William KIDDER

Notes:

Excerpt from "A Genealogy of The Kidder Family": Enoch Kidder became owner of and resided on the Kidder ancestral homestead at Billerica. He took the oath of fidelity on Sept. 8, 1681. He served as selectman in 1703, 1706, 1707, 1710, 1715 and 1717.

Enoch married Mary HEYWOOD on 01 Jun 1685. Mary (daughter of John HEYWOOD and Sarah SIMMONDS) was born on 03 Nov 1669 in Concord, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts; died on 21 Mar 1742/3 in Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Excerpt from "A Genealogy of The Kidder Family": Ensign James Kidder, the progenitor of practically all persons in the United States who bear his surname, believed to have been born at East Grinstead, Sussex, England, about 1626; died at Billerica, Middlesex County, Mass., 16 Apr. 1676, "aged fify" according to contemporary records. He married at Cambridge, Mass., presumably late in 1649 or early in 1650, Anna Moore of that place, born in England about 1630; died at Billerica in 1691, daughter of Elder Francis and Katherine Moore. She married secondly at Chelmsford, Middlesex Co., Mass., 17 Mar. 1684/1685, William Underwood of that town.
James Kidder's probable birthplace, East Grinstead, is a small town about thirty miles from London, and in the near vicinity of Maresfield, ancient seat of the Kidder family. Nothing is known of his early years nor of the reasons which prompted his leaving the home of his fathers to settle in New England where he is believed to have arrived about 1649, shortly before his marriage to Anna Moore.........
That Ensign Kidder was a man of high standing in the community in which he lived is evident from the fact that he married the daughter of so prominent and prosperous a man as Elder Francis Moore of Cambridge, as well as from his varied activities there and in Billerica, where he filled civil and military positions of responsibility, and where he was active in church affairs.
He died leaving an estate of about three hundred and seventy pounds, not a large one measured by present standards of wealth, but a comfortable one for the period in which he lived...

Excerpt from "A History of the Kidder Family": In 1675, when King Philip's war took place, he was in the public service, and kept guard over the small trie of Indians at Wameset, now forming part of Lowell,and soon after was appointed to the command of a garrison-house, which contained seven families, including his own and that of his son James. He died, April 16th, 1676, in the midst of the war, aged about 50, it has been suggested from disease caued by his exposure in this war, which was the most trying time ever seen in New England......"Thus passed away the patriarch of the family in this country; and though no stone marks the spot or perpetuates his memory, the name seems destined to live through all coming time, as his descendants,now numbering some Thousands, are spread over this broad land, from the Penobscot to the shores of the Pacific, and from Canada to Louisiana," representing nearly every occupation and profession, in many of which the name has gained considerable prominence. His descendants have fought in all the wars of the Union, in all grades from the private to the colonel, and in the last war the name was largely and honorably represented both on land and sea.

James married Anna MOORE about 1651 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Anna (daughter of Francis MOORE and Katherine ?) was born about 1630 in England; died in 1691 in Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 1630, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA

John married Sarah SIMMONDS on 30 Nov 1665 in Concord, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Sarah died on 19 Sep 1692 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

James married Elizabeth ? about 1600. Elizabeth was born between 1580 and 1605 in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: 22 May 1639, Was made a freeman

Francis married Katherine ?. Katherine died on 28 Dec 1648 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]