Thomas Cornish

Parents unknown. The relationship of Thomas Cornish, if any, to Richard Cornish of Weymouth, Mass. and York, Maine, is not known.

Biography

Thomas Cornish was an early settler of Newtown, Long Island, and a maker of pipestaves (a cooper). He married in Gloucester, Mass. 4 Sep 1641 Mary STONE, the daughter of John Stone. They were in Exeter, NH by 1650 when they bought land from Thomas Jones, but were in Newtown by 1657 when Thomas's name appears on a petition to the governor.

Thomas Cornish was born in Great Britian about 1615, was in Gloucester, Massachusetts before September 4, 1641 where he married Mary Stone. He moved to Exeter where in October 1651 he signed a document with others to appoint Edward Hilton to a position of authority. On 24 March 1652 he signed a petition to annex a meadow of about one hundred acres to the town.

By January 22, 1657 Thomas Cornish with Thomas Pettit men of Exeter had moved to Middleburg, now Newtown, Long Island. Here he was involved with others, in disputes over lands to be given for a Richard Mills who was "our schoolmaster, and at present our soul's help in dispensing God's word to us and our children every Lord's day, may be settled in it, to enjoy it without any molestation from Francis Doughty, or any of his, for so long as our God shall be pleased to continue him amongst us, or to provide another for us."

The petition to court was signed by ten men including Thomas Cornish

The dispute was finally settled by Peter Stuyvestant by order February 1661 when Richard Mills was inducted in the town-house

His will was processed November 7 1662. Middleburrough August 12, 1662 "An Inventory of the estate of the late Thomas Cornish of the place above said taken by us whose names are underwritten" amounted to L138.4.5

More About Thomas Cornish: Fact 1: September 04, 1641, Owned a house in Goucester, some marsh in Annisquam, & a Lot on Planters Neck. Fact 2: October 14, 1651, In Exeter Mass (now NH) elected with five others to represent town.. Fact 3: 1652, Signs as representative of Exeter for court in Boston to grant town a Meadow.. Fact 4: January 22, 1656/57, Moved to Middleburg LI NY Signs documents regarding house for a minister.. Fact 5: August 12, 1662, Inventory of Will @138.4.5 Mary (wife) execitrix..

More About Thomas Cornish and Mary Stone: Marriage: September 04, 1641, Gloucester, Mass.

Family

Mary Stone (daughter of John Stone and [Abigail Crispin ?]) was born 1620 in [Gloucester, MA,] and died date unknown. She survived her husband who died 1662.

https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/b/u/s/Linda-M-Bussing-Athol/WEBSITE-0...

She married Thomas Cornish on September 04, 1641 in Gloucester, MA,[ son of Richard Cornish and Cathrine Crispin. SIC]

More About Mary Stone and Thomas Cornish: Marriage: September 04, 1641, Gloucester, MA.

Children of Mary Stone and Thomas Cornish are:

1. +Martha Cornish, b. 1632, d. date unknown.
2. Abigail Cornish, d. date unknown.
3. John Cornish, b. September 01, 1643, Gloucester, MA, d. date unknown.
4. James Cornish, b. 1645, Exeter, NH, d. date unknown.
5. Mary Cornish, b. July 01, 1648, Gloucester, MA or Exeter, NH, d. date unknown.
6. Thomas Cornish, b. 1649, Exeter, NH, d. date unknown.
7. Benjamin Cornish, b. 1652, Newton, Orange County, NY, d. date unknown.
8. Thomas Cornish, b. 1654, Newton, Orange County, NY, d. date unknown .

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Will

• Middlburrogh, Februarie 14, 1662.
• These presents witnesseth that I thomas Cornish of the place Middleburrough on Long Island in the New Nether LAnd, being weak in body but perfect in ense and memory, praised be Allmightie God, I do ordain this my last will and testament as followeth:
• I do commend my soul into the hands of All Mightie God my saviour & redeemer & if the Lord shall take me out of this world, my mind and will is that my body be decently and honorably buried.
• Also my will is that all debts as re due right to any man be fully satisfied & paid.
• Further my will & mind is thatmy well beloved Mary Cornish shall have my whole estate in ger possession to bring up my childrentill they come of age & to be divided the one half to my beloved abd the other half to my children into their possessionas they come of age.
• Further, I give my beloved son John Cornishall my tools beside his part over & above the rest of my children, but in case my children can not agree about my tools that my son John Cornish shall have them;
• them my beloved wifedoeth agree that out of her part of the estate accordingas they shall be valuedby men they be made good.
• Further I do make my beloved wife my whole and sole execritrix of this my last will and testament. Disclaiming all other wills, gifts, grants or ledasies formerly made, in witness where of I have set to hand the day and year above written.

probate granted Nov 7 1662

Inventory of estate - page 179 A Godly Minister

Other sources list parents as Richard Cornish (b 1580 in England) and Cathrine (b ca 1584 in England) Either birthdate or place of birth is probably incorrect. Settlement of Long Island by Dutch occurred after 1609

References

• History of the Town and City of Gloucester, Cape Ann, Massachusetts. By James Robert Pringle. Page 42. GoogleBooks
• ” Thomas Cornish of Salem, Massachusetts; Exeter, New Hampshire; and Newtown, Long Island” is sketched in Volume 2 of Early New England Families Study Project: Accounts of New England Families from 1641 to 1700. https://www.americanancestors.org/browse/publications/ongoing-study...
• Early New England Families, 1641-1700. (Original Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013. (By Alicia Crane Williams, Lead Genealogist.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB501/i/53764//236318480
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmhurst,_Queens The village, originally named Middleburgh, was established in 1652 by English Puritans, approximately 7 miles from New Amsterdam. When the British took over New Netherland in 1664, they renamed it New Town, which was eventually simplified to Newtown. It remained a rural community until the late 1890s, when it was renamed Elmhurst and became part of the City of Greater New York.
• https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/rustic-queens-developed-nyc-di... “ The inhabitants of the newly created Queens County lived principally on family farms that surrounded the tiny villages of Newtown, the former Dutch Middleburgh; Flushing, the Anglicized Vlissingen; and Jamaica, where Rustdorp previously stood. For many years they led quiet lives, mostly raising specialty crops for local markets and for export (the Newtown Pippin apple became a favorite item in London). But the serenity of the farms was shattered by the Revolutionary War. …”
• https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2018/06/long-island-puzzles/
• “The History and Genealogy of the Cornish Families in America.” By Joseph Edward Cornish. Page 256. GoogleBooks
• Colonial families of Long Island, New York and Connecticut : being the ancestry & kindred of Herbert Furman Seversmith ... Section: Volume two. Cornish. First and second lines. AncestryImage Mary Cornish b 1648
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179239627/thomas-cornish Note: No death or burial record has been found for Thomas, but this is the most likely cemetery for his burial, since he lived and died in Newtown (now Elmhurst), Long Island. His death year comes from James Riker's 1852 Annals of Newtown, and the birth year is a crude approximation based on his 1641 marriage date.