Thomas CHAFFE

• Name	Thomas CHAFFE  [1]
  	Thomas Chaffe, the immigrant ancestor of nearly all who today bear this surname under its varied forms of orthography, from Chafe to Chaffee, now residing in the United States and parts of Canada, came to New England, where in 1635 he owned land and was living in Hingham, Mass. The place and date of his birth, his parentage, the time and place of his arrival and the name of the ship which bore him from the Old World to the New, are at present unknown. The first mention of him in the records is found in the Town Clerk's office in Hingham, under the date 1635: "Given unto John Tucker by the town of Hingham for a planting lot six acres of land lying upon the Worlds End Hill, bounded with the land of Thomas Chaffe and the land of John Prince, Southward and with the land of Ralph Woodward, Northward, butting upon the Sea Eastward and Westward." This is not only the earliest mention of Thomas Chaffe, but also the name of Chaffe. How long Thomas Chafe had owned this land when John Tucker received his land, we do not know. Hingham was one of the oldest towns in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. There were settlers there as early as 1633, at which time it bore the name of "Bare Cove." The General Court, on September 2, 1635, changed the name to Hingham in deference to requests, no doubt made by those early settlers, several of whom came from Hingham in the County of Norfolk, England. Whether Thomas Chaffe was one of the earliest settlers of Hingham, we do not know; the list of those who in 1635 owned land there does not give his name, but the above extract from the records proves conclusively that at that time he was a property owner, though the entry of his grant was not made until 1637, when we find, under the heading "The severall parsells of land and meadow legally given unto Thomas Chaffe by the towne of Hingham," the following: "Given unto Thomas Chaffe by the Towne for a planting lott seven acres of land upon the worlds end hill bounded with the sea eastward and southward and with the land of John Prince westward and with the land of John Tucker northward." Under the same date we find another entry: "Given unto Thomas Chaffe all the salt marsh on the south side of straitts ond for two acres and he is to have all the sd parsells of land to him and his heirs for ever be they more or less as they were measured." "July 17th 1637. . . Given unto Thomas Chaffe by the towne for a house lott two acres of land Butting upon Batchellor street eastward bounded with the land of William Ludkin southward." The small amount of land granted to Thomas Chafe for his house or home lot, proves that at this time he was unmarried, as it was the custom of those days to grant small parcels of land to bachelors, as being sufficient for their needs. Bachelor Street is now known as Main Street, and the original Chaffe home lot is about opposite the old meeting-house.... The name of his wife and the date and place of his marriage are unknown. He was probably married in Hull, as the copious notes and manuscripts left by the Reverend Peter Hobart, pastor of the church at Hingham from September, 135, until the date of his death in1678, make no mention in any way of Thomas Chaffe, his wife or children. The town are records of Hull prior to 1657 have been lost; if extant they would doubtless give us the desired information. It is probable that the wife's Christian name was Dorothy, as her sons both had daughters by that name, which was not a name found in the families of their wives; in that day it was the custom to name children for their grandparents, the cases where this was not done being very exceptional..... Soon after July 25, 1680, he made his will which was exhibited "Sixt of March Anno Domini 1683. Just what the date of Thomas Chaffe's death was we do not know, but probably not long before the filing of his will. He was doubtless buried in the ancient Chaffe Burying Ground on his own farm....... [1]
  Gender	Male
  Person ID	I73644	Main Tree
  Last Modified	2 Mar 2014

  
  

  Family	? UNKNOWN
  Children	1. Nathaniel CHAFFE,   b. Between 1638-1642   d. Sep 1721, Rehoboth, Massachusetts (Age 79 years)  [Birth] + 2. Joseph CHAFFE,   b. Between 1639-1646, Nantasket, Massachusetts d. 28 Oct 1694, Swansea, Bristol Co., Massachusetts (Age 48 years)
  Family ID	F29848	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	2 Mar 2014

  
  

• Sources

  [S5743] William H. Chaffee, The Chaffee Genealogy; Also Certain Lineages from Families in the United States, Canada and England, not descended from Thomas Chaffe 1635-1909, (The Grafton Press, Genealogical Publishers).