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THOMAS TUPPER (1638–1706), son of THOMAS TUPPER and ANNE UNKNOWN
MARTHA MAYHEW (c. 1641–1717), daughter of THOMAS MAYHEW and JANE GALLION
Thomas Tupper, the son of Thomas Tupper, was born on 16 January 1638 in Sandwich.1 He died on 26 April 1706, age 68, in Sandwich.1 He is buried there in the Old Town Cemetery.2 Thomas Tupper, Jr. married Martha Mayhew on 27 December 1661 in Sandwich.1,3
Martha, the daughter of Thomas and Jane (Gallion) Mayhew, was born about 1641.3 Martha (Mayhew) Tupper, the widow of Thomas Tupper, Jr., died on 15 November 1717 in Sandwich.1
Thomas served in many Sandwich town offices. He was on a list of freemen on 22 (2) 1675 and on 25 June 1702.4 He served as a juror in 1664.5 He was appointed a constable in 1666 and served two further terms between then and 1680.6 He was chosen a rater in 1667 (or perhaps this is his father) and served as a rater eight times between then and 1680.6 He was appointed to the committee for the town in 1673.6 He was chosen a selectman in 1676 and served 14 further terms.4 He was chosen town clerk in 1675, 1678 and 1681.6 He was chosen a deputy to the representative assembly (General Court) in 1673 and served eight further terms. He was also a representatice in 1692.4
Thomas also played an important role in the military affairs of the town. On 12 (12) 1673 Thomas Tupper, Jr. was added to the Council of War. He was appointed to the Council again on 22 (12) 1675.6 He was appointed lieutenant of the military company in Sandwich in 1680.6 He was chosen captain of the military company on 12 July 1687.4
He was appointed to various commmittees. On 13 July 1667 Thomas Tupper and John Bodfish were appointed to keep the calves and to cut the upland grass on the "Town Neck comon."6 On 21 May 1675 he was one of three appointed to accept accounts from the town's creditors.6 On 20 June 1676 he was on a committee to decide who was entitled to what in King Philip's War.6 On 4 April 1678 the town decided that 'Shuman Neck', the town Neck, was to be improved by the people on the west side of the town over ten years. He was appointed to a committee to do this.6 On 18 May 1680 he was one of three were chosen agents of the town to buy from the Indians all of the indisposed land lying between Plymouth, Barnstable and 'Suennesett'.6 On 18 (9) 1680 Thomas Tupper and William Bassett were chosen to disburse the town's silver according to each person's disbursements during the war.6 In 1683 he was part of a group assigned to set the bounds between Plymouth and Sandwich.4 in 1686 the colony printed its laws and ordered them published in the towns. Thomas and Ludowick Hoxie were appointed to distribute the books in Sandwich.4
He was often called upon to lay out land. On 26 (6) 1674 he was chosen to help lay out land for Lieut. John Ellis.6 On 26 (6) 1677 Thomas Tupper and Job Bourne were chosen to lay out land for Lieutenant John Ellis.6 On 19 August 1680 Thomas Tupper and William Bassett were chosen to view land that Henry Dillingworth wanted to exchange with the town.6 On 18 (9) 1680 the town exchanged six acres with Steven Skiffe and two acres with William Swift; John Gibbs and Thomas Tupper were chosen to lay out the land.6 On 31 March 1681 Thomas Tupper and Jacob Burge were chosen to lay out nine acres for Caleb Nye.6
Continuing the family's religious tradition, Thomas was one of only five active members of the church in 1688.4
Thomas Tupper, Sr. of Sandwich, being "now weak in body," made his will on 22 (no month) 1706. The will is in imperfect condition, but he made bequests to his wife Martha, his sons Eliakim, Thomas, Israel, Ichabod, Eldad, and Medad, and his daughter Bethiah. The will of Captain Thomas Tupper was proved on 20 May 1706.7
Children of Thomas Tupper and Martha Mayhew: Births recorded in Sandwich.1
i. Martha Tupper was born on 13 October 1662. Martha, the daughter of Thomas Tupper, died on 1 November 1680 in Sandwich.1
ii. Thomas Tupper was born on 11 August 1664. He may be the Thomas who died between 1741 and 1747 in Sharon, Massachusetts.8 He married Mary Unknown.
Thomas and Mary Tupper had a son Thomas born on 25 July 1693 in Sandwich.1
iii. Israel Tupper was born on 22 September 1666 in Sandwich. He died in 1745 in Sandwich. He married first Elizabeth Gifford. He married second Elizabeth Bacon.
iv. Elisha Tupper was born on 17 March 1668. He probably died by 1706, when he was not mentioned in his father's will.
v. Jane Tupper was buried on 28 April 1672.
vi. Captain Ichabod Tupper was born on 11 April 1673. He died between 21 November and 5 December 1748. Capt. Ichabod Tupper of Middleborough married as her third husband Hannah (Hatch) (Turner) Tinkham on 23 December 1729.9 Hannah, the daughter of Samuel and Mary (Doty) Hatch and the granddaughter of Edward Doty, was born on 15 or 16 February 1681/2.9 She died on 13 April 1771, age 91, according to her gravestone in the Nemasket Cemetery in Middleborough.9 She married first Japhet Turner of Scituate.9 He died before 23 January 1710/1, when inventory was taken on his estate. She married second as his second wife Ebenezer Tinkham of Middleborough on 9 July 1719.9 He died before 7 November 1726 when administration was granted on his estate.9
Ichabod Tupper made his will on 21 November 1748; it was probated on 5 December 1748.9
vii. Eldad Tupper was born on the last day of May 1675. Mr. Eldad Tupper died on 15 September 1750 in Sandwich.1 He married Martha Wheaten on 30 December 1701 in Sandwich.1
Eldad was admitted a townsman in 1703.4 He was a representative in 1711 and two other years.4
Eldad exerised a ministry among the Indians from 1717 to 1746 and referred to himself as the pastor of the Indian Church.4
Eldad was a farmer, teacher, land speculator and minister to the Indians.10
viii. Medad Tupper was born on 22 September 1677. Medad Tupper died on 20 February 1773, age 95, in Sandwich, having been a church member for 50 years, the oldest male member of the church.1
ix. Ann Tupper was born on 14 December 1679. She died before 9 May 1757. Ann Tupper of Sandwich married Benjamin Gibbs of Sandwich on 4 (no month) 1698/9 in Sandwich.1 Benjamin was the son of John and Jane (Blackwell) Gibbs and the grandson of Thomas Gibbs and Michael Blackwell.11 He was born in December 1673.11 "Benjamin Gibbs an old man died Aug 31 1757 at night at his own house" in Sandwich.1
Benjamin made his will on 9 May 1757. Inventory, presented on 24 October 1757, included 553 pounds in real estate.11
x. Eliakim Tupper was born 29 December 1681. He died between 1755 and 1760 in Lebanon, New London, Connecticut.5 He married Johanna Fish in about 1706.12
Joanna was the daughter of Ambrose Fish and Hannah Swift. In her will, Hannah Tobey [that is, Hannah (Swift) (Fish) Tobey], of Sandwich mentions her son Eliakim Tupper and her daughter Johannah, his wife.7
Eliakim was a selectman in Sandwich for 12 years, beginning in 1712.54 He was a large landowner and shopkeeper.5 He was on a committee to find a new miister in 1722.4
Eliakim moved to Lebanon, New London, Connecticut in 1736.5
xi. Bethiah Tupper was born on 25 April 1685. She died after 23 February 1756. She married as his second wife Ezra Perry.13 Ezra, the son of Ezra and Rebecca (Freeman) Perry and grandson of Ezra Perry and Elizabeth Burge and Edmund Freeman and Rebecca Prence, was born on 2 February 1679/80 and died between 23 February 1756 and 3 January 1757.13 He married first Mary Swift on 11 January 1704.13
Ezra Perry, yeoman of Sandwich, wrote his will on 23 February 1756. He left his "beloved wife, Bethia" all his sheep and cattle, a featherbed and furniture. Witnesses were Medad, Eldad, and Elisha Tupper. Inventory was taken on 26 January 1757.13
References:
1. Caroline Lewis Cardell and Russell A. Lovell, Vital Records of Sandwich, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850, 2 vols. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996), vol. 1: 14 (Martha Jr.'s death), 19–20 (marriage of Thomas and Martha, births of their children, burial of Jane), birth of Thomas III, 21 (birth of Thomas), 31 (Martha Sr.'s death), 41 (Ann's marriage), 42 (Eldad's marriage), 173 (Eldad's death); vol. 2: 1394 (death of Benjamin Gibbs), 1447 (death of Medad), 1541 (death of Thomas).
2. "Capt Thomas Tupper," Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41305189/thomas-tupper).
3. "Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1630," database with images, AmericanAncestors (2010), 1244.
4. Frederick Freeman, The History of Cape Cod: The Annals of 13 Towns of Barnstable County, vol. 2 (Boston: George C. Rand & Avery, 1862), 69 (freeman), 168 (town offices), 76 (assigned to set bounds 1683), 78 (distributed law books), 79 (chosen captain), 80 (church member), 85 (1702 list of freemen), 86 (Eldad admitted), 92 (Eliakim on a committee), 94 (list of heads of families), 95 (Eldad's ministrly).
5. Franklin Whittlesey Tupper, Thomas Tupper and his Descendants (Boston: Tupper Family Association of America, Inc., 1945).
6. Sandwich and Bourne Colony and Town Records, Library of Cape Cod History and Genealogy (Yarmouthport: C.W. Swift, 1912), no page numbers.
7. “Barnstable, MA: Probate Records, 1685–1789,” database with images, AmericanAncestors, vol. 3: 4–5, 398.
8. Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Sharon, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1909), 191.
9. The Editor, "Hannah Hatch's Three Husbands Japhet Turner, Ebenezer Tinkham and Capt. Ichabod Tupper," Mayflower Descendant 21 (1919): 100–2.
10. "Massachusetts Legislators to the General Court," database, AmericanAncestors (2002), entry for Eldad Tupper.
11. Lydia B. (Phinney) Brownson, "Thomas1 Gibbs of Sandwich, Mass. (ca. 1615–1695)," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 123 (1969), 54–67, specifically 63–64.
12. Mrs. John E. Barclay, "Hannah (Swift) Tobey, Daughter of William2 Swift and the Family of Ambrose Fish2 of Sandwich, Mass.," The American Genealogist 35, 1959, 40–43.
13. Lydia B. (Phinney) Brownson and Maclean W. McLean, "Ezra Perry of Sandwich, Mass. (c. 1625–1689)," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 115 (1961), 181–198, specifically 182.
Last revised: 11-Jul-2023