The TWITCHELL Family of Dorchester, Medfield and Sherborn

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JOSEPH TWITCHELL (d. 1657) of Dorchester
             | (maybe)
BENJAMIN TWITCHELL of Dorchester and Medfield m. Mary Riggs
|
JOSEPH TWITCHELL (d. 1710) of Sherborn m. Lydia Unknown
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LYDIA TWITCHELL (1686 - 1745) m. Lieut. Joseph Johnson


First Generation

JOSEPH TWITCHELL (d. 1657) of Dorchester

Parents:

Joseph Twitchell died on 13 (7) 1657 in Dorchester. [Ref 9;344]

Inventory was taken on Joseph's estate on 8 (8) 1657. It amounted to £43 15.04 and included two acres at "Mother Brookes", four acres from the third division and four acres of wooded land. [Ref 9;344]

Children of Joseph Twitchell:

  1. (possible son) Benjamin Twitchell married Mary Riggs.

Francis Tuchill had a grant of land in Dorcheter in 1634; Joshua had a grant in 1635. [Ref 9;344]

Benjamin Twitchell [Benjamin's uncle?] was an early inhabitant of Lancaster, signing the town covenant on 1 (8) 1652. [Ref]

Second Generation

BENJAMIN TWITCHELL of Dorchester and Medfield

Parents: Joseph Twitchell, possibly [Ref, Entry for Joseph Twitchell]

Benjamin Twitchell married Mary Riggs. [Ref, Entry for Edward Riggs]

Benjamin Twitchell signed the covenant for the town of Lancaster on 1 (8) 1652 [Ref, pp. 30-31], but he does not appear to have ever lived there.

Benjamin probably moved to Medfield by 1663. [Ref 4;354]

Children of Benjamin Twitchell and Mary Riggs:

  1. Joseph Twitchell was born not later than 1640, probably in Dorchester. He was died on 24 Oct 1710 in Sherborn. He married Lydia Unknown.
  2. Elizabeth Twitchell was born in 1648, probably in Dorchester. [Ref] she died in 1717. [Ref] She married William Allen [Ref] in 1688 in Medfield. [Ref] William died in 1738. [Ref] He married second Abiel Barber. [Ref] William and Elizabeth had six chiledren. [Ref]
    Elizabeth Allen is mentioned in the will of her grandfather Edward Riggs. [Ref, Entry for Edward Riggs]
  3. Benjamin Twitchell was born in 1650 or 1652, probably in Dorchester but possibly in Lancaster. [Ref] He married, perhaps second, Mary White on 5 Apr 1685. [Ref 4;354] Mary was the daughter of John White, the second son of Capt. Thomas White of Charlestown. [Ref] Benjamin and Mary had seven children. [Ref]
  4. Mary Twitchell was born on 8 (1) 1658/9 in Dorchester. [Ref, no first name][Ref] She died on 8 (1) 1658/9 in Dorchester. [Ref 9;344]
  5. Hannah Twitchell was born on 8 (8) 1660 in Dorchester. [Ref] She married Dea. Samuel Hill on 4 Nov 1679. [Ref] Samuel was the son of John Hill and Frances Unknown. [Ref]
  6. Bethia Twitchell [Ref 4;354]
  7. Abiel Twitchell was born in 1663 [Ref] in Medfield [Ref] . She died in 1747. [Ref] She married first Robert Corbet. [Ref] She married second John Bugbee. [Ref] John was the son of John and Joanne Bugbee. [Ref] He was born in 1665. [Ref] He died in 1744. [Ref]
  8. Mary Twitchell was born in Medfield. [Ref] Savage [Ref 3;557] says that Benjamin's daughter Mary married Josiah Rockett of Medfield on 9 May 1677. [Ref, no parents' names] For this to be possible, she would have to have been born by about 1660. This would be possible if she is the same person as the first daughter Mary and that daughter's death record is a mistake.

Third Generation

JOSEPH TWITCHELL (d. 1710) of Sherborn

Parents: Benjamin Twitchell and Mary Riggs

Joseph Twitchell was born not later than 1640, probably in Dorchester. [Ref] He died on 24 Oct 1710 in Sherborn. [Ref][Ref: burial date] He married Lydia Unknown, probably Lydia Johnson. [Ref] Lydia was from Lancaster. [Ref] She died on 27 Apr 1725 in Sherborn. [Ref][Ref]

He interited 100 acres of Kaine's grant, which his father had purchased. [Ref] Joseph and his brother Benjamin where among those who signed the social compact of Sherborn in 1679. [Ref] He was one of those who united to purchase the Indian's claim to the remainder of the lands in Sherborn on 12 Jun 1682. [Ref] As early as 1680 he rented and mowed Pond Meadows in Holliston. [Ref]

His grandfather Edward Riggs left him a bequest. [Ref, Entry for Edward Riggs]

Children of Joseph Twitchell and Lydia Unknown:

  1. John Twitchell was born about 1674. [Ref]
  2. Patience Twitchell was born on 3 Dec 1678 in Sherborn. [Ref][Ref says 2 Dec] She married Samuel Eames on 21 Apr 1698 [Ref] in Sherborn. [Ref] Samuel, the son of Thomas Eames of Dedham, was born on 15 Jan 1664. [Ref]
  3. Content Twitchell was born on 25 Jan 1680 in Sherborn. [Ref][Ref] She married Joshua Stedman on 3 Jan 1703 in Boston. [Ref]
  4. Charity Twitchell was born on 7 Dec 1682 in Sherborn. [Ref][Ref] She married Woodland Thompson of Sherborn on 16 Feb 1703/4 [Ref] in Sherborn. [Ref]
  5. Sarah Twitchell was born on 15 Nov 1684 in Sherborn. [Ref][Ref] She died, unmarried, on 23 Apr 1710 [Ref] in Sherborn. [Ref]
  6. Lydia Twitchell was born on 11 Oct 1686. She died in 1710. She married Lieut. Joseph Johnson.
  7. Joseph Twitchell was born on 3 Sep 1688. [Ref][Ref] He died on 31 Jan 1727/8 in Sherborn. [Ref] He married Elizabeth Holbrook on 27 May 1718 in Sherborn. [Ref]
    some descendants of Joseph Twitchell
  8. Ephraim Twitchell was born on 24 Oct 1695 [Ref] in Sherborn. [Ref] Ephraim of Holliston married first Sarah Mellen on 28 Sep 1721 in Sherborn. [Ref] He married second Hannah Sanger on 9 Feb 1726/7 in Sherborn. [Ref]
    some descendants of Ephraim Twitchell

Fourth Generation

LYDIA TWITCHELL (1686 - 1745)

Parents: Joseph Twitchell and Lydia Unknown [Ref, p. 19]

Lydia Twitchell was born on 11 Oct 1686 in Sherborn. [Ref][Ref][Ref, p. 19] She died on 25 Mar 1745 in Holliston. [Ref, p. 19] She married Lieut. Joseph Johnson on 13 May 1709 [Ref] in Sherborn. [Ref][Ref, p. 19]

References

Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, Vol. 1-3, Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995.

Bartlett, J. Gardner, "John Hill of Dorchester and his Descendants," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 58, 1904, 157- 168.

Brown, Dwight Ray, "Who Wants What and Where," The American Genealogist 39, 1963, 52.

Johnson, Paul Franklin and Frank Leonard Johnson, Genealogy of Capt. John Johnson of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Commonwealth Press, Los Angeles, 1951.

Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850. Online Database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2007.

No author, "Marriages, Births and Deaths in Dorchester, Mass, 1648-1683," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 16, 1862, 152-158.

Savage, James, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, Vol. I-IV, Boston, 1860-1862.

Trask, William, "Abstracts from the Earliest Wills on Record in the County of Suffolk, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, various issues.

Twitchell, Ralph Emerson, Genealogy of the Twitchell Family, privately printed, New York, 1929.