The home of Thomas Noble, Westfield circa 1725
Thomas Noble was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on January 14, 1665. He was the son of Thomas Noble and Hannah Warriner Noble. Thomas was ordained a deacon of the Westfield Church on June 4, 1699. In addition to being a Deacon of the Westfield ChurchThomas was a farmer, and very active in the politics of Westfield. He was a selectman in 1716, 1720 and 1722. He was moderator for the majority of town meetings from 1717 through 1726. He was appointed to many committees to solve many of the issues of Westfield. On May 1, 1719 the town of Westfield chose Deacon Thomas Noble, Captain John Ashley and Samuel Root to decide on an official boundary line between Westfield and the new settlement of Northampton.
In 1719 there was much controversy over where to build the new meeting house. The town had outgrown the old meeting house and was in need of a new, larger meeting house. On November 17, 1719 the town appointed Deacon Nathaniel Munn, Lieutennant John Merrick, and Benjamin Leonard of Springfield to locate a place for the new meeting house. They also appointed Deacon Thomas Noble, Deacon David Ashley and John Shepard to accompany the groupo to "enform and enlighten them in respect to the surcomstances of the town". After this committee chose the final spot for the meeting house, the town decreed that every able bodied man aged 17 and older in the town should work to build the meeting house every morning until it was completely built. Failure to participate bore a penalty of three shillings per day unless an excuse was given. Each morning the day's building would commence to the beat of a drum. The town bore the cost of four or five barrels of beer to be served to those laboring to build the meeting house.
Thomas married Elizabeth Dewey on December 19, 1695. Elizabeth was the daughter of Thomas Dewey and Constant Hawes Dewey on December 19, 1695. Thomas and Elizabeth had 11 children together. Elizabeth died in Westfield on October 2, 1757 at the age of 80. Deacon Thomas Noble died in Westfield on July 29, 1750 at the age of 84.
Home | Locations | Surname Index | Photo Galleries |
