EXPANSION

...a Very Comfortable place to acomidate A company of gods people Upon: that may with gods blessinge and Asistance Live Comfortably... ~ from the petition to settle Chelmsford

Freeman Lake Marsh in Chelmsford by Debra Bretton Robinson

moving north

Two towns that made a rather late appearance in the Massachusetts Bay Colony were Chelmsford and Billerica. Although northern lands had been granted to them In the mid-1640's, the colonial towns of Concord, Woburn and Cambridge appeared unprepared to take on the challenge of establishing new settlements. The tide of immigrants to the New World had slowed to a trickle, the Pequot War had strained the pocketbooks of the colonists, and the inland northern lands were reported to be wild and inhospitable for colonization.

While a few hardy souls made early ventures northward, the areas known as Pawtucket (Chelmsford) and Shawsheen (Billerica), (so called for the indigenous people living in those places), were not established as plantations until the early 1650's. The first recorded indication of interest in establishing a settlement in that area was a petition in 1652 by citizens of Woburn and Concord. They asked the Court's permission to survey a tract of land on the "other side of Concord River." Signing that petition were Robert Proctor (8GGF), Richard Hildreth (9GGF) and Thomas Brigham (1C13x). In 1653, the town of Chelmsford was established.

Note: Due to the harsh conditions of this new frontier town, only nine of the twenty-nine original petitioners ended up making their homes in Chelmsford.

Note: Though he signed the petition, Thomas Brigham (1C13x), cousin to our grandmother Constance Brigham Crosby (9GGM), never made it to Chelmsford. He died in Cambridge in 1653 at age 50.

the Hildreth's in Cambridge

Richard Hildreth (9GGF) was in Massachusetts as early as 10 May 1643, when he was made freeman of the colony. The year he arrived is unknown. What is known is that he arrived with his wife Sarah (9GGM) and two children, Jane (8GGM), born ca. 1628 and James (9U), born ca. 1631. The family settled first at Cambridge, near Boston. It is unknown whether their third child, Richard (9U), was born in England or in Cambridge. Sarah may have been frail because, shortly after their arrival, she died at about age 40.

1645, however, was a banner year for the Hildreths with two marriages on the rolls. Richard married a woman named Elizabeth who was only two years older than his daughter Jane. Daughter Jane (8GGM) herself was wed to a citizen of nearby Concord, Robert Proctor (8GGF), who had been made freeman in the same year as Richard, 1643.

Richard was also chosen selectman in 1645. Because early colonial towns had no regularly elected town officials, prominent citizens were periodically “selected” to perform the business of the town. Genealogist Elizabeth Leach Rixford was so enamored of the 1645 Richard Hildreth that she wrote this about him:

"A saint, a member of the ruling aristocracy, raised to the highest office in the town of his residence, married to a young wife, what else could be lacking to fill his cup of happiness in the memorable year, 1645!"

two mamas

With two young wives very similar in age to one another, both the Hildreths and Proctors began producing children right away. Elizabeth Hildreth (9A), first child born to Richard and his new wife Elizabeth, was born 21 Sep 1646. Sarah Proctor (8A), first child of Robert and Jane Hildreth Proctor, was born less than a month later, 12 Oct 1646. As if it were a contest, Elizabeth and Jane vied with each other in the birthing process for fifteen years. In 1661, when Elizabeth's ninth and final child was born, poor Jane had only seven. But our prolific grandma wasn't done. Her final tally was an even dozen.

homeowner blues

In spite of being "raised to the highest office in the town of his residence," it appears that Richard Hildreth was not a landowner in Cambridge by 1648. That year, Cambridge “granted to several brethren that had no house-right in town if they did desire it farms at Shawshine." (later Billerica). Richard Hildreth and 2 others were granted "each of them a farm for their encouragement, if they see it may make for their support and desire it." It appears that Richard did not take up this offer and found housing elsewhere. In 1651, we find him in Charlestown, three miles west of Cambridge, embroiled in an altercation with one of his fellow citizens.

the saga of the pigs

Quarrels between neighbors were a common occurrence in early New England society. There were various ways of dealing with problems that arose. When Samuel Eldrid's pigs ran amok in his cornfield, Richard's Hildreth's first course of action was to deal with Samuel man-to-man. New Englanders tried to avoid taking their grievances to court whenever possible. Since Samuel owned that they were his pigs and he also owned that they had run amok in Richard's field, the two agreed to let their neighbors decide the value of the corn that was destroyed.

A penalty of "twelve pence a swine to the plaintiff..." was assessed. Samuel evidently didn't care for this assessment because, according to Richard, "Yet neverthlesses now the defendant denyeth the pay either the damge done by his swine, or the penalty of the Town order." According to court records, it seems that Samuel had tried this trick before and had become a frequent visitor to those hallowed halls.

The court system in the colonies was similar to ours today. The first step would be the city court, then the county. If the case were severe enough, a trip to the Court in Boston would be in order. Richard's case made it to the county level, possibly to teach the recalcitrant Samuel a lesson. Richard was awarded by the county court forty-five bushels of corn. A pretty hefty fine for old Sam. The moral of the story: keep your eye on your pigs.

outward bound

Possibly the pig episode soured Richard on life in Charlestown. What ever the reason, in 1652 Richard's name appeared on the petition to settle the new town of Chelmsford . Towns being settled a distance away from Boston had land to offer and by 1663 Richard had been granted eight separate lots there amounting to 105 acres. And in 1664, he petitioned the court for additional land testifying that he had "a wife and many small children, and being a husbandman, am greatly disadvantaged, partly by the hand of God depriving (me) of the use of my right hand (leaving me) wholly disabled to labor." He later states, "... because my hand is cut off." Richard was granted 150 additional acres.

Richard's death and will

Richard may have been riding high in 1645 but, by the time of his death in 1692, sadly, his hand infirmity had taken its toll. It appears that he was forced to sell his lands to make a living in his older age. From his will:

"Know ye that I Richard Hildrith... being aged, sick and weakly in body, tho sounde in mind... do here in make known my minde and will in the disposall of myself...First, I bequeath my precious and Immortall Soul unto Christ yt hath Redeemed it and my body to ye Grave till Christ shall raise it. And for my beloved wife Elizabeth I have obliged my naturall son Ephraime Hildereth for her maintainance in all respects so long as shee remaineth with him: and as for my Sons and Daughters children god hath given to me I have discharged my duty in som measure in all respects so that they are disposed in marriage and I have doone for them all as I could but now "my hand is as cut of because of inpotency and infirmyty" I have been constrained to make use of what I hade for the relief of my self and my wife so that I have neither house nor lands to bequeath to them..."

We'll leave the final words on Richard Hildreth to our genealogist Elizabeth Rixford:

"Richard Hildreth attained the age of eighty-eight. His grandchildren numbered fifty-eight, most of them born in his lifetime. His wife, Elizabeth, followed him a few months later. James (9U) his eldest son, joined him two years after, aged sixty-four, and in two years more Robert Proctor (8GGF) took the long journey to the land where meadow boundaries are of little consequence."