Thomas Hartshorn (abt. 1614 - bef. 1683)

Born about 1614 in Reading, Berkshire, England [uncertain]

Husband of Susannah (Buck) Hartshorne — married about 1647 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Husband of Sarah (Ayres) Hartshorn — married 10 Apr 1661 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died before 18 May 1683 before about age 69 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Thomas Hartshorn was born about 1614 - he gave a deposition on 2nd month, 3rd day, 1654, stating that he was 40 years old.^[1]

A tailor, Thomas was living in Reading, Massachusetts in 1639, five years before its incorporation in 1644. "About 1640 he settled on Elm Street. The old Thomas Hartshorn place remained two hundred years in the family."^[2] Arnold's history [James N. Arnold: The Arnold Genealogy] also states that a house on a hill was occupied by two Hartshornes who kept tavern, that Reading had 59 houses in 1667.

• 1648: May 10: Thomas was recorded as freeman.^[2][3].
• 1648: Sept: 29: Listed as a member in full of First Church 29 Sep 1648^[4], his Church rate was £1-9s-7d. Susanna was also a member, and Rev. Samuel Haugh was the pastor.^[2]
• 1650: Thomas received a grant of 10 acres.^[2]
• 1655: Granted a lot in Jeremiah Swain's meadow.^[2]
• 1657: Constable.^[5]
• 1661: Selectman.^[2]
• 1665: had a lot north of the Ipswich River, and in 1666, land in the Great Swamp. Some of the old land records are clear enough during the twentieth century to show the approximate location of his land.
• 1667: Selectman.^[2]
• 1677: Signer of a petition from Reading, to the General Court for the appointment of Captain Poole to lead the military of Reading as voted by the town.^[2]
• 1677: Oct. 9: Listed as being a juror during the court held at Hampton.

He married, first, Susanna Buck before 1648.^[6] She died in 1659.^[2]

After Susanna's death, several of her children were put out as apprentices, as most of the Lamson children already had been. No legal record of their apprenticeship had been found, except Jonathan. He was on the rolls of the First Church on 6 Apr 1663, by letter from the church in Ipswich.

He married second, Sarah (Ayres) Lamson, widow of William of Ipswich, at Reading on Apr. 10, 1661.^[2][7][8]

As William Lampson had died intestate, Sarah's brothers, John Ayres and William Fellows, protested the intended marriage to Hartshorn.

• Petition of John Ayres and William Fellows: Wheras our Brother William Lampson late of Ipswich dyed intestate and Administration granted by the Honered Court at Ipswich to his widdow, our sister Sarah Lampson, and devided the estate about halfe to her & halfe to the children, being eight in number; and whereas shee being about to change her estate to one Thomas Harteshorne of Redding: It was agreed that before mariage he should signe and seale a wrighting to give our sayd sister power & liberty to dispose of the one halfe of the estate she brought to him by way of will of which there is sufisient wittnes besydes our selves; but by pvidence that wrighting being neglected to be finished before mariage though then promised it should be done after; but it is now refused and therby the children of our Brother william Lampson, like to suffer.^[9]

• Whereas there was security taken of a house and land at Ipswich for the payment of several portions to the children of Wm. Lampson deceased, according to Ipswich Court record of Mar. 29, 1659; until other security be given, and Thomas Hartshorne of Redding, coming into court and tendering the house in Redding where he now dwells, with fifteen acres of land adjoining, and seven acres of meadow in two several parcels, bounded as is expressed in a writing given in to court, and now on file in the Salem court records, the court accepts the latter security and releases the former.^[9]

Thomas made his will and signed with his mark on 26 Oct 1681. It was proved in court 19 June 1683. He left the bulk of his estate to his son Benjamin, naming him executor. To Thomas he left 5s. He left daughter Susanna a few household goods. He made provision for his wife Sarah. He did not mention any other children. His estate was valued at £122.07.0^[10]

Thomas died about May, 1683 at Reading, as his estate was inventoried on May 18, 1683.^[8]

Military

Thomas was old during the time of King Philip's War but was a sergeant in the Reading Militia Company in 1679.^{[citation needed]}

Children

by Susanna

1. Thomas born October 30, 1648; married in 1671 Hannah Goodwin who died in July, 1673.^[7] Removed to Haverhill by 1677. ^[2] He married second, Sarah Swan.^[6]
2. John born May 6, 1650.^[7] married Ruth Swan on September 19,1672 at Haverhill, Massachusetts.^[11]
3. Joseph born July 2, 1652:^[7] married Sarah ___.^[2]
4. Benjamin born April 18, 1654; died at Reading on May 3, 1694; married first in 1682, Mary Thompson, daughter of George, who died that year; married second Elizabeth Browne, daughter of John and Elizabeth in 1684.^{[2] [7]}
5. Jonathan born August 20, 1656.^[7]
6. David born October 18, 1657;^[7] married Rebecca Batcheldor on Mar. 15, 1683.^[2][6]
7. Susannah born March 2, 1659/60;^[7] died at Watertown in May 1718; married first John Devereux; married second at Marblehead, Stephen Parker of Andover.^[12]

by Sarah

1. Timothy born February 23, 1661/2;^[7][13] married Martha Eaton on December 26, 1685.^[2]

• A first son named Thomas, b. 3 July 1646, is listed by some secondary sources, however he was not recorded in the Reading town vital records, and would not have been mentioned in probate records.

Research notes

Reading Births

Hartshorne, Thomas, s. Thomas, Oct. 30, 1648 (30th of the 7th mo. MR).

Hartshorne, John, s. Thomas, May 6, 1650.

Hartshorne, Joseph, s. Thomas, July 2, 1652.

Hartshorne, Benjamin, s. Thomas, Apr. 18, 1654.

Hartshorne, Jonathan, s. Thomas, Aug. 20, 1656.

Hartshorne, David, s. Thomas and Susanah, Oct. 18, 1657.

Hartshorne, Susannah, d. Thomas, Mar. 2, 1659-00.

Hartshorne, Timothy, s. Thomas, Feb. 23, 1661.

Reading Marriages

HARTSHORNE, Thomas and Sarah Lamson Apr. 10, 1661.

Hartshorne, Benjamin and Mary Tomson, Feb. 28, 1681.

Hartshorne, Benjamin and Elizebeth Brown, Nov. 26, 1684.

Hartshorne, Thomas and Hannah Goodwin May 10, 1671.

Hartshorne, Timothy and Martha Eaton, Dec. 26, 1685.

Hartshorne, David and Rebeccah ___, Mar. 15, 1683.

Reading Deaths

Hartshorne, Benjamin, May 3, 1694.

Hartshorne, Hannah w. of Thomas, July, 1673.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Middlesex County, MA: Abstracts of Court Files, 1649–1675. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003), (Unpublished abstracts by Thomas Bellows Wyman, "Abstract of Middlesex court files from 1649," n.d.) available at americanancestors
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14} Eaton, Hon. Liley. Genealogical history of the town of Reading, Mass., Including the Present Towns of Wakefield, Reading, and North Reading, with Chronological and Historical Sketches from 1639 to 1874, Alfred Mudge & Sons, Boston, 1874
3. ↑ "List of Freeman" New England Historical and Genealogical Register 3:191
4. ↑ "Church Records of the Old Town of Reading, Massachusetts and of the First Parish of Reading and South Reading from 1648 to 1846." The Essex Genealogist 9:3
5. ↑ "Ipswich Court Records and Files." The Essex Antiquarian 12:118.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} New England Marriages Prior to 1700, By Clarence Almon Torrey
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9} Baldwin, Thomas, compiler. Vital Records of Reading Massachusetts to the Year 1850, NEHGS, Boston, Massachusetts, 1912 p. 120-1;362; 529
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} The Hartshorn Families in America: a Genealogical Study of the Line of Thomas Hartshorn, the Immigrant, of Reading, Massachusetts, and other known families bearing the Hartshorn/e surname that arrived in America in succeeding years, by Derick Sibley Hartshorn, Gateway Press, Aug 1, 1997
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, Volume 2, Essex Institute, 1912
10. ↑ Probate records 1648--1924 (Middlesex County, Massachusetts); Author: Massachusetts. Probate Court (Middlesex County); Probate Place: Middlesex, Massachusetts. Probate Papers 10657-10743. Thomas Hartshorn 10545 1683 Accessed at Ancestry ($)
11. ↑ "Massachusetts, Marriages, 1695-1910,"index, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FH15-SPR : accessed 18 Mar 2014), John Harshorne and Ruth Swan, 19 Sep 1672; citing reference 66; FHL microfilm 877468.
12. ↑ "Descendants of John Devereux" New England Historical and Genealogical Register 74:120 (1920)
13. ↑ birthdate corrected to 10 months after parents married, rather than 2 months before, which would have been scandalous for a town selectman;

See also:

• William Richard Cutter New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial, Vol 1 (Lewis Historical Publishing Company 1915) Page 403. Good Source? Bad Source?
• Stearns, Ezra S. Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire (Lewis Publishing Company, 1908) Vol. 2, Page 955