I am trying to sort out two Thomas King's who settled very early in Watertown, Massachusetts. The Thomas I am interested in was married to Anne Collins and not to Mary. My notes on him are below. Which of them actually came on the Blessing in 1635 from Cold Norton, Essex County, England, where a record of his baptism has apparently been found? Thomas who married Anne Collins appears as nearly as I can tell to have been from Shaftsbury, Dorset. Not certain which of two or three families from England he was. He settled in Sudbury in 1638 or 1639. Probably not the Thomas King of Watertown in 1640 and 1642; that man's wife was Mary, and he died 1644. Peter King, the elder, of Shaston, Dorset, gentleman, named his brother Thomas King, now dwelling in New England in his will of May 30 1657. An inspection made of the records in Shaftsbury show that some Kings of that place were Burgesses in previous times. He has sometimes been confused w the other Thomas King of Watertown who was one of those involved w Nashaway, but they wre two difft men. That Thomas King came over in 1634 and lived at WAtertown where he died and was buried in 1644 He was a founder of Marlboro, and apparently a favorite of Edmund Rice. In addition to being picked for plum positions by Edmund Rice, he had three daughters marry sons of Edmund Rice. Thomas King of Sudbury and Marlboro had a son Peter, said to hae been man of some prominence in Sudbury, a deacon of the church, a rep to Conial Court in 1689-90. Peter took his deceased sister Elizabeth Rice's son Samuel to raise as his own at the death and by Will of his father Samuel Rice, and this son was known as Samuel Rice "alias" King. Peter had no sons that are known of. Thomas King (Sr?) surveyed the roads and supervised the chopping of trees, Rice and Ward selectmen ea year for six yrs, and Thomas King served as selectman six times, constable twice, timber keeper and higway supervisor. Died at Marlborough around 6/20/1676 (will date), in Middlesex Co Records. His wife's name Bridgett. Mentioned Thomas and Johshua Rice his three grand children Mary Rice a daughter. Thomas King the widower married 26 Dec 1655, widow Mrs. Bridget (Loker) Davis. He owned land in the fourth squadron of the two-mile grant, his lot being no. 50. ... He was one of the petitioners (the Whip-suffrage planters) for the plantation of Marlboro, in 1656. From Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town, by Sumner Powell, we learn that John Ruddick (leader of the Marlborough group) was given more liberty in forming his town than Peter Noyes (leader of the Sudbury group) had been granted. The General Court required that there be "twenty or thirty families" together with a minister, and that these families had to settle in the new grant within three years. Except for the fact that a committee was appointed to stake out the new town, the rest was left to Ruddock, Rice, and their young citizens. They knew how to proceed. They had learned the necessity of order. Nineteen new names were added. Some had served as town officers, some had not. But they wree considered worthy. Fourteen men who had expressed a "straightness" in Sudbury were on the list. In the fall of 1660, at a full town meeting of "inhabitants and proprietors", athe frist land distribution was made. Ruddock and Rice had been granted a town plot much larger than that of Sudbury, six miles square containing 24,000 acres. and they had a complicated task of distribution. Their inhabitants were 38 in number, and atleast half of them were the sons of ten leading Sudbury families: Rice, Ward, King, Goodenow, Bent, Newton, Maynard, How,Kerley, and Johnsons. [NI16210] Thomas King came to America in 1635 at age 31 on the ship Blessing, arriving August at Boston, with a sister Susan, aged 32. Listed as "of Cold Norton, Essex", bound for Scituate. (Is this the right Thomas King?) He went first to Watertown and some three years later moved to the new settlement at Sudbury. He was one of the thirteen petitioners in 1656 for the Whipsuppenicke Plantation, which was incorporated as "Marlborow" on May 31, 1660, when he was chosen one of the seven members of the first board of selectmen of which Edmund was the chairman. Little is known of his first wife Anne, save that she died at Sudbury, 1642. He was married, second, at Sudbury on Dec. 26, 1655, to Bridget, widow of Robert Davis. She died at Marborough on March 11, 1685. There is no record of the death of Thomas King in Sudbury or Marlborough but his will signed at Marlborough 12.1.1675 and proved 20.4.16176, shows the approximate time of his death. As he added a codicil on the 15th day of the first mo. 1676. The inventory taken 24.1.1676 totalled £295.10.00, with houses and lands in Marlborough at £200 and lands in Sudbury at £60. In it he mentions "Ann Carly, Mary Rice and Sarah Jocelin, my 3 daughters". Yours, Dora Smith Austin, TX [email protected] Yours, Dora Smith Austin, TX [email protected] -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.15.6/257 - Release Date: 2/10/2006