Sarah Arnold

Sarah Holmes was born on Nov 1646 - Marshfield, Plymouth Colony and baptized or christened in 1646. She died after 1709 in Rochester, Plymouth, Massachusetts. Will: April 21, 1721, Dated, proved-3 July 1724

Parents: William Holmes (1592-1678) and Elizabeth Madden (1595-1699)

Married:

1. abt 1671 in Marshfield Plymouth MA to Samuel Arnold (9 May 1649 - 11 Feb 1709)

5 children include:

1. Mary Arnold b: May 1672
2. Sarah Arnold b: 1674
3. Samuel Arnold b: abt 1676
4. Elizabeth Arnold b: abt 1678
5. Joseph Arnold b: 16 May 1676

Family Notes

There is much confusion on this family which appears to be a combination of a Samuel Arnold married to a Sarah Holmes and a Samuel Arnold married to a Sarah Webb. The result is a family with children born over a 60 year period from 1672 to 1732. I believe this to represent two different families and probably two different Samuel Arnolds. This Sarah Holmes is widely credited as having married Samuel Arnold, son of Rev Samuel and Elizabeth Arnold. However, there are many inconsistencies in this connection. Sarah is listed as being born in 1646 and as dying in 1654 with a marriage date fo Samuel Arnold in 1671 iwth children born in years following. Other records show Samuel as marrying Sarah Webb but many of those records indicate that Sarah Webb's husband, Samuel Arnold was not born until 1688/89. All records involving these individuals should be regarded with caution. (Sprague)

Genealogical Notes

• Sarah Holmes, wife of Samuel Arnold, Identified. Submitted by Judith Broadwell, Old Greenwich, Connecticut., NEHGR Vol. 145 pg 374:

Rev. Samuel Arnold, first minister of Rochester, Mass., the son of Marshfield's Rev. Samuel Arnold and his wife Elizabeth, was born 9 May 1649 at Yarmouth (Robert M. Sherman and Ruth Wilder Sherman, Vital Records of Yarmouth, Mass. [Warwick, R. I., 1975], 2:842) and died 11 Feb. 1709 at Rochester (VR of Rochester, Mass. to the year 1850 [Boston,1914], 2:339). He married about 1671 Sarah ____, whose maiden name has not previously been learned (Clarence Almon Torrey, "New England Marriages Prior to 1700," MS at the Society; Boston Transcript of 23 Feb. 1916). Samuel's will dated 15 May 1707 and proved 30 March 1709 (Plymouth Colony Probate 515), mentions his wife (though not by name), sons Samuel and John and daughters Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah. He also mentions "my sister's dau. Mercy Holms, James Dexter "now living with me," and grandchildren by daughters Mary and Sarah. His widow Sarah was dead by 1 May 1724 when a deposition was given by one of the witnesses of her will, which was dated 21 April 1721 and proved 3 July 1724 (ibid. 517). He will mentions her late husband Mr. Samuel Arnold, son of Samuel, daughters Mary Hammond, Elizabeth Bow[ ], and Sarah Dexter, and grandsons James Dexter and John Arnold, son of Samuel. Neither will offers any clues as to Sarah's parentage.

Treasury accounts in Records of Plymouth Colony, Births, Marriages, Deaths, Burials, and other Records, 1633-1689 (Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed. [1857; reprint Baltimore, 1976], 136), however, show that Samuell Arnold, Juni'r and _____ Holmes were fined five pounds each at the March Court in 1771/2 "for committing fornication . . . before marriage."

Sarah Holmes, dau. of William and Elizabeth (____) Holmes of Marshfield, was baptized in 1646 (John Adams Vinton, The Giles Memorial [Boston, 1864], 184. No marriage has so far been discovered for her. Sarah's brother Abraham, baptized 1641, married Elizabeth Arnold the sister of Samuel Arnold (ibid., 184; see also Boston Transcript, 23 Feb. 1916). (Another brother, John married Mary [At]wood of Plymouth, the subject of a recent Register article, 144 [1990] 22-28.

The evidence strongly suggests that the wife of Samuel Arnold was Sarah Holmes.

Links

• Ancestors of John Burton Kaherl
• http://capecodhistory.us/genealogy/us/i148.htm
• Sprague Project 22 February 2011

Sources

1. Giles Mem., J.V.Adams, 1864, pg 155
2. 1991, Sarah Holmes, NEHGR 145:374
3. Grt.Mig. (Wm.Holmes) NEHGS ONLINE Vol. I-III
4. 1st ch of Scituate, Records
5. [S93] Correspondent: Gibson, Helen, Note of August 5th, 2002.
6. [S93] Correspondent: Gibson, Helen, note of August 8, 2002.