Monday, September 14, 2009

Madness Monday - Who are Mary Kent's Parents?

One of my persistent "problem children" is Mary Kent, who married William Cutter (1722-1780), probably in about 1744, in Woodbridge, Middlesex, NJ. They had children Stephen (1745), Richard, Sarah, Mary, Hannah, Kelsey, Samuel and Keturah (ca 1765) Cutter. Mary was probably born between 1720 to 1726.

There were several Kent families in the Woodbridge NJ area in the late 1600s and through the 1700s, but the records are very sparse. Here is a report of the descendants of Stephen Kent (1648-1719) from my genealogy database:

Generation No. 1

1.... Stephen4 Kent (Stephen3, Thomas2, Richard1) was born 06 March 1647/48 in Newbury, Essex County, MA, and died March 1718/19 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ. He married (1) Jane Scott 25 December 1683 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ. She was born in of Elizabeth, Union County, NJ. He married (2) Mary About 1710. He married (3) Abigail Bef. 1719.

Notes for Stephen Kent:

Stephen Kent came to Woodbridge NJ with his father and acquired considerable land there. His name appears frequently on the Woodbridge records. He makes several conveyances of land and sold the homestead obtained by inheritance from his father. He is called both planter and yeoman. He did not hold many civil offices and was not as prominent a man as his father. Through him or his father, two localities received names - Kent's Creek and Kent's Neck on the Raritan, and a little stream near the Kent house was called Slingtaile Brook.

In the fourth division of land in 1717, Stephen Kent Jr drew 63 acres of land in his own right and his son, Stephen Kent, drew ten acres.

The will of Stephen Kent, yeoman, was dated 11 April 1716, and names wife Abigail, oldest son David, mentions son Stephen, daughter Hannah, son John and daughter Abigail. His wife Abigail received his movable property for bringing up his two children John and Abigail. Son Stephen Kent was named sole executor for the will proved 25 March 1719.

The inventory of the personal estate was made by James Moores and Thomas Collyer, and sworn to by Stephen Kent, executor, on 25 March 1719 (NJ Archives, Lib. A, p167).

Children of Stephen Kent and Jane Scott are:
..2.....i. Susannah5 Kent, born 21 December 1684 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ.
+3.....ii. David Kent, born 30 June 1686 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ.
..4.....iii. Hannah Kent, born About 1688 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ.
..5.....iv. Stephen Kent, born About 1690 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ.
..6.....v. Abigail Kent, born About 1692 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ.
..7.....vi. John Kent, born About 1695 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ.

Generation No. 2

..3..... David5 Kent (Stephen4, Stephen3, Thomas2, Richard1) was born 30 June 1686 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ. He married (unknown).

Children of David Kent and (unknown) are:
+ 8.....i. John6 Kent, born About 1710 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ; died About 1775 in Piscataway, Middlesex County, NJ.
+ 9.....ii. William Kent, born 1713 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ; died Bef. 19 June 1761 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ.
+ 10....iii. Abigail Kent, born About 1716 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ.

Generation No. 3

..8. John6 Kent (David5, Stephen4, Stephen3, Thomas2, Richard1) was born About 1710 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ, and died About 1775 in Piscataway, Middlesex County, NJ. He married (1) (unknown). He married (2) Charity Cutter 08 February 1769 in Middlesex County, NJ.

Children of John Kent and (unknown) are:
+ 11....i. John7 Kent, born in Middlesex County, NJ; died About 1775 in Piscataway, Middlesex County, NJ.
..12....ii. David Kent, born in Middlesex County, NJ.
..13....iii. Stephen Kent, born in Middlesex County, NJ. He married Mary Carman 26 July 1768 in Middlesex, NJ.

..9. William6 Kent (David5, Stephen4, Stephen3, Thomas2, Richard1) was born 1713 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ, and died Bef. 19 June 1761 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ. He married Charity Freeman 01 May 1756 in Middlesex County, NJ. She died Bef. 24 February 1784 in Middlesex County, NJ.

Notes for William Kent:

The will of William Kent was written 10 June 1761, in which William Kent of Woodbridge leaves wife Charity with all his moveable estate in order to bring up the children, and the use of his land. Son Phinehas was given the land when he is 21, but he is to pay daughter Elizabeth 15 pounds when she is 21. If son Phinehas should die, then the land should go to brother David Evans, his son Lewis Evans, and heirs. Brother David Evans and friend Nathaniel Fitz Randolph were named executors. The witnesses were Mary Stone, Rebecca Stone, Abraham Tappen. The will was proved 15 July 1761. An inventory was taken by Thomas Gach and David Kent on 18 July 1761 and totalled 278 pounds 15 shillings. (NJ Archives, Lib. H, p.4).

Notes for Charity Freeman:
Estate administered 24 Feb 1784 by Henry Sutton. [NJ Archives, Calendar of Wills, 1781-1785, p. 232]

Children of William Kent and Charity Freeman are:
+ 14....i. Phinehas7 Kent, born 11 September 1756 in Middlesex County, NJ.
...15....ii. Elizabeth Kent, born About 1759 in Middlesex County, NJ.

10. Abigail6 Kent (David5, Stephen4, Stephen3, Thomas2, Richard1) was born About 1716 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ. She married Tayner.

Child of Abigail Kent and Tayner is:
..16....i. William7 Tayner.

Generation No. 4

..11. John7 Kent (John6, David5, Stephen4, Stephen3, Thomas2, Richard1) was born in Middlesex County, NJ, and died About 1775 in Piscataway, Middlesex County, NJ. He married Lena.

Children of John Kent and Lena are:
..17....i. John8 Kent.
..18....ii. Catharine Kent.
..19....iii. James Kent.
..20....iv. Elizabeth Kent.
..21....v. Phebe Kent.

..14. Phinehas7 Kent (William6, David5, Stephen4, Stephen3, Thomas2, Richard1) was born 11 September 1756 in Middlesex County, NJ. He married Sarah Brown.

Child of Phinehas Kent and Sarah Brown is:
..22.....i. Clayton8 Kent, born 05 August 1794 in Middlesex County, NJ.

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I have not investigated land records or tax records for the Kent, Cutter, FitzRandolph, Gach and my other ancestral families in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Apparently, nobody else has investigated them either, since I have found no other family tree or web site that adds much more information to this descent from Stephen Kent.

My very best guess is that Mary Kent is the daughter of #5 Stephen Kent or #7 John Kent. She may be a daughter of #3 David Kent. I doubt that she is the daughter of #8 John Kent, since he was born about 1710 and would probably be too young to have a child before 1728 or so.

I welcome any suggestions for ways to uncover the parents of this "problem child."

1 comment:

Martin said...

The English origins of Stephen Kent was recently published at NEHGR 162:245-54, 163:51-65. In her sketch of the immigrant the author notes that the Coddington Papers and Seversmith, Colonial Families include much information. The Coddington Papers are at the NEHGS Library in Boston. Seversmith is at many large research libraries.

Woodbridge families are also well done in: P.B. Myers, Ancestors and Descendants of Lewis Ross Freeman (1995).