Bio of THOMAS-2 HINKLEY (1620-1706) MASS

This is the information I have collected on Thomas-2 Hinckley (Hinkley) of Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Each factual statement is footnoted with the source from which I acquired the material, but GenForum does not support footnotes so if you have a question about sources please e-mail me and I'll be happy to provide them to you. Of course, I also welcome corrections or additions to any of the information which I do have.

Thomas Hinckley (Samuel-1) was born in Hawkhurst, Kent, England, and baptized there on 19 March 1619/20.He was the son of Samuel Hinckley and Sarah Soule.

Thomas came to New England sometime shortly after 1635.He settled with his family in Scituate (just south of Boston), Plymouth Colony, removing to Barnstable, Barnstable County, four years later.

On 4 December 1641, perhaps in Barnstable, he married MARY-1 RICHARDS. She was the daughter of Thomas Richards and Welthian Loring, and was baptized on 13 November 1622, in Pitminster, Somerset, England.Thomas and Mary had eight children:

       i       Mary              b. 3 August 1644              m. John Weyborne
       ii       Sarah              b. 4 November 1646              m. Nathaniel Bacon
       iii       Meletiah              b. 25 November 1648       m. Josiah Crocker
       iv       Hannah              b. 15 April 1651              m. Nathaniel Glover
       v       Samuel              b. 14 February 1652/3       m. Sarah Pope
       vi       Thomas              b. 5 December 1654              d.s.p. 1688
       vii       Bathsheba              b. 15 May 1657              m. Samuel Hall
       viii       Mehitabel              b. 24 March 1659              m. (1) Samuel Worden
                                                 m. (2) William Avery

Mary died on 24 June 1659, and Thomas married as his second wife Mary (Smith) Glover, the widow of Nathaniel Glover, on 16 March 1659/60.Her friends were opposed to the union because she already had two children from her previous marriage and he had eight; they thought the strain would be too much on her.Obviously, she did not relent to their entreaties.About the time of the marriage, Thomas carried several grafts from an apple tree in his orchard to his wife's town (Quincy) as a symbolic gift.These he set in a tree which is said today to be still bearing fruit.Thomas and Mary had nine children:

       ix       Admire              b. 28 January 1660/1              d. 16 February 1661/2
       x       Ebenezer              b. 22 February 1661/2       d. March 1661/2
       xi       Mercy              b. 31 Jan/Jul. 1662/3              m. Samuel Prince
       xii       Experience       b. 26 February 1664/5       m. John/James Whipple
       xiii       John              b. 9 June 1667              m. Thankful Trott
       xiv       Abigail              b. 8 April 1669              m. Joseph Lord
       xv       Thankful              b. 20 August 1671              m. Experience Mayhew
       xvi       Ebenezer              b. 23 September 1673       m. Mary Stone
       xvii       Reliance              b. 15 December 1675       m. Nathaniel Stone

Although he lived in Barnstable to the south of Plymouth -- the colony's "capital" -- Thomas was, from the start, extremely active in the affairs of the Plymouth Colony and served in a variety of civic posts.He served as a grand juryman in 1639 and from 1644 to 1685, and as a town Surveyor from 1641 to 1673.In 1644, he became a lawyer, and in 1645 appeared on the list of freemen.He was elected a Deputy to the legislature in 1645/6, and 1648, 1649, 1654, and 1655; and Assistant in 1658, holding this office for twenty-two years.On 7 June 1659, the Court appointed him to a three-person committee to survey and select a tract of land at Sacconesett (later Falmouth).In 1670, he was appointed as the Collector of the minister's rate.From 1673 to 1692, he was a member of the central board of the colony.

He was Deputy Governor of the Colony from 1 June 1680, to the Spring of 1681; but upon the death of Gov. John Winslow in 1680, he succeeded to the office of Governor on 7 June 1681.He served as Governor until June of 1686, when the new English sovereign James II sent Sir Edmond Andros to seize the reins of all the colonies -- Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.Many of the colonists viewed the new governor as a tyrant imposed on them by London, but Thomas acquiesced to the new regime and became a member of Andros' council.On the council, he fought a loosing battle for the colonists against Andros.His opposition soon diminished his influence; "Governor Hinckley fell from his elevation and the brightness of his character was dimmed."

In December 1688, James II was deposed and replaced by Parliament with William of Orange and his wife Mary.Andros was subsequently removed from office, and Thomas was once again elected governor in 1689.He served as the colony's last leader until 1692, when Plymouth was subsumed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony.At the close of his term of office, he was made a counselor to the United English Colonies.

Thomas also served in the colonial militia.His name appears on the 1643 list of members of the Barnstable Company of the militia.In 1676, he took part in the Battle of the Great Swamp during King Philip's War.In addition, in 1689 he served on the Council of War during King William's War.

Thomas' second wife Mary died on 29 July 1703, in her seventy-third year.Thomas wrote some verses to her memory, later published and widely circulated, which included these lines:

"       Pity me o my friend and for me Pray
       To him who can supply what's taken away,
       My crown is fallen from my Head and wo,
       Wo unto me that I have sinned so,
       As to provoke ye Lord to show such ire
       Which I deserve 'gainst me should burn like Fire.

       * * *

       She by her wisdom built the House and by
       Her prudent care Kept all in such a way
       And in such order so as naught might be
       A let to worship in the Family.

       * * *

       For six weeks allmost constantly, that she
       Could take no Rest nor in ye night nor Day
       Yet God preserv'd her mind and senses clear,
       With exercise of Grace, yet we could hear
       Not the least murmuring nor impatient word
       But meek submission to ye Sovereign Lord.

       * * *

       Her last words were Come dear Lord Jesus come
       And take me quickly to thy bosom home;
       And in few minutes had her Soul's Desire,
       With Him Whom she did love with Heart intire.
       Death was no Terror unto Her nor Fear
       No Ghastliness did in her face appear
       But sweet composure in her Life and Death
       When her dear soul she in her final breath
       Resigned to Him whom she beheld in Faith."

She was buried in the Barnstable Cemetery; her monument bore the following inscription:

       Here Lyeth Ye
       Body of Ye Truly
       Virtuous and Praise
       worthy Mrs. Mary
       Hinckley, wife to
       Mr. Thomas Hinckley
       Died July Ye 29 1703
       In Ye 73d Year of
       Her Age

Thomas died in Barnstable on 25 April 1706, at the age of eighty-seven.His grave is located in the Lothrop Cemetery, between Barnstable and West Barnstable.The inscription on the above-ground tomb states:

"       Beneath this stone erected AD 1829 are deposited the remains of THOMAS HINCKLEY.He died AD 1706.Aged 85 years.History bears witness to his duty usefulness and agency in the transactions of his time.The important offices he was called to fill evidence the esteem in which he was held by the people.He was successively elected assistant in the government of Plymouth Colony from 1658 to 1681 and Governor except during the interruption by Sir Edmond Andros from 1681 to the junction of Plymouth with Massachusetts in 1692."

His lengthy will, dated several years before his death, provided:

"       In the Name of God Amen

              The 16th of october 1700 I Thomas Hinkley of Barnstable in ye County of Barnstable in his Magties province of ye Massathusets bay In new England tho under some bodyly weakness & Infirmityes yet throw ye Great Goodness of God of disposing mind & memory Calling to mind the uncertainty of this transitory life and that all flesh must yield not only to ye decays of nature but allso to death it self whensoever it shall please God to send it and being desirous to be in a readiness for ye same as in greater and higher respect & Cheifest Concerns so also in setting things in order respecting my temporall estate (according to my duty) as those I leave behind me may with peace & quietness Endeavor to serve God and one another in love i do theirfore by these presents make ordeyn & declare this to be my last will & testament herby revoking & adnulling all other will or wills Testament or Testaments by me hertofore made by word or writing and this only to stand & abide in force manner & form following --
              Imprimes & above all things I desire to Commit my soul to God In Jesus Christ my dear and only saviour & Redeemer upon whome alone I desire to rely for the pardon of all my manifold sins & heynous transgressions and for the acceptation of my most unworthy pson wth Gods thro his most precious death merits & mediation and my body to decent burial in hope of a Joyfull resurrection at the last day ever to be with our Lord and for my temporall Estate wch God hath been pleassed far beyond my desire to lend unto me my will is first of all that my debts which in right I owe to any pson or psons or shall owe at ye time of my decease be paid & satisfied out of my Estate --
              Item I will & bequeath to Mary my very deare & weldeserving wife the use and profitts of my now dwelling house viz: of all those Roomes & eastern part of said house which I of late have & still do retayne occopy posses & Enjoy distinct from ye western part of said house & those Romes I have Assigned to and is now occupyed by my son John Hinckley also unto her my said wife the use and profitts of that Easterly half part of my barne which I have been accustomed to use and the old house and old orchard as ye fence now stands with all ye fruit which shall be growing on any of ye trees in ye orchard Comonly Called ye new orchard lying on ye north side of the kings high way together with ye use and profitts of all my other lands both upland and medows which I have or Improve or may herafter have & posses during her natural life viz: more pticularly all that young orchard lying on ye southerly side of my now dwelling house & lands on the Easterly End of said house from the fence there Easterly to the crossefence which divides between my lands &my sd son Johns land and also of all my lands on ye northerly side at ye high way & northerly side at the barne as ye fence now stands between mine & my sd son Johns land according to the station made between us downe to ye stone wall at the easterly end adjoining to ye oates pasture high way and of all my lands in ye oates pasture and at Jewels Island & ye small pcills of medow and Creek thatch together with all my lands in the Comon field Totosneck and place adjacent down to the sea during ye full term of her natural life allso I give & bequeath unto her my sd wife all my neat Cattel horsekind sheep and swine with all my personall Estate whether in debts householdstuf bookes or in any other thing whatsoever for her Comfortable support & such part therof to be at her dispose to any of my Children as she shall thinke meet according to their need or dutifull Carriage toward her or other Cause moving her thereunto and
              It that forasmuch as I have given to all my Children which are married there portions hertofore as farre as my low Estate would well bear and more pticularly to my son Samuel Hinckley the greatest part of my great lott wheron he built his dwelling house and six acres of medow at Skorton which he sold & some pcells of marsh at skunkanet and the money for half a share of land at Sippecan & several sums of money which I paid to several psons he was indebted to his full share or more out of my estate I do therefore will & bequeath to my sons John & Ebenezer Hinckley all the Rest of my lands & housing to them their heirs & assigns for ever in manner & form following viz: to my son John romes at the west end of my dwelling house which he now and of late hath used & is possessed of & the one half of the fruit Gows on ye trees in ye old orchard & the grasse in ye new orchard lying on ye north side of ye knings highway during his mothers Life shee being to have all ye fruit growing on ye sd new orchard during her life as aforsd and after her decease he my said son John have all ye trees & fruit of said new orchard he quitting and relinquishing with his Intrest in ye one half of ye said fruit in ye old orchard.
              It I will & bequeath to him my son John the one half of my Barne ye western end therof wch he hath been accustomed to use together wth ye land lying at ye southwest end of ye barn as ye fence now runs to ye norwest Corner therof westerly by a Cleft rock to the old ditch and from thence northerly as ye fence now stands on ye side of ye bank of sd dich to the middle stone wall & thence as ye fence now stands northerly to the end stone wall adjoyning to the high way in ye Calves pasture and thence westerly by sd stone wall till it meet with Decon Job Crockers fence and so by his fence southerly down to the pond and by sd pond till it Coms to the old orchard fence and by that fence as it now stands to the kings high way and thence Eastword to ye upper end of sd Johns barrs and thence as the fence stands to the barne all wch Contains the biggest halfe of those my Lotts of Lands there and also to him my son John the uper part of that Lott of Lands wheron my sd Dwelling house stands viz from the cross fence which divids between his Land and myn Easterly to the Graves which he hath been accustomed to use (and is the biggest halfe of yt Lott) together with a small pcell of Ground lying att the north side of sd Dwelling house by a fence Runing from the Corner of the Little house to the westermost post of the barrs which leads from the high way into my feild and thence by ye high way westerly till it Coms against the midle of the well and from thence on a strait line to the northermost Corner of my study.And also the one halfe of my six acre Lott of meadow att jewels Island which he hath been accustomed to occupy and use all wch pcells of upland and meadow I have given him heretofore & now hereby Confirm them to him his heires and assigns for ever, together with a parcell of my marsh for which I Received Some money of him Lying att Skauton Comonly so Caled bounded westerly by his own marsh & southerly by the north side of part of my foure acre Lott of marsh Comonly so Caled and Easterly by the Creeke.
              It I Will and bequeath to my son Ebenezer after my sd wife his mothers Decease ye East End of my sd Dwelling house with all the Rooms above and below wch I of Late and now occupy possess and enjoy to my use distinct from that part of sd House and Rooms given to my son John his brother as aforesd Each of them haveing free Liberty to pass and Repass up and Down any of the staires and thro such part of such Rooms as may be necessary to goe to his and their own as hath been accustomed and each of them to keep in Repaire the Roofe over their own Rooms and what else is necessary for each of them for their part and my will further is that I Reserve Liberty to myselfe and to my wife after my decease if shee see Cause to Remove my study that Little Room so caled to some other part against the East part of sd House and to belong thereunto for the use of him the sd Ebenezer as aforesd.
              It I Will and bequeath to him my son Ebenezer after his mothers Decease the other halfe part of my Barn wch I now use and the other halfe part of my lands lying from ye kings high way to the Barn & on ye east & north side of sd Barne from ye Caves pasture lane to the dividing line & fencebetween my son Johns land & mine from end to end as aforsd wch I have of late & now occupy poses & enjoy to my own use only herby reserving liberty for his brother John his heirs & assigns to have free egress & regress wth his or their Cart & teame fro ye northwest Corner of ye Barne leantew aforsd toward ye great rock to Cart into sd Barne at ye great doores as there may be occation he & they making & maintaining a handy pare of bars or gate at sd Corner & be Carefull to prevent damage therby so long as sd Barne shall Continue in sd place between them and wheras deacon Job Crocker is at all times hereafter to make & maynteyn all ye fence Btwen his land and that wch is now my son Johns by agreement & satisfaction made by me wth & to the sd Job Crocker as a writing under his hand & seale may more at larg appeare wch otherwise my sd son John must have made & maintained half ye sd fence and therfore it seeming good reason my will is that my son John Shall (after my decease) make & maintain either ye one halfe of ye side fence against ye Caves pasture lane or ye whole side fence as it now standswch divides between his land & mine now willed to his brother Ebenezer as aforsd and he the sd Ebenezer to make & maintayne ye other equal part of sd side fence viz: either ye whole of that next ye said lane or ye one half therof & ye one half of ye sd dividing fence and that each of them make good and suficient fence and be Carefull to prevent damage & discord between them.
              It I will & bequeath to him my sd son Ebenezer the other half part of my six acres lott of meadow at Jewell Island with ye flats & small adjacent Islands which I have been accustomed to use as belonging therunto.
              It That forasmuch as I have heretofore given to my son John a prcell of my land in ye Comon feild wch he hath sold and Considering that my son Ebennezar is not to have ye lands bequeathed to him as afor sd until after his mothers decease and he having allso been helpfull to us divers years more then his brother John & in Confidence of his further helpfullness to his mother after my deceace I do therfore give & bequeath unto him my said son Ebenezer all ye residue of my land in ye Comon feild which shall remain unsold both upland and meadow together wth any other parcell of meadow wch I may have in Exchang for my part of that If so it shall happen to be in any other place whatsoever and allso all that my parcel of marsh Comonly Called the four acre lott at Skorton lying between the two Creeks Comonly Called Bacons & Goodspeeds Creeke bounded northerly by ye marsh of my son John and allso all that late additinal parcel of marsh adjoyning to the southerly side of ye sd four acres lott at ye Easterly end therof on ye west side of that easterly Creeck running thence southerly to the mayne Channel taking in a smal Island of Creek thatch & is bounded westerly by the dividing line between it & ye marsh of Joseph Jinkins.
              It I will & bequeath that other parcel of my marsh wch lyes on the east side of said Creek last mentioned & runs thence easterly to the known dividing between it & ye marsh of Joseph bodfish unto both my sd sons John & Ebenezer to be equally divided between them.
              It I will & bequeath to him my son Ebenezar all my lands in ye Caves pasture both upland & meadow saving to his brother John liberty only to dry his Creek thatch on that part of the upland which I directed him unto this last summer viz: on ye eastern side from ye harbor southwesterly till it Comes about a rod beyond the northeasterly end of James Hamblins present hedge fence & thence acrose ad parcel of land to a young saplin marked to another young saplin marked standing neare ye middle of the said range of said Crose line to another young saplin standing a little below ye top of ye westerly bank to the beach and my will is that all those lands bequeathed to my son the sd Ebenezer in manner and form aforsd shall be & remain (after his mothers deceace) to him his heirs and assigns forever.
              It I will & bequeath to my son ye sd Ebenezer (after my wife his mothers deceace) all my stock of neate Cattel horse kind sheep & swine and all my utensales belonging to husbandry and my Iron back & hanger with all other household stufe of what kind soever wch shall remain undisposed of by my sd wife his mother by her will or otherwise either of sd stock or household stufe.
              It I will & bequeath to my sons ye sd John & Ebenezer out of my books Newmans Concodiance Ainsworths Annotations wilsons Chistian dictionary Coles English dictionary to be for their & each of their Comon use as they have occation and my will further is that my son Ebenezer shall have my two Books Called palmers Gospel new Creature & mr flavels on ye 3d of Revelati 20th and to my son John mr w Greenwells on soundness of heart &: with liberty to Chose one more out of ye rest of my books and all the residue of my books I leave to the disposall of my wife as aforesd.
              ffinally my will is that in case the 200 acres of land Granted me by our former Generall Court in little Compton for service done & is my Just Right be obteyned then my said wife (if I do not otherwise dispose therof) shall have full power to sell or dispose therof & ye produce therof to be equally divided between her & my two sons ye sd John & Ebenezer and I do herby ordeyn Constitute & apoint the said Mary my deare and Loving wife to be sole Executrix of this my last will & testament In witness wherof I have herunto set my hand & seale december 31 Anno doni 1700 Anoqe R:Re: willielmi Tertii duodecimo Angliae &c:"

An inventory of the estate dated 1 May 1705, listed the following items:

"       [A]pparel of one and another sort, The best bed in ye east end Chamber with bedstead & furniture, Another bed in ye above mentioned Chamber with bedsteed & furniture, a bed with bedsteed & furniture in ye porch Chamber, one Coverled two rugs and three pillows is in ye East end Chamber, of sheets eight pare and one odd one, Table linnen and pillow beers, two tables and Six leather chairs in ye East end lower roome, Two turkey work Chairs two great ones with other lesser ones, a cup board and Chest of drawers, a trunk Chest and box, of plate viz: silver two cups and three spoones, puter & tin bras ketles, skillets candlestick & warming pan, Iron Candlestick pots and ketles, Iron back and tramels, Irons gread Iron tongs box Iron heeters pressing Iron, wheels tubs bouls cards earthen ware, Arms and amunition, Horse furniture Iron tools as axes wedges &c: with old Iron, port mantles Cushins Sieves frying pan looking glass A Spit, bags bellows hour glas and some other small things Aboard, Carts wheels ploughs Chains and yokes, an Indian Servant [£6], four oxen [£13], three Cowes two heifers, twenty Six Sheep and Seven lambs, wooll flax and an hair Cloth, three Cannoes, the old horse, In Cash and bills of Credit [£22.17.06], Law books, divinity books, debts deu to the Estate by bill, more from Ebenezer Hamblen, more and old trunk and tobaco, one share In the fulling mill, two more books more one book more."

The total value was £184.13.00.