52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 5: RICHARD HILDRETH OF CHELMSFORD, MA. PT2

I didn't have much luck finding a record that would prove Richard Hildreth was the father of my
9x great grandmother Jane (Hildreth) Proctor. She may ave been born in England; I couldn't find her birth record in Cambridge, Ma. where Richard first settled in the colony. There is no mention of her in Richard's will, either.

But then I found some stories about Richard's involvement in church politics. There are several versions of this story which I found in Wilson Waters' History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts:

Says Arthur Hildreth: When Richard Hildreth removed to Chelmsford in 1656 he was received into Mr. Fiske's church. He had a poor opinion of Mr. Fiske as a minister. He was used to better preaching in Cambridge. He expressed his opinion to Deacon Esdras Reade, who accused Hildreth, and the latter was summoned to appear before a committee, which he declined to do. In 1670, Hildreth and John Barrett obtained the signatures of those who desired the dismissal of Mr. Fiske. On a lecture day Hildreth brought the paper to Thomas Henchman, who "did manifest his utter dislike against it." At Town meeting, so the account goes, Hildreth spoke against the minister, and was cited to appear before the County Court at Cambridge on April 4th, to answer "for reproachful speech of the minister of Chelmsford." Thomas Henchman and Abraham Parker were witnesses. Mention was made of the "very large speech" which Hildreth had made, and it appeared that his grievance was that the minister had prosecuted Josiah Fletcher, (or was it Joshua?) for a grave misdemeanor. The case seems to have come to nought. But such affairs must have stirred the community and furnished a subject for conversation, if not of controversy, among those who had not much to busy their minds.-p412

History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Printed for the town by the Courier-Citizen Company, Lowell, Ma. 1917

On a hunch I Google searched for Proctor, Hildreth, Chelmsford, church and found this:   

In 1673 he had a stubborn quarrel with his father-in-law, Richard Hildreth, concerning a boundary line between their meadows. He made some unfounded charges against Hildreth, and Hildreth retaliated by preventing Proctor from receiving the church Sacrament, or as Parson Fiske on the church records couches it: " He, Bro. Hildreth, was instrumental of hindering his son Proctor from ye Sact."

This particular entry on the church records, expressly calling Proctor son of Richard Hildreth, proves that Jane Hildreth (Robert Proctor's wife) was a daughter and not a sister of Richard Hildreth. -pp48-9

SECOND PUBLICATION OF THE HILDRETH FAMILY ASSOCIATION GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL DATA RELATING TO RICHARD HILDRETH (1605-1693), FREEMAN, 1643, Cambridge and Chelmsford, Mass...
COLLATED AND EDITED BY JOHN LYMAN PORTER
PUBLISHED BY THE HILDRETH FAMILY ASSOCIATION 1922 

Richard Hildreth had a falling out with his son-in law Robert Proctor ten years before Richard's death. Ironically it is that dispute that provides evidence of Jane (Hildreth) Proctor's relationship to Richard.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 4: ROBERT PROCTOR OF CONCORD & CHELMSFORD, MA. PT2

As I said in the previous post I was able to find the probate file of my 9x great grandfather
Robert Proctor over at AmericanAncestors.org.:

Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) Case 18219 p1

Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) Case 18219 p2

I found a transcription in a Proctor family genealogy written by William Lawrence Proctor and Dolly Pauline Howard Proctor: 


WILL OF ROBERT PROCTOR.
In the Name of God, Amen—I Robert Proctor of the Town of Chelmsford in the County of Middlx within his Magtys Province of the Massachussetts Bay in New England being at This present Time of good memory & Sound judgmt thro ye mercy of God, Do make & ordaine This my last Will & Testamt, In manner following. 

Impr. My Will is yt wt Debts I owe to prson shall be discharged & payd by my Executors hereafter named before any Legaeys are paid out of my Estate.

It. I will yt my Sons amongst whome I have Disposed of my lands shall beare the charges of ye Funerall of myself & Deare wife.

It. It is my will yt the severrall parcels of land wch I have Disposed to my beloved Sons by Deeds of the Same to ym given viz—: To my Son Gershom Proctor, to my Son Peter Proctor, to my Son James Proctor. to my Son John Proctor, to my Son Samuell Proctor & To my Son Israell Proctor, shall stand & remaine firm & yt no advantage in Law shall be Taken by ye or any of ye one agnt the other. In case any circumstantiall Errour in the Severall Deeds & Instruments of conveighance should appeare and yt wt Lands. Medows, Houses &v air conveighed to my above named Sons shall be & are theire severall proportions of my estate of Inheritance & that my sd Sons or any one of Them shall not have power & liberty upon any pretence wt soever to Challenge Demand any more of & In my Estate either real or personal & It is my will, Earnest Desire & charge of my Beloved Sons live together peaceably & yt they fall not out or Contend about the Disposall off my lands as is above mentioned according to my Conscience & best Judgmt in ye matter made & ordered.

It My will is yt In case my Beloved Son Thomas Proctor live & return from Sea to New England yt he shall possess & Injoy for himselfe. Heyres & assignes forever all my Remaining lands & medows in Chelmsford not disposed to my other Sons wch I give to him absolutely wth all the priveledges of Highways & other conveniences, as I have granted to my other Sons in yr Deeds. But if my Son Thomas Proctor should not live & Return to New England it is then my Will That the land & medow as above shall be for the use Improvemt & Benefit off my wife Jane. during her naturall life & yt is my will yt my wife Jane, shall sell the sd land & medow to those my Sons yt have land adjoining to it, In case they Desire to purchase it at a valuable price & Consideration, and moreover it is my will yet my wife Jane shall pay out to my Beloved Daughters viz—Dorothy Barrett & Elizabeth Proctor two Thirds of the money or vallue of sd land ( being sold as above) the same to be equally divided between sd Daughters & that my wife shall pay the remainlng Third part of the vallued price of sd lands unto my Beloved Daughter, Sarah Chamberlin, for life & Mary Bourne— That is to say Two parts of it to Mary Bourne & the other part to Sarah the wife of Tho. Chamberlin & yt these several! payments & legacys to my Daughters shall not be Demanded of my wife During her life but shee may dispose thes legacys in any time of her life if shee please. Further it is my will that the vallue & price of the land shall be secured for my Daughters as above & yt my wife shall only have the use & Improvemt of the same as above expressed.

I give and bequeath all my moveable Estate to my Beloved Wife Jane During the term of her naturall life for her use & comfort & after her Death my will is yt it shall be Injoyed by my Two Daughters viz: Dorothy Barrett & Elizabeth Proctor To whome I give an Equall share & Proportion of said moveables & I do constitute & appoint my Beloved wife Jane sole Executrix of this my last Will & Testamt & Require my Beloved Brother Jacob Warren Senr. of Chelmsfd & Impower him to be the overseer of this my last Will & Testamt to advise & assist my Beloved wife in Executing the same & for the Confinuation of this my last will & Testamt I have hereunto set my Hand & Seale this Tenth Day of March 1695-6.

I, Robert Proctor, before signing this Instrumt Declare yt I formerly gave my Daughters Sarah Chamberlin & Mary Bourne yr portions & Therefore I will yt they shall not have power to Challeng any further Interest in my Estate than wt is mentioned to be given to ym in this my Will & Testmt & upon ye conditions expressed.

his
Robert x Proctor.
mark
Signed, sealed & Delivered in presence of
Thomas Clark, 

Eli Foster,

Joshua Barrus.

 
Concord, July 15, 1697.
By ye Honble James Russell, Esqr., one of ye witnesses subscribed personally appearing made oath that he was personally present & Saw ye Subscriber, Robert Proctor, Sign and Scale and heard him publish and Declare ye above and within written to be his last Will and Testamt, and yt yn he was of Disposing minde yt he yn saw, Mr. Thomas Clark and Joshua Barrus, signe ye same with himselfe as witnesses.
Sam*l. Phipps, Regr. J. A. Russell.

Charlestowne, July 14th, 1697.
By ye Honble James Russell, Esq. The Reverend Mr. Thomas Clark of Chelmsford, one of ye Witnesses subscribed prsonally appearing made Oath yt he was prsonally prsent and Saw the Subscriber, Robert Proctor, Deeed. Sign and Scal and heard him publish and Declare the above within written to 1)3 his last Will and Testament and yt when he so did he was of a Disposing minde, and yt he saw Eli Foster and Joshua Barms Sign ye Same together with himselfe as witnesses.
Sam'l Phipps, Regr. J. A. Russell. 

-pp239-242
A genealogy of descendants of Robert Proctor of Concord and Chelmsford, Mass
Republican & Journl Print, Ogdenburg, New York, 1898

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 4: ROBERT PROCTOR OF CONCORD & CHELMSFORD, MA.

My 8x great grandmother Sarah (Proctor) Chamberlain was the daughter of Robert Proctor and
Jane Hildreth, and is mentioned in her father's will. He had immigrated from England, settled at
Concord, Ma. originally, and was one of the founders of Chelmsford, Ma. Here's a biographical
sketch of Robert by William Richard Cutter:

(1) Robert Proctor, immigrant ancestor in America of the Proctor family here dealt with, was probably born in England, and died at Chelmsford, Massachusetts, April 28, 1697. He first appears in this country at Concord, Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman in 1643. He may have come from England with the three other Proctors already named. There is. however, another tradition concerning his ancestry. Under date of July 26, 1897, Mrs. Lucretia H. Lawrence, of Leominster, a daughter of Jacob Proctor, of Littleton, Massachusetts, writes as follows: “My father in his last days dwelt much upon the history of his family and events of his early life. He said his grandfather (who was Nathaniel Proctor. a great-grandson of Robert, of Concord) “told him that three brothers from a wealthy family in Scotland came to this country in a ship of their own. One of the brothers settled in or near Chelmsford. The Littleton branch descended from this brother. My father remembered visits back and forth with the Chelmsford relations”. The conflict between these traditions must remain unsettled. at least until additional evidence in favor of one or the other can be obtained.

In 1653 Robert Proctor, in connection with Richard Hildreth and twenty—seven others, pe— titioned the general court for a grant of land six miles square, “to begin at Merrimack river at a neck of land next to Concord River, and so run up by Concord River south and west into the country to make up the circumference or quantity of land as above expressed". The petition was granted. In 1654 Mr. Proctor removed to the new plantation which was organized November 22, 1654, as a town under the name of Chelmsford. The first four or five of his children were born in Concord, the others in Chelmsford. His descendants resided in many of the neighboring towns. and at an early date some of them pushed back into the wilderness and settled in New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, and have since scattered over the west. Letters of administration on his estate were granted to Jane Proctor, executrix, July 13, 1697. Some of his children settled in what afterwards became the West Precinct, and later the town of Westford.

Robert Proctor married, December 31, 1645, Jane, eldest daughter of Richard Hildreth, of Concord and Chelmsford, ancestor of the Hildreths of America, who died at Chelmsford in 1688. Children: 1. Sarah, born October 12, 1646; married, August 10, 1666, Thomas Chamberlain. 2. Gershom, May 13, 1648. 3. Mary, April 20, 1650; married, 1685, John Bourne. 4. Peter, 1652. 5. Dorothy, 1654; married, December 18, 1679, John Barret Jr. 6. Elizabeth, December 16, 1656; became, in ' 1705, the third wife of Samuel Fletcher. 7. James, January 8, 1658. 8. Lydia, February 19, 1660, died August 13, 1661. 9. John, August 17, 1663. 10. Samuel, of whom further. 11. Israel, April 29, I668. 12. Thomas, April 30, 1671, went to sea, and there is no evidence that he returned.-p467

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, N.Y., 1913

I've found Robert Proctor's probate file on AmericanAncestors.org and will discuss that next.