Person:Thomas Noble (6)

Thomas Noble, Sr.
b.1632 England
m. 1620
  1. Thomas Noble, Sr.1632 - 1703/04
m. 1 Nov 1660
  1. John Noble1661/62 - 1714
  2. Hannah Noble1663/64 - 1741
  3. Deacon Thomas Noble, Jr1665/66 - 1750
  4. Matthew Noble, Sr1667/68 - 1744
  5. Mark Noble1670 - 1741
  6. Elizabeth Noble1672/73 - 1751
  7. Luke Noble1675 - 1744
  8. James Noble1677 - 1711/12
  9. Mary Noble1680 -
  10. Rebecca Noble1682/83 - Aft 1720
Facts and Events
Name[1] Thomas Noble, Sr.
Gender Male
Birth? 1632 England
Immigration[2] 5 Jan 1651/52 Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United StatesAdmitted as inhabitant
Residence? 1653 Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States
Marriage 1 Nov 1660 Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United Statesto Hannah Warriner
Will? 11 May 1697 Westfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States
Death[1] 20 Jan 1703/04 Westfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States
Probate? 18 Feb 1703/04 Westfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United StatesInventory taken
Probate? 5 Sep 1704 Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United StatesWill witnesses' & executors oath

Will of Thomas Noble

Made : May 11, 1697
Probated : September 5, 1704
Springfield, Hampshire County, Massachusetts

"The last will and testament of Thomas Noble of Westfield, in ye county of Hampshire, in ye Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, being weak in body, but of perfect understanding. Impr, I commend my soul into the hands of Christ my blessed Lord and Saviour and my body to Christian burial, in full faith of a blessed resurrection, through the rich Grace of God in Christ my Saviour.
Item, I give unto my son Thomas, that parcel of land lying in the farm purchased from Mr. Jn. Pynchon, from the gate beyond the house entering into the field bounded by the plowing land, the way to Springfield, John Noble's land and the drain all along the swamp.
Item, to my son Matthew, a tract of land in the same farm, lying by a ditch easterly and bounded at both ends by the river.
Item, I give unto my sons Mark and Luke, my little meadow, lying against the orchard of Noah Cooke and that homelot that I have bought and they have raised frames upon.
Item, I give the lot that the town gave me on the top of the hill against my house on the same farm, to all my six sons for pasture. Item, to my son James, a parcel of land and house upon it, on that farm that is fenced in, being six or seven acres more or less.
Item, I bequest the rest of this my farm lying bounded upon James northerly, Thomas on the east, Matthew on the south, ye river on the westerly sides, to all my sons, i.e., to my sons John, Thomas, Matthew, Mark, Luke and James, equally to be divided amongst them by my brother James Warriner and John Hitchcock of Springfield and by Capt Isaac Phelps of Westfield.
Item, I give to my son James, all my land in the plain, on this side the hundred acres and the lot by the way to Pochastuck..... Item, I give to my son John, the rest of my lot in ye fort meadow.
Item, I give unto my beloved wife, Hannah Noble, an acre of land reserved out of my son John's homelot; also half my dwelling house, that is to say, that end next the street, and halfe the land and orchard and barn we dwell on, and the other halfe of the house lot and barn to my son James, as also the thirds of all that I here will to my sons and after her decease, I give to my son James the whole of the house, houselot and barn and the acre reserved out of my son John's homelot.
Item, I give unto my four daughters, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary and Rebecca L 20 apiece, to be paid them by my sons (viz.), Thomas, Matthew, Mark, Luke and James, to Mary and Rebecca about half a year after their marriage and a cow apiece at their marriage.
And in case any of my children should dye, not leaving any issue behind them, then my will is that the legacies that I here give them, be equally divided among the surviving and also I order these my sons to find my wife fewel wood and two load of hay every year, so long as she shall remain widdow.
Item, I give unto my wife also a cow and heifer, also all my household goods, which household goods I would have her at her pleasure dispose of to my two youngest daughters.
Item, my team (one yoak of oxen excepted), I give unto my three youngest sons, Mark, Luke and James. And for the well and faithful execution of this my last will, I ordain and make my beloved wife Hannah Noble and my son Thomas Noble joynt executors, to defray all my lawful debts and for that end leave one yoke of working cattle, a yoak and fatt oxen and the money in the Bay due me and all other dues, the which, when my debts are defrayed, the remainder I would have go to pay my daughter's portions. But in case the same shall be too little to clear my due debts, that then they are to raise what is sufficient out of the legacies, I have here given to my children, to do the same.
In witness whereof I set to my hand and seal this Eleventh day of May, Ano Dom., 1697.... --- Thomas Noble seal(X)
Signed & sealed in the presence of
Edward Taylor
Victory Sikes
James Warriner



Address: Name: Freda and Ted Noble E-Mail: tnoble@mcn.org

This from : Source:Pierce, Frederick Clifton. Whitney: The Descendants of John Whitney, p. 447 (Whitney Research Group or Internet Archive)

Note:
 * The date that Thomas Noble was admitted as inhabitant of Boston, noted immediately below is incorrect; date should be 5 Jan 1651/52. The wrong date appears to be a misreading of an ambiguous footnote in Drake, who was discussing 1653 in the footnoted text, but does not actually give a year in the footnote where the admission date is stated. Since the pertinent text says "The Town sent the same Deputies to the General Courth this year as last", and the purpose of the attached footnote was to identify and give additional information about the deputies of 1652 and 1653, and further, since on p. 102, he refers to Thomas Noble as alderman 9 Nov 1652, Drake clearly knew Thomas Noble was admitted prior to 1653.

 ** John's second wife was Mary Goodman.

[Generation] 1. Thomas NOBLE, an emigrant ancestor, was admitted an inhabitant of Boston, Mass., Jan. 5, 1653* (see Drake's Hist. Boston, p. 331), moved to Springfield, Mass., 1653 (See Barber's Hist. Coll. Mass., p.291); Westfield, Jan. 21, 1669 (see Town Records); he married Nov. 1, 1660, Hannah, daughter of William and Johanna (SCANT) WARRINER, of Springfield, Mass. [Generation] 2. Their son John was the first white man to settle in New Milford, Conn., in 1707 (see Trumbull's Hist. Conn., Book II., chap. VI., p. 83); his wife Mary was the daughter of Dea. Richard GOODHAM**, who was killed by the Indians near Hadley, Mass., Apr. 1, 1676 (see Barber's Mass., p. 323.)

(Research)

1989: At the State House, Boston, Ma.:

          1. Examined microfilm of the early Boston Town records and found:

"on 5th day, 11th month 1651, at a meeting of Mr. Richard Parker, Mr. Edward Tinge, Mr. Jeremy Houchin, Deacon Marshall and Anthony Stoddard, Thomas Noble was admitted an inhabitant."

            *(Note: Since the calendar at that time began March 25, the 11th month would be January.)
          2.  Examined microfilm of Vital Records of Springfield and Westfield, Ma., and obtained the following:
              A. "Thomas Noble joyned in marriage to Hannah Warriner the 1 day of yr, 6** month, 1660."
           ** Jrich & I have viewed the original marriage record on FamilySearch and agree that this reads '9 month'. See Talk for Thomas Noble & Hannah Warriner.
            
              B. "John Noble dyed 2 month, 24 day, buried 25, 1641."
           *(Note: This is the John Noble who some have speculated might be related to our Thomas Noble.)
              C. "Thomas Noble Sen died January 20, 1703/4"
             *(Note: This is the way the transcribed entry reads.)

1989: At the Pynchon Memorial Library, Springfield, Ma.:

          1. Photocopied five pages of a transcription of the account book of Major John Pynchon, Springfield, Ma., Vol. III, 1664-1667, pages 133-135.  These pages contain numerous transactions of Thomas, such as purchases of tailoring supplies, (thread, needles or pins, cloth, shears, etc.,) as well as food, sometimes in exchange for wheat and labor.  The pages give evidence that Thomas was a tailor. They also reveal Thomas's accumulating indebtedness to Pynchon.
          2. Visited and made a thorough inspection of the ancient Westfield Mechanic Street Cemetery.  We found no stone or any evidence of Thomas Noble's burial.

1990: Hired the services of Ian Hilder, BA (Hons), professional genealogist, 73 Valenee Road, Lewes, East Sussex, BN71SJ, to explore origins of Thomas Noble in England.

          Mr. Hilder proposed three initial lines of inquiry: 1. Records of the Merchant Tailors Company; 2. Wills in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC Wills); 3. The Public Record Office for port books regarding merchants and passengers to New England.
          1. Merchant Tailor's Company records revealed a Thomas Noble apprenticed in 1618 to a Thomas Price and made a freeman of the company on 3 March 1627.
           *(Most apprentices were about fourteen when they started their apprenticeship, suggesting a birthdate about 1604.  It is possible this Thomas was the father of the immigrant Thomas.)
          2. PCC wills.  Hilder examined extracts of all Noble wills, 1631-1656.  One will in particular stood out as warranting immediate attention:  Thomas Noble, citizen and Merchant Tailor of St. Giles, Cripplegate, left a will in 1650. This Thomas had a son of the same name, aged under 21 when the will was made in 1649.  
           
  • (Note: The will provided an inheritance for him at age 21.)

Burial records of St. Giles refer to Thomas, Senior, as a pin maker and a member of the Merchant Tailor's Company. Thomas, Junior, would have had an early introduction to the tailoring trade. If apprenticed in London, he would have finished his apprenticeship about 1649, giving him time to appear in Boston in 1651/52.

          3. Port books.  Hilder's investigation uncovered no information regarding Thomas Noble in these books.

1993: Research trip to London:

          1. Visited the offices of the Society of Genealogists, London. In their resource library found a vertical file folder pertaining to Noble which contained research notes of a well-known British genealogist by the name of Cotton. Cotton had done research for an American client in 1955 on the origins of Thomas Noble, the New England immigrant.  He had extracted many Noble PCC wills, including that of Thomas Noble, the pin maker.  A copy of some correspondence with his client indicated that he, too, was inclined to place importance on that will and it's possible relvance to the search for ancestors of the immigrant Thomas Noble.
         2.  At the Guildhall Library, London, we examined microfilm transcription of the parish records of St. Giles, Cripplegate, for the years 1632-1649, to seek a record of the birth of Thomas, son of the pin maker.  Records were found for Suzanne, daughter of the pin maker, born 1634, and Thomas, son of the pinmaker,  born 1636.  Records prior to 1632 were not examined.
         
  • (Note:The son,Thomas would have been about 14 years of age at the time of his father's death.)


Freda and Ted Noble tnoble@mcn.org

References
  1. 1.0 1.1 Boltwood, Lucius M. History and Genealogy of the Family of Thomas Noble of Westfield, Massachusetts: With Genealogical Notes of Other Families by the Name of Noble. (Hartford, Conn.: Privately Printed, 1878).
  2. Boston (Massachusetts), and Boston (Massachusetts) Record Commissioners. Boston Records, 1634-1660, and the Book of Possessions: Second Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston. (Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1881)
    107.

    "The 5th of 11th mo., 1651" [5 Jan 1651/52] Thomas Nobel was Admitted an Inhabitant.
    [Note: There are two printings of these records, and they differ. In the 1876 printing, Thomas Noble's admission is under "26, 11 mo., 1651" [26 Jan 1651/52] as the first item of business. In the 1881 printing, his admission comes right after the list of selectmen present. These two items, which should start a meeting, are listed at the end of the notes for "The 5th of 11th mo., 1651" [5 Jan 1651/52], so appear to be an undated meeting. The list of selectman given is different than the dated meetings before,5 Jan, or after, 26 Jan). Source:Drake, Samuel G. History and Antiquities of Boston...from Its Settlement in 1630, to the Year 1770, p. 331 (footnote), published in 1854, reports 5 Jan, which probably reflects his reading of the original record, since he was working well before either printing.]