Thomas Boyden, Sr.

Evidence needed to support as son of John Boyden

According to Wallace C. Boyden's Thomas Boyden and His Descendants (Boston: 1901):

• Thomas Boyden "embarked for New England in the ship Francis from Ipswich, Suffolk County, England, in April, 1634, having taken the oath of allegiance and supremacy before His Majesty's officers according to the order of the Lords of his Privy Council. He was then twenty-one years of age, as stated in the list of passengers."
• "Of the parentage, birthplace, or history of Thomas previous to embarkation, nothing has been found. No mention of that period of his life has appeared in any existing records of the several towns where he resided, viz. : Scituate, Watertown, Boston, Groton, and Medfield."
• "In 1635, he was in the service of William Gilson, of Scituate (Plymouth Colony), who was a large tax-payer in 1633, one of the founders of the church there in January 1635, and builder of the first windmill in the Colony for grinding corn, which before that time was pounded. As William Gilson located in that place about 1631, it is not an improbable conjecture that some previous acquaintance existed, and induced Thomas to emigrate and engage in his employ. "
• "The admission of Thomas to the church in Scituate, May [17?], 1635, is found in the church records. Just how long he remained there, and when or where he was married to Frances , his first wife, is unknown. He next appears as living in Watertown, where the birth of a son Thomas, Sept. 26, 1639, is recorded in the town records. He transferred his church membership to the First Church in Watertown, and was made a Freeman May 23, 1647. Three other children are recorded as having been born in Watertown."
• "In 1650 he was of Boston, as appears in a deed dated [27 Jun?] 1650, granting and conveying a certain lot of land in Watertown, of thirty acres more or less, to Wm. Clarke of Watertown, recorded in Suffolk Deeds, Lib. I. He continued to live in Boston for several years, and two children were born there and baptized in the First Church, as appears in the church and town records. The death of his wife Frances stands in Boston records as occurring March 17, 1658, and is also found in the Medfield records."
• "On Nov. 3, 1658, he was married in Boston by Gov. Bellingham to Hannah (Phillips) Morse, widow of Joseph Morse. The Boston records also show that 'at a general town meeting, upon public notice from house to house, town officers were chosen [12 Jun?] 1659/60.' Thomas Boyden was at that time chosen one of the Highway Surveyors. This is the only public service rendered by him, of which any record has been found."
• "By a deed dated Feb. 14, 1659, Thomas Boyden, of Boston, and Hannah, his wife, granted and conveyed unto Joshua Scottow, seven acres of upland and meadow in Muddy River (now Brookline) in Boston, entered and recorded Aug. 22, 1660, in Suffolk Deeds, Lib. Ill, p. 390."
• "In 1660 there was a settlement of the Morse estate, and the eldest son having received his portion, the Court allowed Thomas Boyden to improve the estates of the rest of his wife's children till they should be of age. It was afterwards agreed that he should have all the lands and houses, and pay to each of the children, when of age, the sum of £,26. 13. 4., and he was to see that the 'sonnes' were taught to read and write. For the execution of this obligation he, 'late of Boston, now of Medfield,' gave a bond to the Judge of Probate in the sum of [?], dated June 27, 1665."
• "On the 12th of Sept., 1662, Thomas Boyden of Medfield and Hannah, his wife, sold 'their dwelling house, barn, garden, and orchard ground thereto belonging, and lately dwelt in, situate at the entrance of Sudbury Lane, Boston, to Simon Lynde of Boston, Merchant,' and conveyed the premises by a deed recorded in Suffolk Deeds, Lib, IV, p. 61. He removed at some unknown date to Groton, where he had an original proprietor's right of seven acres of land, and was living there Sept. 21, 1666, when he bought of Benjamin Crispe of Watertown, a dwelling house, etc., with seven acres, and several other parcels of land amounting to ninety-two acres. July 25, 1670, he, then of Watertown, sold to Martin Townsend for [%C2%A360?], the house and land he bought of Benj. Crispse; also two other lots containing seventy-three acres. The house in Medfield, which originally belonged to the Morse heirs, and which became the Boyden homestead, was on what is now Pound Street. The town records show that in 1678 he subscribed 'one bushel of wheat to the new brick college' (Harvard), joining many other citizens contributing similar commodities in aid of a building partly completed. In 1682 he was chosen tithing-man in Medfield, after which nothing more is said of him."
• His wife Hannah died Oct. 3, 1676. No record of his death has been found, nor any settlement of his estate. Their children — the first four born in Watertown, the last two in Boston — were :

1. Thomas, b. Sept. 26, 1639.
2. Mary, b. Oct. 15, 1641.
3. Rebecca, b. Nov. i, 1643.
4. Nathaniel, b. 1651.
5. Jonathan, b. Feb. 20, 1652.
6. Sarah, b. Oct. 12, 1654.

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