I was notified last week that I have a new YDNA match. A Homes no less! A match so close that we have been assigned our very own halpogroup. Basically that means that we represent a unique branch on the YDNA tree.
My cousin and new match, Randy Homes, traces his ancestry back to Benjamin Franklin Homes of Sheffield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Benjamin married Thankful Jacob, the daughter of Richard Jacob of Sheffield. Their intention to marry was published 8 Dec 1787 and a certificate was issued 25 Dec 1787. In his 1804 will, Richard Jacob’s left about 50 acres of land to “my daughter Thankful Homes, wife of Benjamin Franklin Homes“.
Benjamin and Thankful sold some of their land to Thankful’s brother Israel Jacob in 1809. The deed is interesting in that while the recorder spells their names with an “L” throughout, the signatures are both recorded as “Homes”.
In July 1812, Benjamin and Thankful Homes sold 50 acres in Sheffield to Silas Smith of Salisbury, NY. Here the “Homes” spelling is used throughout the document. Three months later in Sep 1812 Benjamin and Thankful Homes of Sheffield bought land in Galen, NY from John and Nicholas Young. A deed witnessed by Silas Smith.
In 1822 Thankful Homes, now a widow, appears again with Silas Smith in two deeds. In April she sold him land that came to her from her father, Richard Jacob, and then in June she took back an interest in the property (basically a mortgage). A codicil to the June deed (mortgage) dated 1 Oct 1824 shows that Thankful Holmes, now of Galen, NY, sold her interest in the mortgage for a mere $5 to her sons, Arthur and Benjamin Homes. In 1825 Arthur, now of Greenville, Green County, New York sold his rights to Davis Winers.
Thankful eventually moved to Greenville area herself and died there in 1841. She is buried in Old Freehold Cemetery in Freehold, NY which is about four miles south of Greenville.
How do we connect?
[Update 19 Sep 2025: The following was written when I was researching the ancestry of Benjamin Franklin Holmes of Sheffield. DNA evidence that has come to light since I wrote the original post that leaves me with no doubt that the Benjamin Homes who married Thankful Jacob is the son of William Homes of Boston and his wife Rebecca Dawes.]
Various trees found on the internet seem divided between two possible ancestries for Benjamin.
Theory #1. He was the son of Isaac Holmes of Kingston, Plymouth County, a grandson of the Rev John Holmes of Duxbury, Massachusetts. Isaac and his wife Mary Atherton did have a son Benjamin Holmes b.1756. No further records are found of him in Kingston. His brother, Isaac Holmes b.1749, is well documented. He married Relief West of Kingston in 1789 and had a daughter Hannah there in 1772. Their next 2 children were born in Chesterfield, and their last children were born in Lenox, Berkshire County, MA. In 1783 Isaac and his family were ordered to leave Lenox and they moved to Washington, Berkshire, MA where Isaac died before 1 Sep 1818 when his will was proved. While Isaac and Benjamin are both found in Berkshire County I have found no other evidence that the two are related, so more research is needed.
[Update 27 Mar 2025: The Kingston records show Isaac and Mary having 3 surviving children – Isaac, Sally, and Benjamin. As mentioned above we know that Isaac lived for a time in Chesterfield. It now appears that brother Benjamin and sister Sally moved to Chesterfield as well.
Benjamin Holmes and Thankful Jacob were married in 1787, so it is possible that this was a second marriage.]
Theory #2. He was the son of my ancestor William Homes of Boston (1716-1785) and his wife Rebecca Dawes. Their son Benjamin was baptized 20 Jul 1760 at the Old South Church in Boston. He was probably named after William’s famous uncle, Benjamin Franklin. (William was the son of Robert Homes and Mary Franklin).
William Homes was a silversmith of Boston. His daughter Sarah (Homes) Tappan states in her memoirs that later in life her father pursued a career as a merchant and turned over responsibility for the silver shop and his son, William Homes Jr., in 1763, when the younger man had completed his training. A few years later William Homes moved to Norton where he lived until his death in 1785.
William Homes and his son Benjamin Homes were both in service during the Revolutionary war. William Homes was a member of the Committee of Correspondence and represented Norton in the Provincial Congress while Benjamin was a private in Isaac Hodge’s company and later Capt. Jabez Barney’s company.
There are two secondary sources for Benjamin Homes. The first is the Memoir of Sarah Tappan, written by Benjamin’s sister, Sarah Homes who married Benjamin Tappan. Sarah actually does not mention Benjamin in her memoirs at all, but included in the printing is a Family Record which states “The following genealogical particulars were obtained from the Boston town records, from the venerable Mrs. Abigail Waters and others.”
— “Benjamin had a large family, lived inBerkshire County, Mass., and died in the year 1819, at about fifty six years of age.”
The death, age and Berkshire county location certainly seem to fit Benjamin Franklin Homes of Sheffield. (Note: Abigail Waters, wife of Josiah Waters was born Abigail Dawes. She was the sister of William Homes’ wifeRebecca Dawes, and thus, Benjamin’s Aunt. Abigail died in 1819 and the Memoir was published in 1834, so one assumes that the publishers had access to family notes of some sort. More research is needed here. [BTW – both Abigail and Rebecca were aunts of the William Dawes who rode the same night as Paul Revere to spread the alarm of the British march on Lexington and Concord])
The second source is the Glover memorials and genealogies written by Anna Glover. In her book, Anna states that her aunt Rachel Glover married twice.
First, Jan. 1, 1785, at the age of twentyfour years, to Benjamin Homes, Esq., of Norton, by the Rev. Jedediah Adams, of Stoughton. He was of distinguished family and ancestry, was the second son of William and Rebecca (Dawes) Homes of Boston, and was born there in 1763. At the time of his marriage he was twenty-two years of age, and had already been elected to various town and county offices, and was Justice of the Peace for the County of Bristol. His father, William Homes, was born in Boston, March 9, 1717, and was married, April 24, 1790, by the Rev. Dr. Sewall, of the Old South Church, to Rebecca, the eleventh child and fifth daughter of Thomas Dawes, Esq., of Boston, and his wife Sarah. They were eminently religious and worthy members of that Church. They had fifteen children, born in Boston, and baptized there. He was by trade a goldsmith, and was employed for many years in the manufactory of gold and silver ware, jewelry, &c., and kept a store in Ann street, where Oak Hall now stands. By industrious habits and strict integrity, he acquired a competent estate, and was known by the name of the “honest silversmith.” In the year 1770 he retired from business, and was succeeded by his eldest son “William, who carried on the business in Boston extensively for many years. William Homes, senior, purchased a farm in Norton, Bristol county, removed there with his family, and became a prominent and active member of the Church and of the town.* He was elected to many town offices, which he filled with dignity and honor, was chosen Representative and Councillor, and served in those offices. He died in Boston, at the house of his son William….
… had issue — a son born in Stoughton, viz.: William, b. Oct. 3, 1785 …
Mrs. Rachael (Glover) Homes (widow) was married, a second time, Jan. 9, 1792, to Solomon Hall, of Dorchester
This account contains many small errors. Benjamin was born in 1760 not 1763. Son William was born 3 Nov, not 3 Oct 1785. Perhaps most interesting is that Benjamin and Rachel were not married 1 Jan 1785. Their intention of marriage was published 31 May but they were not actually married until 28 June. Thus Rachel and Benjamin had only been married 4 months when their son William was born – certainly a scandal in those days.
In the Glover account, Rachel was a widow when she married Solomon Hall in 1792. Despite years of searching I have not been able to find any evidence of Benjamin’s death prior to 1792. There is no probate, no newspaper articles, no orphans court proceedings for son William – nothing has been found to date.
While the Glover Memorial contains some errors. Its basic facts / relationships have proven reliable based on evidence found to date. When I was first exploring my family history some 35 years ago the researchers I engaged at the New England Historic Genealogical Society deemed it generally reliable. It was published in 1867, only 15 years after Benjamin’s wife, Rachel Glover, had died and was written by Rachel’s niece Anna Glover b.1801 who was certainly well acquainted with the family.
[Update 27 Mar 2025: Autosomal DNA testing shows Randy Homes to be a DNA match to two descendants of Barnabas Webb and his wife, Mary Homes – sister of Sarah Homes Tappan. These matches descend from two different daughters of Barnabas and Mary’s son William Webb. These matches significantly strengthen the case that Theory 2 is correct.
Is Benjamin Franklin Homes of Sheffield the same man as Benjamin Homes of Norton?
Quick Answer – I don’t know Probably.
Based on the recent DNA results it is certainly possible that the Benjamin Franklin Homes of Sheffield and Benjamin Homes of Norton are the same. Benjamin’s birth of 1760 falls within the 95% confidence interval for the estimated birth of our common ancestor.
[Update 27 Mar 2025: Revised bell curve pushes mean 50 years forward]
The use of the “Homes” spelling, especially in signed documents, is interesting as the other families in the area used the Holmes spelling predominantly. If they are the same men, it raises the questions of why did Benjamin leave Rachel? Did he run off? Were they quietly divorced?
At this point we still have more questions than answers, so as we family historians often have to say – more research is needed.
[Update 19 Sep 2025: Another descendant of Benjamin Homes and Thankful Jacob also shows matches to descendants of Sarah Homes Tappan and Mary Homes Webb Update 27 Mar 2025: Randy’s autosomnal DNA matches to the two descendants of Barnabas Webb and Mary Homes leave me with little doubt that the Benjamin Homes who married Thankful Jacob is the son of William Homes of Boston and his wife Rebecca Dawes.]
References
Holmes , Benjamin Franklin & Thankfull Jacob both of Sheffield filed an Int Dec. 8 , Cert . given Dec 25 , 1787, Sheffield Marriages, p.47
Holmes Genealogy 
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