Thomas Boreman

THOMAS BOREMAN (bp. 1601–1673)

MARGARET OFFING (d. 1679)

Thomas Boreman (various spellings), the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Carter) Boreman was baptized on 18 October 1601 in Claydon, Oxfordshire. [1] He died between 3 and 26 May 1673. Mrs. Boardman died on 25 November 1679 in Ipswich. [2] He married Margaret Offing on 17 August 1630 at St. Helen's Bishopsgate, London. [1]

In the registers of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, London is the following entry: 1630 Aug 17 Thomas Bourman, bachelor and cordwainer of London, and Margaret Offing, maiden; by bands. Thomas's son Thomas had a son Offing, so perhaps Margaret was Margaret Offing. [3] The date is reasonable, although this Thomas was a cordwainer—a leather worker—and our Thomas was a cooper—a maker of wooden barrels.

Thomas of Ipswich is referred to as a cooper in a deed dated 22 March 1650. [4, 7:86]

Thomas settled in Ipswich in 1634. [5] He is on the 4 Mar 1634/5 list of freemen. [6] He was a commoner of Ipswich on "the last day of the last month, 1641." [7]

Thomas is often referred to as "Mr."

Thomas was on a 2 January 7 Charles [1631/2] tax list in Plymouth. [8] He was to build the fort and be paid for it on 13 March 1634/5 in Plymouth. [9]

Thomas Boreman was separately sued by both Mathias Button and Henry Walker at the 2: 16: 1641 court in Salem and by Henry Walker at the 29: 1: 1642 court in Ipswich. [4, 1:38, 41]

Thomas was on the trial jury at the 31: 1 1646, 27: 7: 1653 and 27 March 1655 courts at Ipswich and on the grand jury at the 25: 7: 1649 court at Ipswich. [4, 1:41, 93, 175, 289, 381]

In a deed dated 22 March 1650, the fisherman Matthias Button traded 9-3/4 acres of land on the south side of the river near Labor-in-Vain Creek and bounded by Thomas Perkins's marsh to Thomas Boreman, cooper of Ipswich, for 11 (unspecified) acres. This ultimately led to a dispute with Samuel Hunt, Jr., when both he and Thomas wanted to mow the marsh. Thomas sued Samuel and on 19 September 1678 Samuel was charged with mowing Thomas's marsh. In about 1670 Thomas had gone to cut some grass in the marsh and Samuel Hunt's father-in-law told him to take it and his canoe away, which Thomas did. At some point in the dispute, Samuel Hunt had charged Thomas with a pitch fork several times saying, "Get off my land, you Rogue.' Thomas had responded, 'You had better try the title to the land some other way." Elizabeth (Riddings) Hunt, Samuel's wife, deposed that her family had mowed the land for 26 years. In addition, there seemed to be some confusion about who owned the land in question. The court found in favor of Samuel. [4, 7:85-7]

Thomas Boreman was released from training upon agreeing to make yearly payments to the company, but failed to make payment for several years. On 29 March 1664, upon his wife's petition, the court agreed to forgive him half his debt if he would pay the rest and released him from further training. [4, 3:142]

The will of Thomas Borman of Ipswich is dated 17 December 1670. He left bequests to his wife, his son Thomas, his daughter Joanna, his son Daniel, his daughter Mary, the wife of Robert Kinsman and his daughter Martha, the wife of William Low. Inventory on his estate was taken on 26 May 1673 and amounted to 553 pounds, six shillings and six pence. He owed 30 pounds. [4, 5:167] There was a codicil dates 3 May 1673. [1]

By an agreement dated 30 June 1676, Margaret the wife of Thomas, deceased, who had been left half her husbands farm, gave her son Thomas the right to use and improve the farm in return for feeding her and paying her an annuity of eight pounds. [4, 7:85]

In his will, written 17 Dec 1670, Thomas Boreman of Ipswich, left bequests to his sons Thomas and Daniel; his daughter Joanna; his daughter Mary, the wife of Robert Kinsman; his daughter Martha, the wife of Thomas Loe. He also mentions his brother Daniel. [10] Inventory on his estate, taken 26 May 1673, amounted to £553.6.6. His will was proved by witnesses John Dane and William Hubbard on 19 Jun 1673. [4, 5;167] In her will, signed in 1679, Margaret mentions sons Daniel and Thomas; daughters Martha and Joanna; daughters who were the wives of Unknown Kinsman, Unknown Low and Unknown Fellows. [11]

On 26 (9) 1673 Margaret and Elizabeth Boreman testified in the case of Mary Greely. Mary, a servant of Goody Wells, had a child out of wedlock with Lawrence Clinton. Margaret and Elizabeth said that Lawrence Clinton had told Tabitha Howard that Mary had said that she was afraid that she was pregnant. [4] The antics of the badly behaved Lawrence Clinton are recounted in John Demos's Entertaining Satan. [12] Lawrence lived with Thomas Boreman, Jr. for a year. [3, 7;187] See the account in the entry for John Woodin.

Children of Thomas Boreman and Hannah Offing:

i. Daniel Boardman died on 27 April 1708 in Topsfield. He married Hannah Hutchinson.

ii. Mary Boardman was born say 1635. [1] She married Robert Kinsman.

iii. Martha Boardman was born say 1641. She died on 22 January 1720, age 79, in Chebacco and is buried with her husband in the Old Essex Cemetery in Essex. [13] She married Deacon Thomas Low on 4 July 1660 in Ipswich. [14] Thomas, the son of Thomas Low, was baptized on 8 May 16131 in Groton, Suffolk. [13] He died on 12 April 1712, age 80, in Chebacco. [13]

John wrote his will on 17 June 1708; it was filed on 4 May 1712. [13] Martha made her will on 31 January 1714/5; it was filed on 29 February 1720. She mentions her children Jonathan, David, Martha Dodge, Samuel, Johanna Hale, Sarah Webster, and Abigail Goodue and various grandchildren, the children of sons Thomas and John. [13]

iv. Thomas Boardman was born about 1644 or 1645. He died on 3 October 1719, age 75, in Ipswich. [2] He married Elizabeth Perkins on 1 January 1677 in Ipswich. [14]

Thomas deposed that he was 34 in April 1679. [4, 7:187]

Thomas signed an agreement with his mother on 30 Jun 1676. She had been left half of his father's farm and she agreed that he could use and improve it if he paid her £8 a year and provided her diet for the rest of her life. One of the witnesses was Mary Kinsman. [4, 7;85] At a 14 Mar 1678/9 Topsfield town meeting, it was decided to allocate land to commoners, including Thomas. [4, 7;162] Thomas testified in the trial of Rachel Clinton, formerly the wife of Lawrence Clinton, who was arrested on 29 Mar 1692 in Ipswich. Thomas testified: 'This deponent testifieth and sayeth that some women of worth and quality desired me to aquaint the seven men [selectman?] that Rachel Clinton was a great disturber unto them in the [meeting] house in hunching them with her elbow as they went by.' Thomas goes on to say that he did this and as he was riding home that night, 'before me like a cat ... [and as] I looked wistfully upon it and it seemed to be something like a little dog and then I pursued it and it kept the same distance in the path before me. Although I rode hard after it I could not over take it. Then I looked once [to] my right hand and I saw a great turtle that moved as fast as I rode along and then I thought of Rachel Clinton. Then the little creature and the turtle vanished away and further saith not. [15]

v. Joanna Boardman was born say 1650. She married Isaac Fellows on 29 January 1672/3 in Ipswich. [1]

Joanna, the daughter of Thomas Boreman, is referred to as Joanna Fellowes in a deposition of 23 September 1678. [4, 7:87]

References

1. "Great Migration 1634–1635, A–B," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson,, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634–1635, Volume I, A–B (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999), 352–5.

2.Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, 2 vols. (Salem: Essex Institute, 1910), vol. 2: 493.

3. Committee on English Research, "Boreman," Notes section, New England Historical and Genealogical Register 62, (1980): 303.

4. George Francis Dow, ed., and Harriet S. Tapley, trans., Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 9 vols., digitized books, Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project (http://salem.lib.virginia.edu)..

5. Editors, "Boardman Genealogy," Essex Antiquarian, 9, 1905, 145.

6. Lucius, R. Paige, "List of Freemen, " New England Historical and Genealogical Register 3 (1849): 89-96, specifically 93.

7. A Subscriber, "Early Ipswich Families," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 2 (1848): 174-7.

8. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, vol. 1, 1633–1640: 9–11.

9. Records of the Colony of New Plymouth: Court Orders, vol. 1, 1633–1644, 33–34.

10. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Volumes I-III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally Published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995).

11. Coffin, Joshua, "Early Settlers of Essex and Old Norfolk," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 6 (1852): 243.

12. John Putnam Demos, Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England (New York, Oxford University Press, 1982).

13. Edward E. Steele, "Descendants of Thomas Low, the Immigrant to Ipswich, Massachusetts, for Three Generations," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 174 (2020): 216–27.

14. Vital Records of Ipswich,vol. 2: 51.

15. Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, editors, The Salem Witchcraft Papers, Verbatim Transcripts of the Legal Documents of the Salem Witchcraft Outbreak of 1692. Online: Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library, Suffolk Court Records Case No. 2660 Page 140, my correction of spelling and punctuation.

last revised 26-Dec-2022