from GM:

JOHN COOMBS

ORIGIN: Unknown (but see COMMENTS below)
MIGRATION: 1630
FIRST RESIDENCE: Plymouth
FREEMAN: In "1633" Plymouth freeman's list, John Coombs is among those made free before 1 January 1632/3 [ PCR 1:3]; also in list of 7 March 1636/7. On 3 September 1639 Plymouth court ordered that "Mr. John Combe, for being drunken, is disfranchised of his freedom" [ PCR 1:132], and on 5 June 1644 he was readmitted to freemanship [ PCR 2:71]. ("Mr. John Combe" is in the 1639 list of freemen, but his name is crossed out, accompanied by the marginal notation "Disfranchised for being drunk"; his name is then reinserted near the end of the same list [ PCR 8:173, 174].)
ESTATE: On 12 October 1630 "Ralfe Wallen sold to Mr. John Coombe his house, garden plot & the fences thereto belonging" [ PCR 12:18].
Assessed 12s. in Plymouth tax list of 25 March 1633 and 9s. in list of 27 March 1634 [ PCR 1:10, 27].
On 24 January 1633/4 "John Coomb, gent.," exchanged with Thomas Prence "thirty acres of land near unto the high cliff, [which Coombs possessed] in the right of Sarah his wife" for "thirty acres of land near unto Wynsloes stand," and paid to Prence £20 for the housing on the land he was receiving [ PCR 1:25].
On 1 July 1633 allocated mowing ground at "the watering place and thereabout" [ PCR 1:14]. Allocated mowing ground on 14 March 1635/6 and 20 March 1636/7 [ PCR 1:40, 56].
On 14 February 1633/4 "Joh. Coomb, gent.," sold to John Doane for £9 10s. "a dwelling house & misted with the inclosure & outhousing thereunto belonging, next adjoining to the late dwelling house of Godbert Godbertson, on the west side thereof, & the herring weir on the east" [ PCR 1:25].
On 7 November 1636 Plymouth court granted to Tristram Clark eight acres between Phineas Pratt and widow Billington, "a portion allotted formerly to Mr. John Coombe" [ PCR 1:46].
On 24 June 1639 "John Combe gent." mortgaged to Thomas Prence "all that his dwelling house and twenty acres of land ... which came by his wife," and "it is also agreed upon ... that whereas there was other ten acres of land exchanged with the said Mr. Thom[as] Prence which was the said Mr. Combe's mother-in-law's if the heir when he comes to his age do not legally confirm the said exchange so made that then the said ten acres shall be and remain unto the said Thomas Prence" [ PCR 12:44-45].
On 3 August 1640 Plymouth court ordered that "as it appeareth by testimony of Josuah Pratt & otherwise, that the two acres of upland lying at Wellingsly Brook, on the north side of the lots given to Godbert Godbertson, were given by the said Godbert Godbertson to John Combe, gent., & Phineas Pratt, in marriage with their wives, his daughters, the Court doth confirm the said two acres unto the said John Combe & Phineas Pratt, their heirs & assigns forever" [ PCR 1:159]. On 5 August 1640 "John Combe gent. and Phineas Pratt joiner" sold to John Barnes "all those two acres of upland which they had of Goodbert Godbertson in marriage with their wives" [ PCR 12:61].
On 31 December 1641 "Mr. John Combe is granted a proportion of land at the head of his ground where he now dwelleth, in consideration of a lot of land he had there formerly granted which he hath now yielded up" [ PCR 2:29]. On 5 April 1642 "Mr. John Combe" sold to Mr. Thomas Prence "two acres of marsh meadow lying before the house of the said Thom[as] Prence at Joanes River" [ PCR 12:78].
On 27 October 1646 Isaac Allerton assigned to his son-in-law Thomas Cushman a debt of £100 due to him from "Mr. John Combe" [ PCR 2:133]. On 1 August 1648, whereas "it doth appear, that Mr. John Combe was indebted to the estate of Cudbert Godberson ... which said estate was debtor a considerable sum to Mr. Isacke Allerton, merchant," who assigned the debt to his son-in-law Thomas Cushman, "a part of the increase" from the lands of "the said Combe" should be paid to Cushman [ PCR 2:131-32, 3:98].
BIRTH: By about 1610 based on estimated date of marriage.
DEATH: By 15 October 1646 (by which date his wife was in England, having left at least one young child behind [ PCR 12:137]).
MARRIAGE: By about 1632 SARAH PRIEST, daughter of DEGORY and SARAH (ALLERTON) PRIEST [ PCR 1:159, 12:61; MF 8:2]. On 15 October 1646 "William Spooner came before the Governor and undertook to save the town harmless from any charge that might befall by reason of a child that Mrs. Coombs left with him when she went for Eng~land, and which he undertook to keep & provide for" [ PCR 12:137]; and on 1 August 1648 the court further ordered that "the children of the said Mrs. Combe, now being with William Spooner, that the said Spooner keep them for the present, and not dispose of them for the future, without further order from the court" [ PCR 2:131].
CHILDREN:
i JOHN, b. say 1633; m. Boston 24 February 1661/2 Elizabeth Barlow [ BVR 82]; she was widow of Thomas Barlow. (For a detailed discussion of the life of John Coombs and the marital career of his wife see TAG 46:129-34.)

ii FRANCIS, b. say 1635; m. (1) by 1673 Deborah Morton (eldest child b. May 1673, and 29 October 1673 will of John Morton names "daughter Deborah the wife of Francis Combe" [ MD 24:135; MF 8:13]; m. (2) by about 1678 Mary (Barker) Pratt, daughter of John Barker and widow of Samuel Pratt [ Gen Adv 4:31].

COMMENTS: Robert S. Wakefield has marshalled the arguments in favor of the hypothesis that this immigrant is the John Combs baptized 13 March 1596/7 at Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, son of Francis and Jane (Pope) Combs [ TAG 71:247-50].
On 8 November 1638 "John Comes ... gent." posted surety for John Smyth, and on 4 June 1639 "John Combes ... gent." posted surety for Richard Derby [ PCR 1:103, 128]. On 4 December 1638 "John Comes, gen.," was fined 3s. for nonappearance [ PCR 1:104].
On 1 July 1637 "John Coomes of New Plymouth ... gent." assumed from John Holmes the remaining time of his servant, William Spooner [ PCR 12:19]. On 5 April 1642 "Mr. John Combe" assigned to Mr. William Thomas for £12 the remaining time of his servant, William Launder [ PCR 2:38].
Even though John Coombs was consistently referred to as "Mr." or "gent.," he was constantly embroiled in situations that would have been more appropriate for someone at the opposite end of the social spectrum. As noted above, he was disenfranchised for excessive drinking. On several occasions he was involved in cases of debt, usually as defendant, and with judgment usually against him (1 July 1634, 4 February 1638/9, 5 March 1638/9, 27 May 1639, 5 May 1640, 5 April 1642, 6 March 1642/3, 5 November 1644 [ PCR 1:30, 122, 151; 2:37, 51; 7:11, 38]).
The suggestion has been made that John Coombs was of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, but the evidence for this is not given [ NEHGR 122:94].
BIBILIOGRAPHIC NOTE: The descendants of John Coombs to the fourth generation in all lines are covered by the eighth volume in the Mayflower Society's Five Generations series [Robert S. Wakefield, ed., Family of Degory Priest (Plymouth 1994), pp. 4-5, 13-15, et seq.].

• Married: ABT 1630 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA U. S. A.
• Note:

  from TORREY:
  
  COOMBS, John (-1646/8) & Sarah PRIEST; ca 1630; Plymouth/?Middleborough {Bartlett-Jenkins 99; Woodstock 4:31; NYGBR 28:169; Roosevelt Anc. 116; MD 3:128, 6:244; Crapo 36; Fallass 178; P. Pratt Gen. 41; Doane 7; Gen Mag. 3:49; Sv. 1:438-9, 453, 492}

  ^{2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10}

1. John COMBS
2. Francis COOMBS b: ABT 1635 in Plymouth, Plymouth, MA U. S. A.

1. Abbrev: GM
   Title:
   GREAT MIGRATION BEGINS and GREAT MIGRATION Project
   
   Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633 [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2000.
   
   Original data: Robert Charles Anderson. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, vols. 1-3. (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995)
   Repository:
   Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society
   Boston, MA 02116
   U. S. A.
   
   Repository:
   Name: Patrick McDonald Personal Library
   Dural, NSW 2158
   AUSTRALIA
2. Abbrev: Torrey's New England Marriages
   Title:
   New England Marriages Prior To 1700
   
   Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior To 1700 (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1985)
   Repository:
   Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society
   Boston, MA 02116
   U. S. A.
   
   Repository:
   Name: Patrick McDonald Personal Library
   Dural, NSW 2158
   AUSTRALIA
3. Abbrev: SAVAGE'S DICTIONARY
   Title:
   A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those who Came before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register
   
   James Savage; compiled by O. P. Dexter, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those who Came before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register
   
   (The best known and most frequently used genealogical dictionary.This monumental work gives the name of every settler who came to New England before 1692, regardless of his rank, station in life or fortune. Traces the descendants of each person, giving dates of marriage and death, dates of birth, marriage and death of his children, and the birth dates and names of his grandchildren, thus recording the beginning of the third generation in New England. Binding is 4 vols. 2,541 pp.) Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 65-18541
   
   (Boston: 1860-1862
   
   Reprinted with "Genealogical Notes and Errata," excerpted from The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. XXVII, No. 2, April, 1873, pp. 135-139, And A Genealogical Cross Index of the Four Volumes of the Genealogical Dictionary of James Savage, by O. P. Dexter, 1884.
   
   Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore,
   1965,1969,1977,1981,1986, 1990)
   Repository:
   Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society
   Boston, MA 02116
   U. S. A.
   
   Repository:
   Name: Patrick McDonald Personal Library
   Dural, NSW 2158
   AUSTRALIA
   
   Page: Vol. 1, pp. 438-9, p. 453 and p. 492
4. Abbrev: Crapo
   Title: Henry Howland Crapo, Certain Comeoverers, 2 vols. (New Bedford, MA: E. Anthony & Sons, 1912)
   Repository:
   Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society
   Boston, MA 02116
   U. S. A.
   
   Page: p. 36
5. Abbrev: Fallass
   Title:
   Descendants of William and Dorcas Fallas of Boston, Massachusetts
   
   Lura Fallas Alexander, Genealogy, Descendants of William and Dorcas Fallas of Boston, Mass.: Both Male and Female Lines Brought Down Several Generations, Male Lines Bearing the Family Name, Are Complete to Date; Other Ancestors of William Albert Fallas, Designated as Alled Families; Some Hollands; the MacLarens; the Brewer Family, Some Descendants of John and Dorcas Brewer of Boston (Kansas City, MO: privately printed, 1929)
   Repository:
   Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society
   Boston, MA 02116
   U. S. A.
   
   Page: p. 178
6. Abbrev: MD Mayflower Descendant Legacy (CD)
   Title:
   The Mayflower Descendant
   
   [republished on CD by Search & Research Publishing, Wheat Ridge, CO 1996])
   
   Legacy CD-ROM contains 48 volumes of Pilgrim records. The first 37 volumes, compiled by George Ernest Bowman in "The Mayflower Descendant Magazine" from 1899 to 1937, are rich sources of information about the first 250 years of American history. Also included are all five volumes of Bowman?s Pilgrim Notes and Queries and three volumes of Bowman?s Vital Records of Brewster, Halifax, and Truro, and Bowman?s post-publication corrections taken from his personal copy of the magazine. New are B. N. Derick?s volume on Dennis cemeteries and a volume on Wellfleet cemeteries. (Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899 to 1937
   
   Repository:
   Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society
   Boston, MA 02116
   U. S. A.
   
   Repository:
   Name: Patrick McDonald Personal Library
   Dural, NSW 2158
   AUSTRALIA
   
   Page: Vol. 3, p. 128 and Vol. 6, p. 244
7. Abbrev: NYGBR
   Title:
   The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record,
   
   The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, vols. 1+ (NY: NYGBS, 1870+)
   
   The NYGBR is one of the leading genealogical publications in North America.
   
   New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
   36 West 44th Street, 7th floor
   New York, NY 10036-8105
   U. S. A.
   
   http://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org
   
   editor@nygbs.org
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   +1 (212) 626-6856.
   Repository:
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   Boston, MA 02116
   U. S. A.
   
   Page: Vol. 28, p. 169
8. Abbrev: Woodstock, CT Families
   Title:
   WOODSTOCK, CT FAMILIES
   
   Clarence Winthrop Bowen, The History of Woodstock Connecticut, Genealogies of Woodstock Families, 8 volumes (Norwood, MA: The Plimpton Press, 1926-1943 [reprinted by Higginson])
   Repository:
   Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society
   Boston, MA 02116
   U. S. A.
   
   Page: Vol. 4, p. 31
9. Abbrev: Bartlett-Jenkins
   Title: Edith Bartlett Sumner, Ancestry and Descendants of Samuel Bartlett and Lucy Jenkins (LA: 1951)
   Repository:
   Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society
   Boston, MA 02116
   U. S. A.
   
   Page: p. 99
10. Abbrev: Doane
    Title: Alfred Alden Doane, The Doane Family (Boston, MA: Alfred Adler Doane, 1902)
    Repository:
    Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society
    Boston, MA 02116
    U. S. A.
    
    Page: p. 7