Thomas Gibbs

  General Notes:

It is not the intention of the compilers of this article to speculate as to the pre-American ancestry of this Sandwich Gibbs family nor as to possible relationships with other New England families of the same name. Our efforts have been limited to an attempt to make as clear as possible the genealogical relationships of the first five gener­ations of the descendants of this Thomas Gibbs.

His name first appears upon the "List of those able to Beare Arms in the Colony of New Plymouth in 1643," among men of Sandwich between the ages of 16 and 60. In the same year he took the Oath of Fidelity (see Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth[A] (1857), vol. 8, p. 192). We can find no record, even of the given name, of his wife but we are inclined to believe that she was the mother of all his children and that their marriage took place about 1642. It is possible, however, that his oldest sons were by a previous marriage.

In 1654 the name of Thomas Gibbs appears on a list of Sandwich men who pledged money to build a mill, and the next year he is listed among those pledged for the building of "a place for pnblick meetings" (Sandwich Proprietors' Records; "Sandwich & Bourne Colony & Town Records" (1912), Library of Cape Cod History & Genealogy, #104). His name appears upon a list, 17 July 1657, of those "engaged to pay a tax toward the minister's support" (Frederick Freeman, History of Cape Cod: "Annals of Sandwich", 2:59). In 1658 a survey of Sandwich land holders was made which includes the property of Thomas Gibbs. It is curious that a John Gibbs also held land in Sandwich at this time, because his name does not appear on any of the lists-nor anywhere else as a resident of Sandwich. We thought at first that this was Thomas Gibbs' eldest son John2 Gibbs, born in 1634, but upon balancing the evidence we are inclined to believe that the latter was still a minor in 1658. This brings us to a related problem.

The earliest book of records in the Town Hall at Sandwich is marked "1651-1691." Mr. George E. Bowman, the late editor of The Mayflower Descendant[B] magazine, noted that this contains a few births before 1651. However, we believe it is evident that between 1637, when Sandwich was founded, and 1651, when this volume begins, any original vital record entries which may have been made must have been entered in an earlier 'liber.' It is essential to keep this background in mind, as we have found in our study of the early settlers of the town. The town clerk was supposed to forward to Plymouth, a record of births, marriages and deaths, but if this was done only a few of these are to be found there (Shurtleff, op. cit.). Mr. James Savage in his Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England[C] (1860) evidently did not do the research on this Sandwich Gibbs family himself. We believe that his informer was mistaken in supposing that our Thomas1 Gibbs had a brother Samuel. If this were so the latter would certainly have appeared on one or more of the lists, but we find no trace of such a man. Further­more the two children attributed to him clearly belong to Thomas1 Gibbs. There remains the problem of the dates entered, separately, for the three children, each called "sonn of Thomas Gibbs," namely John, b. 12 Sept. 1634 (May. Des. (1912), 14:167). Thomas Gibbs, b. 23 March 1636 (ibid., p. 170) and Samuel Gibbs, b. 23 June 1639 (ibid., p. 172). The last of these also had his birth entered {we be­lieve it was the same child) upon the Plymouth Colony records as well: "1649 Sandwidge Regester of the Beirth of their children … Samuell Gibbs born June the 22nd" … (Shurtleff, op. cit., 8:9).

Savage, or his "informer", evidently was aware of this entry in the Colony record and perhaps because the names of the parents were not entered, guessed that this Samuel Gibbs was a son of the purely hypothetical Samuel Gibbs, whom they called "brother" of Thomas Gibbs, Yet in the case of the birth of John2 Gibbs there must have been doubt, since Savage noted his birth as "prob. 1644", rather than 1634 as the town records have it.

If this John2 Gibbs had been actually born in 1634 he would, of course, be the man of that name who was a land holder in Sandwich in 1658, but a study of the pattern of marriages and births in the families of John,2 Thomas,2 and Samuel2 Gibbs, as well as the dates of birth of their wives, seems to us strong evidence to support the belief that they were all born in Sandwich after 1643.

Thomas1 Gibbs served on the grand jury 18 May 1659, and he was one of the "musqueteres" to whom shot was supplied as a member of the military company 25 June 1660. He again was on the grand jury 5 June 1667, and he was surveyor of highways for Sandwich 1 June 1669. He was chosen town constable 21 March 1673/4, and 1 June 1675 was again surveyor of highways. His name appears on a list of the freemen entitled to the priviledges of the town 23 April 1675.

He died probably shortly before 27 March 1692/3, the date of his inventory which had been taken by Thomas Tupper and Jacob Burge, and which was presented 14 April 1693 by John Gibbs, who swore to it at Barnstable (May. Des., 18:61). On the same day, 14 April 1693, the probate judge ordered, letters of administration to be given "unto John Gibbs of Sandwich … ye eldest son of Thomas Gibbs deceased. …"

And at the same time "by virtue of an agreement under the hands of John Gibbs, Thomas Gibbs and Samuel Gibbs, all of Sandwich … yeomen, have made a division of ye Estate Left by our Deare ffather, Thomas Gibbs, deceased: and to ye end that our Mother may be comfortably maintained ye time of her life wee have to that end ordered all ye moveables to be improved for her comfort & if God Lengthen her dayes so long as to spend the same, wee Jointly Agree to maintain her out of our own Estates and also that parcel of land that was given in upon the Inventory lately exhibited to ye Court. Wee jointly agree that said land according to our Father's desire be and Remain to be ye only proper use and behoof of ye said John Gibbs, his heirs ... for ever and that Thomas Gibbs and Samuell Gibbs ... do by these presents … Quitt claim to ... (this) land. And desire that (it) be settled upon (said John Gibbs) … And because wee all desire peace and union amongst us, wee have so don and do all Intreate that what we have don may be accepted, this 11th Day of April 1693." Signed: John Gibbs, Thomas Gibbs, Samuell Gibbs. Witnessed: Matthias Ellis, Thomas Tupper. Entered 15 April 1693 (Barnstable County Probates, 1:76).

Thus the widow was still living as of April 1693; there seems to be no record of her death nor of the settlement of her estate.
[A] Reference to these printed Colony Records will henceforth be here designated as Shurtleff, op. cit. It was this same Shurtleff who published, in 1850, a copy of the Plymouth Colony list of men able to bear arms in 1643 (The Register, vol. 4, p. 257, 258, July 1856).
[B] Frequent reference will be made to this quarterly which we will designate simply as May. Des. Mr. Bowman was an exceptionally careful copyist. This in addition to his ability to read the difficult old script and his unusually broad knowledge as to the meaning of contemporary abbreviations, etc., makes his tran­scription of Sandwich Vital Records there published thoroughly reliable.
[C] Savage shows, 2:246-7: "Thomas [Gibbs], Sandwich, br. of Samuel the first, had Thomas, b, 25 March 1636; Samuel, 22 June 1639; John, 12 Sept. prob. 1644; Sarah, 11 Apr. 1652; Job and a tw. sis. Bethia, 15 Apr. 1655; and Mary, 12 Aug. 1657 .... Thomas ... s. of the preced. m. 1674, Alice d. of the first Nathaniel Warren, had Bethia, b. 10 Dec. 1675; and Thomas, 28 Jan. 1679." - "John … perhaps sec. s. of Thomas … had Job, b. 27 Apr. 1676, and Barnabas, 24 June 1684." - "Samuel … s. of Samuel ... m. 5 Mar. 1676, Patience, d. of Thomas Butler of the same; but no further could the diligence of my informer instruct me." [Thomas1 Gibbs of Sandwich, Mass. (ca. 1615-1693) by Lydia B. (Phinney) Brownson and Maclean W. McLean, NEHGR 123, 1969]

Thomas married.