Pane-Joyce Genealogy
Martha Fosdick (1455) & Richard Holden (1489)
3617. Stephen Holden. Born on 19 Jul 1642 in Watertown, MA.155 Stephen died in Cambridge, MA 12 Jan 1658/9.155
3618. Justinian Holden. Born ca 1644 in Watertown, MA.155 Justinian died in Watertown, MA ca 1697/1700.

From the Holden Genealogy, pages 63–65:155
 Justinian Holden had a seven-acre proprietor’s right in Groton. This was granted him prior to March, 1678–9, but as is the case with his father’s original grant or purchase, there is no contemporary record when he obtained it. As early as Feb., 1672–3, the town ordered that the cattle of Richard and Justinian Holden should be in the third herd. In Dec., 1673, he and his father were of the “Town Committee,” evidently concerning lands, and in March, 1674–5, he was one to set part of the town bounds. It is possible that he had already married, at this time, but if so there is no trace of wife or children.
    The Sergeant Holden of Woburn mentioned in Stoake’s letter of Feb., 1675-6 (see under John Holden), was undoubtedly Justinian, which points to his having entered the army prior to the attack upon Groton in March, 1676, when his father’s family were driven away and sought refuge in Watertown.
    He was one of Captain Daniel Henchman’s command which gathered at Concord, May, 1676, and proceeded to Hadley, where they arrived June 14, meeting the Indians in battle at Washakom Ponds en route, and joined the Connecticut forces in a brief cam- paign on the Connecticut River. The company left Hadley before June 30 to march towards Boston. Justinian Holden and the majority of the company are listed under date of 24 Aug., 1676. He was one of the troopers of Captain Thomas Brattle who went on the expedition to seize Philip in July, 1676. On 23 Sept., 1676, Captain Joseph Sill obtains credit for his men, among whom was Holden. Sill had been with Henchman, but early in September had been given command of a company which marched to the eastward. On 6 September he was at Dover, where the Indians had gathered at Major Waldron’s, and where Hathorne and Sill insisted upon making prisoners all formerly hostile. This affair was later the cause of Major Waldron’s frightful death at the hands of Indians. He had opposed the orders of Sill. After scouting to vicinity of Falmouth, Sill’s command returned to Piscataqua early in October.
    This service of Holden was done to the credit of Cambridge. During the period following the close of the Indian War, and his reappearance in Groton in 1680, it has been assumed that he mar- ried. From a conveyance made by Ebenezer Holden as “heir of Samuel Freeman of Watertown,” it may be that his wife’s father or grandfather was Samuel Freeman. The birth of his eldest child is recorded at Groton in May, 1680, and in November he purchased 20 acres there. He was chosen fence-viewer in Dec., 1682, and constable in Dec., 1683, one of the surveyors in 1687 and 1688.
    His residence in Groton in 1688 is shown by a deed dated 6 Feb., 1688, conveying to Benjamin Farnsworth fourteen acres near unto the now dwelling house of the said Justinian Holden, on easterly side of the highway leading to Pine Meadow. This deed was not acknowledged until 15 July, 1696, nor recorded until 2 June, 1736. He lived on or near James Brook, just north of the present Ayer boundary, and about half a mile south of his brother Stephen.
    In 1690 he was taxed in Woburn for one person and estate, two shillings, eight pence. After the death of his wife he removed to Billerica. The following entry appears upon Billerica records, 30 March, 1695:
    “Justinian Holden seized by John Baldin and Isack Sterns for Country and town dus and detained that night at Mr. Farmer’s house. The selectmen met about it to have compounded and persuaded him but to small purpose. The next day as he was going down to jaile he then informed ye constables of cattell he had at his place in Oborne which when they had secured his person was freed. And one cow was seized yt was sould for £3 the constable gave in ye bills what was due in rates to ye county and towne with their charge in seizing his person amounting unto £3 10 sh.
    “The cow drepted at £3 and ye money engaged to be speedily paid and was, y^e was the bell about the cows neck valued by Holdin at 5 sh. at ye same time he paid the constable 3 sh. and 6d. Therefore that the other beast which was seized should not be sold at ye same time I gave John Baldin a receipt as town treasurer of 10 sh. in money that I releive.”
    Doctor Hazen thinks this trouble with the Billerica authorities may have been the cause of his leaving that town. He was of Cambridge, 14 Dec., 1696, when he gave power of attorney to his wife Susannah and son Thomas Durren both of Cambridge, to enter upon and take possession of his lands at Woburn and to sell the ame. This was witnessed by John Watson, John Durran, Abraham Watson, and Jacob Amsden, and recorded 7-15-1699. In this instrument Justinian is described as a carpenter. The date of record of this power of attorney is very likely that of the year of his death.
Justinian first married Mary. Mary died in Woburn, MA on 15 May 1691.155
Their children include:
10837i.
Mary Holden (20 May 1680-ca 1724)
10838ii.
Capt. James Holden (1685-1766)
10839iii.
Daniel Holden (Died young) (11 Jul 1688-)
10840iv.
Ebenezer Holden (11 May 1690-1756)
On 6 Dec 1693 Justinian second married Susannah Dutton, daughter of Thomas Dutton (ca 1621-22 Jan 1686/7) & Susannah Palmer (ca 1626-27 Aug 1684).155 Born 27 Feb 1653/4 in Woburn, MA.155 Susannah died aft Dec 1723.155

Susannah first married John Durrant, second Justinian Holden.
Their children include:
10841i.
Susanna Holden (16 Oct 1694-)
3619. Martha Holden. Born 15 Jan 1645/6 in Watertown, MA.155 Martha died in Charlestown, MA 18 Mar 1687/8.155
Ca 1666 Martha married Thomas Boyden, son of Thomas Boyden & Francis (-17 Mar 1658). Born on 26 Jul 1639 in Watertown, MA.25 Thomas died in Groton, MA, on 15 Nov 1719; he was 80.25
Their children include:
10842i.
Martha Boyden (14 Jun 1667-bef 1711)
10843ii.
Elizabeth Boyden (24 May 1670-)
10844iii.
John Boyden (29 Nov 1672-24 Dec 1754)
10845iv.
Capt. Jonathan Boyden (27 Sep 1675-1749)
10846v.
Joseph Boyden (24 Apr 1678-17 Apr 1748)
10847vi.
Benjamin Boyden (29 May 1683-)
3620. Mary Holden. Born ca 1647 in Groton, MA. Mary died in Woburn, MA bef 10 Aug 1722.155
On 11 Jul 1666 Mary married Thomas Williams in Groton, MA.155 Thomas died in Groton, MA on 5 Aug 1704.

It is often said that Thomas was the son of Robert and Elizabeth (Stalham) Williams of Roxbury, and sometimes making Thomas a twin of Robert and Elizabeth’s son Stephen, born 8 Nov 1640. There is no Roxbury birth record of Thomas, son of Robert Williams. Furthermore, Robert’s will, dated 1685, proved 1693, names three sons, two grandchildren, and a brother, but no son named Thomas. Evidently, Thomas Williams is not related to Robert Williams.

From the Holden Genealogy:155
    Thomas Williams in 1686 was in possession of the Graves farm in Woburn, probably as a lessee, when Dr. Thomas Graves sold his farm of 360 acres to Nathaniel Richardson. (Middlesex Deeds, 10:524.) This farm was composed of five lots, four of which were purchased by the elder Thomas Graves of Waterfield Proprietors, and adjoined his own grant in West Rockfield, extending from the Charlestown (Stoneham) line on the east beyond the Aberjona River, and included grants to the wife of John Harvard, Abraham Palmer, James Matthews and John Stratton. On the southeast it was bounded by the 40-acre lot of Stephen Fosdick upon which John Holden lived for a time.
Their children include:
10848i.
Thomas Williams (17 Mar 1666/7-4 Aug 1704)
10849ii.
John Williams (3 Nov 1668-17 Jan 1752)
10850iii.
Mary Williams (3 Feb 1672-)
10851iv.
Hannah Williams (1 Feb 1674/5-)
10852v.
Stephen Williams
3621. John Holden. Born on 17 Mar 1650 in Woburn, MA.124
3622. Samuel Holden. Born 8 Jan 1650/1 in Groton, MA.155 Samuel died in Stoneham, MA in 1739.155 Buried in Old Yard, Stoneham.

From the Holden Genealogy, pages 66–74:155
 The summer of 1678 found Groton again inhabited. Among those who returned prior to 1680 were Justinian, Samuel, and Stephen Holden. On the 29 March, 1679, Richard Holden, then of Watertown, in consideration of 40 shillings in hand and bills for the bal- ance, conveyed to his son Samuel, who is also called of Watertown in the deed, 30 acres at Way Pond in Groton through which the higlrway passed, and surrounded by the town commons : also 3 acres at Indian Hill between Samuel Wood and Joseph Parker.
    Samuel Holden wras also granted by the town at a general town meeting held 8 June, 1680, a small slip of land, containing about 40 or 50 poles, bordering on the highway. In the minister’s rate of 30 Dec., 1681, he was assessed 5 shillings, Stephen Holden, 11 sh. 2 d., and Justinian Holden 9 sh. 1 d. The total rate was £55-1-6, and was paid by 78 persons. On the 31 Jan., 1683-4, there is a record that £1-5-0 had been paid Samuel Holden on account of Peleg Lawrence for work done in finishing the meeting house.
    There is a record at Groton of the death there of Samuel son of Samuel Holden, 28 July, 1688. Samuel Holden was taxed 30 Sept., 1689, in Woburn. The next mention we find of him is in a deed of date of 2 Jan., 1689-90, when he buys the Allen lot in what is now Stoneham, and is called of Woburn, but Woburn records do not mention him later, except as being taxed for his estate in August, 1690. Undoubtedly he had removed from Groton the preceding year, perhaps taking advantage of the snow to sled his household belongings, and was living at his brother John’s within Woburn bounds until his own farm was cleared and house ready for occupancy.
    At the time of his purchase of the Allen lot that entire section which is now Stoneham was practically a wilderness, embraced in the limits of Charlestown, known as Charlestown End. The ancient way from Woburn to Charlestown, and a way to Reading and Saugus, ran just north of the Allen lot. In 1658 all except the northern third of Stoneham was divided into ranges extending south to the then northern limit of the Medford farm of Governor Cradock. And these ranges, fifteen in number, divided into lots, were allotted as a first and second division among Charlestown proprietors. North of this division the land remained Charlestown commons. Except for the few clearings in the north part of the town and in that section afterward annexed to Wakefield, the whole of this territory was held by the Charlestown proprietors, or their heirs and assigns, as wood lots.
    In 1688 a subscription was taken for the new meeting house in Reading, and the inhabitants of Charlestown End who attended services in Reading were called upon to subscribe toward this building. ThechurchrecordsshowthatthesubscriberswereJohnGould, Daniel Gould, Thomas Gerry, Matthew Smith, Sen., Matthew Smith, Jr., Michael Smith, Thomas Cutler, Samuel Cowdrey, Andrew Phillips. These nine persons were evidently the heads of families, and with their families the sole inhabitants of Charlestown End. This settlement was about what is called Farm Hill, in the northern part of the town. An old way from Woburn to Reading ran through this section and afforded the settlers reasonable facilities for reaching either place, and the settlements in both towns early extended well to the Charlestown boundaries. Wakefield and Woburn villages are about seven miles apart in an air line.
    South of this settlement around Farm Hill and including what is now practically the village of Stoneham, and the land to the south of it, was a plain called in very early times Doleful Plain, and the pond beyond it was called Doleful Pond. South of this is the country now embraced in the State reservation, Middlesex Fells,—a hilly country, traversed by ravines and watercourses, which for a long time supplied the older settlements with lumber. Here and there existed available farm sites which were gradually utilized, but the country as a whole was not fit for cultivation. This led to practical isolation of the inhabitants of Charlestown End from Charlestown proper. Their church affiliations were with Reading, and they were left to care for their own affairs very largely,—apparently with considerable success.
    The neighboring parts of Woburn — now the northeastern part of Winchester — and that section of Woburn now Montvale, was the home of the Richardsons, and after King Philip’s War this sec- tion of Middlesex County, comprising the northeastern part of Woburn, the southwestern part of Reading and the northwestern part of Stoneham, became settled largely with families who did not care to again risk the dangers of frontier life. Such were the Law- rences and Holdens from Groton, and Batemans from Concord, who formed the little settlement on both sides of the Woburn line, at about the junction of the present boundary of Stoneham, Woburn and Winchester.
    Adjoining the Fosdick lot in Woburn, of 40 acres, left by will to Martha Holden’s children (which in 1679, after the flight from Groton, Richard and Martha Holden released to their children), was the Graves farm of 360 acres, which was leased to Thomas Williams, John Holden’s brother-in-law. That same year John Holden received a deed from his brothers and sisters of the Fosdick lot. This was the nucleus of the Holden farm in Woburn, and here John Holden probably settled in 1679. Stephen Holden, the younger brother, had gone with the first of the settlers who returned to Groton in 1678, while his father, Richard, tarried one year in Cambridge, another in Watertown, and still another in Woburn before returning to Groton.
    The church records of Woburn for the first century or more are lost, nor are those of Reading complete. In 1729, when the church at Stoneham was established, among those who were dismissed from the church at Reading was Anna, the wife of Samuel Holden. This connection with the Reading church of a woman whose husband’s family was affiliated with the Woburn church, who himself was not a member of the Reading church, and who lived on the Woburn boundary, suggests that Anna Holden may have been connected with these families who had settled in Charlestown End. There is no record of the marriage of Anna and Samuel Holden in those places where it seems possible that they could have been married, nor is her name mentioned in the settlements of any of the estates of persons with whom a relationship might be supposed to exist. It would seem evident that they were married in 1680 or 1681, during the period we suppose Samuel Holden to have been living with his brother John or with his father in Woburn, Watertown, or Cambridge. Had she been a Groton woman the chances are that the family would have remained in Groton, for, although the people of that frontier town lived in constant apprehension of Indian marauders, they were not molested after the destruction of the town in 1676, until 1694, a period of nearly twenty years, and five years after Samuel Holden had left Groton. There is preserved in the family a tradition that Samuel Holden had himself suffered from an Indian raid. This tradition is printed by Mr. Stevens, taken from a written account which he describes as “an ancient” paper.
    At the time that this event is supposed to have taken place, as related in this narrative, Samuel Holden was doubtless an unmarried man. While such an experience as is here narrated is quite what may have happened to any family settled on the frontier, it can hardly correctly describe an event in the life of Samuel Holden. The story may and probably does relate the experience of some Groton family, perhaps of a near relative of Samuel or of his wife.
    Richard Holden was in Groton at the time of the Indian attack in 1676, but his children had passed the age when the mother could take them in arms, nor had he at that time any grandchildren. Possibly it tells of the experience of the family of Richard Holden, whose son Samuel may have taken post behind the door, armed to protect the flight of the mother, and perhaps sisters, and his infirm father. Itisrarelytraditionescapesembellishment,andthe“children in arms” may, in this case, be the creation of the imagination of a descendant. The written account which follows is probably to be credited to Luther or Abiel Holden:
    “Samuel Holden, second son to Richard Holden, lived in Groton until the Indian War (which probably was the war with Philip, but whether it was or not, I shall not determine) the war with Philip, I think, was about the year 1675, at which time Mrs. R. [i.e. Mrs. Rowlinson, who was taken captive in Feb., 1676,] was taken captive.
    “ The town in the night was beset with Indians; the Indians came tothishouseinthenightandbrokeitopenandcamein. Hiswife made her escape out of a door with two small children in her arms and went into acorn-field. Mr. Holden stood behind a door with a gun in his hand, intending to kill some of them, but it being so dark he could not see them. He also made his escape out of the house and went to a garrison house. The Indians, after plundering the house,wentoff. Soon after this Samuel Holden moved to Stoneham (then Charlestown) for fear of the Indians.”
    Samuel Holding, now resident in Woburn, formerly of Groton, husbandman, from Sarah Allen of Charlestown, widow and executrix of will of John Allen, mariner, of Charlestown, in consideration of £22, 45 acres in Charlestown, on the Rocks near Woburn, being my proportion of the 2d division bounding on Eleazer Bateman and DavidFox. SonThomasAllenjoins. Dated2Jan.,1689. Acknowl- edged by Thomas Allen 13 Aug., 1692.
    He gave back a mortgage the same day to secure his payments, as follows; £8 in money and £7 in pork and corn in 1691, £7 in kind in 1692; or £18 if paid in money before Michaelmas to be a full discharge. Discharged 13 Aug., 1692.
    The Allen lot, although described in the deed to Samuel Holden as 45 acres, was actually one half of 95 acres. At the time of Holden’s purchase his nearest neighbor was Eleazer Bateman, who had bought a second division lot of Nowell in 1685, on which was a frame of house18x22 and a cellar. Bateman was a carpenter, and may have assisted in the erection of Samuel Holden’s house. In 1691 he purchased the southern half (27 acres) of the Allen lot from Samuel Holden. Dade’s lot adjoining was purchased by Bateman in 1699, and with two adjoining lots was sold by him in 1713 to Joseph Underwood, who also bought the Nowell lot of Bateman, and became Samuel Holden’s neighbor on the northandeast. His land in part was bounded east by Joseph Holden, who had come into possession of a part of Thomas Shippey’s lot. In1723, Underwood sold 64 acres to Joseph Arnold, who at once proceeded to divide his purchase with Peter Hay, Jr., and John Hay, one of the lots so conveyed being described as the “lime kiln lot.”
    Deacon Lawrence, who perhaps followed Samuel Holden to Stoneham, purchased of Joseph Lynde in 1695 three lots to the northeast of Samuel Holden’s land.
    Dean, the earliest historian of Stoneham, whose little book was published in 1840, and Judge Stevens, a later historian, —and also Mr. Bucknam, who has written upon the genealogies of the families of the town, — have all mentioned the Holdens, whose farms formed this corner of Stoneham next Woburn and Winchester. Although there can be no doubt that Samuel Holden both granted and received some land not of record, it is extremely doubtful if his holdings at any time exceeded 100 acres. The family was not, as some writers have inferred, in possession of a large part of that portion of Stoneham. A similar mistake has been made with regard to the Vinton family, neighbors of the Holdens, —ascribing to them landed possessions very much in excess of what they actually possessed. There was considerable trading of the wood lots, and this in some cases brought about an imposing array of deeds. Samuel Holden’s original farm, at the extreme western corner, reached to the present Marble Street.
    When the range lines were laid out they were set at 80 rods’ disance. Holden’s original purchase was one lot in this range, embracing 45acres. Its east and west lines must have been 80 poles in extent. This meant that his north and south lines were about 1,500 feet. This would bring the eastern line of Holden’s lot about where the present eastern line of the Dike farm now (1905) runs; that is, a little west of the old road which passes through the Dike farm to the east of Dike’s brook and enters Marble Street about opposite the Sweetser house, about 300 feet east of the Park entrance opposite Park Street.
    Marble Street follows very closely the line of the ancient road, but some changes have been made, as is nearly always the case with old roads in present use. The range lines run a course a little east and west of southeast and northwest, whereas Marble Street runs a general course to the northeast.
    Immediately to the north of Holden’s was the farm of Eleazer Bateman, who later (1691) bought the southern half of Holden’s lot. Bateman thus became the abuttor on the Holden farm, both to the north and south. This with the fact that some of the other adjoining lots are somewhat loosely described in the few deeds which we have, makes it difficult to point out the exact extent of the Holden farm as it existed during the three or four generations in which it remained in the family name. The greater part of it today is still in the hands of the Dike family, who are descendants of Samuel Holden; but it did not come to them intact. It had been divided and sold and bought at different times in different sized parcels, until it gradually came back, with additions, into the hands of Jesse Dike and his son Lyman. The latter before his death remarked, as he passed the crotch of the road on Marble Street, pointing to a little shop that then stood there, “There is where I have made many a pair of shoes.” It was a single-room shop. Such buildings are very common in the Essex and Middlesex towns, where the farmers before the advent of the big shoeshops carried on the business of sewing and making the boot, —the uppers having been supplied to them by the manufacturer. It is, of course, not known when that little shop was built, or by whom, but as Lyman Dike was born in 1821, it would not be extraordinary if that shop was the actual building mentioned in the deeds of John Holden, or of John and Daniel Holden, about 1784; and perhaps the shop which they used in their business as tailors. It would seem that John Holden, the tailor, lived north of Marble Street, and not on the original Holden farm. His land extended into Woburn bounds. The greater part of it was purchased of Joseph Knight, although his house was near to land which he had of John Bucknam, and near to land which he had inherited from his father, Samuel. His land was, however, all in one piece.
    The present road leading to East Woburn and Montvale encloses between itself, Marble Street and the Woburn boundary, a triangle, but which certainly would not, within Stoneham limits, amount to 45 acres. Within ten years a strip of territory has been added to Stoneham from Woburn, and new bound-stones have been placed, but the old bound-stone may still be seen on the southern side of the road to East Woburn. To the west and south of this bound-stone is an old orchard. A deep ravine runs through here, and at some time a dam was in existence, —the end of which may be seen north of Marble Street, which at this point has been considerably straightened and leveled. In this neighborhood Mr. Bucknam thinks the Hadleys engaged in tanning. Immediately to the southwest of this old dam and across the street is the present Dike farmhouse, formerly the house of William Holden. It is the last house on the road toward Woburn; in fact, sighting from the boundary stone in the general direction the line is supposed to run, the house would certainly seem to be within old Woburn and present Winchester limits. It is, however, within the bounds of Stoneham.
    Mrs. Symes, who was born a Sweetser, a lady probably of 70 years in 1905, related that as a girl she was always running about these fields and farms, hunting for abandoned cellar holes, geological specimens, old wells, etc. She said that the Dike farmhouse retains at one end a part of the William Holden house, and that this house had a gambrel roof, and was not unlike the so-called Hadley house on Main Street. It had no leanto. Within recent years it has been raised and an additional story put beneath it. It has also been cut in halves and the roof changed in part, so that it is possible only from the end to see how the original house may have looked. It does not seem possible that Captain John Holden could have occupied this house, as we know from his land transactions how his house was situated with regard to his purchase from the Knights. In the triangle above mentioned, between the East Woburn road and Marble Street, there is an old cellar hole, and formerly, within the remembrance ofMrs.Symes,therewasawell. Thismayhavemarkedthesiteof John Holden’s home. Between this spot and Park Street, on the east, there were other cellar holes, and according to the recollection of Mrs. Symes, two of these were occupied by Hadley houses; and this agrees with the testimony of the deeds. Assuming that the range lines ran parallel to the present base line of Stoneham, the northern boundary of Samuel Holden’s farm would have begun on Marble Street at the Woburn line, or a little south of Marble Street, and at each foot gradually drew away from the highway. By the time the westernmost or oldest quarry is reached, there might be some doubt as to whether the line was north or south of the quarry hole. It is very doubtful if the two or three other quarries to the east of this one were on Samuel Holden’s land, although they are at the present time on the Dike property.
    There is a piece of meadow called Spring meadow in the southern portion of the Dike farm,—possibly the reservation boundary line passes through it. It is at the northern base of the hill north of the Winchester reservoir, east of what is called Money Hill. Directly east of this meadow, east of Dike’s brook, is the northern limit of Bear Hill, which in Samuel Holden’s deed from Allen, was called “TheRocks.” This piece of land along Dike’s brook—theWoburn line formed its western boundary — is today under a high state of cultivation. Although not an extensive tract of land it is certainly amply sufficient to support a family. The southern limit of the Holden farm, however, was considerably farther south than Spring meadow. The old stone walls running in an easterly direction probably indicate the range lines, but unfortunately the improvements made in this part of the Fells by the forming of the north reservoir have obliterated many of the landmarks.
    Mrs. Symes says that there were formerly evidences of habitations and of cultivated fields in this portion of the reservation, although the lines of the old road running south did not closely follow the line of the present road. There is an old road, partly used as a farm road on the Dike farm, running east and west from Marble Street in Winchester to Main Street in Stoneham. This road is practically, if not actually, the road which gave access to Samuel Holden’s farm. It may never have been anything more than a farm road, but from Main Street over to Spring meadow there are the remains of the two or three cellar holes mentioned by Stevens and Bucknam. These cellar holes are the sites of the residences of some of the neighbors of the Holdens, including the Howes, and probably the residence of Joseph Holden, son of Samuel, who had land to the east of his father’s homestead, the northern part of which he purchased of his father.
    Stoneham was incorporated as a town 17 Dec., 1725. The following year Samuel Holden, Sr., was taxed 6 sh. on real estate, 3 pence on personal estate and £1-7-0 on the country rate.
    Samuel Holden disposed of his estate during his lifetime. In his old age he lived with his son Joseph, to whom he had conveyed his homestead. Two deeds are of interest:
    Samuel Holdin of Charlestown for love and affection to son in law Thomas Johnson of Charlestown, mariner, — 1 acre with fruit trees thereon, at Charlestown End, at corner of the farm in possession of Joseph Holden, adjoining Dade’s lot so called. 13 July 1722. No wife appears.
 Another deed recites that Samuel Holding, Sr., of Charlestown, husbandman, for £150, paid me by my son Joseph Holding of Charlestown, husbandman, grants a tract of land with one house and barn, orchard, meadow, plowland, woodland, fencing, mines and minerals, in Charlestown, in all 21 acres, bounded north on Stephen Parker; the northwest corner a heap of stones on Woburn line, easterly upon land I have given my daughter Mary Johnson, then by land of Mr. Peter Hayes, then upon land of Samuel Holding, Jr., and so to land of Peter Hayes, Jr., then upon land of John Richardson, Jr., to a stake which is the southwest corner, westerly on Woburn line. 18 June, 1725. Wife Anna releases dower.
Ca 1682 Samuel married Anna. Born ca 1659. Anna died in Stoneham, MA on 18 Jun 1731.327 Buried in Old Yard, Stoneham.

Headstone:155
“Here lyes ye Body of Anna Holdin wife of Samuel Holdin, who Died June ye 18th 1731 Aged 72 years”
Their children include:
10853i.
Mary Holden
10854ii.
Anne Holden (1 Mar 1682-)
10855iii.
Samuel Holden (Died young) (-28 Jul 1688)
10856iv.
Abigail Holden (say 1694-bef 1769)
10857v.
Joseph Holden (bef 1695-ca 1746)
10858vi.
Samuel Holden (23 Jul 1699-12 Oct 1761)
3623. Ens. John Holden. Born ca 1656 in Woburn, MA.155 John died in Woburn, MA on 18 Oct 1756.155 Occupation: Yeoman.

John first married Abigail, second Sarah Pierce, and third Abigail (Morse) Morse, widow of James Morse.

From the Holden Genealogy, pages 74–76:155
 John Holden of Woburn, yeoman, and Abigail his wife, John Parkhurst of Weston, and Abigail his wife, John Morse of Needham and Nathaniel Morse of Weston, and Joseph, Abigail and Zachariali Morse, children of Joseph Morse late of Watertown, sell to Joshua Warrin of Watertown a messuage there, being the mansion house, etc., of James Morse of Watertown, deceased. 13 March, 1718-9.
    John Holden was about nineteen years of age at the time of the exodus from Groton. Three years later, 25 July, 1679, his brothers and sisters, having received a quitclaim from their parents of their interest in the forty acres bequeathed them by their grandfather Stephen Fosdick, joined in conveying to him the entire tract of forty acres, bounded southeast with lands of Faintnot Wines, and elsewhere by the commons.3 This land was near the Graves farm on which his sister, wife of Thomas Williams, lived, and also close to the Charlestown line and to the farm soon after purchased by his brother Samuel. Here he made his home, adding to his possessions from time to time, and followed the trade of a carpenter or housewright.
    There is no mention on the Woburn records of John Holden until December, 1683, when both he and his father are rated in the town rate, he for one person and estate at two shillings and his father for one shilling, eight pence. He was admitted a freeman 9 July, 1684. He was chosen, 4-11 mo., 1685, one of two tythingmen for the following year. On the 23 Feb., 1685-6, the town granted him “an acre nere his house, paying a shilling in money to the towne.” In the country rate of August, 1690, Samuel Holden was rated for his estate, John for his person and estate, and Justinian for his person and estate, 1 sh. 4 d., 2 sh. 6 d., 2 sh. 8 d., respectively. In 1693 John Holden paid one third of his town rate by work on the meeting house, and 4 Feb., 1694-5, was elected one of twelve tythingmen. In August, 1698, upon the occasion of the “tax for his Majestys service,” he appears as “Sargent,” a title given him also the preceding year, and 1 March, 1699-1700, he was chosen constable. The title of ensign succeeds that of sergeant in 1706 in the town records. These military titles arose from his rank in the town train-band. His commission as ensign in the foot company commanded by Captain Josiah Converse, dated 21 Nov., 1706, is mentioned in Cutter's list of Woburn soldiers as being extant. He probably was first chosen sergeant by the train-band in 1697. In 1676 there was a “Sergeant Holden of Woburn,” who was probably Justinian, brother of John. In a letter dated 3 Feb., 1675-6, James Stoakes, writing from Rhode Island where he was with the army, and where he soon died, says, “pray Looke after my armes, seargent Holden of Woburne hath got them.”
    John Holden practically disposed of his entire estate in lands to his sons2 before his seventieth year. Jonathan was given the middle section of the farm, John the dwelling house and adjacent lands, and Thomas the eastern end. In1726 he bought another farm bounding on Stoneham. At the time of his death, which did not come until he had nearly reached the century mark, he had but a small estate, upon which his son Jonathan had administration 15 Nov., 1756. The inventory rendered 8 Dec. disclosed only personal effects to the value of £22-7-2. The estate of his son John was settled the preceding April.
    Descendants in the male line from Ensign John Holden, after the Revolution were found only in the person of his grandson Captain Nathaniel and the latter’s son Captain John Holden.
John first married Abigail. Abigail died in Woburn, MA on 22 May 1685.155
On 19 Jun 1690 John second married Sarah Pierce (8018) , daughter of Robert Peirce (2857) (21 Dec 1621-10 Sep 1706) & Mary Knight (-18 Mar 1701), in Woburn, MA.155 Born ca 1669 in Woburn, MA. Sarah died in Woburn, MA on 17 Nov 1717.155

Eban Putnam in his Holden Genealogy, page 74, placed doubt that Sarah was the daughter of Robert Pierce:155
    Nathaniel Pierce, “an orphan,” aged 15 years (son of Nathaniel Pierce, born 4 Dec., 1655, and Hannah Converse, died 23 March, 1679), born 2 Feb., 1678-9, petitioned that his uncle John Holden of Woburn be appointed his guardian. His father, the elder Nathaniel, had married in 1680 Elizabeth, widow of both Thomas Whittemore and Hopestill Foster, and daughter of Thomas Pierce of Woburn. The younger Nathaniel Pierce was left £10 by the will of his grandfather, Allen Converse. Although so much of the record would point to Sarah Pierce, wife of John Holden, as a sister of the elder Nathaniel and daughter of “old Robert” Pierce, who died 10 Sept., 1706, it does not appear that he had either a daughter Sarah or Abigail, nor does it appear that Allen Converse had a daughter who could have married with John Holden.
Their children include:
10859i.
Sarah Holden (25 Feb 1691-)
10860ii.
Abigail Holden (26 Mar 1693-)
10861iii.
Martha Holden (Died soon) (28 May 1695-27 Sep 1697)
10862iv.
John Holden (6 Feb 1698-18 Oct 1756)
10863v.
Thomas Holden (3 Jun 1700-Jul 1738)
10864vi.
Jonathan Holden (19 Feb 1703-1778)
10865vii.
Martha Holden (Died soon) (1 Feb 1706-Sep 1706)
10866viii.
Elizabeth Holden (17 May 1708-)
In 1718 John third married Abigail Morse (21551) , daughter of Jonathan Morse (7999) (7 Nov 1643-) & Abigail Shattuck.155 Born on 15 Dec 1679 in Groton, MA.155 Abigail died in Woburn, MA, on 22 Apr 1756; she was 76.155

Abigail first married James Morse, second John Holden as his third wife.
3624. Sarah Holden. Born ca 1658 in Woburn, MA. Sarah died aft 1708.
On 20 Dec 1677 Sarah married Gershom Swan, son of John Swan (ca 1620-5 Jun 1708) & Rebecca Palfrey (11 Oct 1631-12 Jul 1654), in Cambridge, MA.155 Born on 30 Jun 1654 in Cambridge, MA. Gershom died in Cambridge, MA, on 2 Jul 1708; he was 54.

Gershom and Sarah lived in that part of Cambridge called Menotomy, now Arlington.155
Their children include:
10867i.
Sarah Swan (Died unmarried) (ca 1679-25 Apr 1699)
10868ii.
Rebecca Swan (Died young) (24 Aug 1681-ca 1685)
10869iii.
John Swan (3 Oct 1683-31 Mar 1752)
10870iv.
Ruth Swan (25 Dec 1685-26 Jun 1749)
10871v.
Abigail Swan (12 Feb 1686/7-)
10872vi.
Lydia Swan (10 Nov 1689-)
10873vii.
Rebecca Swan (ca 1698-aft 1761)
3625. Stephen Holden. Born ca 1658 in Groton, MA. Stephen died in Groton, MA on 18 Nov 1715.155

From the Holden Genealogy, pages 78–85:155
 Stephen Holden joined with his brothers and sisters in the deed of 25 July, 1679, and may at that time have been of age, yet John, who was his senior, was but 22 years old in 1679.
    Stephen Holden, with whom his father spent the last years of his life, was the only one of the sons to settle permanently in Groton. He was the r oungest son, and to him fell the duty of caring for his father during his old age. Prior to his return to Groton, after its destruction, Richard Holden deeded to Stephen “eighteen acres upland and swamp, some of it on the southern side of the brook by said Richard Holden’s formerly dwelling house and the way to Nonicoicus.” This deed was dated 9 June, 1682, and was in con- sideration of the fact that Stephen had been paying all assessments on the town rights owned by his father and agreed to continue such payments two years longer.
    After the resettlement his name first appears in Groton records in the rate for the minister in 1681, when he was assessed 11sh.2d. In 1689 he was chosen one of the surveyors of highways, and in December, 1690, an overseer of swine; December, 1692, constable, and again the following year. He was one of the six voters who dissented from the town’s vote, May, 1693, not to send a deputy to the General Court. The following year he was again surveyor of highways, and 3 March, 1696, was chosen selectman. After his return from captivity he was chosen, in 1700, fence-viewer.
On the 23 March, 1691, Richard Holden and his son Stephen entered into an agreement, whereby in consideration of the latter supplying his father with all necessary things he was to enter into possession of the homestead, all lands and other estate of his father, including the dividends to accrue upon the proprietors rights held by Richard.
    Groton did not experience any direct attack from the Indians after 1676 until 1694, although the years 1689 and 1690 were filled with apprehension. Groton was at this time headquarters for the scouts and troops defending this sector of the frontier. In1691and 1692 there were eight garrison houses in towm, appointed for the protection of the families in each locality. Lieutenant Jonas Prescott’s house at the southerly end of the village was that to which Stephen Holden and his family were assigned 3 In July, 1694, the Indians fell upon the town, killed at least sixteen persons and captured half as many more. For some years after this the inhabitants were living in great dread, and so subtle were the Indians that more than one inhabitant was cut off. In 1697, in May and June, the Indians killed three men at Groton and captured Stephen Holden and his two eldest boys, John and Stephen. Doctor Green has not been able to find any other date than June for this last raid, nor have the details of Holden’s capture come down to us. But his petition for repayment to him of the money exacted for his ransom is found in Massachusetts Archives (70:400), and is as follows:
    To the Honored & great Assembly now sitting in Boston.
 The humble petition and Request of Stephen Holden of Groton Honored Srs
    It having pleased the Almighty God to order it that my selfe & my two biggest sons tho small were taken captives by the Indian enemyes from our towne of Groton and being with the Esterne enemy & my 2 sons about one year & ten moneth where tho’ it was my fortune to escape with my life thro gods mercy beyound what I did expect or look for & I think fared better then some other English yett great hardship and difficultyes I underwent, butt being very desirous with one of my sons that was there to gitt home If it might before the English vessells came I was necessitated to give my promise to my Indian Pilates whom I satisfyed att Richman’s Island by English that I borrowed of there thre pound & twelve shillings If I might have e boldness I would humbly crave that It might be payd out of Publiq stock I should take it thankfully att your hands. Thoe with my thankfull- nesse to God that both myselfe & both my children he hath graciosly returned to our home againe commend your honours and concerments into ye hands & wishing ye Presence & benidiction of ye Soveraine God I take Leave & subscribe myselfe your humble servant & suppliant. — Stephen Holden
    Groton May 27th, 1699.
 June 6, 1699. Voted the Pet. be paid out of the public treasurey £3-12.
    19 July 1699. Approved by Council and consented to by Gov. Bellomont.
    The son, John Holden, was released in January, his name appearing on a list of captives received on board the Province Galley 17 Jan., , 1698-9, at Casco Bay. Another record of a week later states that Stephen Holden and Stephen Holden, Jr., both of Groton, are still in the hands of the Indians.
    In Nov., 1711, there were eighteen “garrisons” at Groton, one of which was “Mr. Holden’s,” where were one family, three men inhabitants, two soldiers, in all “twelve souls.” The total number of families in town was 58, of men inhabitants 93, of soldiers stationed there, 17, a grand total of 378.2
    In 1713 Samuel Page of South Carolina and Nathaniel Lawrence of Charlestown sold Stephen Holden several parcels of land and a five-acre right in Groton.
    Stephen Holden died in 1715, leaving his widow with several minor children to care for. She had administration on his estate 17 July, 1715, and an inventory disclosed personal property valued at £138, and in addition to the home place 314 acres of land, all valued at £280. At her instance commissioners were appointed 22 Feb., 1715-6, to divide the estate, who set off to her her third part, including the east end of the house. She had gift of lands1 from her father during his life, and participated in his estate at his death in 1724. She died before 1738, perhaps as early as 1735. On 3 July, 1735, John Holden, Stephen Holden, William Holden, and Jonathan Holden all of Groton, yeomen, Simon Holden of Cambridge, blacksmith, William Lund of Dunstable, yeoman, and wife Rachel, William Green of Groton and wife Hannah, John Kemp of Groton and wife Sarah, in consideration of £216 sell to their brother Nathaniel Holden all their right in the homestead of their father, Stephen Holden, deceased.
    The widow Hannah conveyed to her son Jonathan all that land granted to her by her father Nathaniel Lawrence late of Charlestown, deceased, being his part of the original right in the undivided lands in Groton, pursuant to the vote of the Proprietors, 1726. Though dated 16 Sept., 1728, it was not recorded until 17 Nov., 1736. She also, on the same day, for love and affection, conveyed to her son Simon of Cambridge, blacksmith, one full moiety of land in Groton, and a parcel of intervale on west side Nashua river, the whole parcel, 12 acres, bounded north with lands formerly John Page, south with Justinian Holdin, deceased, east by river, and west by common. Also, a 5-acre right in all undivided lands in Groton, etc., and this he was to have “over and above his proportion of the estate I shall leave my children at my death.”
    The settlement of the estate of Stephen Holden involved a distribution to his ten children, 22 Feb., 1715-6, the eldest son receiving his double portion. To the widow as her dower there was set off the east end of house with the chimney thereto belonging, and 10 poles of land adjoining to the north side of said east end, also one-third the barn, being the south end and west side, etc., valued at £25-6-8. Also part of the homestead lying on the south side the highway and dwelling house aforesaid, next Slate field so called, 20 acres, being upland, swamp and meadow, bounded: beginning at the highway the line ran southerly by stakes to the land of John Green, thence running partly easterly to land which was formerly John Hutchinges’, and, then ran westerly by said Hutchinges’ to the highway leading to Coyus (Nonoicoicus), thence partly northerly to a walnut tree, thence northerly by marked trees to a black oak “and on all other parts it bounds to the highways with the fencing.” Also 3 acres at Indian Hill, valued at £8-10; 1/3 of 16 acres, £3-6-8; 2 acres, 1/4 of town right, £1-2-6.
The remaining two-thirds of the land was divided into four parts; To John, eldest son, several parcels of land, 60 acres, on west side Lancaster river at Mulpus, bounded as in a deed from Deacon Nathaniel Lawrence and Samuel Page to the deceased, £11; also 6 acres on west side of Lancaster river at Rye Fordway, as described in a deed from Samuel Page, £4; 2 acres meadow, £5: “and we find that said John holds by deed of gift from his father 2 parcels of land valued at £34, and 4 acres town right at £2;” total £56.
    To Stephen, second son, 108 acres to be taken up in town commons on west side of Lancaster river, of ancient grant, £11; also 2/3 of 16 acres, £6-13; 2 acres meadow on Squannicook river, £4; a 4-acre right in town common, £2, as in a deed from Samuel Page; total, £28-1.
    To Nathaniel, third son, the homestead on both sides of the highway, comprising thirty acres, more or less, with the house, barn, etc., except the widow’s portion, valued at £79-13-4; also 1-acre meadow, all that remains at Indian Hill after the set-off to the widow; 6 acres at Indian Hill; 2 acres meadow in Long meadow; and a 4-acre town right; total £95-3.
    To William, fourth son, 4 acres in General Field, between Stephen Holden’s house and Pierce; also 12 acres near the General Field; 15 acres in the General Field; 4 acres in Plumtree (Qy. Pleyntree) swamp; 20 acres at Sandy Pond; 2 acres in Rock meadow; and a 3%-acre town right; total, £35-17.
    Equalized by payments: Nathaniel to pay to Hannah, the second daughter, Simon, the fifth son, Rachel, the first daughter, Sarah, the third daughter, Jonathan, the sixth son.
    John to pay Benjamin, the seventh son, under 14 years, and to Hannah, and others.
    This settlement was accepted 14 Oct., 1717, by Hannah Holding, Nathaniel Holding, William Holding, and also by John Holding, who having sold the land given him by his father to his brother Stephen for £20, the judge ordered that the difference be made good to him.
    Further details appear in the Commissioners’ return and distribution, 2 Jan., 1737, when the widow’s dower was actually set off. Ten children are named in order of birth , sons, then daughters—John, Stephen, Nathaniel, William, Simon, Jonathan, Benjamin; Rachel, Hannah, Sarah.
    From this it is seen that of the estate there were 20 acres west of the Slate field, and south of the highway. The whole farm north and south of the highway was about forty acres. As may be seen from the division of the estate of Nathaniel, Slate field comprised 14 3/4 acres.
    There is no description of the lands which Richard Holden held, other than the inventory of November, 1683, found in the Proprietors’ records, where it is stated that Richard Holden held an “eighteen acre proportion.”
        Lands of Richard Holden
    This being an 18-acre proportion.
 1. Upland: first his house lot 15 acres more or less bounded north with land of Ralph Reed, east by highway, south by land of Benjamin Crisp, and west by his own land.
    2. 13 acres bounded north by land of Ralph Reed, west by land of William Longley and common, south by land of Jonathan Sawtell, east by land of Benjamin Crisp and his own land, a way being pur- chased through by the Town.
    3. Indian Hill : 6 acres bounded north by the end of the other lots, east by land of Sergeant Knop, south by highway, west by land of Benjamin Crisp.
    4. Near the General Field: 33 acres, bounded north by land of William Elluee and Samuel Davis, west by highway near the General Field, south by land of John Morse, easterly by land of John Morse and Jonathan Sawtell.
    5. In General Field: 15 acres, bounded north by the highway leading to the river, east by land of Richard Blood, south by his own swamp and meadow, west by common land.
    6. Near Sandy Pond Brook: 24 acres, bounded north by land of Ellis Barron, and on all other points by the common lands.
    7. Twenty acres, bounded east by land of Peleg Lawrence, on all other points by common lands and county road.
        Meadows
    1. Broad Meadow: 5 acres, bounded north by meado of Samuel Woods, east by upland, south by Richard Sawtell, west by John Day and John Morss.
    2. At Indian Hill: 4 acres, bounded east on Samuel Woods, west on Richard Sawtell, and on all other points by town common.
    3. South Meadow: 3 1/2 acres, bounded north by John Page,west by Ellis Barron, south by Jonas Prescott and Matthew Farnsworth, and on all other points by town upland.
    4. At Long Meadow: 2 acres, bounded south by Ralph Reed, west with Ellis Barron, elsewhere by the town upland.
    5. At James Brook Meadowand Swamp: 4 acres, bounded east by John Morse, west by Samuel Davis, elsewhere by town commons.
    6. Between Massabog and Little Pond: 3 1/2 acres, bounded with the Little Pond and meadow.
    Intervale on west side: 11 acres, bounded north by land of Timothy Cooper, east by the river, south by land of William Longley, and west by town upland.
    Confirmed 14 Nov., 1683.
    “Stephen Holden paying for a four-acre proportion have paid three shillings, four pence to the Indian purchase, as being his full and just sum. 7 March, 1688.”

    The above described lands passed by deed to Stephen Holden, to whom was laid out various “dividends” from the common lands from time to time.
    Nathaniel Holden, the third son of Stephen, came into possession of the homestead of his father. By the distribution of the estate he came immediately to possess “the homestead on both sides the highway” except so much as was set off to the widow, his mother, as her dower. In 1735 he bought of his brothers and sisters their rights in the widow’s share, and at her death thus became owner of the dwelling in which his father died, with the lands immediately surrounding it, extending from the Nonoicoicus or Ayer road westerly, to the Lancaster road, the extension of Farmers’ Row, along what was for many years known as the Lunenburg road. This ancient road is easily traced. Leading from the Ayer road between the farms and dwellings of Tuttle and McGregor, stone-walled on both sides, it soon approaches the railroad, the construction of which closed the old road. At this point it turns slightly to the south and winds along the edge of a slope, to a natural crossing of the brook which in olden time flowed out of the lowlands to the north — the so-called Pine meadow — and which is today the outlet of the artificial pond called the School Pond. Bearing southwesterly, the old road, now traced by the wall on the southern side and evidences of the northern boundary, may be followed until it comes out on the Lancaster road just north of the old district schoolhouse. The western end is a little to the south of the eastern end, but in olden times this was not the end of the road. It continued in a straight line west to the Shirley road. Today the western end of the extension is a way into an orchard, and debouches into the Shirley road right at the angle where it turns from a southwesterly to a slightly northwesterly course.
    When Stephen Holden, the elder, built his dwelling, to which came to live his father Richard, the main travelled road to Nonoicoicus left the present Ayer road just south of McGregor’s and passed along the easterly side of the brook known as James Brook, through land of Simon Stone, making a sweep to a point south of the brook and south of Matthew Farnsworth. Near the point where it formerly entered this detour Benjamin Crisp had a mill site and mill, and to reach this mill from the northwestern part of the village there was laid out a road from Lancaster Road, starting near John Page’s house and running almost southerly along the edge of the low land until it intersected the trail which later became the Lunenburg road. It was at this intersection that Stephen Holden’s house stood. This is the most reasonable construction to be given the somewhat involved, and to us of the present day somewhat blind, description of the layout of roads prior to and immediately following the resettlement of the town.
    It is probable that the first settlement of Richard Holden was at this point, though it may have been farther south, and nearer the river, near his son Justinian, but the fact that his original house lot of 15 acres was laid out extending 'west from Nonoicoicus road wrould point to site of the original house being close by that on which Stephen built his first house—the house probably described as “old” in 1715. It therefore follows, if this “old” house stood, as may be surmised, west of the house he later erected, that the original Richard Holden house stood near the brook where the new house was built.
    This latter house passed at Nathaniel Holden’s death to his sons Jabez and Isaac, and ultimately to the last named. So far as can be determined it stood over or near the present “Fifth Hole” of the Groton School golf course. The land rises there from the little valley through which the brook flows, and back of the house was probably a grove as beautiful as the one which now exists, and from the summit of the rise may be seen a wide extent of the Nashua River valley with Mount Wachusett in the distance. This house was the “garrson” of 1711, and Isaac Holden found it large enough to utilize as an inn. It must have been of fair size and good con- struction.
    The name Slate field, given in the days of Stephen Holden, perhaps even by Richard Holden himself, still persists, and in 1843 the sixteen-acre field bounding easterly on Ayer road and northerly on the Lunenburg road, being a part of Richard Holden’s original 18-acre houselot, passed from Doldt to Boynton, and was described as the “Slatefield.” It is now [1923] owned by Malcolm McGregor.
    It may be noted as having some bearing on the original grants of lots in this section, that the line of the old Lunenburg road, if extended directly west, was apparently not only the northern limit of the Holden lot north of the homestead, but of the lots to the west.
    When and how Isaac Holden parted with his home is not known, but in June, 1771, Ephraim Russell was in possession of all that part of the homestead west of the Slate field, and also of the land immediately to the west and north of the Lunenburg road, which latter tract he had bought of John Learned. Russell continued in possession for many years, and his son Thomas sold the house and eight acres in November, 1789, to Oliver Prescott, who bought for investment, not occupancy. The old house does not appear to have been standing in 1798, probably having been destroyed by fire. Today as one passes along the railroad, all that land fomerly the Holden homestead is visible; that to the east under cultivation, and that to the west either used as a pasture or as a golf course.
    The other sons of Stephen Holden, the elder, had their lands between Nathaniel’s home and the river; and the original farm, after consolidation of the various grants, dividends, and purchases, if it had remained in one ownership, would have extended with some slight interruptions from Indian Hill east of the old Nonoicoicus Road to the river, bearing southwesterly toward the bridge, laying in a general way between Page and Farnsworth (later Moors), and bounded or crossed by the Lunenburg and Shirley roads.

Will: Know all men by these present, That We Hannah HOLDEN Widow of Groton and John LAWRENCE of Lexington husbandmen, both in the county of
Middlessex within Her Majesties Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New Englnd, are holden and stand firmly bound and obliged unto Henry
Foxcraft Judge of the Probate of Wills and Granting Administrations within the county of Middlessex in the full sum of 200 pounds, current money in
New England: To be paid unto the said Henry Foxcroft his successors in the said Office or Assignees: To the true payment whereof, we do bind
ourselves and each of us, our, and each of our heirs, and Executors, and Administrators, jointly and severely for the whole and in the whole firmly
by these present. Sealed with our Seals. Dated 23rd Day Annoque Regni Regis GeorgII,

On Condition of this Present Obligation is Such, That if the above bounded Hannah HOLDEN this day administered unto her late husband Stephen
HOLDEN late of Groton who died the 17 ________.

Be or cause to be made a true and perfect inventory of all and singular Goods, Chattels, and Credits of the said Deceased, which have or shall come
to the hands, possession or knowledge of the saide administratorix or into the hands or possession of person or persons for her: And the same so
made, do exhibit or cause to be exhibited Registry of the Court of Probate for the aforesaid county of Middlessex on or before the third day of
September next ensuing. And the same Goods, Chattels, Rights and all other Goods, Chattels, Rights and Credits of the said Deceased, at the time of
and wait at any time after shall come to the hands or possession of the said Administratorix or into the hands and possission and any other person
or persons for her do well Administer according to Law. And further deal make, or cause to make a just and true inventory of her said
administration upon Oath, and/or before the 23rd day of September in the year of our Lord, 1715. The rest and residue of the said Goods, Chattels,
Rights, and Credits which shall be found remaining ____ said Administrators Accept (the same being first examined an allowed of by the Judge or
for the time being, of Probate of Wills and granting Administrations within the County of Middlessex aforesaid) shall deliver and pay unto such
person or persons respectively as the said Judges by or their decree or sentence pursuant to Law shall limit appoint. And if it after appears that
therein named do exhibit the same into the Court of Probate for the said County of Middlessex making request to have it allowed and approved
accordingly. If the said Administratorix within bounden being there unto required, do render and deliver letters of Administration (Approbation of
such Testament being first had and mad) into the court: Then the before Written Obligation to be Void and of none effect, or else to abide ____ in
full Force and Virtue.
Signed: Hannah HOLDEN (her mark)
John LAWRENCE
Thomas Foxcroft

Whereas, We Simon Stone, Jonas Prescott Jun., Johnathan Boyden, Jonathan LAWRENCE, and John Shople? all of Groton, We here appointed a
Committee In and by a Commission from the HOnorable Francis Foxcroft ESq. Judge of Probate and for the County of Middlessex Dated FEbruary 22,
1715/16 to set out by meats and bounds to the Widow of Stephen HOLDEN (Holdin) Late of Groton who died Intestate. One third part of said
deceased's housing and land of which he Died lived in this County; and to divide the residue on two-thirds to and among Said Deceased Children or
their Legal ____ Administrative viz- Into 11 equal parts or portions (there being 10 children) or into so many as Deceased Lands will make
settlement without ____ moving or ____ the whole according to the inventory. In said Commission We have accordingly allowed said works and
have set out to the widow for her third, or dower. The housing and several parcels of land following viz- The East end of the Dwelling House with the
Chimney thereto belonging together with the poles of Land adjoining to the North Side of the said East end of said House as it is marked and
bounded out by us with one ____ as it is now, and one-third part of a barn being of South end of it with 15 poles of land adjoining to the south end
and Westside of said barn as is marked and appraised at L25=6=8 Set out to the Said a Widow Part of the Homestead lying on the South Side of the
Highway? An Dwelling House ____ next ____field (so called) Containing 20 acres more or ____ being upland swamps and low land or meadow
surrounded by a lake standing by said highway, from there thence the line runs southerly by several stakes to the land of John Green from thence
part Eastward to the land, formerly John Hutchworths, Westwardly, by said highway to a walnut tree marked from thence it runs northerly by
several marked trees to a Black Oak marked, and on all other parts is bound to highways with the fencing and appraised at L50=0=0.
Also Three Acres of meadow at Indian Hill (so called) being or lying on the? The said meadow on with the fence, appraised at L08=10=0
Also one third part of 16 acres mentioned in a record 3=6=8
Also Two acres E1/4 of Town Rights at 1=2=6
Sum Total 88=5=10

The Residue or two-thirds of said lands we have divided into four parts or allotments (there not being a ____ of lands for any more without __oyling
or greatly Incommoding? the whole) as follows viz- To John E. Son of the Said Deceased the several parcels of Land and meadow following viz- Sixty
acres of upland and swampy land lying on the West side of the Lancaster River (so called) at a place called millsby Bounded and described in a deed
or convey and thereof from Deacon Nath. Lawrence and Samuel Page to said Deceased appraised at 18=0=0
Also six acres of Entervale on the West Side of Lancaster River at a place called The Rye? ford, be it more or less described in a deed there of from
SAme Page to Deacon appraised at 4=0=0.
Two acres of meadow lying in South meadow and Bounded in Town Records for Groton 05=0=0.

To Stephen Second Son to said Deceased the parcel of Land following viz- 100 and eight acres to be taken in the Town Comment on the West side of
Lancaster River on ancient ____ 11=0=0.
Two thirds of 16 acres of land mentioned in a deed thereof 6=13=4. Also Two acres of meadow more or less lying upon Squanuook River as bounded
in Deed from Sam Page to Deceased. 4=0=0. Also a 4 acre Right in the Town Common 2=0=0. Stephen has had over and above his share or
proportion. In the Deceased ____ Estate 4L7/8.5 4=7=8.5 Sum Total 128=1=.5.

To Nathaniel HOLDIN Third Son of Said Deceased all of Homestead Lying on Both Sides of the highway containing 30 acres more or less together with
the house and barn for ____ the building thereon ____ with the appraisers. In the state of circumstances as ____ this personal exempting allowance
thereof. What has been set out of the house barn and homestead for the said Widows third 79L=13=4. Also one acre of meadow at Indian Hill (so
called) be it more or less it being all of the remains belonging to said Deceased Estate of ? Acres in part of Widows Third being set out as aforesaid
.L9=10=0 Also 6 acres of upland at Indian Hill be it more or less bounded and described in Town Records appraised at 6=0=0. Also 2 acres of
meadow lying in Long Meadow (as it is called) bounded in the Record for Groton appraised at 4=0=0. With four acres of Town Rights at 2=0=0. Sum
Total 95=3=6.

To William fourth Son of Said Deceased, several parcels following---- Four acres of upland more or less lying (this is crossed out) field as bounded in
Town Record 4=0=0. Also 12 acres more or less lying near the ____ Field 6=0=0. Also 15 acres more or less in the Con. Field at 8=0=0. Also 4 acres
more or less of swamp in the Plumb Tree Swamp (so called) at 5=0=0. Also 20 acres of upland at Landy? Pond (so called) be it more or less as
bounded by in Town Records at 7=0=0. Also 2 acres of meadow more or less lying in Lock meadow appraised at 4=0=0. Also 3 acres and 2/4 of
Town Rights in Common at 1=14=6. Sum Total 35=17=6.

Whereas the Whole of said Land, amounts to Two Hundred and Fifteen Pounds one Shilling and 10 pence of which take out 10 pounds for charges
that remain to be divided 205=1=10. The Eleventh part of which is 18=12=10 and whereas John Elvert son aforesaid hath received by the Land let to
him 56 pounds of which his double shar is 37=5=9.5. There being 18 pounds 14.2.5 over and above his portion of which we order and direct him to
pay to Benjamin HOLDIN the 7th son of said Deceased a minor under 14 years of age the sum of 18 pounds 12 and 10.? Being the full of his portion
and one and four pence toward charges, Stephen having 28L and 5.5 he is to pay those out L9=8=2.5 to Hannah, second daughter to the Deceased or
will renounce his full portion in his own hands 18=12=10.? And William having received 35 pounds 17 shillings and six pence his part being
18=12=10.5 there remains 17=4=7.5 which he is ordered to pay to Simon the fifth Son of the Deceased.
And whereas Nathan, Son of the Deceased has received the land set out to him as aforesaid 95=8=4 of which he is to pay to Hannah the second
daughter of aforesaid 9=8=5 which makes her equal with the other children and to Simon aforesaid to make him equal 1=8=2 and to Rachel fifth
daughter to the Deceased her full part being 18=12=10.5 also he is to pay to Sarah, 3rd daughter of the Deceased her whole part 18=12=10.5 and to
the Administratorix for charges 9=19=6 which with his own part makes 95=3=4. The Interested parties being appraised here have manifested their
Content and Satisfaction herewith by subscribing hereunto,
Hannah HOLDIN (her mark), Nathaniel HOLDIN, John ?,
March 19, 1717. A couple of signatures left out here, unable to read.
The above distribution was made by me the subscriber the 14th of October 1717.
Simon Stone, Jonas Prescott, Jonathan Boyden, John ? (Committee)

A True Inventory of All and Singular the Land, Goods, Chattels and Credits of Stephen HOLDING of Groton Yeoman Dec'd Intestate at Groton on the
18 Day of November A.D. 1715. By Capt. Jonas Prescott, Leut. Jonathan Lawrence, and Simon Stone Groton aforesaid as Followeth:

The House and Barn with the Homestead or house Lot 40=00=00
2-33 Acres near the Genr. Field 030=00=00
3-06 Acres at Indian Hill 006=00=00
4-15 Acres in the Genr. Field 007=10=00
5-24 Acres at Landy Pond 012=00=00
6-12 Acres in the Genr. Field 006=00=00
7-04 Acres Bounded upon Sam Davis 002=00=00
8-16 Acres Bounded upon Sam Davis 010=00=00
9-06 Acres Bounded East and North upon the highway 004=00=00
10-04 Acres of Meadow at Indian Hill 012=00=00
11-Long Meadow 004=00=00
12-South Meadow 004=00=00
13- 04 Acres of Meadow and swamp at James Brooks 005=00=00
14-Back meadow 004=00=00
15-Squanicook Meadow 004=00=00
16-06 Acres lying near the Die Roadway 004=00=00
17-11 Acres of ? 006=00=00
18-60 Acres Lying at Millpos? 010=00=00
19-108 Acres ? 010=00=00
Improvements? 10=00=00
2-Books 00=10=00
3-Beds and Bedding 09=00=00
4-Pewter Pots, Kettle, Frying Pan 04=01=00
5-Chair, Barrells and other Lumbar 01=17=00
6-Charts 00=16=00
7-Credits or Debts owing to the Deacon 09=00=00
8-Guns, Sword, Halburd 03=10=00
9-Woo? Combs 01=00=00
10-Barrell of Jam 03=00=00
11-03 Pair of Oxen at ? 30=00=00
12-01 Pair of Steers 06=10=00
13-01 Steer 01=10=00
14-05 Cows 17=10=00
15-02 Hoarfers 06=00=00
16-01 Horses 02=00=00
17-05 Yearlings 02=00=00
18-02 Calves 01=10=00
19-03 Horses 12=00=00
20-01 Mares 02=05=00
21-09 Sheep 02=14=00
22-Swine 01=10=00
23-Cart with belongings to 00=17=06
24-Howes, Axes, Chains, other small things 03=04=06
25-Furniture for house 01=00=00
Total 138=18=00

The sum Total of both Real and Personal amount 419=08=00

Also the Three Sons of the said Deceased has received as follows:
John HOLDING 06=00=00
Steph HOLDING 13=00=00
Nath HOLDING 04=10=00
The amount Hannah HOLDEN admin. To her late husband Stephen HOLDON late of Groton in the County of Middlessex. The accompanying charges
(the rest not legible.)
Include copy here -too difficult to read.

____________________________________________________________________________

John 6=00=00
Stephen 13=00=00
Nathaniel 14=10=00
William
Simon
Jonathan
Benjamin
Rachel
Hannah
Sarah all had nothing

To Capt. William Lawrence and Abraham Moore and __________ all of Groton in the County of Middlessex, of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay
in New England and Sufficient Freeholders, Greeting.
Pursuant to the Power and Authority to Me given in and by the Laws of the said Province, I do hereby Authorize and Appoint the above named
Persons a Committee to Apprize the Real Estate whereof Mr. Stephen HOLDING late of Groton in said County Middlessex, Deceased, Intestate, died
seized and possessed in his own proper Right in Fee Simple each Piece and Parcel by it self, with their names and Distinction, Buts and Bounds, and
Number of Acres, at the present true Value thereof in Bills of Publick Credit on said Province, al in Words at length.

Which you are to Distribute to and among the Children of the said Deceased or to many of them as the same will conveniently accommodate,
without Prejudice to or spoiling the whole, Preference being had to the Sons. And in all deal impartially as you are Sworn. Moreover, if any of the
Children of the said Deceased have received any thing of him in his life time in advance towards their Portions, you are to signify the same to ME,
and how much each one has had.
When you go about your Work, let all Parties concerned have Notice; and if any Dispute arise about the quantity of any Parcel of Land, you may
procure an Artist for the Survey thereof; and if all said parties are satisfied with your Proceedings, let them signify the same by Countersigning.
Finally, Seal up this Commission, with your Doings thereon, and return same with all convenient Speed, into the Registers Office of Probate by some
or on of your selves. Given under my Hand and SEal of Office this second Day of January 1737 and in the Eleventh Year of His Majesty's Reign. Jonas
Remington

On the side of this page reads, viz-So much thereof as was set off to his widow, (now also deceased) is not otherwise settled or disposed of.
Middlessex, Groton January 16, 1737 The above named William Lawrence, Abraham Moore and ______ Waitt personally appearing were sworn
Justly and Judiciously to appraise and distribute the real estate above mentioned.
Ca 1685 Stephen married Hannah Lawrence, daughter of Dea. Nathaniel Lawrence (15 Oct 1639-14 Apr 1724) & Sarah Morse (16 Sep 1643-29 Aug 1683), in Groton, MA. Born on 3 Jul 1664 in Groton, MA. Hannah died in Groton, MA ca 1735.155
Their children include:
10874i.
Stephen Holden (Died soon) (-28 Jul 1688)
10875ii.
Lieut. John Holden (ca 1685-27 Dec 1753)
10876iii.
Ens. Stephen Holden (ca 1690-1757)
10877iv.
Nathaniel Holden (ca 1691-15 May 1740)
10878v.
William Holden (16 Aug 1699-25 Dec 1745)
10879vi.
Rachel Holden (ca 1700-1768)
10880vii.
Simon Holden (ca 1701/2-bef 8 Jun 1786)
10881viii.
Jonathan Holden (ca 1703-13 Sep 1758)
10882ix.
Benjamin Holden (ca 1704-bef 1746)
10883x.
Elizabeth Holden (Died soon) (ca 1706-)
10884xi.
Hannah Holden (23 Feb 1707-13 Sep 1797)
10885xii.
Sarah Holden (ca 1708-)
3626. Thomas Holden. Born ca 1660 in Woburn, MA.

Thomas joins in deed 1679, the last mention of him.155
3627. Elizabeth Holden. Born ca 1662 in Woburn, MA. Elizabeth died in Woburn, MA in 1703.124
On 21 Mar 1682 Elizabeth married John Reed (11593) , son of Ralph Reed (3905) (ca 1630-4 Jan 1712) & Mary Peirce (7989) (ca 1636-15 Feb 1701), in Woburn, MA.124 Born ca 1660 in Woburn, MA.25 John died in Woburn, MA on 3 Mar 1733.124
Their children include:
10886i.
John Reed (22 Mar 1684-)
10887ii.
Ralph Reed (6 Sep 1686-23 Aug 1769)
10888iii.
Elizabeth Reed (25 Feb 1690-)
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