| Notes |
- The following information is extracted from the opening pages of William H. Chaffee's "The Chafee Genealogy," published in the early 1900s by Grafton Press:
Thomas Chaffey is "considered to be the immigrant ancestor of nearly all in America who to-day bear this surname under its varied forms of orthography, from Chafe to Chaffee." * He came from England to New England, "where in 1635 he owned land and was living in Hingham, MA, a town near Boston. 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 land given by Hingham to Thomas Chaffey, most likely in his bachelor days, is bordering the east side of what is now Main Street, approximately opposite the old meeting-house. "He was probably married in Hull [between 1637 and 1641] . . . The town records of Hull prior to 1657 have been lost . . . It is probable that [his] wife's Christian name was Dorothy, as her sons both had daughters by that name . . . in that day it was the custom to name children for their grandparents . . ."
Besides the early land records from Hingham, his name later appears in an official 1642 document from Nantasket, MA (now Hull), granting plantation rights (farming, homebuilding, fishing) to twelve men, including Thomas. At least two 1670 deeds, in which he sells parcels of land, have his youngest son Joseph among the witnesses: Joseph Chaffy, Joseph Chafy. We can assume that Joseph had reached young adulthood by this time.
At some point, most likely between 1657 and 1660, Thomas moved from Hull to Rehoboth (Indians called it Seekonk), which at that time was part of the Plymouth Colony. His land, in the area called Wannamoisett, was probably in the section that eventually became Swansea in 1668. A deed of 1664 calls him a Planter. He and his family lived here during the ravages of King Philip's War (Jun 1675 - Aug 1676). His will was written in July of 1680, and exhibited 6 Mar 1682/3, so it is assumed he died between those two dates. His body is probably buried on his own farm, located on the west bank of the Sowams River, now called the Barrington River, "about two miles northwest of the present town of Barrington Center, RI."
Thomas Chaffey's 1680 will mentions the names of two children: Nathaniel, spoken of as the eldest son; and Joseph, who was made executor of his father's will. Thomas's Bible was willed by Joseph to his son, Joseph, who married and settled in Woodstock, CT, where he died in 1759. Josiah, his youngest son, inherited the family Bible and passed it on to his descendants. The Bible contains an original signature, dated July 1664: Thommas Chaffy (or Chaffe). A copy may be seen in the Appendix of William H. Chaffee's book.
* (William H. Chaffee writes that there are at least eleven forms of the surname, as follows: Chafe, Chafy, Chafie, Chafey, Chafee,Chaphe, Chaffy, Chaffie, Chaffey, Chaffe, and Chaffee.)
|
1615 - 1683 (~ 73 years)