Descendants of Thomas Fox


Our New England ancestry of the Fox Family, of Concord and Dracut, Ma. and later of New Hampshire, starts with Thomas Fox, the immigrant, who was born ca 1619 at, probably, Southwark, London, England and died 14 February 1658 at Concord, Ma. The parish records of St. Saviours, Southwark, London show family names of Fox, Martin, Fletcher, French, etc which names are prevalent in the first settlers of Concord, Ma. Our Thomas of Concord married, as his first wife, at Concord, Ma. ca 1640, Rebecca Wheate who was born ca 161x in England and died 11 May 1647 at Concord. Her ancestry is unknown except for her brother. Moses Wheate, who was married, in 1640 at Concord, Tamzen Brooks who was probably the daughter of Henry and (–) Brooks of Woburn, Ma. There are few definitive records of the earlier ancestors of our Thomas Fox of Concord. We do find, in the “Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine” by George T. Little, 1909, pgs 2102-2103, a lineage going back to John Fox of Boston, Lincolnshire who was born in 1517 and died April 1587 etc down to Thomas Fox born in 1608, the son of Samuel and Ann Leveson Fox. While this lineage notes that this Thomas is of Concord, it is in reality the lineage of Thomas Fox of Cambridge, Ma. There has been much confusion between our Thomas of Concord versus Thomas Fox of Cambridge, Ma.


Our Thomas Fox of Concord, following the death, on 11 May 1647, of his first wife, Rebecca Wheate, married as his second wife on13 December 1647 at Concord, Hannah Brooks, the daughter of Henry and (–) Brooks of Woburn, Ma. Hannah Brooks, who was born in 162x in England and died in 1692, married, as her second husband, ca 1661 at New London, Ct as his third wife, Andrew Lester who died ca 1669. Hannah Brooks Fox Lester married, as her third husband, ca 1670-72 at New London, Ct. Isaac Willey. It is likely that Hannah Brooks had a sister, Tamzen who married Moses Wheate as noted above.


Our Thomas Fox’s journey from England is unknown. He was in Concord, New England as early as 1638 and is noted in his marriage to Rebecca Wheate in 1640. Thomas was a tiller of th soil. His farm was located at the eastern end of town near the “Great Swamp”. He was a member of the church in Concord in 1640 and became a freeman in 1644. Thomas Fox’s will was dated 25 January 1658. Thomas Fox “although feble and weake in body butt of sound mind and memory” signs his will with a neat and steady hand which indicates a degree of literacy. In this will he appointed his loving brother Moses Wheate, Thomas Batman, and Robert Fletcher as overseers of his will. His son Eliphalet succeeded to all of his real estate. By his first marriage, i.e., Rebecca Wheate, there were three children all born in Concord. First where his twin daughters Mary and Elizabeth who were born in 1642; daughter Mary died in infancy while daughter Elizabeth, who died in 1675, married John Ball,Jr. and had a family. The third child was Eliphalet to follow. Thomas Fox had six children by his second wife, Hannah Brooks all born in Concord between 1648 and 1657. Hannah, born in 1648 and died in 1669, married Daniel Lester; Thomas, born in 1650, was in New London, Ct. in 1663; Samuel, born ca 1651, died in 1727, married first, Mary Lester in 1675 and second, Joanna Way? in 1684 and third Bathshua Rogers in 1690 and fourth, Hester Allen in 1715; John Fox , born ca 1653 and died in 1730, married first Sarah Larrabee in 1678, second, Hannah Isboll Stedman in 1690, third, Susannah Parker Forster in 1707, and fourth, Mary Lester in 1719; David Fox, born in 1656 and died 1695, married first Lydia Jaquith in 1678 and second, Mary Haywood in 1694. Isaac Fox was born in 1657 and died in 1735; he married first, Abigail Osborn in 1678 and second, Elizabeth Beebe in 1720.. All of the children by Thomas and Hannah Brooks Fox, with the exception of David, moved to New London, Ct.

References: PH7:281; PH87:2101-2102; PH155:2,5,6,371; FH139:179-180; NEHGR:V-Jan 1858: 92; MD20:V3#1:1-3; V3#2:9-12;V10:#3:9-10.


Eliphalet Fox, the first son and third child of our Thomas and Rebecca Wheate Fox, was born in 1644 and died 15 August 1711, both in Concord, Ma. Eliphalet married first, on 26 October 1665 at Concord, Mary Wheeler who was born in 1645 and died 24 February 1679. She was the daughter of George and Katherine (–) Wheeler of Concord. Eliphalet married second, on 30 November 1681 at Concord, Mary Stone Hunt, widow of Isaac Hunt; she was born 1649 and died 1701. She was the daughter of Elder John and Ann Rogers Stone of Sudbury, Ma. Eliphalet married , as his third wife, on 15 April 1702 at Concord, Mary, widow of Robert Colburn, and the daughter of Edward and Sarah Wilder Bishop of Beverly, Ma.


Eliphalet Fox, of all of the children by his father, Thomas Fox, alone remained in Concord, Ma. to perpetuate the Fox name in eastern Massachuset. It is assumed that Eliphalet continued on as a tiller of the soil, i.e. farmer. He was made a freeman in 1690 and referred as a proprietor. His land holdings were 14 lots with a total of 106 acres with his residence being located on East Bedford Road. Eliphalet had six children by his first wife Mary Wheeler. The first two, Thomas born 1666 and Eliphalet born in 1668, died in their infancy. Samuel, born in1670 and died in1734, married, in 1693, Ruth Knight. Mary born in 1673 married, 1700, Peter Harwood. Joseph was born in 1675 and died in 1693, i.e., “was slain with a log falling on him”. Benoni, born 1673, married first, in 1707, Mary Ball and then married second, in 1712, Experience Page. Benoni, with family, moved to Glastonbury, Ct. Eliphalet, by his second wife, widow Mary Stone Hunt, had two sons, i.e., John born in 1682 and married,10 May 1704 in Concord, Susannah Merriam, who was born 15 August 1677, the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Townsend Merriam of Concord, Ma. The second son was Nathaniel to come.

References:PH7:280; PH155:2,5,6,8,12-13,25,35,37,371; FH139:179-181; FH264:68-72; NEHGR:V-Jan,1858:92; V7:347; MD20:V3#2:9-12.


Nathaniel Fox, the second son of Eliphalet and Mary Stone Hunt Fox, was born 18 February 1684 at Concord and died in 1675 at Dracut, Ma. He married, on 11 January 1710 at Concord, Hannah Merriam born 16 February 1681 at Concord and died prior to 18 October 1730 at Dracut, Ma. She was the sister of Susannah Merriam who married Nathaniel’s brother John and the daughter also of Samuel and Elizabeth Townsend Merriam. Nathaniel Fox married, as his second wife on 18 October 1730 at Dracut, Ma., Mrs. Elizabeth Brown.


His first wife, Hannah Merriam, was the mother of all of Nathaniel’s children which were six in number, i.e., fve sons and one daughter. The first three children were born in Concord, Ma. with the latter three being born in Dracut, Ma. Son Nathaniel Fox, Jr., who was born in 1711 and died in 1774 in Dracut, married, as his first wife, in 173x at Dracut, Elizabeth Brown who died prior to 1766. Lacking specific record, one might speculate that this Elizabeth Brown might have been the daughter of “Mrs. Elizabeth Brown” noted above, i.e., Nathaniel, Jr.’s mother-in-law. Following the death of his wife Elizabeth Brown, Nathaniel, Jr. married as his second wife, in 1766 at Dracut, Rebecca Standley (Stanley?). The second child and son of Nathaniel and Hannah Merriam Fox was Isaac Fox who was born 1713 with no further information. The third child was daughter Hannah Fox who was born in 1714 and married David Jones; the fourth child and third son was David Fox born 1717 and died 1759 to come. Child five was Jonathnan Fox who was born in 1719, died in 1769 and married Mary Brown. Finally, child six was Daniel Fox who was born in1722 and died in 1769 who married Mary Jones.

References: PH155:14,25,26,74; FH139:181-182; FH202:47; FH264:172; NEHGR:V Jan 1858:92-93.


David Fox, the fourth child and third son of Nathaniel and Hannah Merriam Fox, was born on 19 March 1717 and died in 1759 at Dracut, Ma. David married, on17 March 1738 at Dracut, Mary Colburn, who was born on 16 October 1721 at Dracut and died in1756+ at Hollis, NH. Mary Colburn was the daughter of Josiah and Sarah Colburn Colburn of Dracut. It is to be noted that the Colburn family were very early settlers of Dracut, Ma. The records show “ that immigrant Edward Colburn was probably the first settler of Dracut who owned land with the intention of making a permanent settlement”. Mary Colburn, noted above, was the great grand daughter of the immigrant Edward Colburn.

 

David and Mary Colburn Fox had nine children, six sons and three daughters, all born in Dracut, Ma. The first child was daughter Mary who was born in 1740 with no further information. Son David was born in 1741 and married, in 1777, Sarah Russell. Tamer, assumed to be a daughter was born in 1743 and died in 1759. Josiah, born in 1745 and died in 1830, married, in 1782, Mrs. Eunice Clement. Daughter Zillah was born in 1746 and married in, 1781, Enoch Noyes, Jr. Eliphalet, born in 1749 married, in 1770, Elizabeth Russell who was probably the sister of Sarah Russell above who married Eliphalet’s brother David. The seventh child was Simeon who was born in 1751 with no further information. Son Jonathan was born in 1754 and died in 1782 and married in 1777 Zerviah Jones, born 1775 and died 1816. They settled in Hollis, NH. The ninth child was son John, born in 1756, to come.

References: FH79:124; FH139:183,187,188; NEHGR: V:Jan 1858:92-93.


John Fox, the ninth child of David and Mary Colburn Fox was born at Dracut, Ma. on 22 March 1756 and died 29 March 1841, age 85, at Hardwich, Vt. He married, on 27 May 1782 at Hollis, NH, Sarah Worcester, who was born on 24 March 1765 at Hollis, NH and died 23 September 1849, age 84, at Hardwich, Vt. Sarah Worcester was the daughter of Capt. Noah and Lydia Taylor Worcester of Sandwich, Ma. and Hollis, NH. Her colonial ancestry, a very much involved and dynamic family, goes back to the immigrant, the well known Rev. Francis Worcester of the First Church of Salisbury, Ma. Sarah, her father, Capt. Noah, and her grandfather, Rev. Francis lived to be respectively 84, 82, and 85 years of age.


John , a farmer, was a soldier of the revolution. He enlisted in 1775 at Dracut, Ma., served honor- ably in the Massachuset’s Line, and was discharged in 1780 at West Point, NY. John, with his family, moved from Hollis, NH in 1794 to Groton, NH where he was commissioned Captain in the militia. In 1803 the family moved to Hebron, NH where John applied for his war pension on 30 April 1818. The family then moved to Center Harbor, NH in1821 and shortly before 1833, John and his wife Sarah moved to Hardwich, Vt. where they spent their remaining years with their son John and his first wife Nellie Shaw Fox.


John and Sarah Worcester Fox had a total of ten children. Two of the children born in 1786 and 1789 at Hollis, NH died shortly after birth. Sally Fox, was born in 1788 at Center Harbor, NH and died in 1867 at Johnstown, Ohio, married in1809 Joel Philbrick. Abel Lovejoy Fox was born in 1793 at Hollis, NH and died 1840 at Hebron, NH. Thomas William Fox was born in 1795 at Groton, NH and died in 1815 at Hebron, NH. Son John Fox, Jr. was born in1799 at Groton, NH and died in 1873 at Oakland, Calif. He married first Nellie Shaw and then second, in 1848 Elinor Brewer. Daughter Rosella Fox was born in 1799 at Groton, NH., married Jonathan Brown, and moved to Johnstown, Ohio where she died in 1872. Son Leonard Fox, born in 1801 to come. Daughter Lydia Zervia, born 1804 at Hebron, NH, married John Davis, and moved to Chelsea, VT where she died in 1853. Son Jonathan was born in1806 at Hebron, NH and died in 1853 at Center Harbor, NH. He married Lydia Crawford who was born in 1808 in North Hingham, NH.

References: PH16:Me.:6676,6677; PH16:NH:19657,19658; PH145:1251; FH90:ccllxxiv; FH104: 21-26; MD21; MD35; MD56.


Leonard Fox, the sixth living child and the fourth son of John and Sarah Worcester Fox, was born on 04 March 1832 at Hebron, NH and died 27 November 1872 at Center Harbor, NH. Leonard married first, ca 1821/1822, Lucy Merrill of Plymouth, NH who died 30 January 1826. Leonard married, as his second wife, on12 June 1828 at Center Harbor, NH, Clarissa Chase who was born 27 February 1807 at New Hampton, NH and died 31 December 1893 at Geneseo, Henry County, Illinois. Clarissa was the daughter of Thomas and Abigail Wiggins Chase; both of these families, i.e., Chase and Wiggins, were very prominent in colonial New England; Clarissa reflected 13 generations of Chase and 6 generations of Wiggins. In the book, “Seven Generations of the Descendants of Aquila and Thomas Chase”, J C Chase and G W Chamberlain, 1928; Pg 244, it is noted that our Clarissa Chase married as her second husband one Gipon A. Poore. Family records do not reflect this marriage. The marriage would have had to take place after 27 December 1872, the date of the death of Leonard Fox; Clarissa came to Geneseo, Illinois 1882-1884 to live with her daughter Lucy Fox and her husband George T. Melvin. As such, the second marriage might have been sometime between 1873 and prior to 1882.


Leonard Fox spent his whole life at Center Harbor, NH. We find him in the 1850 census of Center Harbor, NH noted as a farmer and a cooper. With Leonard was his wife Clarissa, his son, by his first wife Lucy Merrill, i.e., Leonard Worster Fox, and then children by Clarissa, i.e., John, Lucy, Jonathan, Abigail C., and Sarah Jane. In the 1860 census, we find only Leonard, Clarissa, Jonathan, and Sarah Jane. Daughter Abigail C., who was born in 1836 had died in 1857. Lucy Fox, to come, had married George T. Melvin in 1851. Son Leonard Worster and son John Putnam each have a story worth telling.


Leonard Worster, the son by Lucy Merrill, was born in 1825 and early in life, say 1850+, he headed west to make his fortune. He ended up in Montana working the mines there. There were few letters as to his happenings and whereabouts. Family records tell of his death in June 1904 with the comment “I have never received the exact date of his death; he died among strangers”. A very poignant reflection.


The vignette concerning John Putnam Fox is not only interesting but relevant to the overall geographical movement of the lineage. John Putnam, the last child and son of Leonard and Clarissa Chase Fox, was born 05 October 1829 at Center Harbor, NH We see John Putnam with his parents in the 1850 census; his lengthy obituary tells us that his early schooling was somewhat limited but that he was an ardent seeker of knowledge. He became versed and talented in the works of Shakespear. Early in 1850, John Putnam set sail around the Cape of Good Hope and arrived at San Francisco on 31 July 1850. He spent almost seven years in California, “working the gold mines”. Evidently, he had a degree of success and in 1857 he returned home, i.e., to Center Harbor, NH. He shortly afterwards “headed west again, this time by land”. He ended up in western Illinois where he bought one hundred acres of “raw prairie” land in Henry County, Munson Township where he established, in Geneseo, his homestead. He married in Rock Island, Illinois, located in northwest Illinois, on the Mississippi River, on 12 October 1858, Hannah Odivine Thomas, a classmate of his school years. Hannah, who was born on 09 July 1830 and died in 1919, was related probably to the Nathan Thomas/Bradbury Hatch Thomas family of Maine. John Putnam and Hannah Odivine Thomas Fox’s homestead became the home for many to come. Leonard Fox’s wife Clarissa spent her last days in Geneseo where she died 31 December1893. Clarissa’s daughter, Lucy Fox married, in Laconia, NH on 01 June 1851, George T. Melvin; They with their sons, Fred and Frank Sumner Melvin, came to Geneseo. Bradbury Hatch and Sophia Melvin Thomas spent their latter years and died in Geneseo. Their daughter, Eva Josephine Thomas married Frank Sumner Melvin in Geneseo, Illinois with their children, i.e., George Herbert, Lora A., and Frank Sargent Melvin being born and spending their youth in Geneseo. So we see that John Putnam Fox’s journey resulted in having a major impact on the related families of Chase, Fox, Melvin, and Thomas. Many of John Putnam Fox’s letters have been saved and are a part of the “Family Records”. Relating to the two remaining children of Leonard and Clarissa Chase Fox, we see Sarah Jane who was born in 1839 and died unmarried in1862 and Jonathan who was born in 1834 and died in1917; future research might reveal more on Jonathan. Finally, Leaonard Fox had two children by his first marriage to Lucy Merrill; the first child was Laura Ann who was born in 1821 at Center Harbor, NH, married Nathaniel Clark, and died 02 July 1896 at Lakeport, NH; the second child was Leonard Worster Fox spoken of above.

References: PH16:Me.:7974,8246,16315,23986; PH16: NH:2963,2983, 3116,6677; FH44:244; FH104:25; FH139:195; MD21; MD22; MD35; MD36; MD57; MD125; MD126; MD127; MD128; MD129; MD130; MD131; MD132.


Lucy Ann Fox, the second child and first daughter of Leonard and Clarissa Chase Fox, was born on 04 March 1831 and died 26 April 1884 at Geneseo, Henry County, Illinois. Lucy Ann married, on 01 June 1851 at Winthrop, Kennebec County, Maine, George T. Melvin who was born on 02 December 1825 at Readfield, Maine and died in December 1885 at Geneseo, Illinois. George T. Melvin was the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth/Betsy Sargent Melvin of Chester, NH and Readfield, Me.

References:PH172:892; PH229:420-421; MD35; MD57; MD127; MD128; MD131; MD132.