General Notes

From Michael Roman's web page at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mroman/king.htm

THE KING FAMILY

THOMAS KING [#306], b. abt. 1595-1600, d. Marlborough, MA between 12 and 24 Mar 1676, m(1) England ANNE COLLINS, d. Sudbury, MA 26 Dec 1642, m(2) Sudbury 26 Dec 1655 Bridget (Loker) Davis, b. abt. 1613, d. Marlborough 11 Mar 1685.

Thomas King was in New England by 1638 or 1639 when he settled in Sudbury.[1] In 1642 the town ordered that Mr. Noyes, Mr. Pendleton, Walter Haynes, John Parmenter, Jr. and Thomas King shall have power to view the river at Thomas King's, and to agree with workmen to build a cart bridge over the river.[4/8] In 1650 Thomas is shown to have owned lot 50 in the fourth, i.e. southwest, squadron of the two-mile grant.[4/203]

In 1656 he and twelve others petitioned the General Court for an eight square mile tract of land eight miles west of Sudbury, which would later become the town of Marlborough.[6/220] Thomas was very active in the town's affairs. He was elected one of the first selectmen of the plantation on Feb. 25, 1656-7[6/224] and held that office at least through 1665.[6/336,341][7//59,65,118] No town records are extant from 1665 to 1739[9] so Thomas' further service to the town is unknown. In 1661 he was also the constable[6/336] and was selected with four others to lay out all highways in town[6/341] He was again the constable in 1662.[6/341] House lots were granted to the original proprietors on Nov. 26, 1660 and Thomas received one of the larger lots at 39.5 acres.[6/227] In an inventory taken April 6, 1665 he had, in addition to the house lot, 19 3/4 acres in the second division of upland, 19 3/4 acres of first division meadows, 16 acres and two rods of second division meadows, and 19 3/4 rods of first division cedar swamp.[7/121] Thomas further received July 27th that year 5 1/4 acres, 14 rods in each of several areas in town. These included Cold Harbor meadow, the Middle meadows, and Chauncy meadows.[7/125] During the troubles of King Phillip's War, Thomas and his family were assigned to the garrison house of William Kirby.[1]

There was a Thomas King in Watertown at an early date, having children born there in 1640 and 1642. However he is clearly not the ancestor as his wife's name was Mary, and he died Dec. 3, 1644. His widow married James Cutler in 1645.[8/812] Peter King, son of ancestor Thomas King, was most likely the Peter King who made a deposition on behalf of Thomas Read in 1699 (see Thomas Read family). If this is the case, then his birth date would seem to be more likely 1626 or 1627.

In his will dated "Marlborow. 12. 1. 1675. 1676." (i.e. March 12, 1675-6) are mentioned his wife Bridget, son Peter, son William Kerly and daughter Anna, Son Nathaniel Joslin and daughter Sarah, grand children Thomas and Joshua Rice, daughter Mary Rice, and son Jonathan Brigham. The will was witnessed by Richard Newton and Jonathan Maynard.[3/5:22] Inventory of the estate was taken March 24, 1676 by Deacon William Ward and Lt. John Rudducke and amounted to 383.06.00.[3/5:26]

It is not known where in England Thomas and Anne came from. However there are some possible clues. On May 30, 1658 Peter King of Shaston (i.e. Shaftsbury), Dorset wrote a will and mentioned his brother Thomas King, "now dwelling in New England". It has been put forth that this Peter was probably the brother of Thomas. Also in 1660 Elizabeth Lee of Hambledon, Surrey, wife of Richard Lee, gave a legacy of ten pounds to Ann King, wife of Thomas King of New England.[2/82] This bequest is indicative of a family relationship between Elizabeth and Ann. The trouble is that Ann died 18 years before Elizabeth made her will. There may have been another Thomas King in New England who had a wife named Ann. In fact, Thomas King of Scituate married Anne Sutliffe sometime after the death of his third wife in October 1653.[5]

Here is included the petition for the establishment of Marlboro for interest and historical relevance to ancestors - John Woods and John Maynard also signed the petition. "To ye Honord Governour, Deputy Governor, Magistrates, & Deputies of ye Generall Court now Assembled in Boston The humble Petition of severall of ye Inhabitants of Sudbury whose names are heere under written Humbly Showeth That whereas yor Petitionrs have lived divers yeares in Sudbury & God hath beene pleased to increase our Children wch are now divers of them growne to mans Estate, & wee many of us, growne into yeares: so as yt wee should bee glad to see them setled before ye Lord take us away from hence, as also God haveing given us some considerable quantity of Cattle; so yt wee are so streightned yt wee cannott so Comfortably subsist, as could be desired; & some of us haveing taken some paines to veiw the Country; wee have found A place wch lyeth Westwd about eight miles from Sudbury, wch wee conceive might bee comfortable for our Subsistance: It is therefore the humble request of yor Petitionrs to this honord Court: yt you would bee pleased to Graunt unto us - eight miles Square; or so much Land as may containe to eight miles Square for to make A Plantation ...".[6/220]

The last name of Thomas' wife Anne is given as Collins in [5], but the source of that information is not clear. The name was not known in [2]. As such, the reader should take the name with a grain of salt.

REF: [1] Davis and Fifty Allied Families of New England - George
         A. Davis, 1956 (pg.93)
     [2] The Stevens-Miller Ancestry - Winifred Lovering Holman,
         1948
     [3] Middlesex County Probate (First Series Docket 13334)
     [4] Annals of Sudbury, Wayland, and Marlborough - Rev. Alfred
         S. Hudson, 1891
     [5] The Warner-Harrington Ancestry - Frederick C. Warner, 1949
         (pg.379)
     [6] New England Historic Genealogical Register, 1908
     [7] New England Historic Genealogical Register, 1909
     [8] Watertown Records, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, Vol. I,
         1894
     [9] The History of Marlborough - Charles Hudson, 1862 (pg.279)
     [10] The Birth, Marriage, and Death Register of Lancaster, MA
         - Henry S. Nourse, 1890

Children:

1. Anna, b. abt. 1625, m. William Kerley Jr., d. Marlboro, MA
   4 Jan 1684
2. Peter, b. abt. 1628, d. Sudbury, MA 27 Aug 1704, m. Sarah
   ____, d. after 1697
3. Mary, b. abt. 1630, d. 22 Mar 1714-5, m. Thomas Rice, bap.
   Stanstead, Suffolk, Eng. 26 Jan 1625-6, d. Sudbury 16 Nov 1681
4. Sarah, b. abt. 1632, d. Marlborough, MA 2 Jul 1706,
   m. abt. 1656 Nathaniel Joslin, b. London, Eng. 12 Jun
   1627, d. Marlborough 3 Apr 1694
5. Elizabeth, b. abt. 1635, bur. 30 Oct 1667, m. 8 Nov 1655
   Samuel Rice, bap. Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire, Eng. 12 Nov
   1634, d. 25 Feb 1684-5
6. Martha, b. abt. 1638, d. 13 May 1677, m. 4 May 1658 Joseph
   Rice, bap. Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire, Eng. 13 Mar 1637-8,
   d. 23 Dec 1711

Copyright © Michael J. Roman, 1968 – 2000, all rights reserved. The information contained herein may be printed, copied, and/or distributed in part or in whole for personal use only provided this copyright notice is attached to the printout, copy, or distribution. Commercial use is expressly prohibited.

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  Death Notes

died between March 12th (will dated) and March 24th (will inventory taken)

  Recorded Events in His Life

• He had a residence in Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA.

• Fact: the Kings had come from Dorset County, England.