6]

Death

ABT SEP 1668 Chelmsford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

though Snow-Estes Ancestry and Descs. of Moses Barrett say 6 Oct 1668when his will was probated^[4][6]

Will

01 MAR 1662^[5]

Probate

06 OCT 1668^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ http://barrettgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/06/generation-14-geoffrey-barrett-was-born.html
2. ↑ http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=cmleonard1&id=I1657
3. ↑ Diane Lane and Dan Barrett, Barrett family researchers
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} Snow: Page 216-217
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Pope: Page 35, Thomas Barrett
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6} Barnett: Page i-vii, "Introduction"

• Barrett, William. Genealogy of Some of The Descendants of Thomas Barrett, Sen., of Braintree, Mass., 1635 (D. Ramaley & Son, Saint Paul, Minn., 1888) is more likely the record of our ancestors immigration.
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=lizmichael88&id=P9976 NOTE: Page does not exist as of Sept 8, 2020
• http://barrettgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/06/increase-1635.html NOTE: Page does not exist as of Sept 8, 2020
• http://barrettgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/06/generation-14-geoffrey-barrett-was-born.html has good information on Christopher and his lineage and then the jump to the incorrect Thomas. NOTE: Page does not exist as of Sept 8, 2020
• Snow, Nora Emma. The Snow-Estes Ancestry (1939)
• Barnett, Madalene R. The Descendants of Moses and Mary (Dow) Barrett (Waco, Texas, 1982)
• Pope, Charles H. The Pioneers of Massachusetts (Charles H. Pope, Boston, MA, 221 Columbus Ave., 1900)
• New England Historical and Genealogical Register: English Barret Records, Volume: 110, 111, 114, Pages: 312-313; 153-154; 72-74. Howland, McClure Meredith 1956, 1957, 1960
• Stearns, Ezra. History of Ashburnham, Massachusetts (Town of Ashburnham, Mass., 1887) Vol. 2, Page 600
• Harwood, Joseph A., et.al., Records of Littleton, Massachusetts (Patriot Press, Concord, Massachusetts, 1900, 720 pages); page 413
• Stearns, Ezra S. Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire (Lewis Publishing Company, 1908)
• Thomas Barret, Sr (1609-1668) on Find A Grave: Memorial #11443665 Retrieved 17 January, 2018.
  • See note regarding burial place confusion.
• Barrett Family History, web site, see 1636-1640 entry.