John TOBEY

Notes:

Excerpt from "Certain Comeoverers": John Tobey, the son of Thomas, was born (probably) about 1660, since in 1681 he was enrolled as a townsman capable of voting. There are few records of his life. He died December 26, 1738. The surname of his wife, Jane, is not known. In his will dated in 1733 he left the personal property which he gave to his wife for her life to be equally divided between his two daughters Mary Clark and Reliance Ewer.

Family/Spouse: Jane ?. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Reliance TOBEY was born in Mar 1695.
2. Mary TOBEY was born on 16 Mar 1684 in Sandwich, Barnstable Co., Massachusetts; died in 1760 in Rochester, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts.

Notes:

Excerpt from "Certain Comeoverers": The Quaker troubles in Sandwich began in 1657 and for four or five years the little town was in a turmoil. Thomas Tobey is distinguished from your other Sandiwich progenitors in that he was not corrupted by Quakerism. In 1658 the town paid him four shillings for "having the the strangers to Plymouth" which is to say that he, acting as constable, to which office he had that year been elected, escorted some traveling Quakers, your ancestor Christopher Holder among them, perhaps under arrest to the Court at Plymouth to be there dealt with as heretics. His mother in law, Martha Knott, However, was those who shared the persecutions, and perhaps his wife may have had some leanings towards the doctrines which Christopher Holder so successfully spread in the community. Thomas Tobey, however, was faithful to the ordained church and his name appears on the oldest page of the church records now in existence as one of the twenty members when Mr. Cotton was ordained in 1694.
Thomas Tobey served in various public capacities. In 1652 he was appointed on a committee to take care of all the fish taken by the Indians and sell them for the benefit of the town and to oversee the cutting up of the whales driven ashore on the flats. In 1657 he took the oath of fidelity. He served on many occasions as a "rater," as surveyor of highways, pound keeper, boundary commissioner, excise officer, member of the grand inquest, and other public employments. At the time of King Philip's war in 1676 he was on the council of war to "hire men to goe out upon scout for the town," furnishing them with ammunnition.
In his will, which is dated in 1710, he describes himself as aged and weak of body. It is possible that he may have been born on this side of the ocean, but it is more probable that he crossed as a child with his parents, in the thirties. There was a Francis Tobey in the Masschusetts Bay Colony, perhaps at Naunqueag or Sangus, in 1634. It may be that he was the father of Thomas, although I have no evidence that such is the fact.
His wife Martha died (probably) before 1689 and soon after he married Hannah the widow of Ambrose Fish. He died (probably) in 1714, in which year his will was proved. He left eight sons and three daughters. His will is a lengthy document in which he disposes of a considerable estate. To his "loving son John Tobey," from whom you descend, he devised "that lott of upland which I formerly gave to him lying near ye now dwelling house of Joseph Foster in Sandwich."

Thomas married Martha KNOTT on 18 Nov 1650 in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Martha (daughter of George KNOTT and Martha ?) was born in Sandwich, Barnstable Co., Massachusetts; died in 1689 in Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]