Thomas Lindsey ¹³⁸⁴

According to J.C. Stinchfield's The History of the Town of Leeds, Androscoggin County, Maine, a Scotch widow, whose name is not mentioned, living in the North of Ireland, traveled to America with her two young sons, James and Thomas, about the year 1725 and settled in Bridgewater, Massachusetts where the mother had relatives.

A study of another Lindsay family living near Bridgewater, Massachusetts reveals that the widow, her deceased husband and infant children have a possible and very probable relation to Andrew Lindsay of Pembroke, Massachusetts where there is a strikingly similar story told of a widow setting sail from Northern Ireland by Andrew's descendent, Ephraim Lindsey. The following text is taken from the book entitled, Ephraim Lindsey and His Descendants:

"There is a well founded family tradition that Thomas Lindsay of Scotland was the father of Andrew and ancestor of Ephraim Lindsay. Coming from Alfred, son of Ephraim and remembered by some now living it is accepted in lieu of other more reliable testimony.

It is this: About the year 1700, Thomas Lindsay left Scotland for America by way of Londonderry, then a flourishing and most accessible seaport on the north coast of Ireland. At Londonderry, he met some old friends and joined them in a steeple chase. This celebration proved fatal to him as he was thrown from his horse and his neck broken. His wife and nine children were obliged to set sail, leaving "Tom", as his wife called him, to be buried by his friends. Just where this widow and her nine children settled in America is not certain, but a few facts indicate it was near Pembroke, Massachusetts. There is reason to believe that Andrew was one of the aforesaid nine children as there were other Lindsay's living in that locality during his life time. The same authority, Alfred, always claimed for the family pure Scotch descent. He used to tell the story of some of the children who said when told of embarking from Londonderry, "Why then we are all Paddies." The reply was, "The cat had her kittens in the oven but they were not loaves of bread." There is no reason to doubt the story of Alfred, who was old enough to have heard the story from both his father and his grandfather. We can therefore accept without question the fact of our pure Scotch descent."

A similar event is documented in Bernice O. Newborg's book, Descendants of Andrew Lindsay of Pembroke, Massachusetts:

"Seven brothers came to America, three to New England, early in the 18th century.One was thrown from his horse and killed just as he was about to set sail, but his
widow came over with the two sons, aged two and four, and settled in Bridgewater, Massachusetts where they had Lindsey relatives."

Bernice O. Newborg speculates that the widow Lindsay's name is Martha because she has identified a Martha Linsy arriving in Boston on the ship "Elizabeth" from Northern Ireland 3 November 1719. This speculation seems unlikely to be true as both James and Thomas were most likely born in Northern Ireland in 1721 and 1723 respectively. However, because most early 18th century vital records for Northern Ireland were destroyed during Ireland's civil war in 1922, verification has been problematic. Andrew Lindsay's relation to the widow is likely to be a brother-in-law or son. Newborg mentions two other Lindsey's listed in Bridgewater, Massachusetts vital records:

John Lindsey married Abigail Washburn 07 February 1734
Mary Lindsey married Nathaniel Ames 09 December 1734

She speculates that both John and Mary may be siblings of Andrew, which would make John and Andrew an uncle to the sons of the widow and Mary and aunt. Without vital information for Andrew, John, or Mary, we cannot be certain of the relationship to the family of the widow. Furthermore, Newborg makes reference to Alexander Lindsey of Portsmouth, New Hampshire who came from Fforfaine, County Angus, Scotland before 1719, and married Lydia Cross 03 December 1719, suggesting that he may be the third brother who came to England, thus allowing some possibility of some truth to the "three brothers came to New England" story. However, Alexander's family history has been documented, revealing that he had eleven other siblings---six sisters and five brothers (Henry, John, Patrick, William, and James). The information has not been verified for accuracy, but if correct, Alexander would not be an uncle to the widow's son, as no Thomas is listed as a brother, and he would not be the son of Thomas, as his father is listed as "Henry". Alexander's family also seems to have never lived in Northern Ireland, traveling directly to America from Scotland, though this does not mean that no family connection would have been possible.

Several Lindsay families settled in the South. If there were other brothers of Thomas Lindsay of Northern Ireland who settled in America, it is very possible that they could have settled in Virginia or the Carolinas, areas heavily settled by Scotch-Irish immigrants.

James Gillmore and Thomas married Turner sisters. The daughter of Andrew Lindsey married a Turner brother. I speculate that Andrew Lindsey of Pembroke, Massachusetts is an older brother to James Gillmore and Thomas Lindsey of Bridgewater, Massachusetts based on the birth of Andrew's first child. If she was born in 1733, Andrew probably would have been at least 20 years old, giving him an approximate birth date of 1713, which makes him close in age to the widow's sons. His death date also coincides with the brothers. However, it is Andrew's daughter who married a Turner brother, while the widow's sons themselves married Turner sisters. There is a 10 year age difference between the widow's sons and the daughter of Andrew. Because it is unknown when Andrew came to America and what life he had before that in Scotland or Northern Ireland, Andrew could very easily fit as either a brother or uncle. Based on family lore, I have chosen to document him as a brother at this time.

Source: Maine Vital Records to 1892
Thomas's place of death is listed at Northern Ireland on the death records of two of his sons (Thomas Jr. & William Sr.)

Thomas married [--?--] [--?--]. ([--?--] [--?--] died after 1725 ⁸⁰⁷.)