Descendants of Matthew Colby

Our earliest documented Colby ancestors relate to one Matthew Colby who was born about 1530. He lived in Pointon, a village or chapelry, located in the parish of Sempringham, Lincolnshire. “Colby” is a place name, in this case, from the parish of Coleby which lies seventeen miles north- west of Sempringham and six miles south of the city of Lincoln, both in the county of Lincoln- shire. The place name is of Viking origin and means “coal” place. The “by” suffix is the Viking word meaning “homestead farm”. There are records dating 1505 which indicate that there was a Robert Colby of Pointon who was probably the grandfather of our Matthew Colby. There are further records dating 1421 relating to the land of a William Colby in Pointon who well could have been the great grandfather of the above noted Robert Colby. This William Colby of Pointon is the earliest known ancestor of the Colbys of Pointon, Sempringham, Lincolnshire.

Matthew Colby married, about 1556, Mary (–) whose birth date, surname, and heritage are unknown. Matthew was buried 10 Oct.1591, his wife Mary was buried 18 Dec.1591, and, soon after, their two youngest children, Edward was buried 31 Dec. 1591 and Elizabeth was buried 10 Jan. 1592. Both Matthew and his wife Mary left deathbed wills in which they stated that they were “sick in body”. Obviously, some sort of epidemic struck this family with deadly results. Matthew Colby’s will was made 08 Oct. and proved 22 Oct. 1591. Mary (–) Colby’s will was made 01 Dec. and proved 17 Dec. 1591. They had two sons named Thomas which where noted as “senior” and “junior”.

References:FH9:3584,7168,14336

Thomas Colby, designated as “Junior”, the sixth child and fourth son of Matthew and Mary (–) Colby, was baptized on 20 Dec. 1567 at Sempringham, Lincs. He died, 11 Dec.1625, at Horbling (about two miles north of Sempringham. He married, on 04 May 1596 at Horbling, Anne Jackson who was the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (–) Jackson. Anne was born about 1571 at Horbling and died after 05 March 1637 at Horbling. Anne Jackson Colby is known to be alive in 1737 because of an assessment made for expenses in repairing the church at Horbling dated 05 Mar. 1737 wherein we find “Widow Colby assessed three shilling six pence”.

From Thomas Colby’s will we find that he was a tailor. His will, dated 10 Dec. 1625 proved 21 April 1626, speaks of his five sons, i.e., William, Richard, Anthony, Matthew, and Robert. The sixth son, Abraham, who was baptized 13 Sept. 1600 at Aslackby, Lincs., died 02 Sept. 1625 at Horbling, and not alive when his father wrote his will. The first three children were baptized at Aslackby, Lincs. which is about two miles southwest of Pointon or four miles southwest of Horbling. As such, it is possible that Thomas and Ann Jackson Colby lived for awhile in Aslackby and then moved on to Horbling where the remaining children were baptized. There are no further records in Lincolnshire concerning Anthony and Matthew Colby, sons of Thomas Colby. One consideration is that Matthew came with his brother Anthony to New England. However, there are no subsequent records to support this thesis.

References: FH9:3584,7168

Anthony Colby, the fifth child and fourth son of Thomas and Anee Jackson Colby, was baptized 08 Sept. 1605 at Horbling, Lincolnshire and died intestate 11 Feb. 1661 at Salisbury ,Ma. He married Widow Susannah (–) Waterman. The date and place of this marriage is somewhat confusing. The manifest of those who came to New England on the “Winthrop Fleet of 1630" shows both Anthony and Mrs. Susannah Colby as being passengers. This would indicate that Anthony and Susannah (–) Waterman were either married prior to departure from England or perhaps in transit. Donald Lines Jacobus, the very well known American genealogist, states that “Anthony Colby married Widow Susannah (–) Waterman after coming to New England”. In the well known genealogy, “Ancestry and Posterity of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale” by Mary A. Smith Anderson-1929:Pg 174, we find that “Anthony Colby, shortly after he arrived (in New England) married Susannh (–), theirs being the first marriage performed in Boston First Church”. Their first two children, a daughter that died very young and their first son, John were baptized at Boston First Church on 08 Sept. 1633 in the presence of the notable Rev. Cotton Mather. Based upon the fact that Susannah (–) Waterman’s marriage to Anthony Colby was her “second trip to the altar”, it is assumed that she was born ca 160x :her parentage and heritage are unknown. Following he marriage to Anthony Colby, Susannah married, thirdly, about 1663-1664 William Whitridge, a carpenter from Gloucester, Ma. Susannah died 08 July 1689 at Salisbury,Ma.

Anthony Colby, upon his arrival in New England on the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, proceeded through Salem, Gloucester, Charleston, and then to Boston where he was member #93 in the First Church of Boston. He went with the Saltonstall’s Company to Watertown in the fall of 1630. During the winter, the Company’s assistants selected Cambridge as the best place to fortify. By the fall of 1631 only eight families are known to have gone there; three of the families came from Boston ,i.e., Anthony Colby, Jarred Haddon, and Joseph Redding. As of 01 Jan. 1632, the erection of houses outside the village were prohibited. However, Anthony Colby’s farm was up the Watertown Road away from the village; this tells us he erected his house before the prohibition. As more people built, he was soon surrounded by neighbors which gave him motivation to build a second house up by the Observation hill. He owned both homes plus seven- teen acres for several years. He sold some or all of these properties to Simon Crosby in 1639. Anthony took the Oath of Freeman on 14 May 1634.

In 1635, the Anthony Colby family removed to Ipswich, Ma. where Sarah and Samuel Colby were born. He signed a petition there on 21 June 1637. The family then removed, as original settlers, to Salisbury in 1639 where he received land in the “first division”. He received additional land in 1640 and 1643 and more in later years. Anthony Colby became one of the large land owners in Salisbury and became known as a “planter” as well as being a sawmill owner.. Anthony was appointed “appraiser” for the local government in1640; he was a member of the trail jury in 1648, 1653, and in 1656 and was on the grand jury in 1650. During this time Anthony was officially a member of the First Church of Boston but on 02 August 1646 he was discharged by the Boston First Church to the First Church of Salisbury. In 1654 he was granted land west of the Powow River which became Amesbury. He received additional land in 1658 and his widow Susannah, in Anthony’s right, received additional land in 1662 and 1664.

As previously noted, Anthony Colby died intesate,11 Feb 1661, in Salisbury,Ma.. The inventory, valued at 349L, was taken 09 March and the division of the estate was made on 09 April 1661. Probate records of Essex County, 1-407, state that “ upon petition of Susannah Whitridge, formerly Colbie, the Ipswich Court, on 28 March 16882, gave her power to sell enough for support in her old age”. She is recorded as “infirm from age” in 1682 and died 08 July 1689. Her only living son, Samuel Colby, was administrator of her estate valued at L151.

References:FH6:173-176; FH9:3584; FH21:137-138; FH80:3-4; PH7:168; PH19:103; PH27: 1566; PH97:109; PH178:504; PH208:413-416; TAG:V51#2:65-71

John Colby, the second child and first son of Anthony and Susannah (–) Colby, was baptized 08 Sept.1633 at First Churh Boston, Ma. He died 11 Feb. 1674 at Amesbury, Ma. He married, at Salem, Ma. on 14 Jan. 1656, Frances Hoyt born about 1636 at Salisbury, Ma., the daughter of John and Frances Tuxbury Hoyt. She died on 02 Jan. 1721, age about 85, at Amesbury, Ma. She married, second, on 27 Dec. 1676, at Amesbury, Capt. John Bernard. She had one child by this second marriage, i.e., Dorothy Bernard born in 1677.

John Colby was a planter at Amesbury,Ma. where he was granted land, 30 acres, in 1658; he received additional grants of land in 1659, 1662, 1666, and 1668. One can assume that he had a fairly substantial land holding. John Colby’s name heads a list of seventeen signatures on a petition presented to the court at Hampton, NH in October 1671 wherein “by divers of the inhabitants and souldiers of the towne and military company of Amesbury that they may continue under the conduct of our loveing friend and neighbor John Hoyt, senior, our chosen and established sargent and chief military officer here.

References: FH21:138; FH80:4,7; FH106:176; PH7:20,168; PH97:109; PH178:504; TAG:V5#2: 66; PH208:415.

Mary Colby, the seventh child and fourth daughter of Anthony and Susannah (–) Colby, was born on 19 Sept. 1647 at Salisbury, Ma.; she died, prior to 1700, at Amesbury, Ma. She married, at Amesbury on 23 Sept.1668, William Sargent Jr. born on 21 Nov. 1645 at Amesbury who was the son of William and Elizabeth Perkins Sargent.

References:FH21:138; FH19:104,312; FH80:4,10-11; FH106:178; FH227:21; PH7:651; PH27: 1566; PH97:109; PH178:504;

Sargent John Colby, the first child and son of John and Frances Hoyt Colby, was born at Salisbury, Ma. on 19 Nov. 1656 and died 06 April 1719 at Amesbury. He married, first, at Amesbury on 27 Dec. 1675, Sarah Eldridge who was born 10 Oct. 1650 at Yarmouth, Ma. and died at Amesbury after 03 July 1692,i.e., after the birth of last last child, Hannah Colby who was born on 03 July 1692 , but prior to the year 1700. Sargent John Colby married, prior to 1700 as his second wife, Sarah Osgood who died before 08 Feb. 1715. He married, as his third wife, Widow Ruth (–) Ring on 08 Feb. 1715 at Amebury.

Sargent John Colby took the oath of allegiance and fidelity in Dec. 1677 and was a soldier in King Philip’s War at Falls Fight under Capt. William Turner on 18 May 1676. He was Sargent of the Amesbury train band in 1680. John Colby received “children’s land” in 1659 and a township in 1680. The administration of the estate of Sargent John Colby was granted to his only surviving son, Joseph, on 21 April 1719. Robert Ring, son of John Colby’s third wife, administered her estate in May 1718. The children of Sargent John and Sarah Eldridge Colby were all born in Amesbury,Ma.

References:PH7:168; PH27:1566; FH80: 7,15-16.

Sarah Colby, the second child and first daughter of John and Frances Hoyt Colby, was born about 1685 at Amesbury, Ma. and died 1720+ a Amesbury, Ma. She married, 01 May 1700 at Amesbury, Daniel Flanders who was born at Salisbury on 16 Mar. 1675 and died prior to 04 April 1735 at Amesbury. Daniel was the son of Stephen and Abigail Carter Flanders.

References:PH19:159; PH27:1566; FH80:16,45-46; FH105:42-43; NEHGR:V51:47.