Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

Their daughter Rebecca was born 14th August, 1644. Hephzibah married James Minot, of Dorchester, 21st May, 1673, and Capt. Daniel Champney, of Cambridge, 4th June, 1684; had daughter Hephzibah (born 23d June, 1687); and died 30th Mar. 1696. Ammi Ruhamah Corlet, the son, who was master of the principal school in Plymouth, 1672, graduated at Harvard College in 1670, was a Fellow of this institution, and died in Cambridge, 1st Feb. 1678-9.*

SUPPOSED CHILDREN OF ELIZABETH CUTTER.

The supposition is, several married daughters of Elizabeth Cutter came to this country about the time of her emigration. 1. ISABELLA, wife of Thomas Sweetman, of Cambridge. "Thomas Swetman and Isabell, his wife," were members of Cambridge church, both in full communion." He became freeman, 2d May, 1638, and died 8th Jan. 1682-3, æ. 73. He is mentioned in the power of attorney, noticed on page 6. His widow received "alms from the church up to the 12th December, 1709." Their issue were:

i. ELIZABETH, b. 6 Jan. 1646-7; m. Benjamin Wellington, 7 Dec. 1671-the grandmother of Hon. Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence. [Bond's Watertown, 628.]-ii. REBECCA, b. 7 Apr. 1649; m. Michael Spenser.-iii. SARAH, b. 2 May, 1654; m. Josiah Treadway, Framingham, 9 Jan. 1673-4; d. 5 Mar. 1696-7. [Bond's Watertown, 608.]-iv. THOMAS, b. 18 Jan. 1655-6; d. Jan. 27th.-v. RUHAMAH, b. 28 Mar. 1657.— vi. SAMUEL, b. 16 Apr. 1659; grad. Harv. Coll. 1677.—vii. BETHIA, bapt. 7 July, 1661; m. James Hewes, Boston, 12 Dec. 1692. -viii. HEPHZIBAH, b. 19 June, 1666.

2. JOYCE, wife of Edward Goffe, of Cambridge.

They embarked at Ipswich, in Suffolk, in the Hope, October, 1634.† Goffe was made freeman 25th May, 1636; was proprietor of a homestall and one other lot in Watertown, 1642; selectman ten years; representative to the General Court, 1646 and 1650; and died 26th Dec. 1658. Joyce, his wife, died November, 1638. His second wife Margaret, daughter of widow Isabella Wilkinson, married, 1662, John Witchfield, of WindGoffe's will mentions his widow Margaret, son Sam.

sor.

vileness, and hence was discouraged; but heard again the soul was not further off when stripped of excellencies, and that when coming for reconciliation it must see nothing, but 1st, condemned for best desires-2nd, Christ on Tree-and should find no reason why the Lord should pity it. But hence to hang on his good pleasure, which God made precious to me if He would pity me and honor himself in me," &c. &c.-Rev. T. Shepard's MSS. Vol. A. R. Corlet passed the winter of 1674 with his brother-in-law Minot at Dorchester. Jan. 5, 1674-5, a collection "was made for Mr. Corlet, for his labor in preaching during Mr. Flint's sickness."-Dorchester Chh. Records.

Vide 2 Mass. Hist. Coll., iv. 90, 91; ix. 193; Geneal. Register, i. 35; Hist. Dorchester, 228 ; Colonial Records, v. 141, 142; x. 6.

+ For account of this hazardous voyage, see Young's Chron. Mass. 531-40; Magnalia, i.

uel, daughters Lydia, Deborah, Anna, and Abiah; and widows Barnard and Wilkinson. His issue by wife Joyce

were:

i. SAMUEL, b. in England; m. Hannah, dau. Phebe, widow of John Barnard, Watertown, 25 June, 1656. "Samuel Goffe, Sen'." d. 15 Jan. 1705-6. "Anna," his wife, d. April, 1679, æ. 44.—ii. LYDIA, b. England; m. John Sprague, 2 May, 1653.—iii. NATHANIEL, b. Feb. 1638; probably d. young.*

3. ELIZABETH, wife of Deacon William Stitson, or Stilson, of Charlestown. She had been a widow Harris, and her marriage with Stitson probably occurred in England. He was admitted freeman 11th June, 1633, and with his wife joined the church at Charlestown, 22d Mar. 1633-4. He was a member of the Artillery Company, 1648, and a sergeant of the volunteer train-band; held the office of selectman for twenty years; representative to the General Court six years; and was deacon of the church "31 years & 5 mo.," as inscribed on his tombstone, still to be seen. He died 11th Apr. 1691, æ. about 91; and in his will kindly remembered the children of Elizabeth by her former husband;t gave a legacy to Deborah, wife of Matthew Griffin, and the blessing of freedom to his negro Sambo.

Dea. Stitson's wife Elizabeth died 16th Feb. 1669-70. August 22, 1670, he married Mary, widow of Francis Norton. The historian of Charlestown asserts, "He was as active in ecclesiastical affairs as in civil;" and "the bare recital of the offices he held" is the only memorial he can give of "this venerable patriarch."

4. JOANNA, wife of Dea. Robert Hale, of Charlestown. Both came probably in the fleet with Gov. Winthrop, July, 1630. Hale was one of the earliest members of the Boston church, his name being eighteenth in order of membership; and with his wife assisted at the founding of the First Church, Charlestown, 14th Oct. 1632; of which Ralph Mousal and himself were the first chosen to the office of deacons.

Hale, admitted freeman 14th May, 1634, was member of the Artillery Company, 1644. He was ensign of Charlestown train-band, held the office of selectman eleven years, and performed many offices of trust in behalf of the town. Deacon Robert "Haill" died 16th July, 1659. His consort Joanna married Richard Jacob, of Ipswich, and died about 1679. Their son, Rev. John Hale, the noted pastor at Beverly, left descendants eminently distinguished in our country's annals.

Vide Newell, Camb. Chh.-Gathering, 48-9, 50-4; Harris, Camb. Epit., 35; Bond's Watertown, 257.

+ Namely, John, Thomas, William, and Daniel Harris, and Ann, wife Elias Maverick, Chelsea.-Savage.

"Of the mother of John Hale but little is known; but when we consider the characters of those who descended from her for three successive generations, without other means of judg ing, we are led to very favorable inferences."* Dea. Robert and Joanna Hale had issue:

i. JOHN, b. 3 June, 1636; grad. Harv. Coll. 1657; ordained Beverly, 1667; m. (1st) Rebecca Byles, (2d) Sarah Noyes, (3d) Elizabeth Clark; and d. 15 May, 1700, having "rested from his labors in his 64th year."-ii. MARY, b. 17 May, 1639; m. Edward Wilson.iii. Zechery, b. 3 Apr. 1641; d. æ. 2.—iv. SAMUEL, b. 9 Apr. 1644; a mariner; by wife Lydia had Lydia, baptized 28 Oct. 1677: he d. 1677.—v. JOANNA, m. John Laken, 9 Nov. 1664.‡

[blocks in formation]

II.

Second Generation.

CHILDREN OF RICHARD CUTTER, EMIGRANT ANCESTOR.

RICHARD CUTTER was sire of fourteen children, and progenitor of the Cutter Family of New England. By his wife Elizabeth he had:

1. ELIZABETH, b. 15 July, 1645, and baptized at Cambridge; probably died unmarried after 1658.

2. SAMUEL, b. 3 Jan. 1646-7, was "borne and baptized" in Cambridge. "I councell my son Samuel to dwell with his brother William Cutter while he remains unmarried."- Richard's Will, 1693.

3. THOMAS, b. at Cambridge, 19 July, 1648. Rev. Mr. Mitchellperhaps through inadvertence-makes no mention of his baptism.* He was probably dead when his father's will was made, which accounts for the reason he is not mentioned therein. By wife Abigail he had four children born in Cambridge. Regarding these, nothing further is known.

i. ABIGAIL, b. 31 Oct. 1674.-ii. THOMAS, b. 19 Jan. 1677-8.-iii. MARY, b. 15 Mar. 1680-1.-iv. HANNAH, b. 7 Mar. 1682-3.

4. WILLIAM, b. at Cambridge, 22 Feb. 1649-50. Mitchell mentions his baptism in the church of that place, but gives no date.

He married Rebecca Rolfe, whose father, John Rolfe, of Cambridge, originally from Newbury, came hither about 1670, from Nantucket Island, but no record of the date of the marriage occurs among the authorities as yet consulted. William and wife were admitted to membership in Cambridge church, July 28, 1700; and a cherished relic, the family Bible, bears marked evidence of frequent use. His residence was in that part of the town which formed the district called Menotomy, and on the banks of the stream flowing from Lexington through Arlington into Mystic River. Here, on the occasion of Rolfe's decease, Oct. 1, 1681, he received from his estate an acre of land. Later, April 10, 1684, he purchased of John Rolfe, Jr., four acres additional, on which he built the house, after

Newell, Camb. Chh.-Gathering, 63.

+ Notice of him occurs in Middlesex Registry Deeds, xix. 125, 126; xxvii. 237.

wards his son John's, which formerly stood on the site of the present residence of his descendant, Cyrus Cutter. This land was the "west corner" of the Rolfes' homestead, and with the purchase William had "liberty to build a dam for the convenience of the mill " near his house, together with "the half part of a sawmill" on Sergeant Francis Whitmore's estate also. He dwelt in the house men-. tioned, it appears, until he sold it for £60 to his son John, April 9, 1717, with ten acres of land "adjoyning the place called the 'Rocks,' and lying on both sides of the mill brook."

Vacating these premises, he removed to that comfortable old-fashioned house of two stories, once doubtless the home of the "Rolfes," which many now living remember as the mansion of his lineal descendant, the "Valiant." In 1844 it was purchased by Albert Winn Esq., and demolished, and a cottage erected on its site. While undergoing demolition, a beam, the support of a fire-place, was removed from the chimney, inscribed with the figures, "1671;" the probable date of its erection by its builder and first occupant, the father-inlaw of William, John Rolfe. From William it passed through four generations of his descendants, embracing a period of a century's duration.

William was an heir of his father's estate and an executor of his will. A carpenter or "house-wright" by profession, he was also somewhat of an husbandman, and dealt largely in real estate, as the multitude of deeds and other documents in which he is mentioned bear evidence. He did not confine his land speculations to his immediate neighborhood, but sometimes extended his operations to other localities, and in several instances gave mortgages.* In addition to these pursuits he appears to have added that of a miller, and carried on this business in mills erected on the banks of the stream near his house.

A few of his transactions in the sale of land deserve notice. May 1, 1690, he bought of his aunt "Barbery Corlet, widow," eight acres at "Cambridge Rocks." Jan. 20, 1692-3, for £9, he bought three acres of Jonathan Dunster in Charlestown, in a place "formerly called Limfield, now Menotomy Fields." + Feb. 8, 1697-8, Samuel Manning, of Billerica, "yeoman," sold him eight acres at the "Rocks," near his house; the land being on both sides of the mill-brook. July 28, 1707, he sold to William Locke, of Woburn, for £25, twenty-five acres of the "Cook or Rolfe Farm," in Cambridge. Sept. 15, 1710, of the same to Daniel Bloggett, of Woburn, "taylor," he sells for £50 twenty acres more.‡

Namely, July 8, 1686, to Roger Buck and one Thatcher; Dec. 26, 1686, to "E. Thomas's Mills;" in 1688, to Ephraim and Bethia Cutter [Vide ii. 5.]. A mortgage from "Ephraim and Bethia to "William and Rebecca," 1696, was discharged 1713.—Midd. Reg. Deeds, i.-xii.

[ocr errors]

+ Bounded N. by the field highway; E. by land of John Adams; S. by Cambridge line, "running to a narrow point;" and W. by his own.

Bounded N. E. by William Locke, Jr.; N. W. by William Johnson and Samuel Whittemore; S. W. by" Vine Brook;" and S. E. by his land "running across the cartway.”

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »