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Author: kac1144
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chaffee/327.1.2/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
I can also answer a few of the unanswered questions posed in the post:
1. Thomas and his wife moved to Batchellor Street. Was this street reserved for bachelors
exclusively since Hingham's founding two years earlier? W.H. Chaffee indicated he was
not married when he arrived (perhaps based on the Batchellor Street residence). *He may
however have been married earlier.
2. Was Thomas affluent enough to build and manage a house and up to 21 acres of land in
four locations so soon after arriving? Then again, he was a settler in a new world so land
acquisition may not have been an issue. Was he a fisherman, a farmer or both as this may
lead to clues as to where his England family lived.
*Thomas raised sheep and was indeed a fisherman. All his residences (Hingham, Hull,
Swanze which became Barrington, RI) were near salt water. He may have acquired whatever
land was freely or cheaply attainable to maintain a greater number of livestock even if
his holdings were miles apart (Hingham to Hull 10 miles; Rehoboth, Swanze and Barrington
were essentially the same original township).
3. Early Hingham land transactions show properties adjacent to the ocean, but on meadows
suitable for ploughing or livestock, and two were definitely inland. In Barrington, the
property also appears more inland. *Thomas had property (and is probably buried) on
Phoebe's Neck in Barrington harbor (just as his land in Hull harbor).
5. Thomas' son Joseph married into the influential Barrington Martin family. The
Martin family may have come from Devonshire. Are the families closely tied?
*Joseph's wife Annis (Ann) Martin was daughter of Richard Martin of Batcombe,
Somersetshire and his wife Elizabeth Salter of Ottery St. Mary, Devon. Richard arrived in
Rehoboth, MA late in 1663 after the death of his brother Robert Martin who knew the
Chaffee's there (Swanze and Rehoboth shared boundries). Richard Martin bequeaths to
"son-in-law", Joseph Chaffee, "ffourteen pounds estate in commonage,'
in Rehoboth, which was given him by the will of his brother, Robert Martin."
13. Did he become a freeman in America. There is no record of this prior to 1636.
*Thomas became a freeman in Hingham in 1637, which implies but does not prove he arrived
earlier. Typically men became freemen after about 2 years in the community/church. But
there are many exceptions. Thomas' neighbor receiving land in 1637, William Ludkin,
also became a freeman that year. He (William) arrived on the John & Dorothy 1637.
15. In a deed of sale documented by W.H Chaffee in 1660 his name was signed as a mark
Thomas J Chaffye. Was J for Joseph?
*No person in the 17th century had a middle given name. This was an invention of the
latter 18th century. The "J" in question was his "T" mark, interposed
by Thomas between his first and last name that had been scribed by another hand.
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