- From page 85 of the book: "Ancestors and Posterity of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale", 1929 by Mary Audentia Smith Anderson.
Thomas French, born in England, came with his family to New England in 1631, marrying probably about that time.
According to one authority, his wife appears to have been Mary, the daughter of William Scudamore, of Hertfordshire, England whose pedigree, found in the Visitation_of Gloucester, shows a daughter Mary, wife of French, of Boston in New England.
The will of William Scudamore, son of the above-mentioned William, dated in London, proved in 163? makes a bequest of five pounds each "to all the now children of Mary French, his sister," though no mention is made of New England. (New England Historical and Genealogical Register 47: 362.) j
Thomas French took the oath' of freeman at Boston, where he was a member of the church. Later he settled in Ipswich, recorded there in 1638 as "Junior," his father still living. In 1647 he deeds land simply as "I, Thomas French, tailor!." (Ipswich Town Records for 1638 and 1647.)
He was a member of the Artillery Company in 1638; was sergeant of militia in 1664, in which year he also received a share in Plum Island. On later town and probate records he is recorded as Ensign. (Topsfield Historical Society Collections 13: 153.)
His house was on Bridge Street, between Robert Muzzey and Thomas Scott, his lot covering the site of what was later the pumping station, and land adjacent. It was inherited by his son, Thomas, the constable. (Ipswich in The Massachusetts Bay Colony, 321.)
He died 8 August 1680, his will, dated 3 August 1680, being probated on the 25th of that month. His estate was inventoried at 217 pounds. He left real estate to sons Thomas and Samuel, naming also "Mary, my beloved wife," sons John and Ephraim, and daughter Mary Smith.
To his son John he left "one cow which is to make up the full summ of 30 pounds which I formerly promised him for his Portion." He provides that his son Thomas is to "give full and free libertie to Mary my wife his mother . . . and that after her decease my son Thomas shall deliver to my three children, John, Samuel and Mary, three of the
biggest pewter dishes which shall be left and remain, that is to say, to each of them one." He also left a cow to his daughter Mary Smith, and ordered that the balance of Ephraim's part be paid in money, which fits in with the conclusion that John and Mary lived near by, and Ephraim much farther away. (Essex Probate Docket 10: 191; Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts, 3: 380.)
From FindAGrave:
Baptized Assington, Suffolk, 27 November 1608, son of Thomas and Susan (Riddlesdale) French. A Tailor from Assington, Suffolk, he, but not his parents, emigrated to Massachusetts Bay in 1632. First settled in Boston; moved to Ipswich in 1635. Died in Ipswich 8 August 1680.
Married by 1632 Mary _____; she died at Ipswich 6 May 1681.
Thomas French and his sister Alice had arrived in New England by 1632, and their two next younger sisters, Dorcas and Susan, came in 1633. Their parents and younger siblings sailed for New England after 1633. Alice married THOMAS HOWLETT and Dorcas married first CHRISTOPHER PEAKE and then GRIFFIN CRAFTS. Susan may have been a servant in the household of John Winthrop Jr. for a time, but otherwise left no record in New England.
See Anderson's Great Migration Begins.
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