vital records sources
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The first three images are of Thomas's signature. He consistently spelled his last name "Woodberey," although there are small style fluctuations. This was typical of the time. The second two show lack of space to avoid the seal. The third may appear to be "Woodbery," but it's very likely he started his second "e" and then had to compress the "y." The fourth is one of his son Thomas's probate documents written by Thomas, Sr., and has 3 instances of him spelling the name "Woodberey," showing he was very literate and committed to that spelling, which is why I choose to refer to him as such. Otherwise, this surname at the time was usually spelled "Woodbery" (see explanation at the end of the biography). He only put a mark ("TW") on his will, surely because, in his words, he was "very infirm through age."

Thomas and Elizabeth were married by Justice John Hathorne several years before he served as judge at the Salem witchcraft trials. Thomas is described as a mariner in at least one deed,1 but had retired to farming by the time he died.2

In Janeway's Remarkable Sea Deliverances, he mentions an incident involving Thomas.

A Remarkable Providence of God in wonderfully preserving of Eleaven or Thirteen poor distressed mens lives.3

In the year [16]68. a Ketch Sailed from Salom in New-England for the Barbadoes; and when they came into the Latitude of 35 [off the coast of North Carolina]. it began to look like foul weather, so they took in their Top-sail, and because it was towards night, they struck down the Main sail, and Rafed it; and all this time there was but a little wind (which was remarkable, if the ensuing story be observed) but still it looked like bad weather; so they sent up one to Tallow the Mast, and made no great hast to set Sayl; the man at the Top thinks he sees some black thing float upon the Sea, and looking upon it very fixtly, he conceives it to be a Boat, and so calls to the men below, so they hasten'd to hoise Sayl and make towards it; and when they came to them, there was a Long-boat with a 11 or 13 men, (my Author could not absolutely remember the just number) which poor distressed Creatures, had been bound for Virginia; and the ship in which they were, proved very Leaky, and so exceedingly encreased, that in a very little time, she was ready to sink; so all hands hastened to get out the boat, but the Master stept into the Cabbin to fetch a Compass, and took some Canvas, a Sayl-needle & twine which he thought might be useful to them in their Need and Extremity; but while this poor industrious man was endeavouring to be useful to some other mens lives, he was in danger to lose his own; for the boat was put off, and the ship sinking, so he crys to them in this distress, if they would leave him, and let him there Perish; so they came back, and took him in; they had in their boat a Capstone-bar, which they made use of for a Mast, and the piece of Canvas for a Sayl, and so Sayled afore the wind, and had no kind of Food; and now comes dreadful and inexpressible distress upon them, making them wish for death it self to give them a deliverance, now all hopes of Relief failed them; thus they continued five days, some grew Lame, others Feeble, and all much disheartened by despair of Life; and now upon the 6th. day, they had concluded to cast Lotts for their lives, who should dye to preserve others; and they put their Resolution into Execution, and that poor Creature, upon whom the Lott fell, begs for time;...before night, they espyed this Ketch, which raised them all to Admiration; but they had fears in this distress, that the Ketch did not see them; but when they perceived the Ketch made to them, O what a new life did it put into these dying men; so they all got safe Aboard:...In one hour after there arose a most dreadful Storm which continued for forty hours, and all of them safely Arrived at Barbadoes. The Masters name of the Ketch was Thomas Woodberry of Salom. This the Author had from a very known person for Integrity and Godliness, now living at Salom.

     In 13 January 1671/2 Thomas Woodberey and George Stanley were brought to court for a breach of peace. No details are given in the court abstracts.4 In July of 1673, a warrant for Thomas's arrest was issued for reasons not said. Nicholas Manning family's made an accusation, and abstracts of depositions suggest he was behaving inappropriately. In the end, the case seems to have turned toward the behavior of Hannah Gray, one of the Woodberey's tenants, who must have initiated the accusations. There's no record of Gray being summoned to court or testifying. Mary Thorndike said she lived with the Woodbereys for about six months and "never say any evil, lascivious or wanton behavior by him in all her life, neither did she hear him use any "vaine or frothey speeches." Peter Wolfe said he had "never seen him making hay with Hannah Gray, but his children used to make hay there daily." Elizabeth Fowler said she had nursed Thomas's wife about two years earlier. She said Hannah "was a lying girl, and several times in the night when deponent waked, she missed her and heard her laughing and giggling at the boys' bed which was in the same room." She had known Thomas "a great while and while his wife was sick did not require the girl to get any victuals for him. (Essex Co. Quarterly Court records, 5:289-291) Mary "Sollas" (Sallows) said that in the Summer of 1673, "as she came near Thomas Woodbery's house, she heard Hana Gray laughing, and go in quick without knocking, the door being open, she being a neighbor, saw said Hana and Andrew Davis together." She told of "many other occasions when said Hana was guilty of lascivious carriages, and deponent's brother Robert told her how Hana would entioce the 'scoller boys,' and that she was guilty of baudly language and acts among the boys and girls." Freeborn Black said that "she was so rude to his children in abusing and beating them, and when he spoke to her about it, she would mock him to his face. As for his neighbor Thomas Woodbery, he had lived by him thirty five years and had never seen any uncivil carriage in his childhood or later years." Hannah was certainly on trial in some way, because she was "ordered to stand at the meeting houses in Salem and Beverly upon a lecture day, with a paper on her head on which was written in capital letters, I STAND HEERE FOR MY LACIVIOUS & WANTON CARIAGES" or be whipped. She may also have made some accusations about Thomas. Hannah was the daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Gray and was only about 14 at the time. As Robert's widow, Elizabeth married Nicholas Manning in 1664, making him Hannah's stepfather.

Thomas served the Town of Beverly often:

*Mar. 1672, fenceviewer5
*1674, constable 6
*4 Nov. 1676, was among the men who agreed to provide firewood for Rev. Hale, 5 cords.7 *On a committe to meet with representatives of Wenham and lay out 600 acres according to an agreement, October 1680, by 10 April 1681.8
*2 Dec. 1689, he was appointed to a committee to find out how much money Rev. Hale had spent on his house.9
*Thomas and his cousin Hugh, based on their experience, helped assess the value of a ketch owned by Mark Hascoll. When Mark died it was at sea, and the Woodbery's viewed it and also assessed the cargo in March 1689 after it returned.10
*24 Jun. 1690, he was elected a selectman.11
*28 Mar. 1690, the town recorded a list of men who contributed money on loan for the town to bye guns and ammunition for its protection. There are only sixteen men named. The amounts range from 10 shillings to £8. Thomas gave £3.12
*28 Oct. 1690, he was one of nine Beverly men who contributed a shilling to help the family of Lawrence Dennis, "God's hand beinge uppon ye wife & children in ye noisome dessease of ye smale pox."13
25 Dec. 1690, on a committee to sell land.14
*9 Nov. 1691, grand juror.15
*2 Feb. 1691/2, elected a fence viewer16
*7 Mar. 1691/2, referred to as a selectman17
*19 Mar. 1693/4, fenceviewer18
*Apr. 1694, on a committee to run the bounds between Beverly and Wenham.19
*Mar. 1696/7, selectman.20
*Oct. & Dec. 1700, on a committee to reckon with Rev. Blowers about his salary and served on a committee to see that a house was built for him. Among the others were Thomas West and Capt. John Dodge.21
*Dec. 1701, he was added to a committee to look for a grammar school teacher, and by the end of the month the town had an agreement with Robert Hale.22
*Mar. 1700/1, Mar. 1701/2 and Mar. 1702/3, he was again elected a selectman.23
*Feb. 1701/2, he was reimbursed by the town for £1, 13 shillings, 2 pence for "goodwife Drinker's" funeral expenses.24
*Aug. 1702, he was elected a tax assessor for Beverly.25
*May 1703, he was on a committee to check the bounds between Beverly and Wenham.26

     Thomas was likely the Thomas Woodberry who appears as a co-owner of the ship Mary & Abigail, registered on 5 December 1698. The primary owner was Robert Brisco of Beverly and the other owners were John Dodge, William Elliott and William Woodberry, who was also the master.
     The town records of Beverly have many instances of townspeople agreeing, for a fee, to look after the town's poor. New England towns tried to avoid having indigent people to look after, and when new people came to town and didn't have obvious means or intentions to staym they were "warned out." One of Beverly's poor was John Knights. After Nathaniel Rayment agreed to take care of him for a year, Thomas took over seven months later.

This Indenture and agreemen made this seventh day of January one Thousand six hundred ninty and seven Eight beetween mr Thomas Woodbery senr of this Towne of Beverly on the one party and the select men of fd Towne on ye other party Which are as followeth viz I the abouesd Thomas Woodbery senr doe by these presents for my selfe my heirs and Assigns doe promas to & Bargan with sd select men of Beverly to take keep and maintiane John knights one of the poore of sd Towne in meat drinke lodging washing and Apprill [apparel] suteable for suchy person for the terme of one whole year frome the date here of fully to be Compleated and Ended and ye sd select men with ye Consent of ye sd John knights doe put the sd John knights to ye sd Thomas Woodbery him to serve for the terme above sd and further in Consideration of the premises wee ye sd select men of Beverly above sd doe in behalfe of our sd Towne promase and in gadge to ye sd mr Thomas Woodbery that hee shall bee payd ye sume of seven pounds in money that is to say three pounds and ten shillidgs at the End of six months from ye date hereof and ye other three pounds and ten shillings at ye expiration of sd year in witnesse where of wee have here unto Enterchangably set our hands ye day and year above written.

     The Beverly town meeting of 13 March 1698/99 mentions money due from the town to Thomas including, apparently, highway work done or paid for by him, six shillings for John Knight's burial and coffin, nine shillings for "drink shugar and spice" and forty shillings for the remainder due for Knights's provisions. 336 The drink, sugar and spice might have been for a highway work crew. People are on record in 17th and 18th century New England for being reimbursed for libation (usually rum) for labor doing the town's work.
     Thomas's will, in which he describes himself as a yoeman "very infirm through age:" The wording is verbatim, but with modernized punctuation, spelling and word forms.27

I will and bequeath to my loving wife Elizabeth the bedstead and bedding we now lie upon and all her own wearing apparel and the creatures hereafter named one horse suitable for her to ride upon and three cows and one heifer and three good ewes and one swine, all which she shall have liberty to choose out of my stock as soon as she please after my decease, provided she accept hereof in full of her thirds of dower together, that is to say, with what is hereinafter bequeathed to her for her use during her widowhood, the aforesaid bedding etc. to be at her own dispose forever.

My will is that my said loving wife Elizabeth shall have and enjoy during the term of her remaining my widow the half of my now dwelling house, seller, lower room, leanto and chimney and garret and chamber, which she shall choose, and the wester most garden with the trees and fruit thereof and half the back garden and the easter most half of my orchard before the door from the way quite down to the meadow and enjoy the benefit and fruit thereof during the term of widowhood aforesaid

My will is that my son William shall fence off my said wife's part of the orchard and keep in repair that part of the house she shall dwell in during the aforesaid term at his own proper cost and charge

My will is that my three sons William, Jonathan and Samuel shall in equal proportion find and provide for my said wife Elizabeth annually during her said widowhood summer and winter feed and barn room for one horse and two cows and shall cut and bring home annually five cord of wood for her and sixteen bushels of Indian corn and three bushels of malt and one bushel of barley and one pack of beans and fifty pounds of beef and six pounds of the tare of good flax [i.e ready to be spun] annually so long as she remains my widow

My will is and I hereby give to my two daughters Hannah, the wife of John Ober, and Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Herrick, to each of them and their heirs the sum of twenty pounds apiece to each of my said loving daughters in province bills of credit or money equivalent to be paid in eighteen months next after my decease

My will is and I hereby bequeath to the three children of my son Thomas Woodberry deceased, Samuel, Keziah and Mary, to them jointly or or to their heirs or the survivors of them the like sum of thirty pounds to be paid them in like specie and time of payment with the foregoing forty pounds, likewise I forgive to my said loving grandchildren the debt of eighteen pounds as due from their deceased father to me, the said thirty pounds to be in equal proportion to the said Samuel, Keziah and Mary, to each of them or their heirs ten pounds apiece

My will is that the said twenty pounds apiece to my two daughters Hannah and Elizabeth or their heirs etc. and the said thirty pounds hereby given among my aforesaid three grandchildren be paid by my three sons William, Jonathan and Samuel Woodberry in equal share and proportion I give and bequeath my pasture of ten acres lying adjoining to Matthew Buttman's pasture in Beverly to lay to my loving son William Woodberry, one fifth part thereof for quantity and quality to him and his heirs forever, and to my loving son Jonathan Woodberry one fifth part thereof for quantity and quality to him and his heirs forever, and to each of my aforesaid loving daughters Hannah Ober and Elizabeth Herrick one fifth part to them and their heirs forever, to my loving grandson Samuel Woodberry one fifth part of said pasture for quantity and quality to him and his heirs forever ,and in case of failure of said Samuel's more immediate heirs then said fifth part I hereby give in equal proportion between my aforesaid grandchildren Keziah and Mary sisters to said Samuel and their heirs or the survivors of them forever

I give and bequeath to my loving son William Woodbury afore named my now dwelling house, the half thereof to be his immediately after my decease and the other half so soon as my wife's interest for term of life or widowhood as herein before bequeathed to her shall be expired. I give him the ground the house stands on and the land immediately between the foreside of the said house and the way and two poles in width on the backside of the same its whole length to run the same width the backside and foreside from the easter most end comes to said Williams's own land and I give him likewise the barn of mine standing on his own land and all this to my son William and his heirs forever

All the rest and remainder of my estate not herein mentioned be it real or personal, housing, lands, tenements, goods, chattels, rights, credits whatsoever wheresoever I hereby give and bequeath to my aforesaid three loving sons William Woodberry. Jonathan Woodberry and Samuel Woodberry to them and their heirs for ever in equal share and proportion they likewise paying all my just debts and funeral charges in equal proportion between them, the several legacies and as herein before here expressed and respectively allotted to them and I do hereby make my aforesaid loving son William sole executor of this my last will and testament declaring it to be hereby null all former wills by me made

In witness whereof and confirmation of all and singular the premises, I hereunto set my hand and seal the 11th day of December Anno Domini 1716...

Signed sealed and declared to be his last will and testament by Thomas Woodberry in presence of

Robert Hale William Woodbury Peter Groves Joseph Foster

     This family name in the 17th and early 18th centuries is spelled variously depending on the document and the gravestone. There were varying degrees of literacy, even among town clerks and ministers. Spelling was fluid and often reflected phonetics, but the prevailing spelling amongst family members was decidedly "Woodbery." Thomas is a slight exception. Transcriptions and originals of documents signed by him in Essex County Quarterly Court files, Essex County probate records and Beverly town records say "Woodberey," so I defer to Thomas's choice. "Woodbery" generally and eventually shifted to "Woodberry," and now "Woodbury" is favored.

Children of Thomas Woodberey and Hannah Dodge (baptisms recorded in the First Church of Salem up to Thomas, then in the First Church of Beverly):

i. William b. 7 September 166228
ii. Samuel b. 1665-1666, d. 18 April 1689
iii. Thomas bap. 5 May 1667
iv. Israel bap. 29 May 1670
v. Hannah bap. 25 February 1671/72
vi. Elizabeth bap. 6 February 1675/76
vii. Susannah b. 20 January 1679/80, (no first name given)29
viii. Jonathan b. 12 September 168230

child of Thomas Woodberey and Elizabeth:

ix. Samuel b. 2 February 1690/131

vital records sources: Thomas's first marriage comes from Vital Records of Salem, Massachusetts, to the year ending 1849, vol. 4 (Salem: 1924), 487. His second marriage is from Early Records of the Town of Beverly, etc., vol. 1 (Boston: Eben Putnam, 1907), 62, 28 April 1690, by John "Hathorn." His will was proved on 20 Apr. 1719.

1. Essex Co., MA, deed, 13:278.
2. Essex Co., MA, Probate case file 30516, will.
3. Mr. James Janeway's LEGACY TO HIS FRIENDS, Containing Twenty Seven Famous Instances of Gods Providences in and about Sea Dangers and Deliverances (London:1674), 34-37. https://www.digitalpuritan.net/Digital%20Puritan%20Resources/Janeway%2C%20James/%5BJJ%5D%20Mr.%20James%20Janeway%27s%20Legacy%20to%20His%20Friends.txt. A transcript of Mather's Remarkable Providences, a more widely available text, cites Janeway when he also mentions this event. Both Janeway and Mather were ministers.
4. Essex County Quarterly Court, 5:362.
5. Municipal Documents of the City of Beverly, Massachusetts, "Town Records of Beverly, 1665-1675" (Beverly, MA: 1895), 409.
6. ECQC, 5:436.
7. Municipal documents of the city of Beverly, Massachusetts, "Early Records," continuation from 1895 (Beverly, MA: 1896), 349.
8. Municipal documents of the city of Beverly, Massachusetts, "Copy of Early Records of Town of Beverly, 1676-1685 (Beverly, MA: 1897), 396-7.
9. Municipal Documents of the City of Beverly, Massachusetts, "Copy of Early Records of Town of Beverly, 1685-1691 (Beverly, MA: 1898), 399.
10. Essex County Quarterly Court, 4:128.
11. BTR (1898), 413.
12. BTR (1898), 406.
13. BTR (1898), 416-7.
14. BTR (1898), 432.
15. BTR (1898), 425.
16. BTR (1898), 428.
17. BTR (1898), 428-9.
18. Municipal documents of the city of Beverly, Massachusetts, "Early Records of Town of Beverly" (Beverly, MA: 1899), 397. 19. BTR (1899), 399.
20. BTR (1899), 438.
21. Municipal documents of the city of Beverly, Massachusetts, "Early Records," continuation from 1899 (Beverly, MA: 1900), 346.
22. BTR (1900), 353-4.
23. BTR (1900), 349, 357, 366.
24. BTR (1900), 356.
25. BTR (1900), 358.
26. BTR (1900), 368.
27. Essex Co., MA, probate file 30516.
28. Vital Records of Salem, Massachusetts, 2:441.
29. Early Records of the Town of Beverly, Massachusetts 1:372, bap. 7 March 1679/80.
30. Vital Records of Beverly, Massachusetts, 1:388.
31. Vital Records of Beverly, Massachusetts, 1:390.