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JOHN COOMBS (d. 1644/6)
SARAH PRIEST (b. 1614), daughter of Degory Priest and Sarah Allerton
John probably died between 5 November 1644 and 15 October 1646. He married Sarah, the daughter of Degory Priest, say 1630. [1][2]
Sarah Priest was born about 1614 in Leiden, the Netherlands. [1]
Robert S. Wakefield provides a likely English ancestry for John Coombs. The evidence is circumstantial, but compelling. John was a gentleman and was consistently referred to as such, even if his behavior tended to suggest otherwise. It seems reasonable that he might have been the younger son of a gentry family. His age is a good fit for the John, who was the son of Francis of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire and John named his second son Francis. His older brother Francis left his brothers Tobias and William (who remained in England) land, but left money to John. His brother William mentions a brother John in his will, but is uncertain if he is still living. [2]
Sarah came on the Anne in 1623. She was in the second lot of the division of cattle in 1627 in Plymouth. [3] She later went back to England. [2]
English Ancestry of John Coombs [2]
Francis Combe, the son of Richard Combe and Elizabeth Marshall, was born about 1554 and was buried on 24 August 1625 in Hemel Hempstead, co. Hertford. He married Jane Pope. Jane, the daughter of John Pope of Broxton, co. Oxford, was buried in Hemel Hempstead on 28 September 1613.
Children of Francis, recorded in the Hemel Hempstead parish registers as the children of Mr. Francis Combs.
i. Richard Combs was baptized on 2 July 1582. He was buried on 29 April 1583.
ii. Francis Combs was baptized on 1 October 1583. He died between 1 May and 2 June 1641. He had an unknown first wife. He married second Ann Ewer.
The will of Francis Combs, Esq. of Hemel Hempstead was dated 1 May 1641 and was proved on 2 June 1641. He mentioned a second wife Ann and her brother Henry Ewer and left land to his brothers Tobias and William and 100 pounds to his brother John. He also mentioned his brother-in-law John Chishull, his sister Chishull and their daughters; his sister [Churton?], his sister Martin and his father and mother Greenhill.
iii. Elizabeth Combs was baptized on 11 July 1585. She was buried on 2 July 1586.
iv. Tobias Combs was baptized on 31 July 1586. He was buried on 6 August 1691 in Hemel Hempstead. He married Mary, the daughter of John Weed of Crotton, co. Bucks., gentleman.
v. Charles Combs was baptized on 16 February 1588/9. He was buried on 2 February 1591.
vi. William Combs was baptized on 17 May 1590. He died between 30 April 1656 and 17 July 1660. He married Anne Unknown.
William Combe of Chipping Wycom, co. Bucks., gentleman, made his will on 30 April 1656; it was proved on 17 July 1660. Among others, he mentions his wife Anne, his brothers Tobie and Richard, and his brother John "if he be then living."
vii. Mary Combs was baptized on 20 June 1591.
viii. Elizabeth Combs was baptized on 10 September 1592. She was buried on 21 July 1594.
ix. Richard Combs was baptized on 1 May 1594.
x. Anne Combs was baptized on 22 July 1595. She was buried on 12 December 1598.
xi. John Combs was baptized on 13 March 1596/7.
xii. Susanna Combs was baptized on 15 February 1598/9. She married John Chishull of Dunton, co. Bedford.
John Coombs first appears in Plymouth Colony on 12 October 1630, when he bought a house and garden plot from Ralph Wallen. [2]
The first meeting of the New Plymouth Colony General Court took place on 1 January 1632/3 (all court dates are old style). John by then was a freeman. All governments need revenue and one of the courts first acts was to order the collection of taxes. The taxes, collected in corn, ranged from nine shillings for most of the households to three pounds and 11 shillings for Isaac Allerton. John was assessed 12 shillings. [4]
By an order of 2 January 1631/2, John paid a tax of 12 shillings. [4] By an order of 2 January 1633/4, he paid a tax of nine shillings. Thomas sold John the house and other buildings on is land for 20 pounds. [4]
John was on a list of freemen in Plymouth in 1633. [4] He was also on a 7 March 1636/7 list—with a note that he had been disenfranchised for being drunk. [4] He was again disenfranchised for drunkenness on 3 September 1639. [4] Mr. John Coombs was admitted a freeman on 5 June 1644. [5]
On 24 January 1633/4, John Coombs, gentleman, exchanged 30 acres near the high cliff that he had in right of his wife for 30 acres near the Winslows with Mr. Thomas Prence. [4] on 14 February he sold John Done a house and other buildings near the house of Godbert Godbertson for nine pounds and ten shillings. [4]
At a 1 July 1634 General Court, John Coombs, gentleman and defendant in a suit brought by Thomas Cushman, was ordered to pay Thomas ten pounds. [4]
Mr John Coombs was given a right to mow in the 14 March 1635/6 allocation of mowing. [4] In the 7 March 1636/7 allocation, he was given what he had before. [4]
On 26 May 1639 Mr. John Coombs borrowed money from Mr. Thomas Prence to pay John Barnes, using a brown cow named Berry that had been sent to him from England as security. [4]
It is a curiosity that of all the New England farm animals—horses, cows, pigs, sheep—it appears that only cows were commonly referred to by name.
On 2 August 1640 the court confirmed that Godbert Godbertson [the third husband of Sarah Allerton] had transferred two acres of upland to John Coombs, gentleman, and Phineas Pratt after they married his two [step]daughters. [4]
Mr. John Coombs was granted land at the head of his ground in consideration of his having relinquished a lot. [5]
On 5 November 1644, John sued Thomas Morton. On 15 October 1646 William Spooner came before the Governor and "undertook to save the town harmless for any charge that might befall" because of a child that Mrs. Coombs had left with him when she went back to England and which he undertook to keep and provide for. Thus, unless John abandoned his children, it appears that John died between 5 November 1644 and 15 October 1646. [2]
Children of John Coombs and Sarah Priest:
i. John Coombs was born say 1632. [2] He died in May 1668 in Boston. [6] He married the widow Elizabeth Barlow on 24 February 1661/2 in Boston. [2] Elizabeth Unknown, perhaps Elizabeth Royal or Royall, died in January 1671/2 in Boston. [6] She married first Thomas Barlow about 1656. Thomas was born before 1634 and died on 23 October 1661 in Boston. [6] Elizabeth married third, as his second wife, John Warren of Exeter, New Hampshire and Boston about 1669. [6] John died in July 1677 in Boston. [6] He married first Deborah Wilson on 21 October 1650 in Exeter. [6] She died on 26 June 1668. [6] John married third Elizabeth Unknown. [6]
John is referred to as a cooper. [6] Thomas Barlow was referred to as a cooper. [6] John Warren was a tobacconist and card maker. [6]
ii. Francis Coombs died the last day of December 1682. He married first Deborah Morten. He married second Mary Barker.
References:
1. "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), 1526.
2. Robert S. Wakefield, "The Probable English Origin of Mr. John Coombs of Plymouth Colony," The American Genealogist 71 (1996): 247–50.
3. "Division of Cattle in 1627," Mayflower Descendant 1 (1899): 148–54.
4. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, vol. 1, Court Orders, 1633–1640 (Boston: William White, 1855).
5. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, vol. 2, Court Orders, 1641–1651 (Boston: William White, 1855).
6. Mrs. John E. Barclay and Rachel E. Barclay, "Barlow, Coombs and Warren of Boston," The American Genealogist 46 (1970): 129–34.
Last revised: 27-Dec-2023