Husband: Thomas Helme (I)
Born: ca. 1656 (date calculated by various recorded town records); England
Died ca. 1710 - last known recorded transaction dated June 1710
Buried:
Will dated: 28-Jul-1708
Probated: 28-Sep-1710 at the Court of Common Pleas, Southold, NY (Liber B, Pg. 85)
Resided: First record appears in Southampton, Suffolk County, NY 9-Apr-1671
as witness to sale of house and property
Occupations: constable (Brookhaven Town Records 2-Apr-1678)
housewright 18-Feb-1681
assessor (Brookhaven Town Record 3-Apr-1684)
President of trustees (1694, 1695, 1698)
Supervisor 1694
County Clerk under the colonial administration 1692 to 1709
Town Clerk 1687
Justice of the Peace
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Wife: Mary Mills Norton, widow of Nathaniel Norton
Married: about 16-Dec-1685
Born:
Died: after 1710
Father: possibility of Isaac Mills or Richard Mills, both of Southampton, NY
Mother: unknown
First Marriage: to Nathaniel Norton born in Salem, MA.
Born: 29-May-1639 Died:7-Nov-1685
Issue of first marriage: Isaac, Nathaniel, George, Jonathan, Mary, Sarah and Hannah
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Issue:
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William Helme Born: ca. 1686/ Setauket, NY
sp. Temperance Woodhull Married: after 1717
Born: ca. 1695 Died: 1755 in Orange County, NY
Buried:
Notes: Tree Talks 1984 by the Central New York Genealogical Society references a
deposition in 1750 by William Helme and being 64 years old thereby making
his year of birth ca. 1686. He is also listed on the Suffolk County Militia List
of 1715 - Brookhaven Company.
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Thomas Helme (II) Born: ca. 1691 Setauket, NY
sp. Johanna Miller Married: late 1720’s
Born: ca. 1704 Died: 10-Aug-1775 Died: ca. 1731 Middle Island, NY
Buried:
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Ans Helme Born: ca. 1701 Setauket, NY
Married:
Died:
Buried:
Observation: By virtue of the lack of any reference to Ans Helme in the Brookhaven Town
Records, one might conclude that he died young and unmarried.
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Four (4) daughters are mentioned in his will and are yet to be identified.
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Brookhaven Town Records Index Listings: TOWN RECORDS
Mary Helme appears as a witness on pages 265, 274, 275, 279, 294, 298, 308.
Thomas Helme appears under the following captions:
--Justice, Town clerk
--appointed delegate to Huntington Meeting
--delegate to Indians
--delegate to Southampton meeting
--on committee to buy Parsonage site
--appointed to copy laws
--to divide Old Mans meadow
--to lay out lands
--to lay out Parsonage thatch bed
--to report concerning mill site at Stony Brook
--to write to Governour Dongan about getting a new Town Patent
--calls Town Meetings
--clerkship begins
--ends
--elected assessor
--commissioner
--grand juryman
--overseer
--supervisor
--town clerk
--trustee
--granted mill privilege at West Meadow
--grantee
--grantor
--Justice of the Peace of Suffok County
--makes agreement about road
--makes agreement as overseer
--surveyor
--witness
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.
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