BILLERICA FAMILIES

Shawshin is granted to Cambridge, p'vided they make it a village, to have 10 families setled there within three years ~ Boston Court

our Billerica families

More of our families, eleven, ended up in Billerica than in any other town in the New England colonies. Included in those eleven are two grandmothers who married and moved to Billerica with their husbands. Only four of all our Billerica clan qualify as first generation. They are Ralph Hill (9GGF), John Baldwin (8GGF), James Kidder (8GGF) and John Kittredge (9GGF).

The other families are:

Our Crosby cousins, Simon (1C12x) and Joseph (1C12x), sons of Simon (2C13x) and Anne Brigham Crosby (12A) of Cambridge.

Joseph Davis (8GGF), son of George Davis (9GGF) of Reading.

Nathaniel Patten (10U), son of William Patten (10GGF) of Cambridge.

Thomas Richardson (9U), son of Thomas Richardson (9GGF) of Woburn.

Roger Toothaker (9U), son of our grandmother Martha Toothaker Hill (9GGM).

Anna Moore (8GGM), daughter of Francis Moore (9GGF) of Cambridge. She married James Kidder (8GGF).

Mary Heywood (7GGM), daughter of John Heywood (8GGF) of Concord. She married Enoch Kidder (7GGF).

Sarah Heywood (8A), daughter of John Heywood (8GGF) of Woburn. She married John Baldwin, Jr. (8U.

Benjamin Heywood (8U), son of John Heywood (8GGF) of Woburn. He married Hannah Kidder (1 C 8x).

the Baldwin Brothers

Exactly when the Baldwin brothers, John (8GGF) and Henry (9U), came to New England is unknown. Charles Candee Baldwin (6C5x), author of the extensively researched Baldwin Genealogy from 1500-1851, speculates that they came to America with their father Richard Baldwin (9GGF) ca. 1637. Records from that year show a Richard Baldwin in Braintree, MA. Charles Baldwin further speculates that Richard returned to England where records show that his wife, our grandmother Phillipa Corbman Baldwin (9GGM), died in 1641. The Baldwin boys remained in Massachusetts eventually settling in Woburn.

Our grandfather John Baldwin was 27 when he first came to Woburn in 1642. He didn't marry until thirteen years later. Perhaps at some point John saw a young girl and set his heart on her. Or maybe marriage simply didn't suit him until he discovered the 17 year old Mary Richardson (8GGM), daughter of Thomas Richardson (9GGF). It might even have been an arranged marriage. Whatever the case, in 1655, John Baldwin, 40, married Mary Richardson, 17.

John's younger brother, Henry (9U) married a Richardson girl as well, Phebe (1C9x), daughter of Ezekiel Richardson (10U). The Richardson brothers, you may remember from our Woburn post, helped found of the town of Woburn and became quite wealthy and influential there. My personal speculation is that the two families were known to each other prior to coming to America. The home towns of the Richardsons and Baldwins were only 35 miles apart in England.

John Baldwin in Billerica

Our uncle Henry (9U) remained in Woburn while Grandpa John made the move to Billerica shortly after his marriage in 1657. He seems to have lived an unremarkable life there. He was not made freeman until 1670 and his name is not written in the town records as one of the movers and shakers. His one claim to fame seems to have been the appointment, along with James Kidder (8GGF), as the first town surveyor.

John and Mary had nine children, three of whom died in infancy. John died in 1687 at 72 years of age when his youngest three children were 15, 10 and 7. Mary died seven years later in 1694 at age 56 leaving 17- and 14-year-old daughters. I can find no record of who took the girls in. The 17-year-old was our grandmother Susanna Baldwin Hill (7GGM) who married Joseph Hill (7GGF) ca. 1704.

James and Anna Kidder

James Kidder (8GGF) was born in England ca. 1626. When he arrived in New England ca. 1649, James settled first in Cambridge. In 1650, the probable year of his marriage, he leased a farm of 289 acres and lived there until his move to Billerica. He married Anna Moore (8GGF), daughter of Francis Moore (9GGF). It is supposed that James Kidder was a man of some means and talent to have won the hand of Anna, the daughter of such a wealthy and respected citizen of Cambridge as Francis.

James and Anna's first six children were born in Cambridge. According to Morgan Stafford, author of A Genealogy of the Kidder Family, James may have "settled for a time" on land granted to his father-in-law, Francis Moore. In 1656, James received his own property grant in Billerica which he occupied in 1659. The move probably took place shortly after the birth of their son Nathaniel (8U) who was born in February of that year in Cambridge.

a mover and a shaker

James, unlike John Baldwin (8GGF), became very active in town affairs and is mentioned many times in town records. In 1662, he was chosen juror as well as sergeant of the military company of Billerica. He was elected selectman of the town for six years. During King Philip's War, he had charge of a small band of Praying Indians living near the town. More importantly, he was given command of the garrison house in which the minister of the town (arguably the most valuable member of that society) was placed in his care.

James died in 1676 when King Philip's War was in full swing. He served in the town militia, having been recently promoted to ensign. Although there is no account of his death, it is supposed that he died of wounds sustained in that war.

family

Anna Moore Kidder (8GGM) outlived her husband by 15 years. She, unlike most widows of the day, waited a respectful nine years after James' death before remarrying. She died in 1690 at 61 years of age.

James and Anna had twelve children and nine of these were sons. According to Morgan Stafford, "James...left three hundred and forty-seven known direct descendants of the second, third and fourth generations..." James and Anna had a whopping ninety-four grandchildren!

James and Anna's son, our grandfather Enoch Kidder (7GGF), married Mary Heywood (7GGM), daughter of John Heywood (8GGF) of Concord.

Note: The name Enoch Kidder carried down five generations to our grandfather Enoch Kidder Parrish who built what is now the Parrish Ranch in Oak Glen.

John Kittredge ~ from humble beginnings

A land grant of five acres in Billerica is the first record we have of John Kittredge (9GGF) in New England. Exactly when John arrived in Massachusetts is unknown, but he called John Parker of Billerica "master," so he may have come over as an indentured servant. The date of his first land grant in 1660 and might have been the year his servitude ended.

On the other hand, John's "master" John Parker was in New England by 1650. It seems unlikely that John was indentured to Parker since servitude rarely lasted for ten years. Ship captains often entered into binding agreements with men who did not have money for passage. The captain would then sell the bondage agreement to someone in New England who needed labor. John might have entered into that kind of an agreement and was subsequently "sold" to John Parker.

In 1660, John received a five acre grant. In 1663 the town granted him "instead of tenne poles of land which he should have had upon ye township (by william patten's houselot) to sett a shop upon. . .that now he shall have it added to his house lot upon the south side of it."

From the above town record, it appears that Grandpa John came very close to being the next door neighbor of our grandfather William Patten (10GGF)

the Kittredge family

In 1664, John married Mary Littlefield (9GGM) in Billerica. We wrote of Mary in our Littlefield post. Mary's mother, Jane Hill (10GGM), died two weeks after she was born and most probably her father, Francis Littlefield (10GGF), left her in Woburn with her grandfather Ralph Hill (11GGF) who soon afterwards moved his family to Billerica.

John, like his townsman James Kidder (8GGF), was part of the militia and fought in King Philip's War. He fought in the Battle of Quaboag Swamp in 1675 and died a year later in 1676. No cause of death is stated in the town records, but it seems likely that John Kittredge, like James Kidder, died of wounds sustained in that war. He died at age 46. He left his wife, Mary and four children ages eleven, eight, six, and two. Mary was about two months pregnant with their fifth child when John died intestate.

An inventory of John's worldly goods included bedding, kitchenware, guns, 30 bushels of Indian corn, a horse, 2 steers, 3 cows, a calf and "halfer. His property included a house and "barne," an orchard and "18 acres land homestead." In additon to the homestead John owed a half acre of meadow, 25 acres of "upland upon Content Playne," and 36 acres in the "old Comon field." The inventory was "apprized" by Grandpa Ralph Hill and administration of the estate went to John's wife Mary and her grandfather Ralph Hill.

a French man to the rescue

John Kittredge died in October of 1676. Mary Kittredge gave birth to her fifth child seven months after John's death in May of 1677. In Colonial America, however, an abundance of children was not a deterrent for a good woman looking to find another husband. And find one Mary did.

Our cousin John French (1C11X), son of William French (11U), was one of the original fourteen settlers in Billerica who had signed the petition asking for land in 1654. His father was a wealthy man and John's future looked bright. Hard luck, however, hit him starting with the death of his first wife. John's first marriage lasted only three years and produced no children before the death of his wife in 1662. His second marriage was short-lived as well, four years with two daughters born. His second wife died in 1666. He married a third time the following year. That union lasted ten years and he was still married to Mary Coggin at the outbreak of King Philip's War.

In 1675, John was badly wounded at the Battle of Quaboag. When he returned to Billerica, he petitioned the town for relief as "a poor, wounded man." Town records say that he was "harassed by the constable" probably for debts incurred while he was recovering from his wounds. He was just getting back on his feet in 1677 when his third wife, Mary Coggin, died. John found himself alone again with three daughters to raise, 12, 10 and 6.

Fortuitously, John French and Mary Kittredge found each other and were wed in 1678. That same year, John Kittredge's estate was finally settled:

ffor setling of ye estate of Jno Vol 3 page 220 Kitterige deceased, It is ordered that his relict widd, the now wife of John ffrench (1C7X) shall have the improvem't of the whole estate to her owne use during ye childrens minority, & yt ye house & lands shall be preserved for ye children and they shall have their portions set out thereof as the Court shall order when they come of age to choose their guardians. To ye eldest sonne a double portion, & ye rest equally, and the widow shall have besides the moveable estate, Twenty pounds out of ye houses & lands, the which with ye moveables shall be in full recompence of ye sd Jno ffrench for bringing up ye children, untill they come of age to choose their guardians and for ye sd widows porcion or dowry from her sd husband's estate.

John French eventually recovered from his war wounds and became a productive member of the town of Billerica. In The History of Billerica, Henry Hazen writes of John that he was "an influential citizen of Billerica and held many town offices from time to time." He and Mary were honored with coveted front seats in the church.

Note: The fact that John's uncle Ralph Hill (11GGF) was on the committee to assign church seating may have helped them obtain such desirable seating.

Note: John and Mary sat on opposite sides of the aisle. In Puritan churches men sat in one section and women in another, probably to avoid any accidental touching of the opposite sex.

John and Mary had five children together making a total of ten for Mary. She had two sons named John, one John Kittredge (10U) the other John French (10U). According to the vital records of Billerica, Mary's last child was born in 1692 when she was 46 years old.

Mary Littlefield Kittredge French lost her mother at two weeks and her father left her shortly afterwards. She was only 30 when she lost her first husband and she outlived her second husband by seven years. Mary died in 1719 at the age of 73.

With this post, the first generation of our Massachusetts Bay relatives concludes. We say goodbye to our family in the North for a while and set our Sights on the south.