52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2019 WEEK 14: ABRAHAM PERKINS SR. OF HAMPTON, N.H.

Turning now to the family of my 5x great grandmother Ann (Perkins) Packard, I can trace the line back to my immigrant ancestor and 9x great grandfather Abraham Perkins Sr. Abraham was one of the first settlers of the seacoast town of Hampton, N.H. and William Richard Cutter has this brief biography:

(I) Abraham Perkins, born in 1611, came from England to America, and appears of record in New England in 1638, as one of the first settlers of Hampton, where he was made a freeman, May 31, 1640. A man of good education, and an excellent penman, he was much employed in the town's affairs. He died August 31, 1683, at the age of seventy-two years, his widow, Mary, surviving him until May 29, 1706, when she passed away at the age of eighty-eight years. His daughter Mary married Giles Fifield, and was grandmother of Mary Adams, mother of the patriot, Samuel Adams. His will dated August 22, 1683. and probated September 18,1683. mentions his wife Mary, and sons, Jonathan, Humphrey, James, Luke and David. An old family Bible still preserved among his descendants gives the birth dates of eleven of his thirteen children, which were as follows: Mary, born September 2, 1639; Abraham Jr., September 2, 1639; Luke, 1640-41 ; Humphrey, January 22, 1642; James, April 11, 1644; Timothy, October 5, 1646; James (2), October 5, 1647; Jonathan, May 30, 1650; David, mentioned below; Abigail, April 2, 1655; Timothy (2), June 26, 1657; Sarah, July 26, 1659; Humphrey (2), May 17, 1661.-p1304

New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 3  Lewis historical publishing Company,  N.Y., N.Y.    1914

One surprise in that is the information that I may be distantly related to Samuel Adams!

Hampton was part of Essex County Massachusetts during Abraham's lifetime. He was involved in several lawsuits in the Court there and I've found those records, I've also found a transcription of his will. I will be sharing them here in the following posts.

To be continued...

MORE FAMILY AT MT. VERNON CEMETERY IN ABINGTON, MA.

I've found cousins from our Dad's side of the family right here in Abington about a mile away at Mt. Vernon cemetery. Most of them are from the Dunham family but there are a few from the Kimballs and Ellingwoods. And over the years I've found some from the Packards and Edsons as well. Here's some of those gravestones:

MT. PROSPECT CEMETERY, BRIDGEWATER, MA.

I have relatives buried in many of the cemeteries in the three Bridgewaters. I visited one of them, Mt. Prospect Cemetery in Bridgewater, seven years ago in April 2012. It's built on a hillside so I got a workout climbing up the hill but I found quite a few relatives, mostly from the Keith family but a few from the Fobes and Perkins families as well.

Here's a few of them:

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2019 WEEK 13: EDWARD FOBES OF BRIDGEWATER, MA.

I don't know much-yet- about 8x great grandfather Deacon Edward Fobes, so this will be a short  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks entry. Here's a brief biography from Nahum Mitchell's History of Bridgewater, Ma.:

* 2. Dea. Edward (s. of John I) m. Elizabeth D. of John Howard, and had Elizabeth 1677, John 1679, Mary 1681, Bethiah 1683, Hannah 1686, Ephraim 1688, Joshua 1689, Benjamin 1692, and William 1698.—Edward the father, d. a. 1732.—Elizabeth m. Joseph Keith.—Mary never m.—Bethiah m. Samuel Keith 1703.—Hannah m. Timo. Keith, 17 10. p163

Mitchell's History of Bridgewater, Massachusetts,  Published By Edward Alden Bridgewater, Ma.1897 


What does stand out from the entry is that three of the Fobes daughters married three sons of Rev. James Keith. I am descended from Elizabeth Fobes who married Joseph Keith.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2019 WEEK 12: JOHN FOBES OF BRIDGEWATER, MA.

Back when first started researching my family's history I discovered my 9x great grandfather John Fobes. I couldn't find much information about him other than he was a Scotsman who'd come to Massachusetts and had originally lived in Duxbury before moving on to Bridgewater. But I did find some family trees online that fascinated me, including Scots ancestors with nicknames such as David "Trail the Axe" and  John "with the black lip" Fobes.

Here's the entry for John Fobes from Nahum Mitchell's History of Bridgewater, Massachusetts:

John Fobes (from Duxbury) was one of the original proprietors of Bridgewater, where he settled, and d, a. 1661; made his nuncupative will before William Brett and Arthur Harris; his wid. Constant, sister of Experience Mitchell, m. John Briggs of Portsmouth R. I. 1662.—he had John, Edward, Mary, Caleb, William, Joshua, and Elizabeth.—John d. at George Allen's in Sandwich 1661.—William m. Elizabeth I), of Constant Southworth a 1667, and settled finally at Little Compton, and was with Capt. Church in Philip's war.—Joshua fell with Capt. Michael Pierce of Scituate in that disastrous battle with the Indians near Attleboro’, in 1676.—Caleb went to Norwich. -p162

Mitchell's History of Bridgewater, Massachusetts,  Published By Edward Alden Bridgewater, Ma.1897

PRIDE

My Irish immigrant great grandparents John and Anna (Kelly) McFarland

 
((I wrote this back in 2008 when Borders Books was still in business))

We got a new book in at Borders last week for my "All
Things Local" section and the minute I saw it I knew I'd be
buying a copy. It's Peter F. Stevens' "Hidden History of the
Boston Irish" (trade paperback, $19.99 from History Press)
and a quick scan of the back made me grin. There was a
reference to Barney McGinniskin, who in 1851 became the
first Irishman on the Boston Police force. Barney announced
his arrival with: "Barney McGinniskin from the bogs of
Ireland!"

I could picture him roaring that out, an "in your face"
declaration of his presence despite the opposition to his hiring
that Stevens details. Many of the objections against him were
all too familiar to the Irish immigrants of the early 19th
century: he was taking work away from native born
Americans, American culture was threatened by the influx
of low born, poorly educated foreigners, and worst of all,
they were Catholic!


Barney lost his place on the force three years later during the
era of the aptly named "Know Nothing" Party's reign of anti-
Catholic terrorism, but the Irish kept coming, carving out
lives for themselves and their families in New England.


"No Irish Need Apply?' Fine, some of them started their own
businesses while others took on menial jobs that put roofs
over their heads and money in the bank. If they had to work
as maids or ditch diggers, they did; their children would have
the chance for better jobs as clerks or teachers. Bit by bit
they worked their way to their dreams. Among them were
my Mom's grandparents.


One of her grandfathers, John McFarland, started out as a
laborer in 1880 and was working for the Boston City Street
department by the 1910 census and as a gardener for the
City in 1920. At the time of his death he owned two houses.
By 1940, his sons were employed by shoe factories, a bottler,
and a diamond cutting company and each of them owned
their own homes. His grandchildren include three Boston
firemen. It's an American success story that's repeated in
many other families whose ancestors arrived here with very
little and achieved so very much through hard work and
perseverance.

I recently heard a conservative declare we make too much
of being "hyphenated" Americans, of being Irish-American,
or Italian-American or Polish-American. If he had his way,
there'd be no celebration of Columbus Day or St. Patrick's
Day or any other ethnic group festivities.

I was astonished as a historian, as a genealogist, as well as,
yes, an Irish-American. We should be proud of being
Americans but we should also be proud of where our
families came from and the contributions their cultures have
made to American culture as a whole. When I hear the debate
raging over immigration today I hear some of the same
arguments used against the immigrants of other times,
including my Irish ancestors. If those arguments had
prevailed then, what a much poorer country America would
be today!

And as a historian I am proud of the contribution Ireland itself
has made to music and literature, and in its role the Irish
monasteries played in preserving much of the Greek and
Roman literature during the Middle Ages.

So that's what I feel about being Irish and Irish-American:
pride in my ancestors for what they overcame, and grateful
to them for what they have given back to America in return!

SAMUEL EDSON & THE "IRISH DONATION"

((First posted in Feb. 2012))

One of the great things about researching my family's history is what I learn
about our country's history along the way. While I have a college degree in
history, there are areas and topics that I've never explored before that I've
finally encountered in the lives of my ancestors. One of those topics came
up last night when I was writing my post on Deacon Samuel Edson and is
contained in this quote:

"He was an active member of the council of war from 1667 to the end of
King Philip's war, and also of the committee to distribute contributions
made by the Irish people for that war, and also to those entitled thereto
in Bridgewater."

Now, while we have New England ancestry all the way back to the Pilgrims
and Puritans on my Dad's side of the family, I have Irish Catholic(and German)
ancestry on  Mom's side. Given the long conflict between the English and
Irish, I found it hard to believe that the Irish would have sent any sort of
aid to English settlers fighting Indians in New England. I could imagine
them perhaps offering to hold the coats of the Englishmen, but sending
help, no. But then I remembered something I already knew about English
history and things began to make sense: it wasn't all of Ireland that sent
help. It was the part under the rule of the Puritans.

The Irish Catholics had rebelled in 1641 and for a time had been successful
due to the conflict in England between King Charles I and the English Parliament.
But when the English Civil War broke out  they formed an alliance with
the Royalist side and the Parliament sent Oliver Cromwell in 1649 to deal
with the rebellion. He did so with such ruthless efficiency, especially in Ulster,
it set the stage for the next four hundred years of Irish history.

The Puritans in New England were supporters of their brethren in England.
While I'm not aware yet if they had been supportive of the Irish Protestants
in Cromwell's fight with the Catholics its possible the "Irish contributions"
were a repayment for aid sent from the New World.

I found this account of the "Irish donation" as it was also known:

"The fact that in Ireland there was a certain familiarity with Colonial affairs even
as early as the seventeenth century is proven in many ways, but none more so
than by the action taken by the citizens of Dublin when the news reached that
city of the distressed condition of the New England Colonists resulting from
"King Philip's War." No more striking instance of practical sympathy toward the
suffering Colonists is related in American history than this incident. The Indian
war of 1675-1676 was bloody and devastating in the extreme. Large numbers of
the inhabitants of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island fell in battle or
were murdered by the savage foe and many towns were destroyed, and it is
worthy of note that more than one hundred Irish names are enumerated among
the Colonial militia who fought the Indian hordes. In these times of distress and
misery it is recorded that Ireland was the only European country which sent relief
to the Colonists, and so large was the consignment that the Lord Mayor of Dublin
sent three Commissioners to Boston to take charge of the distribution of the "Irish
Donation," as it is called in the official records of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay.
It is not known what the "Irish Donation" actually consisted of, but that, with
traditional Irish generosity, it was liberal in the extreme we may judge from the
fact that the cost of the freight alone was the very large sum for those days of £475
sterling. The relief came in the ship Katherine, which sailed from Dublin for Boston
on August 28, 1676. In Massachusetts alone 47 towns and 2351 persons were 
succored by this timely Irish relief."

A Hidden Phase of American History: Ireland's part in America's struggle for liberty
(Google eBook) by Michael Joseph O'Brien  (Dodd, Mead and company,  New York
1920)pp306-307

So Bridgewater, Ma. was one of the towns that received that "timely Irish relief",
and Samuel Edson, my ancestor, helped distribute it among the townspeople.

I love family history!

SAMUEL EDSON & THE INDIANS

 ((First posted in Feb. 2012))


My ancestor Samuel Edson was involved in several land purchases from the
Indians living in the Bridgewater Ma. area and some of the documents concerning the
purchases still exist.


"This deed, made November 20th, A.D. 1672, witnessoth, that I, Pomponoho, alias Peter, an Indian, living at Titicut, in the colony of New Plymouth, in Now Eiig., have sold for the sum of sixteen pounds—viz., six pounds of current money of New England, and ten pounds in good merchantable com, us by bill appeareth,—all the lands lying on the north side of Titicut River, within the bounds of Bridgewater, what lands were mine, or were either my father's or grandfather's or any otherwise conferred on me, excepting those lands expressed as follows, viz. : one hundred acres of land lying up the river to tho eastward of a small brook, given to an Indian called Charles, my brother-in-law, and a certain parcel of land lying against the wear and bounded by the landing-place, running to the head of my field, containing about ten acres at the utmost, I say I, the above-said Pomponohe, alias Peter, have bargained, sold, and by these presents do bargain and sell for myself, my heirs, and assigns forever, unto Nicholas Byram, sen., Samuel Edson, sen., and William Brett, sen., in and for the use of the townsmen of Bridgewater,joint purchasers with them, which persons above mentioned were ordered by the court to make purchase of those lands, as by court record appears, I say I have sold all these lands, with every part thereof, and all the immunities and privileges belonging thereunto, to them, their heirs, and assigns forever, the same quietly and peaceably to possess, without the lawful lot, interruption, or molestation of me, the abovesaid Pomponohe, alias Peter, or other persons whatsoever, lawfully claiming by, from, or under me, them, or any of them. In witness whereof I have hereunto set to my hand and seal.
POMPONOHO (P|::
his mark.
read, sealed, and delivered
in presence of us.
"Joseph Hayward
"John Carr, Sen.
"Acknowledged before Josiah Winslow, Gov., Feb. 20, 1676.
"Recorded by Nathaniel Clark, Secretary, March, 1685."
-  History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts: with biographical sketches of 
many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 2 , Duane Hamilton Hurd, ed.
(J. W. Lewis & co.,  Philadelphia 1884) p541


But only a few years later Deacon Samuel was appointed to a town Council of War
as tensions rose with the Indians under King Philip. When war came, it was marked
with savagery on both sides. The theater of war ranged through most of southern New
England, and even spread into this area where I live now just south of Boston. There
would be need for the Irish donation funds in Samuel Edson's  Bridgewater:

"April 9th, 1676, being Sunday, the enemy burnt a house and barn, and rifled several other houses in the town; but they soon fled and were not to be overtaken, though closely pursued. May 8th, about three hundred Indians with Tispaquin for their leader made another assault on the east end of the town on the south side of the river, and set fire to many of the houses ; but the inhabitants, " issuing from their garrison houses," fell Upon them so resolutely, that the enemy were repelled; and, a heavy shower of rain falling at the same time, the fires were soon extinguished. The attack was then renewed on the north side of the river, but the enemy was soon defeated, and the next morning entirely disappeared, after having burnt two houses and one barn. On this occasion thirteen houses and four barns only were burnt, and but five of these were in the village. The rest were on the borders of the settlement, and deserted at the time. There is a tradition that, excepting the garrison houses, every house but one in town was burnt. This was probably true as it respected the out-houses or dwellings on the borders or skirts of the town only, and not those in the centre or village, which were considered in some degree as fortified or garrison houses. This is the more probable, as the house excepted is said to have belonged to Nicholas Byram, which was in the easterly part of the town, and quite distant from the principal settlement. It stood where Capt. Isaac Whitman now lives. July 14 and 15, a party of Indians came upon the north side of the town, but, after killing a few cattle, retired. July 18, 19 and 20, the inhabitants pursued the enemy and took sixteen of them, of whom two only were men."
-"Description of Bridgewater 1818" by Nahum Mitchell in Collections of the
Massachusetts  Historical Society  Massachusetts Historical Society
(Society Press, Boston, 1818) pp156-157


So while there was damage to some buildings, and other attacks, Bridgewater never
suffered destruction on the scale of the towns west of Boston, such as the town of
Lancaster where others of my ancestors were entirely burned out.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2019 WEEK 11: DEACON SAMUEL EDSON OF BRIDGEWATER, MA..

Rev. James Keith's wife was Susannah Edson, and her father (my 9x greatgrandfather) was immigrant ancestor Samuel Edson, who was among the first settlers of Bridgewater, Ma. William Richard Cutter has a long description of his life in another of his genealogical collections:

Deacon Samuel  Edson, the immigrant ancestor, was an early settler in this country, being found in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1639, when he was acknowledged as an inhabitant and was granted a half an acre of land near Catt Cove and four acres of planting ground. In 1642 he was granted twenty-five acres of land in Mackerel Cove and two acres of meadow. About 1650 he moved to Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and was called an inhabitant there in a deed dated December 10, 1652, and died there in 1692, aged eighty years. He and his wife were buried in the old buryingground, and the oldest monument in the grave-‘ yard is erected over their graves. Deacon Samuel Edson, and Rev. James Keith, of Scotland, the first minister of Bridgewater, were given grants of land after the fifty-four proprietors had taken their shares, making fiftysix shares. He erected the first cornmill in the town in 1662, on Town river, and later he deeded this mill to his five daughters; the deed was recorded April 19, 1636. His will was dated January 15, 1688-89, proved September 20, 1692. He was made freeman before 1657. His home was on the south side of the river, near his mill. It is not known that he was a millwright by trade, but it is known that he was a good farmer and had mechanical ability. In 1660 he owned three shares in the town, and he very likely conveyed two of these to his sons Samuel and Joseph, as in the great division of 1683 he had only one share. He acquired a large estate by his industry and thrift, and was well to-do. He held several town offices; in 1666 appointed a member of the council of war; in 1676 representative to the general court at Plymouth, and in the same year was on a committee to distribute the town share of the Irish contributions for the distress of the Indian wars; in November, 1672, was on a committee which received the deed of conveyance from Chief Pomonoho of the Titicut purchase, “in and for the use of the townsmen of Bridgewater joint purchasers with them." In December, 1686, he with Ensign John Hayward and Deacon John \Villis, agents for the town, received a confirmatory deed of the Indian Chief W'ampatuck for the purchasers and the town of all the lands previously conveyed to them by Massasoit, on March 3, 1649. In 1667 was foreman of the jury to lay out roads, as well as in 1672; in 1680 was on a committee to settle the Bridgewater and Middleborough boundary line, and the same year to settle the Bridgewater and Taunton line. He was one of the first deacons of the town and served from about 1664 to the end of his life. Was associated with very prominent men and influential in town affairs. He is said to have been of a large, athletic frame, of medium weight and with a fine constitution which could endure almost every hardship; dignified and grave in manner, active and keen in argument and very firm in his ideas, but he was not an obstinate man and would cheerfully admit the accuracy of a different judgment. It is said that he was more inclined to listen than to debate, but when he did speak at town meetings he generally suc— ceeded in convincing his audience that he had carefully considered his subjects. The strength and vigor of his intellect, the quickness of his perceptions, the extent and accuracy of his memory and the struggle of mental enterprise, supplied in no inconsiderable degree the deficiencies of education. While he was respected for these attributes of his mind and character, it was to his constant practice of the christian virtues and the influence of his example-that his pre-eminence was greatly due. '

He married, about 1637, in England, Susanna Orcutt, probably an elder sister of William Orcutt, who came from Scituate and settled in Bridgewater before 1682. “Her education and natural abilities were said to be full equal to his, and this coupled with an expressive modesty of deportment and unaffected piety, gave to her person an elevated position and to her character a high rank among the matrons of the town. She exhibited a majestic figure, rather above the medium height, an elegant and majestic mein, with a countenance happily combining graceful dignity with cheerful benignity.” Children: Susanna, born probably in England in 1638; Sarah, born in Salem about 1640; Elizabeth, born in Salem about 1643; Samuel, mentioned below; Mary, born in Bridgewater about 1647; Joseph, born about 1649; Josiah, born in Bridgewater, 1651; Bethiah, born about 1653.-pp259-260

New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 1  Lewis historical publishing Company,   New York, New York 1913

MORE ABOUT THE REV. JAMES KEITH HOUSE PT. 2

  Along with the details of the construction of Rev. James Keith's house, Williams Latham also wrote about the history of its ownership:

In the case of the inhabitants of Bridgewater versus the inhabitants of West Bridgewater, reported in the seventh volume of Pickering Reports, page 191, and in the ninth volume of Pickering, page 55, in the years 1828 9, brought for the support of Daniel Keith, a pauper, then aged eighty.one years, a great.grandson of the Rev. James Keith. This pauper, with his father, Daniel Keith, and grandfather, John Keith, son of the Rev. James Keith, lived and died in the plaintiff , town. It became necessary to prove where, in old Bridgewater, minister Keith lived and died; and sundry old people were witnesses of, and sundry depositions of ancient people were then, 1828.9, taken for that purpose, as well as to prove the genealogy of the pauper; and some of said deponants and witnesses well remembered the house, then, 1828, owned and occupied by Aarrabella, daughter of said Amasa Howard, deceased,and widow of Benjamin Eaton, deceased, as far back as 1750, and said it was then, 1750. an ancient looking house, and had always appeared the same as it then, 1828.9, appeared. That case was tried, and before the whole court, twice; and the fact that the Rev. James Keith, lived and died in that house, was then well and satisfactorily established.

The homestead of Rev. James Keith consisted of two house.lots of six acres each, with a ten acre lot at the head of said house lots, and with a house thereon, built by the town, conditionally given by the town to him, in consideration of his future services as their minister, and remained entire until about 1800. And though this house and a portion of the homestead on which it stands, has been owned and occupied by many persons, as tenants in common and otherwise, yet the title to this house and portion of the homestead ns always remained in, and been confined to four persons and their families, to wit;

James Keith and his children, down to 1723,. . . 61 years;
Ephraim Fobes, brother and son, down to 1792, . 69 years;
Amasa Howard and daughters, down to 1834, . . 42 years;
Thomas Pratt and son, George M., down to 1882, . 48 years.
-pp239-240

Epitaphs in Old Bridgewater, Massachusetts: Illustrated with Plans and Views  Henry T.Pratt, Publisher, Bridgewater, Mass. 1882

 Ephraim Fobes is my 8x great granduncle, and Amasa Howard and Thomas Pratt are distant cousins. All are connected to Rev. James Keith by blood and marriage. So for two centuries the Keith House was in the family, albeit different branches,

MORE ABOUT THE REV. JAMES KEITH HOUSE PT.1

I did some more searching on the Keith House in West Bridgewater and hit the jackpot. I found information in of all things a book of epitaphs written by Williams  Latham, including illustrations
of the evolution of the house over its first200 years:

Here is some of what Mr. Latham wrote about the Keith House:


The house was built 1662. It fronted south, was two stories high in front, one story high back side, posts, sixteen feet high, fifteen feet wide in front, thirty.four feet deep, with front entry, five feet wide; chamber stairs and chimney back of front door, in the southeast corner of the house, one front room, about ten by twelve, with a bed-room back of that, and a kitchen, with pantry, back of bed.room and chimney. In the second story was an entry, a front room, and a bed-room corresponding to the rooms below. No cellar under this part of the house. 

In 1678, the house was enlarged by an addition of eighteen by thirty.four feet, to the east side of the house; two stories high in front one story high back side, making one large front room, eighteen by eighteen feet, with a bed.room, back stairs, and an enlargement of the kitchen, in the back part. The rooms in the second story corespond.ing to the front room and bed.room belov;. The back part of the second story of the old and new part of the house remaining unfinished. A cellar under a portion of this new part, with a stone drain across the road to the Town river.

The house remained in this condition, without material alteration for 159 years, from 1678 down to 1837, when Thomas Pratt, father of said George M. Pratt, cut off about fourteen feet of the north side of the house, so as to leave the north side of the same height as the front side of the house, thereby making the south. roof thirteen and one.half feet long, and the north roof only twelve feet long; building a new chimney in the place of the old one, then taken down, but much smaller; and leaving the rooms in the front and middle parts of the house as they were before this amputation. The brick in this old.chimney were much larger than modern brick, and were laid in clay. The shingles upon the walls were taken off, and clapbiards put on in place thereof. This house now (1882) being a two story house, thirty.two feet front, and twenty feet back„with a porch annexed to the back side. The windows upon the three sides of the house being the same ever since the memory of man, except such as were cut off as aforesaid, and except square glass in place of the old diamond glass and bull.s eyes.
The annex or addition of eighteen by thirty.four feet, made in 1678, was quite fully developed and apparent on a personal examination of the inside of the house, a few years ago, by the writer; and the frame.work, timber, doors, materials, and inside construction of lite house exhibit strong marks of antiquity. pp-239-240

Epitaphs in Old Bridgewater, Massachusetts: Illustrated with Plans and Views  Henry T.Pratt, Publisher, Bridgewater, Mass. 1882

There is more information about the court case involving Bridgewater and West Bridgewater, as well as about the ownership of the house. I'll discuss that in Part 2

To be continued...

BRIDGEWATER VS. WEST BRIDGEWATER: THE CASE OF DANIEL KEITH

While researching my ancestor the Reverend James Keith I discovered a courtcase from October 1828 involving a Keith cousin who was a paper and the towns of Bridgewater and West Bridgewater. This is from   Oliver Pickering's Massachusetts Reports: Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts:

The Inhabitants of Bridgewater versus The Inhabitants of West Bridgewater.

Before the town of West Bride water was formed out of a part of the town ol Bridgewater, the great-grandfather of a pauper gained a settlement in Bridgewater by a residence in that part of the town which is now West Bridgewater; the pauper, his father, and grandfather, resided in that part of the town which is now Bridgewater, and the pauper owned and was taxed for real estate in the part of the town which is now Bridgewater, so that he would have gained a settlement therein if il had been a separate town. By the Si. 1821, c. 82, creating the town of West Bridgewater, it is provided, that 11 all persons who may hereafter become chargeable as paupers to the said towns of Bridgewater and West Bridgewater, shall be considered as belonging to that town on the territory of which they had their settlement at the time of passing this act, and shall in future be chargeable to that town only." Held, that the pauper's settlement was in West Bridgewater.

This was assumpsit for the support of Daniel Keith, a pauper. At the trial of the case, before Morton J., the only question was, whether the settlement of the pauper was in West Bridgewater, all the other facts necessary to the maintaining of the action being admitted.

It appeared from the evidence, that the pauper, his father, and his grandfather, (so far as the memory of the witnesses extended,) always lived on the territory now included in the town of Bridgewater, and that the pauper, previous to the St. 1821, c. 82, establishing the town of West Bridgewater, and when of full age, owned real estate of sufficient value in the territory now Bridgewater, and was taxed for it sufficiently to have gained thereby a settlement therein, in his own right, had either territory been a separate town. But the plaintiffs offered evidence tending to show that the pauper's great-grandfather, James Keith, was settled as minister of Bridgewater in 1664 and resided on that part of the town now West Bridgewater until his death, which happened between 1718 and 1720. The plaintiffs contended, that if the jury were satisfied of these facts in relation to James Keith, he thereby acquired a settlement in that part of the town now West Bridgewater, and that consequently, by virtue of the above statute of 1821, c. 82, the pauper's settlement was in West Bridgewater. 

The defendants, on the other hand, contended that by the statute the legal settlement of the pauper was in what is now Bridgewater. They also contended that James Keith could not, by reason of his being minister of Bridgewater, and his The defendants, on the other hand, contended that by the statute the legal settlement of the pauper was in what is now Bridgewater. They also contended that James Keith could not, by reason of his being minister of Bridgewater, and his residence as above mentioned, have acquired a settlement in Bridgewater previous to 1692, and that even on the plaintiffs'' construction of the act of 1821, they were bound to prove that the pauper's grandfather was under twenty-one years of age at the time when James Keith could have acquired a settlement under the provincial act of 1692.

The judge, in order to reserve the questions of law which had been raised, for the whole Court, instructed the jury, that if they were satisfied that James Keith was minister of Bridgewater, and resided in that part of the town which is now West Bridgewater, they should find a verdict for the plaintiffs. The jury accordingly found a verdict for the plaintiffs; which was to be set aside and a new trial granted, or judgment was to be entered thereon, according to the opinion of the Court. -pp55-56

Massachusetts Reports: Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Volume 26  Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Ma. 1864

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2019 WEEK 10: JOSEPH KEITH OF BRIDGEWATER, MA..

7x great grandfather James Keith was one of the leading citizens of Bridgewater, Ma. and judging by the value of his estate, a prosperous one.  Here's his brief biography in Nahum Mitchell's history of Bridgewater:  

3. Joseph (s. of James 1) m. Elizabeth, D. of Dea. Edward Fobes, and had Anna 1695, Susanna 1697, Joseph 1699, Jemima 1701, Eleazar 1703, Abigail 1705, Ephraim 1707, Ichabob 1709, Martha 1711, Mary 1713, Elizabeth 1715; his will 1730; her's 1757; she made Constant Southworth her ex'or. Anna m. Capt. Ebenezer Alden 1717.—Susanna m. Jonathan Cary 1717, and d. young.—Jemima m. Dea. James Packard 1722.— Eleazar m. Keziah, -D. of Henry Kingman, 1726, settled in Easton, and had Lemuel, Seth, and perhaps other children.— Abigail m. Robert Howard 1725.—Martha m. Constant Southworth 1734.—Ichabod left a wid. Lydia, but no children.—She m. a Dr. Jones of Abington for her 2d husband.—Mary m. Jonathan Kingman 1732.—Eliz. m. Samuel Lathrop 1731. He was ex'or. of his father's will, and had his homestead, and was Representative 1726.-p214


History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater in Plymouth County, Massachusetts,  Henry T. Platt, Printer Bridgewater, Ma 1897


I have found his probate file and will transcribe it.