Person:James Hildreth (1)

In a deposition in the case of Hildreth v. Eldred in 1651 James Hildreth stated that he was about twenty years old.

He moved to Chelmsford with his father in 1655 or 1666 and there he was elected to various town offices - fence viewer, constable, road surveyor, grand juror and selectman.

He began as a sergeant in the town's foot company and was confirmed a lieutenant in June 1689 and was in the West regiment of Middlesex County at Benjamin Haywood's garrison in March 1691/2.

The Chelmsford church records contain an entry under the date of 20 March 1664: "This day Margaret Hildrich her confession and her dismission read and she received into our covenant." James Hildreth was not admitted as a freeman until May 3, 1665, when he took the oath.

His son-in-law Israel Proctor, was appointed to administer his estate on 24 May 1695. The property was appraised at £286: 10: 0. The inventory listed the homestead, buildings, orchard and fencing at £85 and there were other lands - "the huckelbery hill Lote" (£20), the pond meadow (£25), the six acre lot (£15), the round meadow, the snake meadow and "Littel Tadnike." His clothes were worth the large sum of £8 and there were six yards of serge, four yards of cloth, a piece of silk and a good stock of woolen and linen yarn. There were no articles of luxury, but a plentiful supply of tools and household instruments. The farm stock consisted of bees, 10 sheep and 4 lambs, a pair of oxen, a horse, 5 cows, 2 steers, 3 yearlings, a heifer and a calf. On 9 November 1696 the estate was settled and distribution ordered to the children. Richard, the eldest son was to receive £55 in land and £32: 14: 4 in movables, and to each of Margaret Proctor, eldest daughter, Abigail, Dorothy and Ephraim, the younger children, £27: 10: 0 in land and £16: 7: 2 in movables. The actual detailed division was made by John Danforth, Sen., Nathaniel Hill and Thomas Parker, and varied somewhat from the order, Richard having assigned to him the homesteadwhich was valued at £85, approximately the sum of the land and movables to which he was entitled. There were also several cross payments agreed upon in the shares of the other children. Richard, who was seventeen, chose his uncle Joseph Hildreth to be his guardian on 19 July 1695, while Ephraim, aged fourteen, chose his uncle Ephraim Hildreth of Stowe.

The first record of Richard Hildreth is on 10 May 1643, when he was admitted freeman to Massachusetts Bay Colony. He settled first in Cambridge, where he held many offices. 12 Nov 1645, chosen one of the five Townsmen; 4 Nov 1646, appointed Collector of Fines; 5 Nov. 1646 with five others signed an order to pay Thomas Longborne for beating the drum; 8 May 1647, Brother Hildreth appointed to keep the Cambridge cow common clear of cattle; May 1647, witnessed agreement between Pres. Henry Dunster and masonsto build the first schoolhouse in Cambridge; 9 Apr 1648, was voted a farm in Shawshine (now Billerica); 12 May 1648/9 appointed to execute the Town and Courtorders concerning fences for Menottime Fields (now Arlington); 29 May 1649, appointed Fence Viewer of Menotomy fields; 11 Nov, 1650, chosen Surveyor of Highways; also at this time appointed to listen to complaints of persons on the other side of the water; 13 Jan 1650, appointed to execute the General Court ordersregarding fences about the Menottime Fields; 14 Apr 1651, with three others appointed to look after the Cow Common with authority to impound stray cattle, etc.; 27 Aug 1651, Hildreth v. Samuel Eldred; 8 Nov 1652, Surveyor of Highways' 3Nov. 1653, Juryman at Charlestown, and on 26 Oct 1654 chosen to serve on Jury at Charlestown in famous case of Gov. Richard Bellingham, Esq., et. al. v. Robert Jordan; 13 Feb 1653 with Thomas Fox, authorized to enforce orders regarding illegal cutting of the Cambridge town woodlot; 13 Mar 1653/4, Fence Viewer; 3 Sept, 1654, with wife Elizabeth gives testimony aga

1. ↑ Cutter, Richard. Middlesex County, Volume: IV.
2. ↑ Smith, Dean Crawford, and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton 1878-1908. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996-2008)
   2:165.

   'No baptisms have been found for Richard's two eldest children, but their ages have been estimated from other sources. Both were surely born before the family arrived in Cambridge.'

3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Smith, Dean Crawford, and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton 1878-1908. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996-2008)
   2:180.

   'Children with first wife, Sarah, surname HILDRETH: ...
   
   ii. Lt. JAMES, eldest son, born about 1631 [citing Middlesex County Court, folio 2. In 1651 he deposed aged twenty years.]; died in Chelmsford, Mass., 14 April 1695 [citing Chelmsford Vital Records, 402]; married in Dorchester, Mass., by Maj. Atherton, 1 June 1659 [citing Chelmsford Vital Records, 248] MARGARET WARD, born about 1636, died in Chelmsford 31 August 1693 [citing Chelmsford Vital Records, 402].'

4. ↑ Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1914)
   page 402, Deaths.

   'HILDRETH ... James [Thomas. T. C. ; James. P. R. 31.], Lt., Apr. 14, 1695.'