Thomas Savory, Sr.

• Not the son of Robert Savery & Joan Savory
• Not the son of Mary Seaver & Thomas Savery

  ---

Thomas was one of four men sent by John Howland in 1634 to cut the moorings of John Hocking's ship. Hocking aimed his gun first at Thomas and then shot and killed Moses Talbot instead. In Oct 1636, Savory was found guilty of drunkenness, and was sentenced to be whipped. In 1652 Savory was under Marshall or executioner of Plymouth Colony. In 1659/1660 he was fined five shillings for being drunk. On 7 Jun 1670 he was dismissed from his office of under Marshall, having been found several times unfaithful to the office and especially for letting Joseph Turner escape, but on his petition he was restored to his office on 5 Jul 1670.

Source: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/h/o/Peter-A-Rhodes/WEB...

Disambiguation

There were two Thomas Savory's in early New England. This profile is not for "A Lewd Fellow"Thomas Savory.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Savory-12

Note: Formerly there were parents attached to this profile: Thomas Savory and Marie Woodcocke. They have been detached - unsourced. They may certainly be reattached in the future if sources come to light.

A previous version of this profile claimed, without source, that he was baptized 14 May 1601 in Hannington, Wiltshire, England.

Family

By about 1645 he had married Ann/Annis/Anne _____. (surname unknown.) Anne died after March 22, 1677 when she deeded land to her sons.

Children of Thomas and Anne (unknown) Savory:

1. Benjamin was born about March 1645 and was living on March 2, 1657[/?8]. When Beniamine was nine years old, Thomas and Annis agreed with John and Alice Shaw that they should take him until the age of twenty-one. If John or Alice should die then Benjamin would live with his brother Jonathan who would teach him a trade and teach him to read and write. Agreement terminated on 4 March 1657 when Benjamin became the servant of Stephen Bryant Sr., of Plymouth.
2. Thomas was born about March 1648 and died at Pawtucket in King Philip's War on March 26, 1676. At five years of age it was agreed between "Thomas Savory Senior and Ann his wife" that Thomas Savory Junior would stay with Thomas Lettice until the age of twenty-one, to learn the trade of carpentry.
3. Moses was born in Plymouth on January 22, 1649[/50] and died at Plymouth on June 9, 1650.
4. Samuel was born at Plymouth on June 4, 1651. He married by 1678 to his wife with an unknown name, since they had a child born at Plymouth on July 3, 1678.
5. Jonathan was born at Plymouth on March 4, 1652[/3].
6. Mara was born at Plymouth on April 7, 1654.
7. Anthony was born about 1656; was living on March 22, 1677. (not the Anthony who married Margaret Price on 2 Feb 1703.)
8. Aaron was born about 1658; was living on March 22, 1677. It is possible he was the Aaron Savery whose will was proved in Bristol County in 1717. Thomas Savory's request that his widow have special regard for Aaron might mean that he was in some way incapacitated.

Biography

Unless otherwise cited, the following biography is based on The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, pp. 1634-1638.

Thomas Savory, of unknown origins, migrated to New England in 1633, settling in Plymouth.[1][2][3]

He was born by 1617, assuming he was at least sixteen when he, as a member of the Plymouth Party, was employed in the Plymouth fur trade on the Kennebec (when John Hocking and Moses Talbot were killed.[2]

In New England, Thomas was a planter/farmer. He held the office of under marshal beginning June 4, 1652, "Thomas Savory is indented with by the Court to serve in the office of under marshall, or executioner, according to the terms and nature of his said office already entered, and is to have 20 nobles per annum, besides his ordinary fees allowed by the Court," although he was never a freeman. He was found unfaithful several times in the performance of his office and was dismissed on June 7, 1670 and reinstated on July 7, 1670. In the 1643 Plymouth Colony list, his name is among the men able to bear arms.

He sold a house at Squerrell to Josuah Pratt on September 16, 1641.

On February 20, 1662 he exchanged land at Punckateeset with Samuell Eedey of Plymouth, for "a parcel of upland being six acres lying and being at or near Fresh Lake" in Plymouth. Additionally, "Thomas Savory for his children" (along with 4 other men) were granted one share in the Major's Purchase on June 7, 1665 "to have thirty acres apiece out of the best of it, and commoning proportionable." This land was sold to "Sacaryah Eedey" on July 10, 1667, with his wife Ann Savory consenting to the sale with her mark.

Thomas was found guilty of drunkenness on October 4, 1636 and March 7, 1659/60. His wife Anne "was presented before the Court to answer for being at home on the Lord's day with Thomas Lucas at unreasonable time, vis:, in the time of public exercise in the worship of God, and for being found drunk at the same time under an hedge, in uncivil and beastly manner, was sentenced by the Court as followeth, viz: for her accompanying of the said Lucas at an unreasonable time as aforesaid, she was sentenced to sit in the stocks during the pleasure of the Court, which accordingly was performed and executed; and for her being found drunk, as aforesaid, fined five shilling; and for prophaning the Lord's day, fined ten shillings, according to the laws in such cases provided."

Last Will and Testament

His will, using the name "Thomas Savory Senior" was dated April 6, 1674 and proved March 7, 167[5]6. This reveals that he died sometime between April 6 1674 and January 28, 1675[6]. In the will he left all of his estate to his wife "Anne" and she was the sole administrator and executor. He requested that she pay all debts and "consider my son Aron at her decease," explaining that there would be little left after the debts are paid.

He must have been a learned man, for his inventory, taken on January 28, 1675[/6], included a Bible, Psalm Book, and three additional books. The untotalled inventory also included land valued at L12. On March 22, 1677, Anne, Thomas' widow, deeded "my two sons Anthony Savory and Aron Savory" of Plymouth, "all that my lot and share of land" in Plymouth "at a place called Four Mile Brook which lot of land fell to my husband Thomas Savory deceased by exchange with our brother-in-law Samuel Eedey aforesaid, tailor, ... and given and willed to me the said Anne Savory by my said husband as appears by his last will and testament." It included about threescore acres of upland with the meadow.

Research Notes:

There is a christening record in Hannington, Wiltshire parish register: Thomas Saverye 12 February 1603, his godfathers: Thomas Savor(y)e senior and William Edwards junior, and his godmother: Elizabeth Betson (sp?). No parent's listed.[4]

Thomas Savory was probably related to ANTHONY SAVORY who was present in Plymouth from 1632 to 1642.

Either Thomas Savory or his wife was related to SAMUEL EDDY. Reasonable evidence is available for the ages of all the children except Anthony and Aaron. They are placed here as the youngest, but they might possibly have been the eldest.

On 1 March 1663/4 "Richard Willis and Joseph Savery [were] fined 3s. 4d. for breaking the peace towards each other" [ PCR 4:50]. A.W. Savary thinks that this was another son of Thomas [ NEHGR 41:380], but based on this single isolated record, we can only say this is a possibility.

Sources

1. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. "The Great Migration Directory" p. 297.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). p. 1634-1638.subscriber$
3. ↑ A.W. Savary, "The Savery Family in America," in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) Vol. 41, p. 374.subscriber$
4. ↑ Hannington Register image 44. by subscription at: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/61187/45582_1831109331_1077-00... accessed 3 Feb2020.
5. See also:
6. https://www.plimoth.org/sites/default/files/media/pdf/savory_thomas...
7. A genealogical and biographical record of the Savery families (Savory and Savary) and of the Severy family (Severit, Savery, Savory and Savary) by Alfred William Savary (1893). pp 16, 17, 19 - 26.
8. Stratton also gives a detailed account of this immigrant [ Stratton 348-50].