Hi Tom You are right, it is amazing how the families tie back together. It's like a woven bird nest. I just found out that I have grandparents Howland, so will add them to my list to study. The list keeps getting longer, not shorter....and I'm getting addicted to finding what or who comes next. My daughter-in-law even has a Thomas line in her tree. Nice to meet another cousin. Happy hunting, Jacque I have 2 Lovica Thomas' in my tree, but neither lists children, and only one is married-to a McGregor. No help there. Starting with Samuel b 1763 through David b 1620 Wales, we agree-even on the dates. We branch off at Samuel b 1763, but may connect again with this new data. About Roy Chapin Thomas: If you Google search (I Yahoo search) "Deacon Samuel Chapin genealogy MA" (without the quotes) you will find a rich history on the Chapins, especially Samuel who has a statue of himself in town square. He was a puritan. If you follow the descendants, you should run into Roy Chapin Thomas. Roy's ancestors may have married a Chapin. Our source was a book on the Chapin Family, but it's been since the 60's, and I was new....and failed to record the name of the book. I took the time to look through all my Thomas' and came up with these people who were from MA and moved to ME: (Have some children, but not grandchildren-on request) THOMAS: Jedeidiah, b. 1726/27 Middleborough, Plymouth Co, MA, d. abt 1813 Hartford, Oxford Co, ME, married 1749 to Hannah ?Cushman?. He also married 1733 Plympton, Plymouth Co, MA to Keziah Churchill, b abt 1733, Plympton, Plymouth Co, MA, bur: Old Cemetery at the Green, Middleborough, Plymouth Co, MA. (Their daughter Abia, b. 1774 Middleborough,Plymouth Co, MA, married Abner Thomas, b 1765 Middleborough, Plymouth Co, MA. Abner is my 3rd cousin 6 x removed) Elisha, b 1747 Middleborough, Plymouth Co, MA, d. 1829 Oxford, Oxford, ME, married Elizabeth Morton II. Also married Rachel Weston, b 1754 Middleborough, Plymouth Co, MA, d. 1796 Middleborough, Plymouth Co, MA, bur: Old Cemetery (same as above) (He is my second cousin 7 x removed) Charity, b. 1765 Middleborough, Plymouth Co, MA, d. Unknown date Possibly Hartford, Oxford Co, ME, married Simeon Granderson, b. date unknown place unknown, d. unknown (She is my 4th cousin 5 x removed) Nathaniel, b. 1780 Middleboro, Plymouth Co, MA, d. 1825 Hartford, Oxford Co, ME, married date/place unknown to Sarah (Sally) Thomas, b. 1781 Middleboro, Plymouth Co, MA, d. 1867 North Hartford, Oxford Co, ME (Her father Joseph Thomas Jr, mother, Deborah Thomas) (His father Lt. Perez Thomas (Deacon), his mother Sarah Wood II). (Nathaniel b. 1780 is my 4th cousin 5 x removed. His mother Sarah II is my half 3rd cousin 6 x removed) (Sarah Sally is my 4th cousin 5 x removed) Benjamin, b. 1785, Nathaniel's brother, also moved to ME. He married Dorcas Russell, b. Abt 1789 (no other info on this family) Tom Greenwood <TheGreenwoods1@Verizon.net> wrote: Hi Jacque Thanks for replying. Your information below has me curious, in particular, Chapin. But I will elaborate on that more shortly. My Thomas lineage is as follows: Oleta Thomas My grandmother b. abt. 1906 Roy Chapin Thomas Great Grandfather b. abt. 1883 Alfred Samuel Thomas 2nd Great Grandfather b. abt. 1846 Samuel Dexter Thomas 3rd Great Grandfather b. abt. 1816 possibly aka Dexter Samuel Thomas All in Monson and Abbott, Maine. Up to this point, There is a fair degree of certainty to the lineage. After this it appears to be as follows but still requires more certain evidence: Jedediah Thomas 4th Great Grandfather b. abt. 1793 Middleborough, MA Some Rootsweb and Family Search records indicate he was born in Sumner, ME but ths appears to be incorrect. Samuel Thomas 5th Great Grandfather b. abt. 1763 Middleborough, ME Eleazer Thomas 6th Great Grandfather b. abt. 1725 Middleborough, ME William Thomas 7th Great Grandfather b. abt. 1679 Unknown location David Thomas 8th Great Grandfather b. abt. 1649 Marblehead, MA David Thomas 9th Great Grandfather b. abt. 1620 Wales Starting with Samuel and working back, records appear to be very strong based upon published research by the New England Historic Genealogical Society and the Mayflower Society. The connection of Samuel Dexter to Jedediah and Jedediah to Samuel still requires stronger evidence. Also note that I have only listed the direct paternal lineage. The Thomas name also marries into Samuel's line and these ultimately tie into John Howland of the Mayflower and back into David Thomas senior listed above. It is amazing how many times ancestries around New England tie back together. Now, finally onto Chapin. Note that my great grandfather's middle name is Chapin. Surnames Chapin and Sherman appear to be very prominent in the early history of Monson, ME. Exactly how they connect to my great grandfather has yet to be determined, however, his niece indicated a few years ago that she had a second great aunt named Lovica Chapin nee Sherman. I have yet to be able to find the definitive connection to either name via the Thomas'. Well, hopefully not too much information. I look forward to hearing from you. All the best Tom -----Original Message----- From: thomas-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:thomas-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of j wood Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 04:44 To: thomas@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [THOMAS] New England Thomas' (Tom Greenwood) Hi Tom Nice to hear from someone that is dealing with Northeast New England. I have so many Thomas' that I would need name, date, place (or part of those 3) to check anyone. This is not my major family, but I've ended up with a huge amount of Thomas, ancestors. My major family is Wood/Atwood/atte Wode. I also have a huge amount of Hancock, Chapin, Mullins, Shaw, Alden, Standish Bradford, Winslow, it goes on..... My 9th g-grandparents: (She is the only Sibley I have in my tree) Damarice? Sibley, b. abt 1597, Salem, Essex, MA, d. 28 Nov 1674 Salem, Essex Co, MA. She married Abt 1519, England, to Samuel or William Shattuck, b. date unknown, Dorset, England, d. 6 Jun 1698, Salem, Essex Co, MA. I have not even begun to study this family yet. Who all are you wanting to connect to who? If I have someone, but no definitive source, shall I omit them, or do you want their name(s) as a possible clue to check out? Jacque Wood --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.

Hi Jacque Digging further into the information you provided, I did a search through Rootsweb to refresh my memory as to what others have posted. I have to remind myself that unless there are credible sources attached that I must always maintain a degree of skepticism until I can prove otherwise, a wise practice in this hobby. If you read the history of Monson, ME, you will find two Chapins in particular who are mentioned in the early history, Amasa and Aretas. Both were born in Monson, MA, a town about 10 miles outside of Springfield, MA where Deacon Samuel Chapin originally settled. Both were some of the earliest settlers of Monson, ME. I can work backwards to Deacon Samuel. Going forward does not take me very far. Amasa was the father of Aretas. Aretas had five children. James Henry Chapin, son of Aretas, married Lovica Vinton Sherman, daughter of Horatio Sherman another early settler, in 1861. Unfortunately, many of the early records of Monson were lost in a fire. My great grandfather was born in 1883, his father in 1846. We have a fairly confident lineage for my great grandfather's parents, but his mother's ancestry is weak. No where do I find a Chapin connection and hence my suspicion is that there may be no Chapin connection, but rather there may be a Sherman connection. Presumably, Lovica was my great grandfather's great aunt. I need to do some more research on her to track her down along with her family. She is reportedly buried in one of the suburbs of Boston. From there, then to see what further information can I dig out that may provide additional leads. Time to go beyond just researching what is available on the internet and do some real hardcore genealogical research if I think I am going to get to the bottom of this tangled mess. Take care Tom