Before coming to New England Thomas was apprenticed on 18 Dec 1634 for a period of 9 years (until December 1643) under Francis STILES, a master carpenter from Millbrook, Bedfordshire, England. Stiles was contracted by Sir Richard SALTONSTALL to bring apprentices to Windsor, and to build houses in America for Englishmen who were to follow. Thomas Barber at the age of 21 was among the twenty apprentices plus others who sailed with Stiles for New England in the ship "Christian" (John White, Master), which left London 16 Mar 1634 (Julian Calendar), and arrived 3 months later in Boston June 1635. Each of the passengers had a certificate which read in part: "with certificate from St. Mildred, Bread Street, London, and having taken the oaths, to be transported to New England from London in the "Christian". [~ from the Public Record Office, Westminster Hall, London ~]

After 10 days at Boston the Christian sailed up the Connecticut River to Windsor, arriving there on the first of July 1635. That same year Thomas was granted a lot of a few acres, extending from Mill Brook, near the old Warham gristmill, north along both sides of Poquonock Avenue. The author's father was born on this same land, and my brother, sister, and I were brought up on this, the original land grant. After 330 years of continuous Barber ownership, the land has now all been sold.

The Pequot War in 1637, which according to the settlers was precipitated by the Pequot Indians and their continual harassment of the settlers, the friendly Mohegan Indians, and sometimes the Narragansetts, found Thomas a Sargeant, one of 30 soldiers from Windsor who were enrolled under Major Stoughton for 3 weeks and 2 days. Under the leadership of Captain John MASON, the May 26 1637 night attack on the Pequot fort was a complete surprise to the sleeping Pequots, and a large percentage of the tribe was massacred. Thomas Barber's bravery (he was inside the Pequot Fort at Mystic during the attack, and along with Edward Pattison, “having no time to reload their muskets, slew seven fleeing Indians with axes and knives”), gained him honorable mention from Capt. Mason, and in return for this service, in 1641 he was granted 600 acres of land in Massaco, in the western part of Windsor. Massaco became Simsbury in 1669.

On March 28, 1637 Francis Stiles (master carpenter) was ordered to teach his servants, George Chapple, Thomas Cooper and Thomas Barber in the trade of carpentry. The year 1645 found Thomas still an apprentice carpenter. Stiles apparently was slow to finish Thomas's apprenticeship, and needed a court order to force him to do so. Shortly after that Thomas was a free man. At the time of his death in 1662, Thomas may have been making preparations to move to Northampton MA, where he was offered a home lot and 20 acres.

Life was apparently not completely peaceful for Thomas1 BARBER. Court records in 1649 show that he was found liable for a debt to William FRANKLIN. Thomas claimed that he had given the money to Thomas FORD to pay to Franklin. Then in 1650 Sargeant Barber was fined 5 pounds and forced to surrender his rank, for the disorderly striking of Lt. COOKE in an argument over church matters; Thomas believed that the church had no right to interfere in temporal matters. This penalty was later canceled when apparently Thomas apologized: "he is affected with his great evil and rash passionate carriage in striking the Lt."

Thomas left an estate appraised at over 132 pounds.17