New 15 Oct 1999 (incomplete)
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Note: The primary source for this report is extractions from a *partial* 1961-dated, rough draft of an unpublished 1925 Manuscript provided by Combs Researcher Hannah Friedlander and titled "Combes Genealogy" by George Davison Aylesworth Combes (1889-1941), Assisted by Clinton de Raisnes Combs (1886-1953), compiled ante 1925, Edited by Winifred Lovering Holman, S.B., F.A.S.G.; hereinafter GDAC, 1925. See the applicable US Combs Counties of Record below for additional details and source references.

Richard COMBS I is first found of record in 1669 in Hempstead (later part of Queens Co, NY, and in present-day Nassau Co, NY), thus was presumably born before 1649:

"Att a Court held att Hempsted by the justis peace ye Constable and oversers this 3rd of July 1669 Mr. STRICKLIN plant hath Entered An Comeplaint against hinery (Henry) DISBARROW Defendant." STRICKLAND sought redress from Henry DISBROW as the plaintiff's grandchild was living with the latter, perhaps as an apprentice, and had been ill treated. In the testimony it is related that Richard COMBS had either struck the child, or had threatened to do so (Hempstead Records, 1:370) (GDAC, 1925….)

GDAC Notes: Whether COMBS actually struck the child or not is unclear. Nor are we certain if said Richard was a servant, apprenctice or "border" of Disbrow's. The language used is equivocal. Although the case was heard in July the matter had happened "in ye winter when Snow was upon ye ground." Ms. Holman adds: "The spelling of Disbrow's name is in divers forms; he is said to have been first of Roxbury, Mass., I have not checked."

According to O'Callaghans 1850 Documentary History of New York, 1:428, one " ----- COMES" was of Hempstead in 1673 (GDAC, 1925 ), and on 11 Dec 1674, Richard COMES of Hempstead gave testimony in a case against one Thomas DANIEL, who had stolen a hog from an Indian, named Rainrock [elsewhere found also as Ramoreck] (GDAC, 1925. Ref: 1897 Report of New York State Historian, pub. 1898, pg. number not given). N.B. According to Josiah H. Combs' The Combes Genealogy…, it was Richard who had stolen the pig, not Thomas DANIEL, the author's source none other than George D.A. Combes himself.

In 1676, one Richard COMES was a resident or land owner in neighboring Jamaica Twp of Queens Co, NY, and he was presumably Richard I of Hempstead (not researched), but on 3 Oct 1681, Richard COMES is found in the records of Hempstead as having acquired patent land in that township. (GDAC, 1925. Ref: Hempstead Recds., 1:479), and a 1683 Hempstead assessment roll lists Richard COMBES with 1 head, 13 acres land - meadow, 2 oxen, 4 cowes, 2 two year oldes, 3 year oldes, 6 hoggs, 1 horse". (GDAC, 1925. Ref: O'Callaghan, op. cit.)

Richard was the only Combs (or var. sp.) in Hempstead at this time, thus none of his sons had yet reached their majority (see below).

The 20 Nov 1683 will of Roger PEDLY of Hempstead, mentions neighbor Richard COMBES who had in his possession "too bushels of wheat", this being the property of the testator. (GDAC, 1925. Ref: Hempstead Recds., 1:1640.), and in a book of Laws and Deeds (1684-1696) pertaining to Hempstead, is Richard COMBS who who paid 2s.6d., on page 10 of a list titled "The name of those yt paid to ye pattin (patent) with ye number of aceres." (GDAC, 1925. Ref: Hempstead Records, 8:30, 132)

The next record of a Combs in Hempstead is the 1698 census, which lists (in this order):

Elizabeth COMES
John COMES
Robrd [Robert?] COMES
Mercy COMES.
(GDAC, 1925. Ref: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 45:62)

According to GDAC, "The compiler of the article on this census states that the names of the parents are given first, followed by the children. Since Richard's name is omitted, we must assume that Elizabeth was his widow and the then head of the family." Although it is possible that Richard I was not yet deceased, but in Freehold, Monmouth Co, NJ, with his elder sons, Thomas I and Richard II, we know that he was deceased by no later than 11 Mar 1706 [1705/6 or 1706/7?] when his son, Thomas I, referenced the dower rights of his mother, Elizabeth, in a deed: "excepting the thirds of ye farm for the which is my mothers Elizabeth COMESES har lif time…" (GDAC, 1925. Ref: Hempstead Records 2:300).

By May 1706, Elizabeth was deceased (sale of above land by John COMES), and according to GDAC, no estate records are extant for either she or Richard I.

It is also possible that Richard's NJ connections may have been significantly earlier than 1700. The 18 Apr 1670 estate account of one Larens WARD of Newark [now Essex Co], NJ listed a Richard COMSBE as a creditor (GDAC, 1925. Ref: NJ Wills 1:490), and no other record of this Richard has been located. It is not yet known if he and Richard I of Hempstead could have been the same or somehow kin. No other early Combs record has been found in NJ thus far, and Richard I appears to have resided on Long Island throughout the 1670s and 1680s.

All Hempstead Land Records are apparently not extant, and no estate records have been located for either Richard I or his wife, Elizabeth, whose surname is unknown, although either GDAC or his widow did submit to the organization, Sons of the Founders and Patriots of America, a marriage record dated 17 Jul 1650, with no location or source, for a Richard COMBS (sp.?), Anabaptist, and Elizabeth (BATT) Allwood, baptised 26 Apr 1607 (GDAC, 1925). GDAC'S editor, Winnifred L. Holman, however, believes that this marriage is too early to have been that of Richard1 Combs of Hempstead (not researched).

The Children of Richard and Elizabeth:

Richard II

Thomas I

John I

Robert I

Mercy (no further record)

Elizabeth (undocumented)

Richard II (Richard1), Yeoman, was born aft 1662 (not on 1683 Hempstead Rolls), and before 1678 (presumably an adult by 1698), probably in Hempstead, Queens Co, NY. He was probably a resident of Freehold, Monmouth Co, NJ at the time of the 1698 Hempstead Census (from which he is missing), and is recorded as having owned property in Freehold by Sep 1700. He appears to have been the Richard COMBS tried in Monmouth in 1707 for stealing pigs, but had returned to Hempstead by 1709 when he deeded Madnans Neck land in Hempstead as a resident of that county. In 1711, still in Hempstead, he deeded his Freehold land to his brother, Thomas.

(To be continued… In the meantime, see above-noted Hempstead and Monmouth and also Jamaica, Queens Co, NY for further records of Richard II)

Thomas I (Richard1), Carpenter, was born aft 1662 (not on 1683 Hempstead Rolls), and before 1678 (presumably an adult by 1698), probably in Hempstead, Queens Co, NY; d testate 1723-1724, Freehold, Monmouth Co, NJ; was probably married twice, (1) bef 1703, her name not yet unknown; the last, Elizabeth, before 1714. Elizabeth's surname is unknown (but said by some to have been a SEAMON, their sources unknown). Thomas was probably already a resident of Freehold in 1698 when his name is missing from the Hempstead census, but the first record of him in that county thus far is not until 1706 when Thomas COMES of Freehold cedes his interest in Hempstead land, for £50 in money and land, to John COMES of Madnans Neck, Hempstead, apparently his brother, said document also referencing the "thirds" (widow's dower rights) of his mother, Elizabeth. In 1711, Richard COMES, also of Madnans Neck, and believed to have been Thomas' brother, deeded land to Thomas in Freehold which Richard had acquired in 1700. According to Thomas' will, his children were:

Probably by his first wife:

Robert II (of age by 1723, thus born pre-1703)
Rachel (either of age or married by 1723)

Probably by his last wife, Elizabeth (all still minors in 1723):

Thomas
Joseph
Jonathan
John
Elizabeth

(To be continued… In the meantime, see above-noted Hempstead and Monmouth for further records of Thomas I)

John I (Richard1), Cordwainer(?), was born aft 1662 (not on 1683 Hempstead Roll), but before 1686 (presumably of age by 1706), probably in Hempstead, Queens Co, NY). John appears in the household of his mother, Elizabeth, on the 1698 Hempstead Census, and in 1706, Thomas COMES (I) of Freehold, Monmouth Co, NJ, apparently John's brother, for £50 in money and land, relinquishes to John COMES of Madnans Neck, Hempstead, Thomas' right to land in Hempstead, in which Thomas' mother, Elizabeth, holds a one-third interest (widow's dower rights). In May 1706, John sells this land, his mother now apparently deceased. No further record of any John COMBS is found in Hempstead again until 1740, and it seems likely that he was the John COMBS with wife, Elizabeth, who was in Freehold Records in 1714, and the John COMES of Freehold who purchased and sold land in Freehold in 1716, and also sold land in Hempstead that same year. In Oct 1727, Monmouth Co, NJ records, reference is made to a John COMBS [sp.?], Cordwainer (shoemaker) from Long Island, and this is the last (so far) record that is identifiable as probably that of John COMES I. There was also a John COMBS in Middlesex Co, NJ, but he appears(?) to have been John I's nephew, s/o Thomas I. According to GDAC, he located no further records of any John COMBES I in Hempstead between 1706 to 1740 (not aware, apparently, of the above-noted 1716 deed), but it appears quite possible that John, like his brother, Richard II, returned to Hempstead. See also Hempstead re John's possible Quaker Connections….

(To be continued… In the meantime, see above-noted Hempstead, Monmouth and Middlesex for further records of John I).

Robert I (Richard1), was probably born aft 1668, but before 1698 (probably still a minor in the household of his mother on the 1698 Hempstead Census?), but before 1686 (presumably of age by 1706), probably in Hempstead, Queens Co, NY). Other than the 1698 Hempstead census, no other record is found of any early Robert in either Hempstead or Jamaica, and he may (not documented) have been the Robert COMBS, Yeoman, of Woodbridge, Middlesex Co, NJ, who died testate in 1730. If so, Robert had married by 1709, Euniss (Eunice), who is said to have been the d/o John & Rachel HULL Dennis (documentation, if any, unknown), and had children including eldest son, Dennis (of age) and Robert II. Daughters are also mentioned, but not named.

According to GDAC, the name Robert does not appear in early generations in descent of Francis COMBES who d 1700, Newtown, Suffolk Co, Long Island, NY.

(To be continued… In the meantime, see above-noted Hempstead and Middlesex for records of Robert I)

Elizabeth (undocumented) (Richard1) According to GDAC, Elizabeth (Richard1), was b about 1673; m abt 1695, Daniel KISSAM of Great Neck, b 1669, d 26 Dec 1752 (Ref: Edward Kissam's 1892 Kissam Ce., p. 11). He lists their children as Elizabeth; Martha; Hannah; Daniel; Joseph and Levinia, adding that "Elizabeth has been incorrectly identified as the dau. of Francis COMBES." (Ref: New York Genealogical and Biographical Record 47:319; Ricker's 1852, Annals of Newtown, p. 81; Jones' 19807 Jones Family of Long Island, p. 252)

His editor, Winifred L. Holman makes reference to data in the Francis COMBES of Newtown (Suffolk Co, NY) Addenda of the Manuscript (we are missing this section), stating: "G.D.A.C. refutes the idea that Elizabeth was a dau. of same: The will of Francis COMES of Newtown, names his sons as under age in 1700 and probably his daus. were also under age. A deed in Jamaica, 1723, gives as a boundary "Francis COMES Children." In 1698, Daniel KISSAM had two children: Elizabeth and Martha, and wife, Elizabeth. Therefore he could not have m. either the widow or the dau. of Francis, for the last named did not d. until 1700 and the dau. was not of age then, nor was she married. Robert BLACKWELL m. an Elizabeth and the widow of Francis was a Mary. [According to GDAC] "Ricker, an authority, states definitely that Blackwell married the daughter of Francis. I believe Riker [sic] knew.""

(To be continued… Neither this lineage, nor Francis COMES of Newtown have been researched as yet by Combs &c. It is not even known at this time why Elizabeth was believed to have been neè COMBS)