Dr. Thomas Oliver, “Elder”

Thomas Oliver, chirugeon, was born about 1575 (date seen as before April 14, 1582), "of" Bristol in Gloucestershire, but it is not known if he was born there. He died in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, on January 1, 1657/8, and is buried in the Oliver Tomb at the Kings Chapel Burying Ground. Thomas and his 3rd wife, Ann (unknown) arrived in New England on the William and Francis, June 5, 1632.

He had 4 wives; Agnes, (unk maiden name) Elizabeth, Ann (unk maiden name) and Ann Squire. Agnes was the mother ofRev John Oliver Sr. 1613-1646 who was the father of John Oliver 1644-1683 who was the father of John (Robert) Oliver III 1670-1717 who was the father of Lancelot Oliver.

family

Parents seen as John Oliver & Elizabeth Ham with no supporting evidence as of Feb 2018; the connection would provide a royal ancestry, which has not been proposed in publications.

Anderson's Great Migration Project names only two wives, but entries for the Oliver family were found in Thorpe Achurch and Lilford, Northamptonshire, and published in 2002 (post Anderson) confirming that he had four wives:

1. Agnes (____) Henson, m October 22, 1600, Lilford; probably widow of Thomas Henson who was buried there 24 Jan 1599/1600. She died between 1608-17
2. Elizabeth (_____), m before December 26, 1617. She was buried at Thorpe Achurch May 8, 1624
3. Ann (______) with whom Thomas arrived in New England in 1632. She died 3 May 1635 (Anderson, citing Boston Vital Records, p 3)
4. Anne (Squire) Purchase, m between 1637 and 1642[3] widow of Aquila Purchase; she died 20 Dec1662 (per Boston VR, p 86)

His 12 known children were born to his first two wives; the first through 4th, born to the first wife, Agnes and baptized at Lilford; the 5th to 7th, uncertain mother, baptisms not located; the 8th-12th born by his 2nd wife, Elizabeth, baptized at Thorpe Achurch.

Children of Thomas Oliver and Agnes, baptized at Lilford

1. Elizabeth, bp August 9, 1601. She was not the wife of George Carr. She m. at Thorpe Achurch 15 Nov1625 Thomas Woolfull, clerk. They were probably the parents of Richard Woolfull named in the will of Elizabeth's father.
2. Thomas, bp September 10, 1603; bur. Lilford 21 Oct 1604
3. Jonathan, bp February 2, 1605/6; prob. died young (as son John, below, is named eldest son in his father's will).
4. Anne, bp June 19, 1608

Children of Thomas Oliver and Agnes or Elizabeth, baptisms not located

1. Mary, b ca 1610; m. Lilford 6 Apr 1630 JohnRobbins of Godmanchester, Huntingdownshire.
2. John, b ca 1613; d. 1646 "not full thirty years of age"; m. by Nov1638 Elizabeth Newgate, daughter of John and Lydia (____) Newgate. NOTE: Anderson points out that Savage incorrectly conflated this man with John Oliver of Newbury.
3. Peter, b ca 1615; m by 1643 Sarah Newgate, daughter of John and Thomasine (Hayes) Newgate.

Children of Thomas Oliver and Elizabeth, baptized at Thorpe Achurch

1. James, bp December 26, 1617; m. Mary (Dexter)Friend, daughter of Thomas Dexter and widow of John Friend.
2. Nathaniel, bp May 2, 1619; d. Boston November 1633. Winthrop tells the story of one of Elder Oliver's sons, about fifteen years old, being killed by a tree which he had felled himself, and dates this event 9 January 1632/3; given the recognized inaccuracies in the Boston vital records, this tale very likely refers to Nathaniel [WJ 1:117].
3. Abigail, bp December 10, 1620; m.by 1644 James Johnson
4. Samuel, bp December 16, 1621; drowned27 March 652;m. by 1647 Lydia _____
5. Daniel, bp December 25, 1623; d. Boston June 1637.

Last Will & Testament

Dated 13 March 1652; codicil 2 May 1656; proved 27 Jan 1657/8:[12]

• named sons Peter and James and son-in-law James Johnson as executors
• wife and her children...
• estate to be divided in five equal parts, two of which to go son John as eldest son
• children of sons John and Peter
• daughter Abigail Johnson
• Hannah Tarne (under 21, unmarried)
• all my grandchildren "both in old England and here in New England"
• codicil makes bequest to daughter Woolfull and daughter (illegible); to Richard Woolfull at Muddy River

notes

THE ENGLISH ORIGINS OF THOMAS OLIVER OF BOSTON
by Leslie Mahler (Genealogist) 157 N.E. Hist & Gen. Register, pp. 34-36 (JAN 2003) details parish register entries in Northamptonshire, England.

From THE GREAT MIGRATION BEGINS, VOL. 3, p. 1527 (bio of AQUILA PURCHASE):

ESTATE: "Widow Purchase" granted four acres at Dorchester, 5 August 1633 [ DTR 2]. "Widow Purchase" granted four acres of marsh, 17 April 1635 [ DTR 11]. "Widow Purchase" granted sixteen acre Great Lot, 4 January 1635/6 [ DTR 14].

"Whereas the Widow Purchase had 16 acres granted amongst the [blank] acre lots and at the laying out thereof was allowed 20 acres [the] overplus at the hither end is granted in proper to Oliver Purchase," 8 November 1637 [ DTR 24].

"Widow Purchase" was granted two lots, each of one acre and a half and 28 rods, 18 March 1637/8 [ DTR 31].

The inventory of the estate of THOMAS OLIVER , second husband of Anne (Squire) Purchase, included 30 in the hands of Oliver Purchase (his step-son) and 30 in the hands of Sampson Shore (husband of Abigail Purchase ) and "Gamaliel Phipeny" (husband of Sarah Purchase) [ SPR 3:107]. These would be Anne's son and her two sons-in-law.

AQUILA PURCHASE BIRTH: By about 1589 based on date of marriage.

AQUILA PURCHASE'S DEATH: 1633, apparently at sea on way to New England.

PURCHASE-SQUIRE MARRIAGE: Kingweston, Somersetshire, 28 January 1612/3 Anne Squire [ Henry Adams 55 (and facsimile of marriage bond on facing page)];

she was baptized at Charlton Mackrell, Somersetshire, 30 November 1591, daughter of Henry Squire [ Henry Adams 55];

she married (2) by 1642 (but perhaps earlier) THOMAS OLIVER of Boston.

THOMAS DEXTER From The Great Migration Begins, Vol. 1, pp. 540-545:

18 May 1631 [WintJnl 2:442; omitted from MaByColCR 1:366 because of later disenfranchisement, but in original]. On 4 March 1632/3 the court ordered that "Thomas Dexter shall be set in the bilbowes, disfranchised & fined 40 pounds for speaking reproachful & seditious words against the government here established, & finding fault to diverse with the acts of the Court, saying this captious government will bring all to naught, adding that the best of them was but an attorney, &c." [MBCR 1:103];

Perhaps came from area of Bristol, England for he had dealings with people from there. He had a good education and wrote with a beautiful hand. Great energy, high character, pubic-spirited, One writer says his energy of character bordered on stubbornness and his independence of thought on indiscretion and self-will. He settled on farm of 800 acres in Lynn, Mass. Had many servants and was called ÂœFarmer Dexter. house was on the west side of the Saugus River, about where the iron works was later erected. In 1633 he build a bridge over the Saugus River, and later a mill nearby. He helped start the Iron Works, and was its first general manager. In 1637 he and nine others built a grist mill in Sandwich. He was in Lynn with 350 acres in 1638, remained there until 1646, when he bought two farms in Barnstable.

By 1673 he sold his last property and moved to Boston to spend his last days with daughter Elizabeth who was wife of Captain James Oliver. He was buried in the Oliver tomb in Kings Chapel burying ground. [Warden]

From THE GREAT MIGRATION BEGINS, VOL. 2, pp. 1354-1357 (bio of THOMAS OLIVER, the Elder):

Arrived with wife Anne, daughter Abigail, and six sons, June 1632, on ship WILLIAM & FRANCES. Elder, First Church in Boston. Boston selectman, 1635, 1636, 1637, 1638, 1639.

Close neighbor of Will and Anne Hutchinson in Boston.

"Mr. Thomas Oliver" was second on the list of fifty-eight Boston men disarmed 20 NOV. 1637 for signing the petition in favor of the Rev. John Wheelwright."

"Because John Oliver of Newbury stated explicitly that he was from Bristol in England, this has been assumed by many as the origin of Thomas and his family. But as there is no evident connection between Thomas of Boston and John of Newbury, the origins of Thomas are now .... subject to investigation" (written circa 1995, prior to Leslie Mahler article of JAN 2003).

See The Great Migration Begins, Vol. 2, pp. 1354-1357, and Winthrop Society profile.

See also, THE TRIAL OF MARSHALL RICHARD WAITE (1640) transcribed/translated by Kevin Martin.

• https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Thomas_Oliver_%281%29
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Oliver-82
  • Leslie Mahler,"The English Origins of Thomas1 Oliver of Boston," in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-; volume 157 (2003):34-36
  • Torrey's New England Marriages to 1700, (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Reference Volume 2, page 1111
  • Great Migration Newsletter, V.1-20. (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.) Reference Volume 3, page 5
  • Anderson, Robert Charles 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, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). Reference page 1355, citing Hull, p 182
  • The Oliver Family, NEHGR 19:100, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2013.) Reference pages 100-101
  • The Oliver Family in Peace and War, 1632-1860, NEHGR 130:196+, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2013.)
• Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of ..., Volume 2 edited by William Richard Cutter page 822 Note: Origins disproved by Leslie Mahler (2003)
• Genealogy of descendants of Thomas Oliver, of Bristol, Eng. and of Boston, New Eng. in the direct line of Rev. Daniel Oliver, late of Boston by Oliver, Henry Kemble Publication date 1868 page 2 Note: Origins disproved by Leslie Mahler (2003)
• page 236 of History of Essex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches ..., Volume 1edited by Duane Hamilton Hurd