Send comments and corrections to anneb0704@yahoo.co.uk
JOHN COOMBS (bp. 1597 - by 1647) of Plymouth
Parents: Possibly Francis Combs and Jane Pope [Ref, entry for John Coombs]
John, the son of Francis and Jane (Pope) Combs was baptised on 13 Mar 1596/7 at Hemel, Hempstead, Hertfordshire. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] John Coombs died by 15 Oct 1647. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] He married Sarah Priest by about 1632. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] After the death of John Coombs, Sarah returned to England and William Spooner apparently agreed to take care of one of her children. On 15 Oct 1646 he appeared before the governor and said that he undertook to keep and provide for the child. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] On 1 Aug 1648 the court ordered that Spooner keep Mrs. Combe's children for the present and not dispose of them without a future order of the court. [Ref, entry for John Coombs]
'Even though John Coombs was consistently referred to as "Mr." or
"gent.," he was constantly embroiled in situations that would have
been more appropriate for someone at the opposite end of the social spectrum....
he was disenfranchised for excessive drinking. On several occasions he was involved
in cases of debt, usually as defendant, and with judgment usually against him.'
[Ref, entry for John Coombs]
John came to New England in 1630. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] He is on the list of those made freemen in Plymouth before 1 Jan 1632/3 and is also on the 7 Mar 1636/7 list. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] On 3 Sep 1639 he was disenfranchised for drunkeness. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] He was readmitted as a freeman on 5 Jun 1644. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] He was assessed 12 shillings in Plymouth on 25 Mar 1633 and 9 shillilngs on 27 Mar 1634. [Ref, entry for John Coombs]
On 8 Nov 1638 he posted surety for John Smyth, and on 4 Jun 1639 he posted surety for Richard Derby. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] On 4 Dec 1638 John Comes, gentleman, was fined 3s. for nonappearance. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] On 1 Jul 1637 John Coomes of New Plymouth, gentleman, assumed from John Holmes the remaining time of his servant, William Spooner. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] On 5 April 1642 "Mr. John Combe" assigned to Mr. William Thomas for £12 the remaining time of his servant, William Launder. [Ref, entry for John Coombs]
On 12 Oct 1630 Ralph Wallen sold Mr John Coombe his house, garden plot and
fences. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] On 24 Jan 1633/4 John Coomb, gentleman,
traded 30 acres of land near the high cliff, in the right of Sarah his wife,
to Thomas Prence for thirty acres of land near
Winslow's stand. He also paid Prence £20 for housing on the land. [Ref, entry for John Coombs]
John was alloacated mowing ground at the watering place and thereabout on 1
Jul 1633 and additional mowing ground on 14 Mar 1635/6 and 20 Mar 1636/7. [Ref, entry for John Coombs]
On 14 Feb 1633/4 John Coomb, gentleman, sold a house on the west of Herring
Weir to John Doane for £9 10s. [Ref, entry for John Coombs]
On 24 Jun 1639 John Combe, gentleman, mortgaged to Thomas Prence 20 acres of land and a house which he had because of his wife. It
was also agreed 'that whereas there was other ten acres of land exchanged with
the said Mr. Thom[as] Prence which was the said Mr. Combe's mother-in-law's
if the heir when he comes to his age do not legally confirm the said exchange
so made that then the said ten acres shall be and remain unto the said Thomas
Prence.' [Ref, entry for John Coombs] On 3 Aug 1640.
On 3 Aug 1640 Plymouth court ordered that as it appeared that Godbert Godbertson
had given John Combe, gentleman, and Phineas Pratt two acres of Upland at Wellingsly
Brook upon their marriages [?] to his daughters, the court confirmed that the
land did belong to Coomb and Pratt. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] On 5 Aug
1640 'John Combe gent. and Phineas Pratt joiner' sold to John Barnes "all
those two acres of upland which they had of Goodbert Godbertson in marriage
with their wives'. [Ref, entry for John Coombs]
On 31 Dec 1641 John was given land at the head of the ground he lived on to
make up for land that he had formerly been granded and had given up. [Ref, entry for John Coombs]
On 5 Apr 1642 Mr. John Combe" sold two acres of marsh meadow to Mr. Thomas Prence. [Ref, entry for John Coombs] On 27 Oct 1646 Isaac Allerton
assigned to his son-in-law Thomas Cushman a debt of £100 due to him from
"Mr. John Combe". [Ref, entry for John Coombs]
Children of John Coombs and Sarah Priest:
FRANCIS COOMBS (d. 1682) of Middleboro
Parents: John Coombs and Sarah Priest
Francis Coombs was born before 1649. [Ref] He died on 31 Dec 1682 in Middleboro. [Ref][Ref][Ref, says Dec 1682] He married first Deborah Morton. [Ref][Ref, entry for John Coombs] She died after 3 Jan 1674/5. [Ref] He married second the widow Mary (Barker) Pratt in 1678. [Ref] Mary was the widow of Francis' first cousin Samuel Pratt. [Ref] Samuel was the son of Phineas Pratt and Sarah Priest's sister Mary Priest. [Ref, entry for Phineas Pratt]
Francis was one of the 26 men who purchased land for Middleborough from the Indian sachem Wampatuck in Mar 1662. [Ref] Francis was a Selectman in Middleboro in 1674 and 1675 and was chosen again in 1680/82. [Ref]
In Mar 1676 Francis Coombs and Isaac Howland were chosen to distribute the contributions made by the Irish for the relief of the colonists after King Philip's war to the residents of "Meddle Berrey". [Ref]
On 30 Oct 1678 Francis was licensed to keep a tavern or inn in Middleboro and to sell beer, wine and liquor. [Ref] His license was renewed to Mrs Mary Coombs on 1 Jul 1684. [Ref]
Children of Francis Coombs and Deborah Morton:
Children of Francis Coombs and Mary Barker:
FRANCES COOMBS (1682 - aft. 1762)
Parents: Francis Coombs and Mary Barker.
Lainart [Ref, p. 55] erroneosly states that Frances is the daughter of Francis's first wife Deborah Morton.
Frances Coombs was born on 6 Jan 1682 in Middleboro. [Ref][Ref, p. 55][Ref] She died after Oct 1762. [Ref, p. 55] She married Nathan Howland [Ref] between 15 May 1711 and 2 Feb 1712. [Ref, p. 55]
The division of Francis Coombs' estate in 15 May 1711 included his daughter Frances Coombs. When the heirs divided land on 2 Feb 1712, Nathan Howland and his wife Frances were included. [Ref, p. 55]
References
Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, Vol. 1-3, Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995.
Deane, Charles, "The Irish Donation in 1676," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 2, 1848, 245-249.
First Church in Middleborough, Mass., Mr. Putnam's century and half discourses, an historical account, and a catalogue of members, Boston, C.C.P. Moody, printer, 1990.
Hurd, D. Hamilton, History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts: With biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co., 1884.
Lainhart, Ann Smith and Robert S. Wakefield, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, v. 23 (Family of John Howland), Plymouth, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2006.
Merrick, Barbara Lambert and Alicia Crane Williams, Middleborough, Massachusetts Vital Records, Volumes 1 and 2, Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, William S. Sullwold Publishing, Inc., Taunton, MA, 1986 and 1990.
Ordway, Frederick Ira, Jr., ed., Register of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the District of Columbia, 1970: in commemoration of the 350th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620, Washington, D.C.: The Society, 1970.
Plymouth Court Records, 1686-1859. CD-ROM. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002. Copyright, 2002, Pilgrim Society.
Shaw, Hubert Kinney, comp., Families of the Pilgrims: Degory Priest, Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, Boston, 1955.
Talbot, Archie Lee, "Shaw Family: Middleborough, Mass.; Winthrop, ME," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 51, 1897, 191 -195.
©2014