James Hildreth (1698-1761) is #288 on my Ahnentafel List, my 6th great-grandfather, who married #289 Dorothy Prescott (1702-1774) in 1721 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.
I am descended through:
* their son #144 Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784) who married #145 Elizabeth Prescott (1734-1812) in 1753.
* their son, #72 Zachariah Hildreth (1754-1829) who married #73 Elizabeth Keyes (1759-1793) in 1777.
* their son, #36 Zachariah Hildreth (1783-1857) who married #37 Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857) in 1810.
* their son, #18 Edward Hildreth (1831-1899) who married #19 Sophia Newton (1834-1923) in 1852.
* their daughter #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920) who married #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) in 1874.
* their son #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) who married #5 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.
* their son #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) in 1942.
* their son #1 Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)
=====================================================
1) PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
* Name: James Hildreth[1–21]
* Sex: Male
* Father: Ephraim Hildreth (1654-1731)
* Mother: Anna Moore (1666-1760)
2) INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
* Birth: 23 December 1698, Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[1–2]
* Deed: 7 January 1720 (age 21), common land received from town; Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[3]
* Deed: 11 August 1724 (age 25), received 7 parcels of land from father; Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[6]
* Distribution: 12 April 1731 (age 32), father's will proved; Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[7]
* Tax List: 29 October 1731 (age 32), tax assessment; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[8]
* Deed: 17 September 1744 (age 45), bought 45 acres of land in Westford for 320 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[9]
* Deed: 30 November 1744 (age 45), bought 8.5 acres in Westford for 32 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[10]
* Deed: 28 February 1752 (age 53), sold 30 acres in Westford for 106 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[11]
* Guardianship: 28 June 1755 (age 56), Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[12]
* Deed: 13 January 1758 (age 59), sold 14 acres in Westford for 100 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[13]
* Deed: 27 May 1760 (age 61), bought 8 acres in Westford for 76 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[14]
* Deed: 7 November 1760 (age 61), sold 107 acres in Westford for 400 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[15]
* Deed: 28 November 1760 (age 61), sold 7 acres in Westford for 40 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[16]
* Deed: 21 January 1761 (age 62), sold 12 acres in Westford for 30 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[17]
* Deed: 23 January 1761 (age 62), sold land in Westford for 30 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[18]
* Death: 25 February 1761 (age 62), Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[19–20]
* Burial: after 25 February 1761 (after age 62), Fairview Cemetery, Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[21]
3) SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
* Souse 1: Dorothy Prescott (1702-1774)
* Marriage 1: 20 December 1721 (age 22), intentions; Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[4–5]
* Child 1: Oliver Hildreth (1723-1793)
* Child 2: Rebecca Hildreth (1726-1785)
* Child 3: Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784)
* Child 4: Anna Hildreth (1730- )
* Child 5: Dorothy Hildreth (1733-1735)
* Child 6: Dorothy Hildreth (1736-1782)
* Child 7: Amos Hildreth (1738-1807)
* Child 8: Lucy Hildreth (1742-1763)
* Child 9: Samuel Hildreth (1745-1748)
4) NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
James Hildreth was born 23 December 1698 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, the sixth child (of 11) and sixth son of Ephraim and Anna (Moore) Hildreth[1-2].
On 7 January 1720, the town of Chelmsford laid out 2.5 acres of land in the town common to James Hildreth and Ephraim Hildreth on the rights of James Parker and Ephraim Hildreth, Sr.[3]
James Hildreth married Dorothy Prescott, with intentions recorded on 20 December 1721 in Chelmsford[4-5]. They had nine children recorded in Chelmsford and Westford between 1723 and 1745.
On 11 August 1724, Ephraim Hildreth of Chelmsford, husbandman, gave land in Chelmsford to his son James Hildreth, husbandman of Chelmsford, for personal affection and good will. There were 7 parcels of land, totaling 25.5 acres, all near James Hildreth's house. The deed was recorded 24 February 1726[6]
The town of Westford was set off from a part of Chelmsford town in 1729, and that James Hildreth did not "move" his physical homestead from one town to the other. The town records before 1729 reflect that he paid taxes in Chelmsford before 1729, and in Westford after 1730[8].
The father of James Hildreth, Ephraim Hildreth (1654-1731), died on 5 April 1731. He wrote his will on 5 March 1731, and it was proved on 12 April 1731[7]. Son James Hildreth was bequeathed "... all the lands that I gave to him by a deed of gift and allso a seventh part of my waring apparriel and a seventh part of my oxen and husbandtre tools for his full portion of my estate."
On 17 September 1744, Mary Merriam, widow of Isaac Merriam, and their children, sold 45 acres of land in Westford to James Hildreth, yeoman of Westford, for 320 pounds old tenor. The land was the 24th lot in the 1st division, bounded by a highway, north by land of Benjamin Brooks, west and south by land of Daniel Adams, and east by the highway. The deed was recorded 20 June 1749[9].
On 30 November 1744, James Burn of Westford, husbandman, sold land in Westford to James Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 32 pounds. The land was 8.5 acres on Flat Hill, bounded by land of James Hildreth, and defined by stakes, stones and trees. The deed was recorded 20 June 1760 [10].
On 28 February 1752, James Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, sold land in Westford to his son, Zachariah Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 106 pounds lawful money. There were three tracts totalling 30 acres. The first tract was 14 acres located on the west side of Tadmuck Hill, bounded by stakes, stones, and trees. The second tract was Pine Land in the General Field, bounded by stakes, stones, trees, and north by Timothy Fletcher's land. The third tract was meadow and meadow bottom on the west side of Beaver Brook, bounded north by Thomas Dutton's meadow, the brook, southeast by Hadley's meadow, and east by upland. The deed was recorded 31 March 1761[11].
On 28 June 1755, a letter was written by Willard Hall of Westford to the Judge of Probate of Middlexex County requesting a guardian be put over James Hildreth "who is sometimes quarrelsome, mischievous and the neighbors will no longer suffer him at large. Someone is needed to take care that he will not eat out his estate and ruin the family who are at present in very good circumstances." It was requested that his wife or eldest son be appointed guardian[12]. There is no other record in the Probate records for this case. It is unknown if a guardian was appointed to protect James Hildreth and his estate.
On 13 January 1758, James Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, sold land in Westford to his son, Zachariah Hildreth, husbnadman of Westford, for 100 pounds lawful money. The land was four pieces of land near Tadmuck Hill totalling 13 and 3/4 acres. The first tract was 7 and 3/4 acres bounded east and south by land of Benjamin Carver, and west and north by land of Willard Hall. The second tract was 5 acres bounded northeast by land formerly Benjamin Robbins, and east, west and south by land of Zachariah Hildreth. The third piece was one half ace bounded on the south side by James Hildreth's field, and bounded by land formerly owned by Benjamin Robbins. The fourth piece was one half acre, and was at the east end of Zachariah Hildreth's land, bounded on Sagatee Meadow, and stakes and stones, and trees. The deed was recorded 31 March 1761[13].
On 27 May 1760, Deliverance Smith, gentleman of Westford, sold land in Westford to James Hildreth, yeoman of Westford, for 76 pounds, 13 shillings and 4 pence lawful money. The land was 8 acres near Rattlesnake Hill, bounded southwest by land of James Hildreth, south by a wall, northeast by land of James Hildreth and Nathan Procter, and north by James Hildreth's land. The deed was recorded 29 May 1760[14].
On 7 November 1760, James Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, sold land in Westford to his son, Amos Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 400 pounds. The sale included two tracts. The first tract was 100 acres of the homestead, bounded west by land of Phinehas Hildreth, southwest by land of Ephraim Hildreth, northwest by land of Ephraim Hildreth, southwest by land of Ephraim Hildreth, southeast by land of Barns and Smith, east by land of John Abbott, Ephraim Hildreth Sr., northeast by wall and land of Zachariah Hildreth and Nathan Procter, and north by the highway. The second tract was 7 acres near the homestead of Gershom Fletcher, bounded east by Groton Road, north by land of Samuel Parker, west by Dutton's Meadow, and south by land of Samuel Parker. The deed was recorded 31 March 1761[15].
On 28 November 1760, James Hildreth, yeoman of Westford, sold land in Westford to Zachariah Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 40 pounds lawful money. The land was 7 acres in Westford near the dwelling house of Zachariah Hildreth, bounded north, west and south by a stone wall, and east by a fence. The deed was recorded 31 March 1761[16].
On 21 January 1761, James Hildreth, yeoman of Westford, sold land in Westford to Zachariah Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 30 pounds lawful money. There were two pieces of land. The first was 8 acres of land on the north side of the highway from the dwelling house to the meeting house, bounded east by Timothy Fletcher's land, east and north on Lt. Pollard's land, west on Timothy Fletcher Sr's land, and south by the highway. The second piece was 4 acres on the south side of the highway, and was bounded north by Mr. Hall's land, south by Zachariah Hildreth's land, and northwest by the highway[17].
On 23 January 1761, James Hildreth, yeoman of Westford, sold land in Westford to his son, Amos Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 30 pounds. No acreage was given for this tract, which was bounded south by the highway from the dwelling house to the meeting house, west and north by Dutton's land and Timothy Fletcher Sr's land, and east by Zachariah Hildreth's land. The deed was recorded 31 March 1761[18].
James Hildreth died 25 February 1761 in Westford, Massachusetts[19-20]. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Westford[21]. The gravestone inscription is:
"Here lies ye body of
Mr. James Hildreth
who departed this life
Feberuary the 26^th 1761
in the 63^d year
of his age"
There is no probate record for the estate of James Hildreth or his wife, Dorothy in the Middlesex County Probate Records. It is probable that in his later years he sold all of his property to his sons Amos and Zachariah Hildreth in order to support himself before his death, and his wife after his death, and that the widow Dorothy lived with one or more of her children after James's death.
5) SOURCES
1. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), Chelmsford Town Land and Vital Records, page 330 (image 183 of 230), James Hildreth birth entry.
2. Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Salem, Mass. : The Essex Institute, 1914), Births, page 79, James Heldreth entry, 1698.
3. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), Middlesex County, Volume 22, page 391, town of Chelmsford to James and Ephraim Hildreth, recorded 14 November 1723.
4. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com, Chelmsford > Births, Marriages, Deaths, page 6 (image 36 of 1719), James Hildreth and Dorothy Prescot marriage intentions entry.
5. Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Marriages, page 250, James Hildreth and Dorothy Prescott entry.
6. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 25, page 580, Ephraim Hildreth to James Hildreth, recorded 24 February 1726.
7. "Probate Records 1648-1924 (Middlesex County, Massachusetts)," FamilySearch, 886 FHL US/CAN Microfilms, Packet #11,316, Ephraim Hildreth, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,397,093.
8. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com, Westford > Town Records, page 45 (image 34 of 778), James Hildreth tax assessment.
9. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 49, page 8, Mary Merriam et al to James Hildreth, recorded 20 June 1749.
10. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 57, page 350, James Burn to James Hildreth, recorded 20 June 1760.
11. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 323, James Hildreth to Zachariah Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.
12. "Middlesex County, MA: Probate Papers, 1648-1871," digital image, American Ancestors (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org), Probate Packet 11,299, James Hildreth, 1755, request for guardianship letter.
13. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 325, James Hildreth to Zachariah Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.
14. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 57, page 351, Deliverance Smith to James Hildreth, recorded 29 May 1760.
15. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 320, James Hildreth to Amos Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.
16. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 326, James Hildreth to Zachariah Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.
17. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 327, James Hildreth to Zachariah Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.
18. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 322, James Hildreth to Amos Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.
19. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com, Westford > Births, Marriages and Deaths, Page 91 (image 52 of 1750), James Hildreth death entry.
20. Vital Records of Westford, Massachusetts to the Year 1849 (Salem, Mass. : The Essex Institute, 1915), Deaths, page 287, James Hildreth entry, 1761.
21. Jim Tipton, indexed database, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com), Fairview Cemetery, Westford, Mass., James Hildreth memorial #36075092.
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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog. I have extended this theme in 2018 to 260 Ancestors in 260 Weeks.
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