Family talk:William Cutter and Rebecca Rolfe (1)

sources needed [16 February 2011]

I get tired of adding topics with this title...

One cannot be impressed by a marriage described (as it currently is on this page) as "4 Dec 1679 Woodbridge, Middlesex, MA" since Woodbridge is in New Jersey (Place:Woodbridge, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States). Such a lack of knowledge would not recommend the researcher, but perhaps the lack of knowledge lies with the person who hastily copied the researcher's work without appreciating that details matter?

It appears that there is a different person in Woodbridge with a similar name that is being confused with William Cutter. In Source:New Jersey, United States. Patents and Deeds and Other Early Records of New Jersey, 1664-1703 (1154855), says (p. 19) that in 1672 Wilyam Cotter was a neighbor of Johnathan Donham of Woodbridge, in 1675 a William Cotter was a neighbor of an Elisha Parker in Woodbridge, and (p. 90) in 1685 an indenture of William Cottar (and wife Eleanor) of Woodbridge, and (p. 126) in 1688 a deed of William Cottar of Woodbridge (and wife Janet) and quitclaim on the previous indenture, and (p. 267) in 1696 William Cotter mentioned as deceased, (p. 322) in 1701 William Cotter's land sold by John Robinson and wife Janet (the widow, probably). This William Cotter was in Woodbridge at times when William Cutter was documented to be in Cambridge, had different wives, and had a death date that clearly requires the two to be separate individuals.

According to Source:Cutter, Benjamin. History of the Cutter Family of New England, p. 21: "no record of the date of the marriage occurs among the authorities yet consulted" regarding William's marriage to Rebecca Rolfe.

The reason this Woodbridge marriage can't be rejected out of hand is that there are some connections of the Cutter family to Woodbridge, but they appear to all be a generation too late. I can find no evidence of the Cutters in Woodbridge as early as 1679 when this marriage is supposed to have taken place. Nor can I explain why Rebecca Rolfe would have been there. I am not helped by the lack of sources given here, as I cannot locate the source myself (except for a DAR listing without sources), so I cannot asses how much of that conclusion is based on speculation, or how definitively the alleged source documents the facts of this marriage.

In 1681 William Cutter received from his father-in-law, land in Cambridge. It appears both were in Cambridge at the time. If he was in New Jersey in 1679, his stay was very brief. William purchased more land in Cambridge in 1684, living on it until he sold it in 1717. William Cutter had children born in 1685 and 1688 in Cambridge, when the New Jersey deeds mentioned above were executed. So the man who executed the deeds appears to be a distinct individual and it is not clear why all the activity from 1672 - 1696 in Woodbridge shouldn't be attributed to him?

Source:Nelson, William. New Jersey Coast in Three Centuries, p. 2:292, says that "Richard, the second child of William and Rebecca (Rolfe) Cutter, was born November 13, 1682. He was the first of that name to leave New England and establish a home in New Jersey. He took up his abode in Woodbridge township...". This is somewhat inconsistent with the idea that William Cutter married in New Jersey, although one might wonder what motivated Richard to go to Woodbridge? Perhaps his father owned land there, but never settled on it? Woodbridge was first settled in 1666, so we can't really rule out a brief sojourn by William in 1679. However, it would seem like an unlikely time and place to choose to get married. Therefore, Richard's removal to Woodbridge is probably more naturally explainable by the history of his uncles in the Rolfe family.

The descriptions of the residences of John Rolfe Sr., Rebecca's father, documented by the births of his children, places him in Newbury from 1658 to 1662, Nantucket from 1663 to 1672, then Cambridge from 1674 to his death in 1681. There is no sign that the father ever went to New Jersey, so how would his daughter have gotten there? Source:Cutter, Benjamin. History of the Town of Arlington, Massachusetts says that John Rolfe Jr. received a deed of lands in Woodbridge 27 Apr 1685, and his brothers and he subsequently removed to Woodbridge, NJ. But this would have been several years after the 1679 marriage, and would not account for Rebecca being there in 1679.

All this strongly suggests that William Cutter was always in Cambridge and any records that may have been found in Woodbridge (I can only surmise) belonged to another man with a similar name. --Jrich 00:55, 15 February 2011 (EST)

Piecing together the available information, it seems highly probable/almost certain that the marriage occurred at Cambridge. The eldest known child of William & Rebecca (Elizabeth) was born at Cambridge 5 March 1680/81 indicating that the marriage occured June 1680 or earlier. Rebecca's youngest sibling is recorded at Cambridge as having been born 14 October 1681. The father died at Newbury 30 September/1 October 1681 at the home of his brother. The father is said to have purchased land at Woodbridge shortly before his death but the family had apparently not yet removed prior to his death. See The Early Rolfe Settlers of New England, p. I-3.2 and Paul C. Reed's treatment of Samuel Scullard (Rebecca's maternal grandfather), TAG 75:185 (which extensively cites Early Rolfe Settlers." [posted by Jaques1724 25 Aug 2015]

The date, however, seems plausible. As it is a frequent error that data is miscopied and/or locations to be assumed to never change from whichever date (birth or death) people are staring from, I was hoping somebody might provide a source that might yield some clue as to the origin of the date portion. As you say, however, a drive-by GEDCOM. The date may be bogus, but it is rare that people make up data completely, mostly mishandle it along the way, and being able to see the original source used by the GEDCOM might have yielded just enough information to deduce the underlying basis, and either enter it correctly, or refute it outright. --Jrich 21:12, 25 August 2015 (UTC)