Everyone who uses John Barber White’s book,
Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas
Gleason…, as a research source should be aware that White himself had
doubts about the origin of Thomas Gleason that he suggested in his work. “Of
the parentage and birthplace of this Thomas Gleason no positive knowledge has
been obtained,” he states in his brief foreword. One cannot fault him for
trying, however, although his hypothesis has been found to be incorrect. The
book was written in 1909 and certainly genealogical research was a challenge in
those times. Today we are fortunate that resources are available everywhere,
often digitized and online. One hundred and five years after White, the true
origin of Thomas was published, and is summarized here:
THOMAS GLEASON was christened as Thomas Gleson in Cockfield, Suffolk, England, 3
September 1609, the son of Thomas and Anne (Armesby) Gleson.1 He
died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, about 1687.2 On 31 July 1634 he
married Susan[nA] Page in Cockfield.3 She was
baptized on 4 December 1614 in Ingham, Suffolk, the daughter of Thomas and Susanna (___)
Page of Ingham and Hawstead, Suffolk.4 Susanna (Page) Gleason is
believed to have died in Boston, Massachusetts, 24 January 1691.5
For an
overview of all the relevant Suffolk records concerning this family, including
Thomas’s parents and four children, see: Judith Gleason Claassen, “The Origin
of Thomas Gleason of Watertown and Cambridge, Massachusetts,” NEHGS Register,
Vol. 168 (January 2014), 5-15.
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1
Original parish registers of Cockfield, Suffolk, at Suffolk Record
Office, Bury St .Edmunds (SROB), FL552/4/3; FL552/4/1; Transcripts of parish
registers of Cockfield, Suffolk, 1561-1922 [FHL 0,993,235], 42, 49. The name
Armesby is written variously in the register as: Armsby, Armsbye, Armsbie, and
Arnsby. The baptisms of four children are also found in these
records.
2 Thomas is presumed to have
been living at the time of Anna (Hanna) Winn’s death in 1686, since she left
him a bequest in her will, yet no longer living when his daughter Ann was
baptized as an adult in January of 1687/8.
3
SROB FL552/4/4; Cockfield Transcripts [note 1], 74.
4
William Brig, The Parish Register of Ingham, Co. Suffolk: Baptisms
1538 to 1804, Marriages 1539 to 1787, Burials 1538 to 1811 (Leeds: Knight, 1909), 9. The E-book
is available online at archive.org; SROB IC500/2/57;
Suffolk Family History Society, Suffolk Burial Index, CD-ROM (2005), Index by Parish, Noz-Pee:
532. Wife Susanna was buried 1631, a second wife, Elizabeth, in 1645.
5
SC1/series 45X, Massachusetts Archives Collection,
vol. 37: 64; Daniel Angell Gleason, “Thomas Gleason (Leson) and Susanna Page,”
manuscript in R. Stanton Avery Special Collections Department of NEHGS, Mss
A4060, Part I:24. "Widow Gleason" was included in the list of charges
of the keeper of the Suffolk County gaol. If not Susanna, this widow may have been the relict of son Philip.
Judith Gleason Claassen
May 2017
Here are some relevant links ...
ReplyDelete1) Summary of the key research on Judy’s website … https://gleasonfamily.com
2) Judy’s article in the NEHRS 2014 … https://www.americanancestors.org/DB202/rd/20034/11/423003234 (also available on Amazon here … https://www.amazon.com/England-Historical-Genealogical-Register-January/dp/B010Y53WP0)