Person:Phebe Cutler (1)

James Cutler's will bequeaths nothing to her, but mentions "my daughter Phiby", saying she has certain things which should not be included in his inventory [Middlesex Probate 5518].

In the entry for John Page, Robert Charles Anderson (GMB, p. 1369, has a long paragraph detailing various problems between John Page and his daughter Phebe, including confession of "carnal copulation". Bond, p. 383, summarizes a little more delicately, "Her youth had not been unblemished."

Now, the Cutler Memorial, p. 21 (and most secondary sources), lists a daughter Phebe, giving no information except that she was "unm. in 1684" (i.e., no birth, death or marriage indicated). The reference to 1684 clearly indicates the will is the basis for including Phebe in the family, but the abstract in this source gives no joy, mentioning Phebe not once. However, inspection of the will in other sources not only reveals the mentions, but additionally suggests the interpretation was wrong.

It would appear that Phebe was not a natural daughter of James Cutler. Two possibilities are suggested:

1. Perhaps the will said daughter, but meant wife. Perhaps the items not to go in the inventory were brought to the marriage by his third wife and so to be excluded and remain hers. This apparently is not the position of Robert Charles Anderson who says the third wife was not mentioned in the will and must have died. Nor does it seem likely, as additional bequests would be expected in the will if there was a widow.

2. The "daughter Phiby" is actually an illegitimate child of her mother from prior to her marriage to James. Given her history, this would not be surprising and makes the otherwise strange phrasing of the will entirely understandable.

A Phebe Cutler is admitted to the Watertown church in 1690 after publicly confessing her "aggravated sin", but no further sign of a Phebe Cutler or Page has been located yet. --Jrich 05:48, 6 May 2017 (UTC)