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m(1) Sarah Unknown (d. 1644)
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RICHARD HILDRETH
(c. 1605 - 1693) of Cambridge and Chelmsford m(2) Elizabeth Unknown (c.
1625 - 1693)
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RICHARD HILDRETH (c. 1605 - 1693) of Cambridge and Chelmsford
Parents: Unknown
Richard Hildreth was born about 1605. He died on 23 Feb 1692/3, age 88, in Chelmsford. [Ref] He is buried in the ancient graveyard at Chelmsford; his headstond says that he died in 1688 at age 83. [Ref says that although his ancient gravestone no longer exists, the author's father probably copied this information from it when it did exist.] Richard Hildreth married first Sarah Unknown. She died on 15 Jun 1644 in Cambridge. [Ref] He married second Elizabeth Unknown. Elizabeth was born about 1625, based on her deposition in 1680 and her recorded age at death. [Ref, p. 268] Elizabeth died on 3 Aug 1693 in Chelmsford [Ref], age 68, and is buried in the old Malden burying ground. [Ref]
Richard was a freeman on 10 May 1643. [Ref, spelled "Hildrick"][Ref] On 12 Nov 1645 he was chosen "townsman", or selectman, of Cambridge. [Ref, p. 266] In 1648 he was granted a farm of 200 acres in Shawshine (now Billerica), but he lived in Menomony Fields (now Arlington). [Ref, p. 266] On 30 (7) 1651 a summons was issued to Samuel Eldred of Medford to answer the complaint of Richard Hildreth. [Ref] Richard claimed that Samuel's hogs had destroyed his corn and he collected damages. His son James, age 20, testified in the suit. [Ref, p. 266] In 1653 Richard and Thomas Fox were authorised to enforce orders against the illegal cutting of trees on the Cambridge town wood lot. [Ref, p. 266] On 6 (8) 1651 William Frothingham appointed Richard Hildreth of Cambridge to be his attorney. [Ref] In 1654 Richard and Elizabeth testified against Richard French, who was subsequently heavily fined for abusing Elizabeth's maid Jane Evans. [Ref, p. 267]
The origin of Chelmsford was a 1652 petition signed by citizens of Concord and Woburn requesting the right to look at land on the other side of the Concord River. On 19 May 1653, 29 men, including Isaac Learned, James and Joseph Parker, John Sternes, Edmund and Wiliam Chamberlain, Thomas Adams, William Fletcher, Robert Proctor and Richard Hildreth requested a grant of six square miles. [Ref]
Richard received eight separate grants of land in Chelmsford, amouting to 105 acres. [Ref] He was selectman there in 1656; grand juror in 1657; Commissioner to End Small Causes 1661 - 1664; sergeant of the town's military company. [Ref, p. 267] On 17 May 1658 he received permission to trade with the Indians who lived in Wamesit in Chelmsford. [Ref, p. 267]
On 24 (3) 1663 Richard Hildreth of Chelmsford petitioned the General Court for a grant of land. He said that he was a husbandman with no other means of support and with a wife and many small children. He said that he was, "greatly disadvantaged, partly by ye hand of the Lord depriving mee some few years since of the use of my right hand" and making him "wholly disabled to labor." [Ref] He received another 150 acres on 18 May 1664. [Ref, p. 267] The land was laid out for him in 1669. [Ref, p. 267]
On 30 (3) 1671 the selectman of Chelmsford assessed the residents of the town to pay the minister; Richard was assessed a moderate rate: £1.16.2. [Ref]
Richard appears to have had an unhappy relationship with the church at Chelmsford. On 27 Apr 1656 Richard was received from the church in Cambridge to the church in Chelmsford. [Ref, p. 267] He may have left for a period, as he was re-admitted on 20 Sep 1663. [Ref, p. 268] On 4 Jun 1670 he was warned to answer for "reproachful speech" against the minister. [Ref, p. 268] On 20 Jun 1670 Thomas Hinchman and Richard's daughter Abigail's later father-in-law Abraham Parker testified that he had called for a new minister at a public meeting. [Ref, p. 268] In 1678 he was called before a church meeting to apologise for quarreling with his daughter Jane's husband Robert Proctor. [Ref, p. 268] On 4 Jan 1678, Richard and his children Joseph, Persis and Isaac were dismissed from the church at Chelmsford to the church at Cambridge. [Ref, p. 268] Richard went back to Cambridge temporarily as he was fined for felling a green walnut tree there in 1674. [Ref, p. 268]
In 1680 Elizabeth, aged 55, testified that she was the midwife for Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth, the daughter of her stepdaughter Jane, was suing Thomas Marrables, whom she claimed was the father of her illegitimate child. [Ref, p. 268]
On 1 Feb 1686/7, Richard and Elizabeth Hildreth of Chelmsford deeded their homestead to their son Ephraim Hildreth of Stow in return for his supporting them for the rest of their lives. [Ref, p. 268]
Richard signed his will on 11 Feb 1686/7; it was proved on 26 May 1693. Inventory was taken on 19 May 1693. [Ref, p. 269] He mentions his wife Elizabeth, his son Ephraim and his eldest son James. He refers to the other children, but does not name them. [Ref, p. 269]
Children of Richard Hildreth and Sarah Unknown:
Children of Richard Hildreth and Elizabeth Unknown:
Second Generation
JANE HILDRETH (c. 1628 - aft. 1697)
Parents: Richard Hildreth and Sarah Unknown [Ref, p. 269]
Jane Hildreth was born about 1628. She married Robert Proctor on 31 Dec 1645 [Ref] in Concord. [Ref]
Letters of administration on her husband's estate were granted to Jane on 13 Jul 1697.
Parents: Richard Hildreth and Elizabeth Unknown [Ref, p. 10][Ref, p. 270]
Mary Hildreth was born about 1650 in Cambridge. [Ref, p. 270] She died on 17 Dec 1730 in Chelmsford. [Ref, p. 270] She married Jacob Warren on 21 Jun 1667 in Chelmsford. [Ref][Ref, p. 10]
Parents: Richard Hildreth and Elizabeth Unknown [Ref, p. 270]
Abigail Hildreth was born about 1656. [Ref, p. 270] She married Moses Parker on 19 Jun 1684 [Ref] in Concord [Ref] or Chelmsford [Ref].
References:
Davis, Walter Goodwin, Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis, v. I-III, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996.
Editors, "Items," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 10, 1856, 284.
Foster, Warren Woden, Some Descendants of Arthur Warren of Weymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Washington, D.C., Press of Judd & Detweiler, 1982.
Hildreth, D.M., Esq., "Origin and Genealogyof the American Hildreths," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 11, 1857.
Index to the Court Files of Middlesex County, MA. New England Historic and Genealogical Society
Leavitt, Emily W., "Chelmsford Marriages," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 51, 1897.
Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850. New England Historical and Genealogical Society.
Paige, Lucius, R., "List of Freemen, " New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 3 1849, 89-; 348-9.
Parker, Francis J., "Parker Genealogy," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 16, 1862, p. 41 - 44.
Proctor, Mr. and Mrs. William Lawrence, Genealogy of Descendants of Robert Proctor of Concord and Chelmsford, Mass., Republican & Journal Print, Ogdensburg, NY, 1898.
Pulsifer, David, trans., "Records of Boston," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, various issues.
Waters, Wilson, History of Chelmsford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Courier-Citizen Co., Lowell, MA, c. 1917.
Wyman, Jr., Thomas, "Synopsis of the Inscriptions in the Old Malden Burying Ground," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 9, 1855.
New England Historic Genealogical Society. Vital Records of Chelmsford Massachusetts to the Year 1849. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1914. Online: Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 1999.
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