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Some people have claimed that the Thomas Eastabrook of Concord and the Thomas of Swansea are the same man, however, based on the evidence I have seen it appears they were clearly two different people. The following is my understanding of the relationships so any corrections/comments would be welcome but please include sources.
The older Thomas was born about 1629 in England and initially came to Boston or Concord, MA, but soon removed to Swansea where he permanently settled. He had four children – John, Thomas, Elizabeth & Sara – with wife Sara (possibly Sara WOODCOCK, of Rehoboth) and died 1713 in Swansea. Thomas emigrated from England with his brother, Rev. Joseph Eastabrook. Joseph is reported to have married Mary Mason on 20May1668 at Watertown, MA, and their children were Joseph, Benjamin, Mary, Samuel, Daniel & Ann. Joseph died 16Sept1711. Some sites indicate that the brothers, Joseph and Thomas, are possibly the sons of Joseph A. Estabrook & Anna Brainerd but I don’t have proof of that (does someone else?).
The younger Thomas, of Concord, was probably born ca1658, possibly in Enfield, Eng. He married Sarah TEMPLE 1683 (possibly in Dunstable but found in Concord records) and died 1743 in Dunstable, MA. It is unlikely that he was the son of either Joseph or the older Thomas because Joseph would have been too young (if Thomas was b. c1658) and the older Thomas named a son of his own Thomas b.1670. I have seen some assertions of a possible third brother who may have come with Joseph and Thomas to America but I have found no evidence of this although if the younger Thomas were the son of this rumored unnamed third brother it would answer a lot of questions.
A few related citations of interest are given below:
"In ‘Kirby's Quest,’ compiled in the first year of the reign of King Edward III, we find the first entry of the surname Estabrook in English rolls and registers. At that early date, 1327, one John de Eastbrook was a resident of County Somerset. The surname means literally "of the east brook," or "of Eastbrook," and was derived from the locality of that name. The intrusive "a" in Estabrook is euphonic. The next state, a corruption of Estabrook, was Easterbrook and Esterbrook. Families of the name flourished in England for several centuries prior to the period of American Colonial emigration.
The [early] Esterbrooks and Estabrooks in America comprise the progeny of two ancestors. Thomas Estabrook, founder of one branch, was born in England about 1629, and is first recorded in the New England Colonies in 1669, on February 12th, of which year he signed the agreement between Mr. Willett and the church in Swansea, Massachusetts. Before coming to Swansea he had resided in Concord, however. He was prominent in the early public affairs of Swansea, and was a town officer. His descendants have been seated principally in Swansea, Rehoboth, Warren, and the towns created out of this section of Southeastern Massachusetts. The other founder, Rev. Joseph Estabrook, brother of the former, was born in Enfield, Middlesex county, England, in 1640, and came to Concord, Massachusetts, in 1660. He was ordained to the ministry in 1664. His descendants settled in the country round about Concord and in the northern New England States."
(Source: "Tercentenary of New England Families: 1620-1922," issued under the auspices of the American Historical Society, Boston, MA, 1922, page 153. G3148.)
Swansea Town Records re children of Thomas & Sara Eastabrook:
22-3. “John the son of Thomas Eastabrooks and Sara his wife was born uppon the second day of may in the year of our Lord 1668"
63-5. “Thomas the son of Tho: Estabrooks and Sara his wife was born uppon the eighteenth day of October in the year of our Lord:1670"
5-11. “Elizabeth the daughter of Thomas Estabrooks was born the 19th of the 10th month 1673" [Dec. 19, 1673]
59-14. “Sara the daughter of Thomas Estabrooks was born the 19th of September 1676"
(Source: "Book A, Records of the Town of Swansea, 1662 to 1705," compilation by A.H. Mason, East Braintree, Mass., 1900. PS180.)
[son John married Hannah (____); Thomas b. 1770 1st married 10Jan1692/93 to Mary LUTHER and they had a child named Thomas: “Thomas the sone of Thomas Eastabrook Junier and of Mary Luther was born Jan: 20th :1693.” Source: "Book A, Records of the Town of Swansea, 1662 to 1705", A.H. Mason, East Braintree, Mass., 1900, 63-22. PS180. Some reports show this Thomas m. 2nd Elizabeth Thurber.]
Burials at Kikemuit Cemetery, now Warren, R.I., as published in the 1894 Register from the 1871 Fessenden manuscript:
"Easterbrook, Thomas d. Apr. 11, 1713, a. 64[?]."
(Source: "New England Historical and Genealogical Register," NEHGS, Boston, MA, Oct. 1894, Vol. 48, page 442.)
Note: Due to subsequent boundary adjustments, parts of Swansea, Bristol Co., MA, including the Kikemuit Cemetery, ended up in Warren, R.I.
Inscriptions in Kickemuit Cemetery, Warren, R.I., as published in the 1916 Register:
"The following inscriptions, 210 in number, have been copied from gravestones and monuments in Kickemuit cemetery, on the bank of the Kickemuit River. ... In the Register of October 1894 (vol. 48, pp. 442-443) the essential facts contained in 62 inscriptions in this burial ground were printed from a manuscript prepared in 1871 by the late Gen. Guy Mannering Fessenden of Warren, R.I. ... The list made in 1871 has been helpful in supplying a few words and figures that have disappeared or have become illegible since that time ..."
"Here lyeth the Body of Thomas Eas[t]abrook Aged about [broken] year. Decesed April [broken] the year of our Lord 1713."
(Source: "The New England Historical and Genealogical Register," NEHGS, Boston, MA, 1916, pp 24-25.)
The Register is probably where the confusion originates over 1629 vs 1649 as the birth year for Thomas. If the age on his stone was 64, as indicated above in the 1894 Register, this would indicate a birth year for Thomas of 1649. However, the Register put a question mark by the age, perhaps because it was hard to read Fessenden's manuscript or the original grave marker was damaged & difficult for Fessenden himself to read (quite possible, since it had broken off completely by 1916 when the second cemetery survey was done). If the correct age was really 84, then Thomas' year of birth was 1629, which is the date most often reported in secondary sources. A birth year of either c1629 or c1649 is possible for Thomas, however, c1629 is probably correct since the Vital Records of Swansea, MA, states “Thomas Estabrooke Deceased this Life april ye 14:1713 being above 80th years of age.”
The only other Thomas Eastabrook buried at Kikemuit was the older Thomas' son who "died Sept. ye 27, 1724 in ye 54 Year of his age".
The only info I have on the “other” Thomas Eastabrook of Concord is from secondary sources similar to the following:
"Sarah TEMPLE. Born on 8Mar1662 in Concord, MA. On 11May 1683 when Sarah was 21, she married Thomas Eastabrook in Concord, MA. Born ca 1658 in Enfield, Middlesex, Eng., Thomas died on 28Jan1720/21 in Concord, MA. Thomas came to America in 1660. Thomas and Sarah had a son Thomas, b. 6Aug1685. Child: Thomas Eastabrook ... Born on 6 Aug 1685 ... died in Dunstable, MA, on 29Jul1743; he was 57." [The above child Thomas, b1685, possibly married Elizabeth Parker 18Dec1707.]
Source: Dave Pane-Joyce & Bobbi Schirado, "Pane-Joyce Genealogy"; Original source: Levi Daniel Temple, "Some Temple Pedigrees: A Genealogy of the Known Descendants of Abraham Temple, who settled in Salem, Mass., in 1636," Boston, 1900.
I hope the above helps sort out the different Thomas’ and that I haven’t just added to the confusion! If anyone has additional primary sources (not FamilySearch, family trees, etc.) that support or contradict the above I would appreciate hearing of them since this confusion over the two Thomas’ has continued for many years and this is my best stab at sorting it out for my records. I know most people won’t be satisfied until the parents of the younger Thomas of Concord can be determined with certainty & how he relates (perhaps a nephew?) to Joseph and the older Thomas. Also, was there really a third brother? Does anyone have provable answers?
I trace my own family to the older Thomas & Sara Eastabrook of Swansea through their oldest son, John. Therefore, my personal interest includes confirming the parents of Thomas & Richard as well as determining whom Thomas’ wife Sara (_____), and their son John’s wife, Hannah (_____), were. If you have any info I would love to hear from you. Direct email is rwcdsc@yahoo.com. Thanks!
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