~1656 - 1710
Massachusetts? - Setauket (Brookhaven), Suffolk, NY
Born: ~1656
In: tradition says Massachusetts (Susan Austin's Rootsweb file says Salem)
Died: ~1710 (last recorded transaction dated June 1710; will probated 18 Sep 1710)
In: Brookhaven, Suffolk (Long Island), NY
Father: Unknown
Note - (from Ira Helm’s page) - it had been conjectured that his father was William, his grandfather Christopher (of Rhode Island). Recent research, as well as recent yDNA studies, have shown this to be improbable.
Mother: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown
Married: (16 Dec 1686) Mary Mills Norton, widow of Nathaniel Norton
She was d/o either Isaac or Richard Mills, both of Southampton
Nathaniel Norton (29 May 1639 Salem MA - 7 Nov 1685 Brookhaven NY)
Children with Nathaniel: Isaac, Nathaniel, George, Jonathan, Mary, Sarah and Hannah
Note - the name of his wife was unknown for a long time. However, one of the records preserved at the Thomas Helme House site - an indenture dated 20 Nov 1695 (but not recorded) between Nathaniel Norton, Mary Helme and William Smith - proves at least that Nathaniel Norton’s mother Mary was identical with Mary Helme. (In another record - a deposition by Jonathan Norton for a boundary dispute - Jonathan refers to “father Helme.”) I do not have proof for her maiden name Mills, but considering how careful the researchers I am copying from are, I assume there is good reason for it.
Children with Thomas Helme:
William (our next ancestor) b ~1696-88 - d 1755
m Temperance Woodhull
Thomas (1703-1729)
m Johanna Miller
Ans (Ansel, Anselm, Ants) (1701-?)
Daughter
Daughter
Daughter
Daughter
Susan Austin's listing at Rootsweb leaves out Ans, but includes a son Caleb, b ~1700 (could that be another name for Ans? or his middle name?), and lists daughters Hannah (one born 1702, one 1705) and Martha (b ~1705)
These records all come from the Helme House Archives pages
1664 June 10 - Massatewse and the Sunke Squaw sold the tract of land called the “ould man’s” to the inhabitants of Setauket. (Brookhaven Town Records, Book A, pt 1)
1670 Jan 16 - John Roe granted 15 acres at the Ould Mans (Brookhaven Town Records)
1671 Apr 3 - John Thomas sold to Richard Fled/Flied/Floyd 34 acres at the Ould Mans (Brookhaven Town Records, Book A, pt 1 - Page 28 [34])
Observation: This is the first mention of the property in Miller Place shortly thereafter to be purchased by Thomas Helme.
1671 Apr 9 - Thomas Helme a witness to a land deed in Southampton (Southampton Town Records, Vol. II Page 59)
1675 July 2 - Thomas Helme and Richard Dayton traded horses (Easthampton Town Records Book F, Page 14)
1676 May 15 - Thomas Holmes [Helme] and John Hart to be paid 30 shillings to make a good gate (Brookhaven Town Records, v 1)
Note: The above reference is the first mention of Thomas Helme (I) that is found in the Brookhaven Town Records
1676 Dec 5 - Richard Floyd sold the 34 acres at Ould Man to William Jayne [it was a more complicated deal than that, but] (Brookhaven Town Records, Book A, pt 1 - Page 49)
1677 Jan 20 - John Thomas sold a share of some meadowland at Ould Man’s beach to Thomas Helme (Brookhaven Town Records, Book A, pt 1 - Page 45 [53])
1677 July 14 - William Jayne and Thomas Helme exchanged some property, so that Thomas now owned the whole 34 acres by himself (Brookhaven Town Records, Book A, pt 1 - Page 44 [52])
1679 Oct 1 - Inhabitants of Brookhaven drew lots for 50-acre parcels - Thomas Helme drew a blank, so presumably he did not get one of the parcels (Brookhaven Town Records, Book B)
1679 Oct 23 - William Jayne sold a 10-acre lot to Thomas Helme (Brookhaven Town Records, Book B- page 7[20])
1680 Nov 3 - Indenture between Thomas Helme and William Jayne
1681 Feb 18 - Thomas Helme to build a house for John Roe (Brookhaven Town Records, Book B- page 68[103])
1681 July 2 - Another land deal between Thomas Helme and William Jayne (in several parts)
1681 Sept 26 - Thomas Helme and William Satterly chosen as deputies from Brookhaven to a meeting with other towns
1683 - Brookhaven Town Assessment -
Thomas Helme - Heads 1 | Land and Meadow 7 | Horses 4 | Swine 5
1684 Jan 6 - Thomas Helme to write up the laws of the town
1684 Apr 3 - Thomas Helme chosen one of the assessors of the town
1684 June 2 - Thomas Helme chosen (one of five men) to treat with the Indians (I am not really clear about this - the language and spelling is difficult - I think the town wants to rent some land from the Indians, but there also seems to be some concern that some of the Indians using the land do not belong to the town of Brookhaven . . .)
1685 March 10 - Thomas Helme “. . . being chosen the surveyor of the town. . . “
1686 - Thomas Helme became one of the Trustees of Brookhaven (Dongan Patent - Brookhaven Town Records, Book A, pt 2 - Page 64)
1686 Dec 13 - married Mary Mills Norton, widow of Nathaniel Norton (a near neighbor)
1687 - Town Clerk
1690 Aug 20 - Indenture between Thomas Helme and John Thomas
1694 - President of the Board of Trustees (of Brookhaven)
Supervisor of the town of Brookhaven
1695 - President of the Board of Trustees (of Brookhaven)
1695 Apr 6 - Indenture between Thomas Helme and John Youngs (not recorded until 1734)
1695 Nov 20 - Indenture between Nathaniel Norton, Mary Helme and William Smith (unrecorded) -
in this document, Nathaniel refers to his mother Mary, and she signs as Mary Helme
1696 July 21 - Thomas Helme, clerk (Southampton Town Records, vol V, p. 83 - Historical Documents) - I think he was a clerk of the county court
1696 July 29 - Thomas Helms was chosen by the maior vote of the Towne Recorder (I am not sure what this means - what he was chosen for)
1698 - President of the Board of Trustees (of Brookhaven)
1698/9 March 22 - Survey for Thomas Helme
1701, 1704, 1706 - Thomas Helms, Justice
1702 Sep 29 - at a Court of Sessions held at Southhold - Tho. Helme Clerke (Southold Town Records, p. 355)
1704 June 23 - Indenture between Thomas Helme and William Jayne
1707 Sept 7 - Martha Smith left him 40 shillings "to buy him a ring" in her will - witnessed by Thomas, Daniel Brewster, Dorothy Woodhull
1709 May 3 - Thomas Helme one of the surveyors
Observation: This is the last record found with Thomas Helme (I) being mentioned as participating in town affairs.
1710 Sept 28 - will of Thomas Helme proved
WILL of THOMAS HELME (I) - 1708 (for the complete transcript, see the Helme House site - will)
Dated 28 July 1708 - Proved 28 Sept 1710
To my eldest son William - land in Georges Neck
1/3 of commanage
2 shares of meadow and upland
To Thomas Helme - all land and meadows at Old Mans
1/3 of commonage
Some meadow rights
To son Ans - all land in [Something] Neck, with house, orchards etc
all land in Mt Misery
4 shares of meadow and upland
To each of 4 daughters - a heifer
All the rest of moveables to be divided between 3 youngest daughters (reserving wife’s dower and the use of the house). Also use of meadow close in Georges Neck for 2 years
Exec. Wife
The Helme House site also provided this information:
The book "Long Island Early Wills of Suffolk County 1691 - 1703" was compiled by William Pelletreau and is an unabridged copy of the manuscript volume known as the "The Lester Will Book" showing the records of the Prerogative Court of the County of Suffolk, NY and in which are the entries of Thomas Helme as Clerk. The following summary on the life of Thomas Helme (I) was written by Richard M. Bayles, Esq., historian, dated 1XXX and reads as follows:
"The original Thomas Helme of Brookhaven town, tradition says, came here from Massachusetts, but little is known of his antecedents beyond this simple tradition. The records show that he was an active man in the primitive community, and a man of superior education and more than ordinary intelligence. Though his lineal representatives still preserve his name and some of his property, yet an unfortunate breaking up of the family in early years threw any records or documents that may have been left by him into the keeping of other hands, which had not the interest in preserving them that an immediate member of the family would likely to have, and little remains to throw light on the life of the original settler except a copy of his will. He was not among the first who settled here, but appears to have been living in Setauket previous to 1680. And in the year he is mentioned as one of the owners of the "Fifty Acre Lots" near Mount Sinai and it is probably that he had purchased proprietary right from some former owner. He lived at Setauket, somewhere on the old road south of the East Setauket school house. He had seven children, four daughters and three sons. To his eldest son Thomas he gave land at Miller's Place and to his sons Anselm and William he gave his homestead in Setauket. The two younger sons conveyed to others, and removed to Orange County, NY. Thomas Helme, the oldest son, was killed by a runaway team at the hill just east of the Middle Island post office, about the year 1730. He left but one child, a son, Thomas, who was brought up by his uncle and guardian, Andrew Miller. After arriving at manhood he built the house at Miller's Place where Mr. George P. Helme, one of his descendants, now resides."
"Thomas Helme, the original here, was a man of prominence in local affairs, and evidently had the respect of the people in a very high degree, and held many positions of honor. He was one of the Patentees of Brookhaven in 1686; was commissioned with Richard Woodhull to lay out Little Neck, in 1687; one of the witnesses to the will of Richard Smith, the Patentee of Smithtown, 1692; Supervisor of Brookhaven, 1694; Town Clerk 1687; President of Town Trustees, 1694-1698; Justice of Peace from 1691 to 1706; County Clerk, 1692 to 1709, and in this capacity was ex officio Clerk of the Prerogative Court, as shown in this volume. All things show plainly that he was looked upon as an equal by the foremost men of this time, and conducted the affairs of all the various offices committed to his trust with great ability, and his clerical accomplishments are clearly demonstrated by the admirable handwriting in which the records of the Prerogative Court, and County Court, made by him are preserved. It is worthy of mention that the widow of Wm. Smith, the progenitor of the "Tangier" family, in her will leaves a legacy of forty shillings to her friend Thomas Helme "to buy him a ring". After a life of usefullness Thomas Helme died in 1710, but his age is unknown."
Observation: It needs to be noted here that the copy of the will shows William to be the oldest son and not Thomas. Please refer to the ARCHIVES link under the section on Wills for clarification on this point.
To next ancestor, William Helme
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Page last updated 3 July 2007
A few mentions of Mary Mills's first husband Nathaniel Norton (from the Helme House Archives):
Page 14 [28] -
17 Sep 1674 At a Town Meeting
It was futher Voted and agred upon that Nathaniel Norton Shall have that piece of Meadow lying Near to Mount misery House with 3 pole to upland by the Side of the Meadow for Clapboarding and Shingleing of the Meeting House he finding Clapboards and Shingles.
Page 34 (56) -
24 novemb 1680
Nat Norton of setauk alles brookhaven sold 50 akers at ould mans to Andrew gibb
Signed Nat Norton
Mary Norton