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- THOMAS DRAKE [#178, #190], maybe bap. Coylton, Devonshire, England Sept.13, 1635, d. Weymouth, MA 1692, m(1) JANE HOLBROOK (dau. ofThomasHolbrook and Jane Powys), b. abt. 1636, m(2) March 9, 1681MellicentCarver, dau. of William Ford.
Thomas Drake first appears in the Weymouth town records of 1663 whereheis listed in the inventory of property owners. He owned lot 70 ofthefirst division, which consisted of six acres on the "Brauntrylyne", andlot 33 of the second division, which contained eighteenacres. Theprevious list of land owners was made Nov. 26, 1651. Someauthoritiesstate that since his name does not appear on the list, thathe was notyet in town and that he arrived in this country around 1653,but thatappears to be mere speculation. In fact, he could have been inthiscountry and even in Weymouth at the time, but, as we will seeshortly,may have been too young to own land. He must have definitelybeen here byabout 1656 to have married a Weymouth girl and had a childborn about1657.
Thomas was a soldier in King Phillip's War. On June 24, 1676 he wasamember of the garrison at Punkapouge where he saw at least twomonth'sservice.[1/1] He died between July 20, 1692, when he was chosento be ona grand jury, and Aug. 30, 1692, when the appraisal of hisestate wasmade and he was referred to as "lately deceased". His estatewas valuedat 237.02.02.[1/2]
A claim has been made that Thomas Drake of Weymouth was the sonofWilliam and Margaret (Westover) Drake, born in Coylton, Devon,Englandand baptized at St. Andrew's Church there Sept. 13, 1635. Whilenoconclusive proof for this assertion seems to exist, there issomecircumstantial evidence. One of the nine children of William andMargaretwas Elizabeth, baptized Dec. 10, 1632. Thomas of Weymouth mostlikely hada sister named Elizabeth based on the statement by EzekielHamlin in hiswill dated July 21, 1690, "My will is yt my brotherThomas Drak ofWeymouth & My friend Mr. Thos. Walker and James Inglesbe my over seers".Ezekiel Hamlin and Elizabeth Drake were married inBoston on June 8 [Aug.8?], 1654. On the other hand, Thomas Drake ofWeymouth appears to havebeen born in 1628 based on a document datedMarch 7, 1677-8 that begins,"Thomas Drake aged 49 years ...". As seenelsewhere in this work,documents are not guaranteed to give thecorrect age of a person,although it's probably more of a rarity whenthey reflect a wrong age.Therefore we are left with a viable, thoughunprovable, possibility ofThomas' origin in Coylton.
The 1896 Drake genealogy claims Thomas came to this country withhisrelative John Drake of Taunton, MA and Windsor, CT and his sisterJoan aswell as sister Elizabeth. Unfortunately no proof is given forany ofthese relationships. John may have been his oldest brother (bap.CoyltonMarch 24, 1621-2). While there was a sister Joan, no record ofher isfound in America nor is any documentation given in the book fortheclaim. The parents, William and Margaret, both died about 1636. Itis notinconceivable that the care of the younger children fell to theoldestchild, John, once he reached maturity. Furthermore, he may havebroughtthe family with him to America, but more proof would need to befoundbefore this hypothesis could be taken for fact.[3]
REF: [1] The Drake Genealogy - Louis Stoughton Drake, 1896 [2] The Register of the Parish of Coylton, Devonshire - A.J.P. Skinner, 1928 [3] New England Historic Genealogical Register, 1944 (pgs.280-1)
Colonial families of the United States of America: Volume 1 Lineage page 137 [p.137] THOMAS DRAKE, bap. 13th September, 1635, in Colyton, Devon(seeParish Register); emigrated to America 1653-4, and settled inWeymouth,Massachusetts; his name first appearing on the records ofthat town in alist of the property owners in 1663, in which he isdescribed as owning“Lot 70, containing 6 acres in 1st Division,beginninge on BraintryLine,” and “18 acres, Lot 33, 2nd Division;” amember of the SuffolkTroopers; he took an active part in King Philip'sWar, and 24th June,1676, he was a member of the garrison atPunckapouge, where he saw atleast two mos. service (vide WeymouthHist. Soc., Vol. II., p. 283;Suffolk Deeds, Lib. IV., p. 277; andBodge's Soldiers of King Philip'sWar, p. 304); he m. (firstly) JaneHOLBROOK, dau. of Thomas and JaneHOLBROOK of Weymouth, by whom he hadeight children; he m. (secondly)Widow Mellicent CARVER, dau. ofWilliam FORD, 9th March, 1681.
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1635 - 1692 (57 years)
