Emerson

THE WOMEN WHO MARRIED THE ORCUTT MEN
(compiled by Judy Orcutt Holy)

Jane Emerson

The second Orcutt in New England was Thomas Orcutt, fifth son of immigrant William Orcutt, who was baptised in 2nd Church Scituate on October 2, 1677 (the edge of the record page is worn off, so the October date could have a 2nd digit).  At that time William Orcutt listed Marshfield as the family address, although there are no records of land ownership until the family moved to Bridgewater by 1685.  2nd Church Scituate is now (2001) 1st Church, Norwell, in its third location.  Thomas Orcutt married Jane Emerson on June 29, 1703 (History of the Town of Hingham, MA, The Genealogies, vol. II, by George Lincoln, p. 100).

Background to their marriage: More is known of Thomas’ family than of Jane’s parents.  As related in the prior chapter, his father William immigrated from England (supposedly; also, supposedly, a descendant of the Scots Urquhart family, from a line descending from Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty who had 25 sons and 11 daughters who reached maturity, before he died in 1557), and the first clear record of his presence in Massachusetts is his marriage to Mary Martha Lane, daughter of Andrew and Triphena Lane of Hingham, Mass., on January 24, 1663/64 (V.R. Hingham, Mass.; some records say they married in Weymouth).  Other than ten baptismal records in 2nd Church Scituate, there is no indication where the family resided from that date until somewhere between 1683 and 1685, when they moved to Bridgewater, Mass. where William Orcutt’s supposed older sister, Susanna Orcutt Edson, lived with her husband, Deacon Samuel Edson.  Helen G. Judson, who has researched Thomas’ older brother John’s line, believes William may have been a seaman and took his family with him.  The Hingham/Weymouth/ Marshfield/ Scituate area certainly included harbors and significant shipping activity.  The family moved to Bridgewater after the deaths of two of Thomas’ younger sisters, Elizabeth, baptized July 16, 1682, and Deborah, baptized October 7, 1683, who appear to have died young, possibly in infancy. 

Thomas Orcutt as an adult could sign his name (see document regarding sale of his wife Jane’s inherited property, Exhibit A appended), unlike his father William, and his older brothers, William 2 (born probably in 1665) and Joseph 2 (b. in 1672).   Interestingly, their intervening brothers Andrew, b. in 1666/67 and John, b. in 1669, could sign their names in 1694; see the Agreement for their father’s estate, p. 16 of the prior chapter).  This suggests Thomas may have been educated in his youth, probably under the instruction of the Rev. James Keith, first minister in Bridgewater who came there from Scotland in 1664 and died in 1719.   Thomas and his two surviving younger siblings, Benjamin and Susanna (b. 1685 in Bridgewater) were minors living with their mother, following the death of their father William Orcutt on September 14, 1693.   Thomas was almost 16 when his father died, Benjamin 14, and Susanna 8. 

According to the terms of the Estate Agreement (see prior chapter, pp. 14-16), Thomas and Benjamin alike were to inherit half of the house and barn and related 35 acres when they came of age (21).   Nahum Mitchell in his History of Bridgewater (p. 249)  records that Thomas Orcutt sold land and a small house near Joseph Alden’s house in 1700 (the year co-heir Benjamin became 21).  The next documented event in the life of Thomas Orcutt is his marriage in Hingham to Jane Emerson on June 29, 1703.
 
Given the custom of the time that young men married only after they had property of their own, it is likely that Thomas Orcutt removed to the Hingham area very soon after selling the Bridgewater property in 1700.   The birth of all six of Thomas’ and Jane’s children were recorded in Hingham, although family property in the second generation is listed as located in Cohasset.  Cohasset was the 2nd precinct of Hingham (the Orcutt family location is given frequently as Hingham 2nd pre.), which became separately incorporated in 1770.

Thomas’s older brother John (b. 1669, thus 8 years older than Thomas) also moved from Bridgewater to Hingham after his first wife Experience Pratt died in 1700.  John married there in 1702 his 2nd wife, Mary Beal, who descended from one of the earliest settlers in Hingham. The Genealogies of the Families of Cohasset, Massachusetts by George L. and Elizabeth O. Davenport, 1909, p. 322 states that John died in Cohasset in 1753, thus he remained in that area the rest of his life, having been married no less than five times!  He was a farmer, and Constable in 1712.  John was also one of the original members of the Hingham second parish formed in 1721, in 1909 1st parish, Cohasset.  In 1711 he was taxed for 28 acres of land, in 1749 for 44 1/2 acres; is described as living near John Jacob.  John’s likely dates for moving to Hingham -- 1700-1702 -- strongly suggest that Thomas may have moved there with him.   But there is nothing to indicate why Jane Emerson came to Hingham prior to her marriage there in 1703.  Possibly further research among her Emerson relatives may yield a clue.  

Interesting note further connecting descendants of the brothers John (2) and Thomas (2) Orcutt: there is a later marriage between their grandchildren in Cohasset.  Ebenezer Orcutt II (son of John’s son Ebenezer by Mary Beal) married Jane Pratt, daughter of Moses and Jane Orcutt (daughter of Thomas and Jane Orcutt) Pratt on December 9, 1753 in Cohasset.

Jane Emerson, 2nd daughter of Joseph and Mary ____ Emerson (one researcher calls her Mary Emery, but no corroborating information for that has yet been found), was born in 1679 (Frederic Scott Orcutt, Sr., Genealogy of Thomas Orcutt, p. 39; FSO states Jane is “of Concord, Mass.” but gives no source for that information).  Concord is where her grandfather Joseph Emerson died in 1680, having moved there in 1675; but her father Joseph was taxed in Boston in 1674 as a “sojourner” -- i.e. not a regular resident, possibly a student -- 5 years before Jane’s birth, and 3 years before the birth of her sister Mary on July 13, 1677 as listed in Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages & Deaths, p. 141.  It is possible that Jane likewise was born in Boston. 

Two children made for a small family in those days, (did their mother die early?), and both were girls, a circumstance providing the background for later inheritance of their paternal grandfather’s land (see below).  

How did Jane Emerson and Thomas Orcutt meet, since there is no indication their families lived anywhere near each other before their marriage?   One intriguing note for speculation is that Jane’s sister Mary, who married Robert Noakes in Boston August 17, 1699 (by Mr. Samuel Willard, as listed in Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths, p. 251), is described as a widow living in Hingham in 1708 at the time of the sale of her inheritance (Benjamin Kendall Emerson, The Ipswich Emersons, 1900, p. 41).  Activities of Robert Noakes are frequently listed in Boston records until 1695; it appears thus far (2001) that he never resided in Hingham himself.   This suggests that Mary Emerson Noakes may have come to Hingham to live with or near her sister (quite possibly her only surviving close relative?) following her husband’s death which  must have occurred no earlier than 1703, since their second daughter Mary was born April 28, 1703.  The first daughter, also named Mary, b. 3 June 1700, must have died in infancy (birthdates found in B.K. Emerson, p. 69, who assumes the Noakes lived in Boston).  So it seems unlikely that Jane came to Hingham because her sister lived there; rather, the converse seems to be the case.  Hence, the mystery of how Jane Emerson and Thomas Orcutt met and married and settled in Hingham, remains.   There can only be speculation, since there are at this time (2001) no indications of any prior connections between Emersons and Orcutts until the marriage of Jane and Thomas.  (There is an Emerson living in Bridgewater, though to this date, no indication of connection of that Emerson with Jane or her family.)

Whatever those circumstances may be, the impact of Jane Emerson on her family of descent is clearly evident in the use of Emerson as first name for their second son (interesting note:  not Joseph, after her father, as was more commonly done then;  although the pattern of using the mother’s maiden surname as a given name does come into occasional use thereafter; this is the first such instance in the Orcutt/Emerson families); and that strong tradition of a male Emerson Orcutt continued through many succeeding generations.  There are also many succeeding Janes.  Clearly, this Emerson ancestry is worth detailed investigation.

Ancestry of Jane Emerson

Jane’s parents Joseph Emerson and his wife Mary, are a striking enigma, since there is an unusual paucity of information about them.  This is the case particularly for Joseph in comparison to his mostly copiously-documented Emerson relatives, including all of his siblings and half-siblings.  Does this suggest he was a kind of black sheep in the family?  The surname of his wife Mary is persistently unknown (unless the researcher giving her name as Emery has documentation for that; Emery appears to be simply a version of Emerson), thus her background cannot be traced.  There is no marriage record, but it must have occurred sometime before 1677, the birth year of their first daughter Mary (There are gaps in the Boston marriage records between 1663 and 1679).   Joseph’s father moved to Concord in 1675, but Joseph himself was taxed in Boston in 1674 as stated above, indicating the possibility that he was a student then, perhaps at Harvard.  Since nothing further is known of him (his death, probably in Boston, had to have occurred before the 1706 inheritance documents were made, otherwise he would have been the heir), it may be that he studied for the ministry for a time, but dropped out.  He seems not to have owned land, does not appear on any other tax rolls.  There is a reference to a “Mrs. Emerson, 1714 .......” in Boston, could this be his wife Mary?   Perhaps he had poor health and died young?  Perhaps for some reason (rejecting the ministry, the church?) he was on the “outs” with his family?

There is a curious reference (NEH&G Reg., v. 6, p. 273), headed Andover, which states that the Rev. Sam’l Phillips - b. Salem - was prepared for college under Master Emerson, and graduated H.C. [Harvard College] 1708, age 18.   According to B.K. Emerson, a Samuel Phillips (at least 3rd generation of Phillipses named Samuel, father and grandfather both ministers) was born February 17, 1690 (correct year), was the son of Mary Emerson, daughter of Rev. John and Ruth Symonds Emerson, whose father was son of Rev. Joseph Emerson and brother to Joseph Emerson, father of our Jane.  This Rev. Samuel Phillips lived in Andover (descendants founded the Phillips academies at Andover, Mass. and Exeter, NH).  Is there a possibility that the “Master Emerson” who prepared Rev. Sam’l Phillips was Jane’s father?  The dates are suggestive.  (So is the fact that Joseph Emerson’s maternal grandfather, Robert Woodmansy, was a school teacher in Boston.)    

But the family origins of Joseph Emerson can be traced for multiple generations back to England (chief source: Benjamin Kendall Emerson’s “The Ipswich Emersons, A.D. 1636-1900", 1900).  His father was Rev. Joseph Emerson, eldest son of Thomas Emerson (baker) who immigrated to Ipswich, Massachusetts around 1638 from Bishops Stortford, county Hertfordshire, England.  Thomas’ father was Robert Emerson, “currier” of Bishop’s Stortford, whose father was Thomas Emmerson of Great Dunmow, county Essex, whose father may have been Rafe or Ralph Emerson of Foxton, County Durham.  The Emerson name in England is supposed to be derived from the son of Emery, a patronymic introduced into England by the Normans, and the name is Norse, not French.  The Emersons in England seem to have sprung from Aimeric, archdeacon of Carlisle and Durham, 1196-1214, and high sheriff of Northumberland, 1214-1215, also nephew of bishop Phillip of Poictou, Prince Bishop of Durham, 1195.  There is a long connection of the Emersons with the bishopric of Durham, especially as parkers, foresters and gatekeepers of the great park belonging to the bishopric, from which the Emerson-associated locations of Bondgate and Eastgate arose (B.K. Emerson, p. 13).  Landholdings around the Weardale in county Durham of north England, begin to be cited for Emersons from the 1400s.  It has been the uniform tradition that the Ipswich Emersons came from the Weardale, but there is no documentary evidence of this (Emerson, p. 15).  (Interesting note:  Emersons in that area were associated with the Nevilles, two of whom took up arms in behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots, to restore Roman Catholicism.)  This early sketch is considered interesting relative to the possibility that William Orcutt 1 stemmed from the Scottish Urquhart family, and emigration to northern England (Urquharts were in Carlisle area in the 1600s, according to the writings of Sir Thomas Urquhart).

According to B.K. Emerson, the family line has been traced as follows, beginning with the earliest Emerson ancestor:

I.  Ralph Emerson

Radus (Ralf, Raffe, or Rauff) Emerson was granted arms, in 1535, and described as of Foxton, county Durham.

II.  Thomas Emmerson of Great Dunmow

Born some time before 1540, his place of birth is unknown.  He was resident in Great Dunmow, county Essex, where his three children were registered.  He was probably son of Ralf, of Foxton.  His children were: 1.  Robert, baptized 25 Oct., 1561; 2. Joan, baptized 1562; and 3. John, baptized 1565.

III.  Robert Emerson of Bishop’s Stortford

Bishop’s Stortford, county Herts, is only seven miles from Great Dunmow, and 30 miles n.n.e. of London.  It derives its name from its location at a ford on the river Stort, the prefix having been bestowed by William the Conqueror upon the bishop of London and his successors in office.  The church, dedicated to St. Michael, was built in the reign of Henry VI; a free grammar school was founded and endowed in 1579; the ruins of the castle erected by William the Conqueror may still be seen. 

Robert Emerson of Bishop’s Stortford married there Susan Crabb on November 24, 1578; she was buried there November 20, 1626, age 70.  He was called in his will a “currier.”  (This could be a currier of leather, or a courier on the great post system, possibly derived from “ecurier,” a master of horse.  Robert was buried at Bishop’s Stortford January 6, 1620.  Their children, all baptised at Bishop’s Stortford,  were:
1.  Alice, bapt. Nov. 11, 1579; 2. Margaret, bapt. Feb. 21, 1581/2, m. T. Browne of Southwark;
3. Thomas, bapt. July 26, 1584, m. Elizabeth Brewster July 1, 1611 at Bishop’s Stortford; 4. Anne, m. J. Rogers, July 1, 1611 [JOH: note same date as Thos. and Ellis’s marriage]  at Bishop’s Stortford; 5. Robert, bapt. April 12, 1596, not mentioned in father’s will, died before 1620; 6.  John, nor recorded as bapt. at Bishop’s Stortford; living in 1620.

IV.  Thomas Emerson of Bishop’s Stortford and Ipswich

Little is known of Thomas’ life.  In the churchwardens’ book of St. Michael’s he is recorded in 1636, as collector for the poor.  Dr. Peter Henry Emerson in “The English Emersons” written in  1898, suggests that Thomas’ wife, Elizabeth Brewster (1584-1638), may have been the daughter of William Brewster, the postmaster at Scrooby, and the famous elder of the Pilgrims of 1620.  However, after investigation, this writer found no mention of this Elizabeth Brewster in Brewster records, list of children, or in Mayflower lineages.   Furthermore, it appears that William Brewster and Mary Wentworth married around 1585-86, soon after William left Cambridge, and the birthdate given for the Elizabeth Brewster who married Thomas Emerson is a year earlier.  William Brewster was in active service of Queen Elizabeth’s court, living in the vicinity of London (interesting note: Brewster assisted Sir William Davison, secretary to Queen Elizabeth, who was sent to the Tower in 1587 because of involvement in the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots that year.  Davison died in 1608, at which time William Brewster made plans to leave England as soon as possibly, going to Leydon in that year.).  Brewster had been in full possession of the Post and Scrooby Manor by April 1, 1594, continuing in that status for the next 13 years.  (Leon Clark Hills, “History and Genealogy of the Mayflower Planters,” 1936.)   One researcher considers that Elizabeth Brewster (who clearly did not accompany William and Mary Wentworth Brewster to Holland in 1608, since she married Thomas Emerson in 1611) may have been related to the Elder, 1567-1644, whose dates coincide closely enough to hers (1584-1638) to make it possible that she might be, if not his daughter, perhaps his niece [NOTE: that’s an angle to be explored:  if there is a relationship connection between Elizabeth who married Thomas Emerson, and William Brewster, WB’s connection with Queen Elizabeth’s secretary implicated with the execution of Mary Queen of Scots is an intriguing juxtaposition with Thomas Orcutt’s possible Scottish lineage.]  (Bill Turner, http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~wmturner/PS01/PSo1 279.HTML).

Major-General Denison, who is mentioned in Thomas Emerson’s will as his friend, also immigrated to Massachusetts from Bishop’s Stortford.  Deputy-Governor Symonds (his son John married Symonds’ daughter Ruth) had resided in the neighboring towns of Great Yeldham and Upsfield, county Essex.

The children of Thomas and Elizabeth Brewster Emerson, as recorded in the baptismal registry of St. Michael’s church, Bishop’s Stortford, were:

1.  Robert, bap. 24 May, 1612; 2. Benjamin, bap. 2 Oct., 1614, bur. 27 Oct. 1614; 3.  Ralfe, bap. 19 Oct. 1615; bur. 8 Jun., 1626 killed by falling from a tree, as recorded in the registry; 4. James, bap. 16 Feb. 1617; 5. Joseph, bap. 25 Jun., 1620; 6. Elizabeth, bap. 14 Jun., 1623 (m. John Fuller); 7.  John, bap. 26 Feb. 1625; 8. Thomas, bap ___; 9. Nathaniel, bap. 18 Jul., 1630; and 10. Susan,  bap. 17 Mar., 1632 (P.H. Emerson conjectures that she may have died on the voyage to New England).

Tradition says that Thomas Emerson and his family came from England, in the ship “Elizabeth Ann” in 1635.  He was at Ipswich as early as 1636, when he had 80 acres of land granted him.  A Thomas Emerson of Ipswich is called baker, although B.K. Emerson and other Emerson genealogists think this may have been an error, that Thomas Emerson could not have been a craftsman.  (Interesting quote from Dr. P.H. Emerson in this regard: “A curious mistake has arisen and been perpetuated by some of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s biographers, who have said Ralph Waldo Emerson was descended from a baker.  Oliver Wendell Holmes was the last to state this, and proved himself a careless historian by the fact.  A baker, one Jo. Emerson (John or Joseph or Joshua), a baker of London, is given in Hotton’s original lists of emigrants as going to America, in the Abigail in 1635, hence this confusion.  This baker was a person of mean birth, probably the son of John Emerson, a tailor of London, and is no way related to Thomas Emerson, Esq., formerly Lord of the Manors of Bradbury and Hilton, Sedgefield, unless he was an old servant, which is possible.”  Quoted in B.K. Emerson, p. 26.) 

Thomas Emerson made a will May 31, 1653 (died at Ipswich May 1, 1666) including the following stipulations:

“I Give and bequeath vnto me sonne Joseph the some eighty pound of current paye of new england viz forty pound of it which I reserued out of my farme Given vnto my sonne John to be payd unto the said Joseph my sonne acording to the couenant & agreement expressed in a papre of Indentors beareing date the sic and twentieth of the nineth month 1648 the other fforty pound to be payd vnto him by my sonne Nathaniell (our of my house & land giuen vnto him) within six monnths after the decease of me & my wife.
Item I giue & bequeath vnto Nathaniell Emerson my sonne my house wherein I now dwell with all my vpland & meddow and the marsh I bought of my sonne Joseph wch was somymes Mr Woodmansys with all the apternances a& privelidges thervnto belonging payeing forty pound out of it as aboue exprest alsoe a little p’sel of meddow lyeing within the marsh before mentioned after the decease of me & my wife.
“Item I giue vnto my sonne James Emerson the some of forty pounds out of my stock of cattell to be payd vnto him if he shall come over into this country (or send by a certayne surtifficate of his being liueing) within two yeares after the decease of me & my wife.  In case my sayd sonne dye before, then my will is that my sonne Joseph his sonne Joseph shall haue ten pound of it and my sonne Nathaiell ten pound & my daughter ffullar hir foure sonnes the other Twenty pound or any of them dye the surviuors to inioye the same.”  After other bequests and specifications, the will concludes: “And doe desire my much honored & faithfull frends Mr. Samuel Symonds and Maior Genl Daniell Dennison to be overseers to see yt this my will be fulfilled.”

There is no mention of Robert in this will, nor of his coming to America (some researchers confuse him with Robert Emerson of Haverhill, but this is unlikely -- of interest to descendants of Willard Merton Orcutt (8) and Lydia Emerson Woolever Orcutt is that Lydia’s ancestry goes back to Robert Emerson of Haverhill).  Only Joseph, Nathaniell, daughter Elizabeth Fuller, son James -- who appears not to have left England -- are mentioned.  John too is not mentioned, but there is a later memorandum concerning him dated Jan. 4, 1660 that Thomas has given “vnto my son John Emerson his portion Ful in ye Consideration of ye agreement betwixt vs about my farme he dully performing the Couenant of ye said indenters betwixt vs during the terme of my life & his mothers as also thos engag ments their in spesified afterwords according to our mutu all agreement according to the sixtenth lin of this wil” (This is signed, as was his will, in a beautiful penmanship: Thomas Emerson).  

There is also no mention of Thomas 2 in this will.  B.K. Emerson describes the following tradition regarding this son: “That Thomas Emerson (1) was possessed of substantial resources and of much superior scholarship to the average Englishman of his day in America; that he was from the vicinity of London, where he had been, through his active years, in mercantile life; that his son Thomas, jr., not being of robust constitution, did not apply himself to the duties of life, as did his brothers Joseph and John, but, in accord with the prevailing sentiment, did profess an employment, that of baker; that he died in 1653 [thus before his father], and his death occasioned the writing of his father’s will.”  (p. 22) Of the other children of Thomas and Elizabeth Brewster Emerson, Benjamin had died in the month of his birth; Ralfe died in 1626, and Susan is conjectured to have died on the voyage to New England.   Son James in England was identified by P.H. Emerson with a lieut. col. Emerson whose will was proved at Tangiers, 1664, leaving a wife Lydia, and a daughter Lydia who married J. Stubbings, citizen of London, 13 January, 1669-70.   (BKE, p. 22)
 
Another 1660 addendum to the will, relating to timing of distributions and amounts of moneys reduces the amount to be given to James Emerson from 40 to 5 pounds (should he come or send a “sertain sertifficat yt he is then Living.”

“Alsoe in refrans to ye eigtenth lin of this my will for six months ther exprest is thus to be vnderstood that my son Nathaniel shoul pay that forty pounds to my son Joseph the sume of ten pounds a year til it be fully dischardged vnles he ye said Nathaniel shall sell my hous & land I now dwel in, & the it is to be payd to my son Joseph presently.”    Thomas Emerson certainly took close interest in his bequests.  The inventory of his estate in 1666 (including “books and bibels”) was valued at 251 pounds, 3 shillings.

“Joseph (2) Emerson, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Emerson, was born in England about 1620-1, and died at Concord, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 3 January, 1680.  He married, 1646 (?), Elizabeth Woodmansey, daughter of Robert and Margaret Woodmansey, a schoolmaster of Boston.  They resided at Ipswich, Mass.; York, Maine; and Milton, Mass.  Mr. Emerson was a minister of the standing order of puritan clergymen.  Of his education nothing is known.  Tradition says he was educated in England.  He may have studied at Harvard.  He was at Ipswich as early as 1638, was admitted freeman there, 19 December, 1648.  He preached at York, Me., the same year.”  (BKE, p. 32.)

According to an Ipswich deed of 1652, Joseph Emerson (”with the consent of Elizabeth Emerson my wife”) sold to his father Thomas Emerson for 16 pounds 12 acres of meadow and upland (“at Labour in Vaine”) given to him by “my father in law Mr Robert Woodmansey in pt of portion with his daughter”.  The deed is signed by both Joseph Emerson with seal, and Elizabeth Emerson and a seal [Robert Woodmansy must have taught his daughter; unusual in that day that a woman could write her name], witnessed by John Emerson, and acknowledged by Samuel Symonds.

Pausing for an added note here regarding Robert Woodmansey from the Hammat Papers, Ipswich, p. 419: “Mr. Woodmansy was a commoner, 1641.  He sold a farm of 110 arcres, March 5, 1660, to Thomas Bishop, who sold the same to Daniel Rindge.  It was bounded by the Mile Brook, land of Matthew Whipple and Richard Jacob.  He removed from Ipswich to Boston.”

In 1653, Joseph (2) Emerson was a resident of Wells, Maine, and took the freeman’s oath 4 July, 1653; and was an inhabitant when the commissioners took the submission of the people, the court being held in his house.  He favored submission to Massachusetts in 1651-2, and was evidently a leading man of the Massachusetts party.  He signed a petition to Cromwell as of Wells, asking the protector to confirm the jurisdiction of Massachusetts over the inhabitants of Wells.  In this petition, which he probably wrote, the people of Wells refer Cromwell to their “pyous and reverend friend, Mr. John Wheelwright, sometime of us, now in England, for any desired information as to their condition or character.”  He soon lost his hold on the affections of the people of Wells; largely, perhaps, because of the political dissensions which disturbed the church. 

From the Records of Wells, Maine (BKE, p. 34):

“7, July 1663 Wee prsent Mr. Joseph Emerson for telling of a ly
        Witnesses, Capt. Raynes Richard Bankes.
We prsent Mr Jos. Emerson for telling of a Lye   Thomas Curtin, Hene Sayword
We prsent Mr. Jos. Emerson for speaking falseley.  Witnesses Ric. Whitte Frances White

13 July 1663.  Ordered that the presentments of such persons as have not answered theretoo be proceeded with .... Mr Emersons (with others) excepted.

The above witnesses were all York people -- the first two were strong opponents of Massachusetts rule; and the others were probably so -- the last two were man and wife, and quite worthless people. [!]

After Mr. Emerson left, the church is said to have dwindled to two families, and they quarrelled.  Orders came from the Massachusetts government that the church disband.  orders quickly followed that the town be indicted for not maintaining public worship. [!]

“About 1664, he left Wells and became the first minister of Milton; asking an increase of salary on account of his approaching marriage, he was dismissed.”

Rev. Mr. Emerson married 2d, 7 December, 1665, Elizabeth Bulkeley, daughter of Rev. Edward Bulkeley, of Concord, Mass., granddaughter of Rev. Peter Bulkeley, B.D., first minister of Concord.  She was born in 1638, and died 4 September, 1693, wife of Capt. John Brown, of Reading.  They resided at Milton and Mendon, Mass.  Children [of Joseph (2) Emerson]:

 Children of first wife, Elizabeth Woodmansey (m. 1646?):
1.  Joseph, b. before 1652 [this date seems to relate to mention of him in his grandfather Thomas
     Emerson’s will of 1653], m. Mary ___
2.  James, [b. probably after 1653 since he is unmentioned in his grandfather’s will of that date],
     m. Sarah Ingersoll

Children of second wife Elizabeth Bulkeley (m. 1665):
3.  Lucyan, b. 2 Oct. 1667, d. 1740; m. 15 May, 1683, Thomas Damon; res. Reading.
4.  Edward, b. 26 Apr. 1670; d. 9 May, 1743; me. 27 Jan. 1697, Rebecca Waldo; res. Chelsford, Newburyport and Boston. [These are the forebears of Ralph Waldo Emerson.]
5.  Peter, b. 1673; d. 1752; m. 1696 Anna Brown; res. Reading.
6.  Ebenezer, ___, d. 1751; m. 1st, Bethia Parker; 2nd Mary Boutwell; 3d, ___; 4th,___; res.
      Reading.
7.  Daniel,___; m. 19 May, 1709, Jane Armitage; res. Boston.

Joseph (2) Emerson settled in Mendon 1 December, 1669 [terms of his 1669 salary agreement there were refereed by his 2nd father-in-law, Mr. Bulkeley], where he remained until the town was destroyed by the Indians in King Phillip’s War[1675]; then he retired to Concord where he died [1680].  (BKE, pp. 32-35)

Joseph (2) Emerson’s house in Mendon was on the finest site in Mendon, states B.K. Emerson, an important point for what follows.

The number of the children of Joseph of Mendon and of Joseph of Boston, his son, depends upon the interpretation of the following four deeds.

Judge Alphonso Taft, of Cincinnati, says the Massachusetts provincial law divided an intestate estate equally among the male children, “except the eldest son then surviving, where there is no issue of the first born, or of any other elder son, who shall have two shares, or a double portion of the whole, and when there are no sons the daughters shall inherit as coparceners.”  Thomas and Jane Orcutt deed their share (one seventh) of the homestead of the senior Joseph Emerson of Mendon, which she inherited from her father, Mr. Joseph Emerson of Boston.  (This cannot be Joseph of Mendon, who did not live in Boston, and who would have been called the Reverend Joseph.  The deed is couched in the plural and where it says “our honored father” it refers to Thomas and Jane Orcutt, and to their father Joseph Jr., and where the property is described as “the Homestead which Mr. Joseph Emerson, clerk (that is, clerious, clergyman), dyed siezed of in Mendon,” the reference is to the Rev. Joseph of Mendon.)

Mary Nokes deeds her share inherited “from her honored grandfather, the Reverend Joseph Emerson.”  This proves that Joseph, Jr., died after his father, leaving two daughters, who inherited his two-sevenths.

The four sons deed their shares in the same way, and the homestead thus came into the possession of James, the fifth living son [and son, like Joseph (3), of Elizabeth Woodmansey].  (BKE, p. 36.)

Following are the texts of the deeds from Thomas and Jane Emerson Orcutt (see also as Exhibit A, attached), and Mary Emerson Noakes:

“ORCUT ET UX. TO EMERSON.
Suffolk Deeds xxiv : 176.  Boston, Mass.

  To all Christian People to whom these presents shall come, Thomas Orcut of Hingham in the county of Suffolk and Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England and his wife, daughter unto Mr. Joseph Emerson late of Boston in New England, Send Greeting.  Know ye that we the said Thomas and Jane Orcutt [note extra ‘t’ here] divers good and valueable considerations us thereunto moving, but more especially for and in consideration of eight pounds as by us esteemed and valued to us in hand paid by Mr. James Emerson of Mendon in the same County and Province aforesd the receipt whereof we do acknowledge and thereof and of every part and parcel thereof we doe acquit exonerate and discharge the sd Mr. James Emerson his heirs exers and adminrs firmly by these presents for evr have given granted, bargained, sold, aliened, enfeoffed & confirmed, and by these presents doe give, grant bargain sel alien enfeoff and confirm unto him the sd Mr. James Emerson one seventh part of the Homestead which Mr. Joseph Emerson, clerk, dyed seized of in Mendon as it is undivided & lyeth in common with the other six remaining shares, the whole being butted and bounded Easterly with the Brook commonly called Division Brook wch divides sd lot from the lands in the hands of Joseph White Senr & Ebenezer Staple.  Westerly with the Homestead of the Ministry.  Northerly partly with the highway & partly with the lands of Mr. Grindal Rawson, and Southerly with lands of sd Rawson together with the seventh part of all the divisions of meadow, swamp or uplands belonging or of right, according to the manner of dividing lands in said Mendon, thereunto appertaining at present made or future according to its due proportion to be made with all wood and underwood thereon standing or lying with all stones minerals, brooks, water courses which may be therein or belong, and all rights, privileges apput’ces, profits or emoluments whatsoever from thence arising or unto sd seventh part in any manner due the sd seventh part, and all prementioned rights in its undivided capacity to him the said James Emerson his heirs and assigns.  To have and to hold by him & them and to his and their alone proper use benefit and behood as a sure an firm estate of inheritance in fee simple forever firmly by these presents to be holden without any restriction or limitation whatsoever that might tend to the nulling or making void the title of said demised premisses.  Moreover we the said Thomas & Jane Orcut do by these presents covenant and promise that we the sd Thomas & Jane Orcut are duly and legally invested in the foresd seventh part bargained and sold as aforesd, and have lawful power, strength & authority to make sale of the demised premisses according to manner and form above expressed, warranting said premises to be free & clear & to be freely acquitted and discharged of for and from all and all manner of former gifts grants, bargains, sales, enfeoffments alienations, dowrys thirds, power of thirds, leases, mortgages, dues, debts, bills, bonds, arrests, judgments executions & extents or any other act or acts had made or done or cause to be done by us the said Thomas & Jane Orcut or any person or persons acting by from or under us from the beginning of the world to this the time of their present alienation, firmly binding ourselves, our heirs, exers, and admrs firmly by these presents to warrant and defend the title & tenure of the demised premisses & all and singular the rights & appurces, thereof as above cautioned, to him the sd James Emerson his heirs & assigns from all manner of p’sons acting by from or under us or our heirs exers and administrators or acting by from or under our hon’red father Mr. Joseph Emerson or any other of his heirs of their heirs exers adminrs whereby the sd James Emersons or his heirs or assigns might be in the premisses either the whole or in part damnifyed forever.  Furthermore we the said Thomas & Jane Orcut do covenant & promise to do and perform all further act or acts in ye law necessary to be done or performed for the more sure making & ratifying the title & tenure of the premisses when this above instrumt or Deed of Sale we the sd Thomas and Jane Orcut have hereunto set & affixed our hands & seals this thirtyeth day of October in the year of our Lord MDCCVI and in the fifth year of the reign of our sovereign Lady Anne by the Grace of God of England, Scotland, France & Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith.
THOMAS ORCUT and a seal
JANE ORCUT X her mark & a seal

Signed, sealed and delivered by sd Thomas Orcut (the word heirs in the last line save 9 interlined before either) this thirtyeth day of October as above in the presence of us Grindal Rawson Ebenezer X White
ELIZABETH E EMERSON

Memorandum.  That on the thirteenth day of May annoq Dom. 1709, the within named Thomas Orcut & Jane his wife acknowledged the within written instrument to be their act and deed before me the subscriber one of her Majties Justices.
NATHANIEL THOMAS

May the 14, 1709.  Received & accordingly entred and examd,
p.  ADDINGTON DAVENPORT, Regr.”

NOKES TO THAYER.
Suffolk (Mass.) Deeds, xlv : 37.

Mary Nokes, of Hingham, widow, to Josiah Thayer of Mendon, dated 14 September 1708.  Description.  All that her seventh Part of a lot of Land lying in Mendon, called the forty acre lot, which did formerly belong to her honored Grandfather the Reverend Joseph Emerson, late of said Mendon, deceased, who died Seized thereof.  Consideration -- 13 pounds 10.  (BKE, pp. 39-41)

Would that Thomas and Jane Orcutt’s deed had been as brief as Mary’s!  However, the other two deeds described below are about as long and cumbersome.  Some interesting comparisons can be made.

Deeds of sale from the other brothers -- Peter and Ebenezer (and their wives) being made jointly September 10, 1708 (with witnesses John and Mary Brown; John being a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex, presumably the same John Brown that their mother Elizabeth Bulkeley Emerson married second); Edward (with wife Rebecca) and Daniel’s being made jointly September 11, 1708 (with witnesses Samull Phips and Ebenezeer Emerson).  All but Thomas and Jane Orcutt’s deeds are made with Josiah Thayer of Mendon (his purchases of this land went eventually to James Emerson) and executed between September 10 and 14, 1708.  Thomas and Jane Orcutt’s deed is directly with her uncle James Emerson, and executed almost two years prior to the other three.   It would be interesting to identify the Elizabeth Emerson who witnessed their deed.   Her uncle James Emerson had a daughter Elizabeth, b. 1687, who seems the most likely candidate.  (Interesting that this Elizabeth married Joseph Taft in 1708, which would have been two years after the date for the deed.)

The estate of James (2) Emerson was valued at 129 pounds, 7 shillings in October, 1680. 
 

Notes regarding Jane Emerson Orcutt’s aunts and uncles:

Great uncle John (2) Emerson married Ruth Symonds, daughter of Deputy-Governor Samuel Symonds (the several Samuel Phillipses descend from this branch).  John was the first Emerson graduated at Harvard, 1656 (was classmate there of Increase and Eleazer Mather); was ordained in 1663 and settled at Gloucester as the first minister of the town, remaining there until his death December 2, 1700.  In addition to his property in Gloucester, which included in whole or part the three principal saw and gristmills, he owned three farms in Ipswich, probably inherited from his father (see p. 7).  From his daughter Mary (b. 1665, d. 1708, m. Samuel Phillips in 1697) descend Wendell Phillips and Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts.  

Rev. John Emerson addendum:  A Salem document of 1692 states that Goodwife Taylor testified that Mr. John Emerson and her brother Bridges pressured her to confess to witchcraft.   On May 19, 1692, John Emerson wrote a report -- possibly to Cotton Mather, since BKE cites it as coming from Mother’s Magnalia, Chap. vii, Appendix, Art. 18 -- that “Glocester was not alarumed last summer for a fortnight together by real French and Indians, but that the devil and his agents were the cause of all the molestation which at this time befel the town; in the name of whose inhabitants I would take upon me to entreat your earnest prayers to the Father of mercies, that those apparitions may not prove the sad omens of some future and more horrible molestations to them.”    [Thus we have clues for Rev. John Emerson’s involvement in the Salem Witchcraft hunts.]

Now, for Jane Emerson Orcutt’s direct uncles and aunts, the following notes:

James (3) Emerson was born at Wells, Maine, and died at Mendon, Mass. 1756.  He married Sarah Ingersol at Mendon, and they resided at Ipswich and Mendon.  James Emerson was a tailor and farmer.  As oldest son, he inherited 2/7 (a double share) of his father’s estate, and as we have seen, purchased the remaining 5/7 from his siblings or their heirs.  This land remained in his branch of the family for several generations.  Children: 1.  Elizabeth, b. March 6, 1687, d. 1760, m. 1708 Joseph Taft, Res. Uxbridge;  2.  Sarah, b.___, m. Nov. 4, 1709 Daniel Hall, Res. Sherborn;  3.  James, b. March 23, 1692, d. after 1757, m. Feb. 21, 1722 Sarah Lock, Res. 
 
Uxbridge;  4. John, b. December 28, 1696, d. 1780, m. Nov. 23, 1721 Mary Rice;   5.  Joseph, b. Dec. 18, 1696 [perhaps the day is wrong, and John and Joseph are twins? In an errata sheet on p. 417, BKE corrected John’s birth date, and perhaps another error was introduced], d. 1745, Res. Reading and Falmouth;   6. Ebenezer, b. 1698, d. after 1747, m. Elizabeth Walcott Abt. 1730, Res. Attleboro;   7. Nathaniel, b. Aug. 19, 1701, m. Joanna ___, Res. Mendon.

Lucyan (3) Emerson, b. at Milton Mass. Oct. 2, 1667, d. at Reading, Mass, 1740; m. May 14, 1683 Thomas Damon who was b. January 31, 1659 and d. Oct. 20, 1723, Res. Reading, Mass.  Children: 1.  Lucyan, b. May 20, 1684, m. 1706 Kendal Boutwell, Res. Reading;   2. Joseph, b. Sep. 28, 1686, d. 1777, m. (1) 1707 Mary Bachelder, (2) 1755 Lydia (Emery) Bancroft, Res. Reading;   3.  Ebenezer, b. Mar. 12, 1688, Res. Reading;    4.  Thomas, b. Feb. 9, 1690, d. 1708;   5. Elizabeth, b. June 26, 1693, m. Benjamin Gerry, Res. Reading;   6. Hannah, b. Feb. 16, 1695, m. Samuel Leman, Res. Reading;   7. Susanna, b. 1697, m. Nathaniel Townsend, Res. Reading;   8. Mehetabel, b. Nov. 20, 1699, m. Nathaniel Cowdrey, Res. Reading;   9.  Mary, b. Aug. 31, 1701, m. John Holden, Res. Woburn;   10. Thomas, b. Dec. 25, 1703, d. 1796; m. Abigail Blod [? illegible), Res. Sudbury;   11. Edward, b. ___;   12. John, b. May 10, 1709; 13. Abigail, b. Nov. 29, 1713, m. Robert Thompson. [Note: 154 years after the 1683 marriage of Lucyan Emerson to Thomas Damon, William Orcutt (6) married in 1837 Anna Esther Damon -- who was called Esther; is she possibly a descendant of the family of Thomas Damon?]  (Notes added 12/02 for JOH by DJS:  Not likely a descendant, though her Damon family may have same English roots.  Thos. D. comes from Reading, MA family, not Scituate MA family.) 

Edward (3) Emerson, b. at Mendon, Mass. April 26, 1670, d. at Malden May 9, 1743, very suddenly; m. January 27, 1697 at Chelmsford, Rebecca Waldo, daughter of Cornelius and Rebecca (Adams) Waldo of Chelmsford who was b. at Ipswich, Mass. Sept. 24, 1662 and d. April 23, 1753 at Malden.  They resided at Chelmsford with Deacon Waldo till 1703.  Mr. Emerson was a schoolmaster at Chelmsford before 1700.  He was in Charlestown from 1705-1713 (a surveyor of highways there in 1703).  In 1727 he appears at Newbury as a merchant, dismissed from the Chelmsford church to the Third Church, Newbury that year.  “He was a very devout man, and such was his sense of the dangers attendant upon wealth [which his father-in-law certainly possessed, granting him lands in Chelmsford twice in 1699], that he was in the habit of praying that his posterity might not be cursed with riches.  His prayers have been signally answered.”  (BKE, p. 51.)  Children:   1. Joseph, b. April 20, 1700, d. July 13 1767, m. Dec. 27,,, 1721, Mary Moody, Res. Malden [Note: many researchers have confused this Joseph (4)  Emerson m. Mary Moody with Jane Emerson Orcutt’s parents Joseph (3) and Mary ___; but this Joseph’s birthdate in 1700 makes it impossible he could have been father to Jane, b. 1679];   2. Elizabeth, b. April 19, 1701, m. ___ Edwards, Res. Newbury;   3. Edward, b. May 8, 1702, d. 1740, m. Nov. 13, 1729, Hanna Beals [or Beale?], Res. Boston;   4. Hannah, b. April 26, 1704, d. Feb. 2, 1705;   5. John, b. Feb. 27, 1706, d. July 11, 1774, m. Oct. 23, 1729 Elizabeth Pratt, Res. Topsfield.

Peter (3) Emerson, b. at Mendon 1673, d. 1749, m. November 11, 1696, Anna Brown b. at Reading 1678, daughter of Capt. John and Anna (Fiske) Brown of Reading.  Capt. John Brown later married Peter’s mother Elizabeth Bulkeley Emerson, following the death of his first wife and her husband in 1680, so Peter’s step-father, with whom he grew up, later became also his father-in-law.   Peter and Anna resided in Reading (now South Reading), on the farm inherited from Capt. Brown.  There is a delightful legend handed down in the family that described the Captain in his old age, who had an only child, a daughter.  He was said to have been walking alone one evening and was heard to say to himself, “Well, I have made up my mind to make my will, and I’ll give my farm to Anna, and then I’ll give Anna to Peter.”  (BKE, pp. 54-55.)  Children of Peter and Anna Brown Emerson: 1.  Anna, b. July 6, 1697, d. August 11, 1697;    2.  Elizabeth, b. Feb. 20, 1699, m. Eli Smith, Res. Hollis, NH;    3. Anna, b. March 9, 1701, d. Feb. 15, 1799 unmarried, Red. Hollis;    4. Brown, b. April 16, 1704, d. 1774, m. June 17, 1725, Sarah Townsend, Res. Reading;   5. Lucy, b. 1706, d. 1735;   6. Sarah, b. Nov. 8, 1708;   7.  Jane, b. Maarch 11, 1711, Res. Hollis;   8. Mary, b. Dec. 20, 1713, m. Aug. 3, 1738 Jonas Eaton, Res. Salisbury;   9. Daniel, b. May 20, 1716, d. Sept. 30, 1801, m. Hannah Emerson, Res. Hollis;   10. Katherine, b. Dec. 2, 1718, d. Aug. 2, 1809, m. (1) Feb. 9, 1746, Josiah Conant, m. (2) Dec. 18, 1777, Moses Thurston; Res. Dunstable.

Ebenezer (3) Emerson, b. __ at Mendon, d. 1751, m. (1) 1707 Bethia Parker, daughter of Nathaniel and Bethia (Polly) Parker of Reading who was b. 1685 and d. 1715; he m. (2) 1716 Mary Boutwell, daughter of Capt. James and Mary (Kendall) Boutwell of Reading who was b. in Reading 1685.  They resided in Reading.  Children: 1. Nathaniel, b. Mar. 31, 1705, m. April 15, 1725, Hephzibah Burnap;   2. Bethia, b. July 27, 1700, m. April 14, 1731, Nathaniel Parker, Res. Reading;   3.  Susan, b. March 8, 1713, m. Feb. 19, 1736, Isaac Burnap, Res. Reading; 4. Ebenezer, b. Jan. 6, 1716, m. (1) Feb. 19, 1736 Anna Nichols, m. (2) December 7, 1749, Rebecca Putnam, Res. Reading;   5.  James, b. Jan. 9, 1720, m. (1) Nov. 28, 1744, Mary Farrar, m. (2) Elizabeth Nichols, Res. Reading;   6. Joseph, b. Nov. 3, 1721, m. Dec. 7, 1740 Phobe Upton, Res. Lynn;   7. Thomas, b. July 12, 1724, d. 1810, m. (1) April 16, 1747, Elizabeth Bruce, m. (2) Mary Dresser (? illegible), 17__ (illegible).

Daniel (3) Emerson, b.___, m. May 19, 1709, Jane Armitage, daughter of Timothy and Johanna (Richardson) Armitage of Boston who was born at Boston November 10, 1676.  [Interesting note: on June 13, 1677 Richard Richardson of Boston deeded to his son-in-law, Timothy Armitage of Boston, mariner, house now in the occupation of Benjamin Franklin.]   Daniel Emerson was a shipwright, and they resided in Boston.  Children of Daniel and Jane Armitage Emerson:  1.  Johanna, b. October 2, 1710, d. 1742 (? difficult to read), m. 1731 James Maradia (sp?  difficult to read), Res. Boston;   2.  Timothy, b. October 10, 1712,, d. 1742, m. Feb. 26, 1741, Mary McMechan, Res. Boston;   3. Edward, b.__, d. March 19, 1787, m. Hannah___, Res. Boston.

Family of Thomas Orcutt and Jane Emerson

(Source for family charts: Frederic Scott Orcutt, Sr., Descendants of Thomas Orcutt, 1677 to 1977.  Other sources as indicated.)

As described above, Thomas (2) and Jane Emerson Orcutt married in 1703 in Hingham and settled there, where their six children were born.  FSO states (p. 39) that Thomas (2) Orcutt settled in Cohasset, Mass. where he owned his home in 1703.  There is no further direct reference to Thomas and Jane, and the dates and places of their deaths are unknown.  There can only be supposition based on information relating to his brother John also settling in the Hingham area (see p. 2 of this document), and on information relating to Thomas’ and Jane’s children, who are listed as follows:

1.  Jane (3) Orcutt, b. December 18, 1704, m. October 5, 1732 Moses Pratt, son of Aaron Pratt
                               (V.R. of Marriages, Cohasset, Mass.)

2.  Thomas (3) Orcutt, Jr. b. July 3, 1707, m (1) January 17, 1733 Thankful Jenkins of Hingham,
                                m. (2) May 15, 1744 Margaret (Ray) Sutton, Wid.

3.  Mary (3) Orcutt, b. Feb. 11, 1709/10, m. Dec. 11, 1737, Luke Roberts of Boston, Mass.

4.  Emerson (3) Orcutt, b. August 1, 1713, m. April 3, 1735, Mary Gardiner

5.  Hannah (3) Orcutt, b. February 21, 1716, d. Jan. 31, 1735 unmarried

6.  David (3) Orcutt, b. Dec. 31, 1720 (could be Dec. 21), m. 1749 Sarah ___ (Gen. Families of
                                 Cohasset)

FSO states also that there has been an error in old Orcutt manuscripts stating that Thomas (2) bought land in Ashford, Conn. in May 1716.  This land has been checked and found that it was Joseph (2) Orcutt that bought land in Ashford in 1716.  The descendants of Thomas (2) Orcutt migrated to Penobscot Co., Me. while his brother John’s descendants migrated to Hancock Co., Me.  (p. 39)

However, only one 4th generation branch from Thomas (2)s line did move to Maine.  As following charts will show, Thomas (3) Orcutt and his children and David and his son Reuben all appear to have remained in Massachusetts.  It was the 4th child, second son of Emerson (3), Emerson (4) who settled in Orrington, Maine, in 1771.  (See chart for him in next chapter.)  Orrington is located about 5 miles south and slightly west of Bangor, Maine. This writer has been in communication with a descendent of Emerson (4) who has energetically traced his family line thoroughly.  His name is Matthew Getz and in 2001 his website was http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/g/e/t/Matthew-A-Getz/index.html and his e-mail address was matthewg@bwirc.com. He says that his group left Hingham for Ashland ME [which is about 60 miles north of Bangor and 12 miles west of Presque Isle, Maine] and many settled also in Castine, ME [closer to Orrington, on the tip of a small peninsula in to Penobscot Bay, about 25 miles due south of Bangor].  He continues to do very active research.

Only one other record in the Hingham area might pertain to Thomas (2) Orcutt, and it is a puzzling one.  In “Records of Second Church of Scituate” (NEH&G Reg. Vol. 17, p. 401) is listed, apparently as being the 14th person that year who was admitted to the church’s communion on August 4th 1728, one “Thomas orcut [sic] of Hingham”.    This could also refer to Thomas (3) who would be termed also “of Hingham.”  Thomas (2) would have been 50 (51 in October) on August 4, 1728, while Thomas (3) would have been 21 the prior July 3rd.   Regarding Thomas (3): His first wife, Thankful Jenkins of Hingham Mass. was daughter to Edward and Martha (Damon) Jenkins of Scituate, Mass. [The V.R. of Scituate do contain records both of the intention and the marriage of Thomas Jr. of Hingham and Thankful Jenkins, 1733, p. 223.)  2nd Church Scituate (located actually near Norwell, Mass.) is approximately 8 miles from Cohasset, not impossible, but still quite some distance to go if a person regularly attended church.  It is important, also, to recall that ten of the twelve children of William 1 and Mary Martha Lane Orcutt were baptized by William Wetherell, first pastor of 2nd Church Scituate, so this was a “home church” for the family.] 

Was there a problem with the church in Hingham -- or special attraction to 2nd Church Scituate -- to cause either Thomas (2) or (3) to move membership to Scituate?  The third minister of the Hingham church was Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Gay, whose ministry there extended from 1718-87 when he died, thus nearly 70 years (Ecclesiastical History of Hingham by Francis H. Lincoln, p. 19, who goes on to quote Solomon Lincoln’s Memoir of the Rev. Dr. Gay, saying Whatever may have been the theological views entertained by Dr. Gay in the early part of his ministry, it is well understood that he sympathized with the spirit of free inquiry, which gradually wrought a change in the opinions of many eminent divines, commencing about the middle of the last century.  So Dr. Gay’s ministry was certainly of a more liberal cast, termed Arminian by some.   Again from Lincoln: It was during his ministry that the East, or Second Precinct was formed and a church established at Conohasset (now Cohasset). This was on March 25, 1720-21, shortly after the birth of Thomas (2) and Jane Orcutt’s youngest child David in December, 1720.   

On the side of 2nd Church Scituate around 1728: the fourth pastor was the Rev. Nathaniel Eels, whose ministry extended from 1704-1750 when he died.  Similar to the Rev. Dr. Gay, Eels forty-six years of service were singularly successful and happy, and from a small society his congregations had increased so largely that a larger house was needed as early as 1739.  (Old Scituate, published in 1921 by the Chief Justice Cushing Chapter of the DAR, p. 171-2.)   In a listing by the current 1st Unitarian Church, Norwell of the history of their ministers obtained by this writer in September, 2000), Eels is warmly described: He was much beloved by his parishioners who were always glad to have him ride his horse to their doors to inquire for their health and hand his pipe to be lighted with a coal from their open fireplace.  Expansion of the church had even been required during The Rev. Eels early ministry when the third meetinghouse had been raised in 1707, very near the site of the current church, now 1st Unitarian Church, Norwell. [JOH:  A later Orcutt wife, Esther Damon who M. William Orcutt (6), likely descends from Rev. Nathaniel Eels.  See Chapter Six on Esther Damon, p.5.]  It was the minister prior to Rev. Eels, Mr. Deodate Lawson, who had presented problems to the congregation; apparently Mr. Lawson didn’t find the ministry sufficiently remunerative, and was practicing some other profession, with the result to the church of his long and continued absence, requiring the church to dismiss him and seek another minister!  (Ibid, p. 171.)   However, this occurred long before 1728.   Unless Thomas (2) Orcutt had decided to return to the church where he had been baptized (although in 1728 in a different location, about 2 miles west of the meetinghouse location where he had been baptized in 1677; a boulder now -- summer, 2001 -- commemorates the location of that first meetinghouse utilized by the baptising minister Rev. William Wetherill), there seems no evident motive for Thomas (2) to undertake that curious 1728 membership in 2nd Church Scituate.   It seems to this writer more likely that it was Thomas (3) who is so listed.   Although it does not appear that Thomas (3) moved to Scituate at that time, it is striking that 5 years later he married Thankful Jenkins (though listed as being of Hingham, Mass. by FSO) whose parents Edward and Martha (Damon) Jenkins are from Scituate.  Whatever the initial reason may have been for Thomas (3) to move to that church, there appears the possibility that he met his wife there, although they do not marry there.   And, interestingly enough, as the following chart will show, Thomas (3) married as his second wife a woman whose parents are described as being of Scituate.

Descendants of Thomas (2) and Jane Emerson Orcutt 

THIRD GENERATION

Thomas (3) Orcutt, Jr. (Thomas 2, William 1), b. July 3, 1707 (V.R. Hingham, Mass.) and d. 1764 (History of Hingham, Mass.) married first on  January 17, 1733 Thankful Jenkins of Hingham, Mass., daughter of Edward and Martha (Damon) Jenkins of Scituate, Mass., who was born in 1712 and died after July 1741 and before 1744; he married 2nd May 15, 1744, Margaret (Ray) Sutton, widow of Nathaniel Sutton and daughter of James and Elizabeth (Foster) Ray of Scituate.  Thomas occupation is recorded as Trader (Lincoln, History of the Town of Hingham, Mass., vol. III,  p.100). 

Thomas (3) Orcutt, Jr.’s children with Thankful Jenkins: three sons:  Edward (4) Orcutt, b. May 6, 1736;  Seth (4) Orcutt, b. June 9. 1738;   James (4) Orcutt (who has no further record; presumed died young).

Thomas (3) Orcutt, Jr.’s children with Margaret (Ray) Sutton: two sons, two daughters:   Luke (4) Orcutt, b. 1745;   Martha (4) Orcutt, b. August 15, 1751, m. Jan. 30, 1772, Thomas Osyer (or Osayer) of Marshfield, Mass.;   Rueben (4) Orcutt, b. October 4, 1754 (V.R. Cohasset, Mass.), died young. 
 
Emerson (3) Orcutt (Thomas 2, William 1), b. August 1, 1713.  Note: This line will be pursued in the next chapter, with wife Mary Gardiner, whom he married in 1735; they moved to Abington, Massachusetts after 1766. 

David (3) Orcutt (Thomas 2, William 1), b. Dec. 31, 1720 (recorded in Hingham, Mass.), d. June 10, 1757; m. ___, Sarah ___ (The Genealogies of the Families of Cohasset, Massachusetts, G.L. and E. O. Davenport, 1909, p. 323), b. 1733/34 (figured from age at death), d. 1818, 84 years old (name at death: Rich; David’s widow married 2nd Mathias Rich, widr. of Truro, Mass. at Boston, and removed to Truro.  (Ref. NEH&G Register, vol 83, p. 394).  David (3) Orcutt lived on South Main Street in Hingham in 1749 (Davenports, p. 323). 

David (3) Orcutt served under Lt. Solomon on Wolf’s campaign against Quebec.  (Samuel (4) Orcutt, son of Ebenezer (3) Orcutt was also on this campaign [JOH:  Samuel and Ebenezer are of the John 2 line.].  Reference: Historical sketch by Gilbert Nash of Weymouth, Mass. p. 52; also NEH&G Register v. 83, p. 394 also Lincoln’s History of Hingham, Mass.  All taken from FSO, p. 46).
 

Jane’s Era

Jane Emerson Orcutt’s experience of her historical period may well have been related to involvements of her relatives in the developments of that period.  This may include that puzzling relationship her father seems to have had with the rest of his notable family and the curious comparable paucity of references to him.  She was 4th generation in the New World, for it was her great-grandfather Thomas Emerson who emigrated from England in 1635, the same year Mary Martha Lane’s father and grandfather also arrived in what became Massachusetts.  Her grandfather, a Puritan minister, petitioned Protector Oliver Cromwell to incorporate Wells, Maine, into Massachusetts, a controversial position.  Her great-uncle, the Rev. John Emerson, first pastor in Gloucester, was a Harvard classmate of Increase Mather, receiving a degree in 1659; in 1692, the period of the Salem Witchcraft craze, 11 years before Thomas Orcutt and Jane Emerson married, the Rev. John appears to have bullied Goodwife Taylor into confessing witchcraft, a confession she later repudiated.   Is it possible that Jane’s line, beginning with her father Joseph, the mystery man, reacted against the puritanical narrowness expressed in some branches of her family?  Is this in part why we hear so little of father Joseph, compared to his brother and half-siblings, most of whom seem to have been heavily involved in the church of that era?  Except for their marriage and the baptism of their children, there is no clear indication of church involvement by both Thomas 2 and Jane, so it is an intriguing piece of speculation.  But speculation, only. 

The fact that Jane’s surname, Emerson, becomes the given name for their 4th child and 2nd son, is a striking expression of their sense of family, whatever that family meant to her.   That Emerson given name continues for multiple generations, as does her given name, which seems to give her a kind of reflected spotlight. 

Naming patterns Thomas and Jane used for their children mostly follow those used in that era (alternating between husband’s family/wife’s family) -- her generation seems first to use the mother’s surname as a son’s given name, however.   Their first two children were named after themselves; 3rd child Mary’s name matches that of both Thomas and Jane’s mothers, as well as their sisters; their 4th child is that 2nd son Emerson (interesting that he is NOT Joseph, in the frequent pattern for a second son to be named after his maternal grandfather); fifth child is Hannah (Thomas had a sister Hannah, twin to Mary); and, interestingly, there is no good suggestion for a family connection to the name of David, their 6th and last child and 3rd son.

As remarked at the outset, it is intriguing to speculate how Thomas Orcutt and Jane Emerson may have met.  There appear to be no other family connections or any way of accounting for the distances between their homes in Bridgewater, Boston and Hingham.   The only suggestive clue is that in 1708, Jane’s sister Mary deeds her share of their grandfather’s land from Hingham, where she is a widow at that time.  As indicated above, however, it may be that Mary Noakes (Nokes in the deed conveyance) may have moved from Boston to Hingham to be near her sister, since Jane is already living in Hingham from the time of their marriage in 1703. 

In 1706 comes that exciting conveyance of deed, with Thomas Orcutt’s signature and Jane Emerson Orcutt’s mark, turning her share of her grandfather’s property over to her uncle James Emerson. [What a find, to discover a copy of a document signed by distant ancestors!] By that date, Jane and Thomas had their first child, Jane, born in December, 1704.    1706/7 is also the year of the death of Thomas grandmother, Triphena Lane, in Hingham.

The community in which Jane and Thomas lived -- 2nd precinct Hingham, which became Cohasset in 1770, probably after J & T’s deaths (date and place, sadly, unknown as of this date, 2002), is set at the head of a bay on the Massachusetts coast 12 miles south of Boston.   Hingham was settled in 1635, thus is among the oldest towns of Massachusetts.  The Rev. Peter Hobart of Hingham in Norfolk, England, came to join fellow townsmen in 1635, and accept their invitation to become first pastor of the church (Hingham was first named Bare Cove).  Thomas Orcutt’s maternal grandfather Andrew Lane and great-uncle George Lane (see pp. 3-4 of prior Mary Martha Lane chapter) were original proprietors in 1635.    The second pastor, Mr. John Norton, succeeded Hobart when he died in 1678, thus it was he who may have married Thomas Orcutt and Jane Emerson in 1703.   Hingham’s second meeting-house had been built in 1681 and survived until at least the late 19th century, perhaps well into the 20th. [JOH:  do not recall seeing a building of the shape drawn during a brief visit there in March of 2000, although we looked for it.]   A second church for Hingham’s 2nd precinct, Cohasset, was organized during the ministry of third Hingham minister, the famed Rev. Ebenezer Gay (considered one of the early liberal Unitarians), and Thomas Orcutt’s brother John was an original member in 1721.  The first minister of the Cohasset 2nd parish was the Rev. Nehemiah Hobart, grandson of the Rev. Peter Hobart, first minister of Hingham.

We do not know Thomas Orcutt’s profession.  According to FSO (p. 39) he owned his home in 1703.   His son Thomas 3 is described as Trader.  Thomas 2 does not appear on any lists of community leadership, as does his brother John 2 (Constable, 1712) and John’s son, Thomas nephew Samuel 3 (Selectman for 6 years).   It is puzzling that Thomas 2 does NOT show up on tax records for 1711.   Shipping and shipbuilding were major businesses in the Hingham/ Cohasset area -- could Thomas have become a seaman?    Did he and Jane maintain connections with Thomas Lane relatives, of whom there were many in the Hingham area?

Jane and Thomas raised five of their six children to adulthood.  But they lost their fifth child and 3rd daughter, Hannah, b. 1716, just prior to her adulthood when she died unmarried at age 19 in 1735.  Jane 3 married Moses Pratt of Cohasset; Thomas 3, as mentioned earlier, married 1st Thankful Jenkins, 2nd widow Margaret (Ray) Sutton, had three sons with Thankful and two sons and two daughters with Margaret; Mary 3 married Luke Roberts of Boston; Emerson 3 married Mary Gardiner of Hingham (see following chapter), and David 3 married Sarah ____ in Cohasset. 

At the time of Jane’s and Thomas marriage, Queen Anne was on the throne in England (1702-1714), succeeding her brother-in-law William, her sister Mary who had reigned with her husband having died childless by 1700 .  Queen Anne was an admirer and patron of the Rev. John Emerson, pastor of the New Castle, NH church, and sent frequent gifts (BKE, p. 63) -- this Rev. John is son of Jane’s great-uncle, the Rev. John Emerson of Gloucester of the witch trial era.    It was during Queen Anne’s reign that the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England took effect on May 1, 1707.  At her death in 1714 in accordance with the Act of Settlement of 1701 which was to secure Protestant succession to the throne, George, Elector of Hanover, became George I of Great Britain, and the Hanoverian House continued to reign on through the Victorian period and the beginning of the 20th century.   But George’s claim was quickly challenged by James Stuart, Roman Catholic son of James II, who responded to a Scottish rising in 1715 and landed there but was unsuccessful and soon withdrew.  George spoke little English, and spent much time in Hanover.  There was a rupture with his son George, Prince of Wales, and power was delegated to a Regency Council.  After the South Sea Bubble crisis of 1720, Robert Walpole took over as the first Prime Minister. 

George I died in 1727, succeeded by his son George II (1727-60).  His reign was threatened in 1745 when Charles Edward Stuart, the young Pretender, landed in Scotland.   Bonnie Prince Charlie was defeated, however, at the Battle of Culloden in April, 1746.  

The foundations for the Industrial Revolution were laid during George’s reign, with new levels of production in industries such as coal and shipbuilding and also in agriculture, together with a rapid rise in population.  Overseas, trade was boosted by successes such as Clive’s victories in India (1751, 1757), which placed Madras and Bengal under British control, as well as Wolfe’s capture of French-held Quebec in 1759 (David Orcutt 3 and Samuel Orcutt 4 of John 2's line both participated on this campaign) which resulted in transferring Canada with its wealthy trade in fish and fur from French to British rule.  George II died in 1760 and was succeeded by his grandson, George III, since eldest son Frederick had died in 1751.  It was George III who reigned (1760-1820; he became mentally deranged in 1788, recovering in 1789, but relapsing in 1810) through the period of the American Revolution.   

Depending on how long Jane Emerson Orcutt lived, her era saw the blossoming of the Brittish Empire in both its industrial and colonial power.  If by some chance she lived to be nearly 100, she would also have seen the beginnings of that empire’s crumbling, with the independence of the USA.
 
Descendants of Thomas Orcutt 2 and Jane Emerson, continued:
Following the line of Edward 4 Orcutt, who settled in Western Massachusetts

FOURTH GENERATION

Edward (4) Orcutt (Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. May 6, 1736, bapt. May 30, 1736, d. January 6, 1801 in Goshen, Mass.; m. Mehitable Hudson (called Hattie), daughter of Joseph and Martha (Lincoln) Hudson of Cohasset, bapt. June 13, 1736 in Cohasset. 

Seven children with Mehitable (Hattie) Hudson:  James (5) Orcutt, b. May 3, 1761;  Mathew (5) Orcutt, b. April 19, 1764;    Thomas (5) Orcutt b. March 15, 1766;   Quartus (5) Orcutt, b. Mar. 20, 1768;   George (5) Orcutt, b. Nov. 21, 1771;   Origen (5) Orcutt, b. May 5, 1773; Thankful (5) Orcutt, d. 1861, Marietta Ohio, m. Dr. Bildad Curtis of Plainfield, Mass. in 1804 and removed to Marietta, Ohio.

Edward (4) Orcutt served in the Revolutionary War as Private in Captain Christopher Bannister’s Co., John Dickenson’s Regt.  Enlisted August 17, 1777; discharged August 22, 1777.  Company marched to Bennington on an alarm to reinforce army near that place (Mass. Soldiers and Sailors in Revolutionary War, p. 662).   Edward (4) Orcutt formerly lived in Hingham but removed to Goshen, Mass. in 1763 or 64 [located about 30 miles northwest of Springfield in western Massachusetts, in the Berkshires; hence the propinquity for the march to Bennington, Vermont, during the Revolutionary War].  According to FSO (p. 29) He was a well-to-do sort of a man but had some ways that were different from those of most people [!  What were these?  Something genetic?].  Land records found: June 4, 1762 John Marks of Greenwich, Mass. [this writer finds no Greenwich, Mass. so perhaps the name has changed.] for L7.10 S deeded to Edward Orcutt of Hingham 72 d. lot in 2nd Div. of Tract in Hampshire Co. called New Quabbing west of Hatfield, a part of Narragansett Twp. #4 50 acres.  On the same date Edward Orcutt bought 2 other parts in same area from Lemuel Lyon of Woodstock, Worcester Co., and John McWhorten of Greenwich, Mass.   (Reference from FSO: land R. Hampden Co., v. 4 pages 590, 594, 595.  Reference for this chart compiled by F.W. Ingalsbe.  V.R. for birth of children Chesterfield, Mass. [see children 2-6 below] from Ruth A. Baker, Clerk.)

FIFTH GENERATION
 
James (5) Orcutt (Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. May 3, 1762; bapt. May 1, 1763 (V.R. Cohasset) m. 1791 Clarissa Arms of Deerfield (Reference History of Goshen published 1881, by Hiram Barriss, p. 159; a slightly later history published 1883 by Sheldon [Shildon?  FSO gives two spellings, p. 49 and p. 57] v. 2, p. 258 says he was paying tax in Deerfield, Mass. from 1783-1789).  Served in the Revolutionary War: Descriptive list of men detached from Col. Israel Chapin’s (2d Hamshire Co.) regt. for the term of 3 months, agreeable to resolve of June 22, 1780, dated Northampton, Sept. 14, 1780; Lieut. Lyon’s co.; age, 19 yrs.; stature, 6 ft.; complexion, dark; engaged for town of Chesterfield; mustered July 5, 1780; also, Private, Capt. Ebenezer Sheldon’s co., Col. Seth Murray’s regt.; enlisted July 14, 1780; discharged Oct. 10, 1780; service, 3 mos. 4 days, including 7 days (132 miles) travel home; regiment raised to reinforce Continental Army for 3 months.  (Mass. Soldiers And Sailors of the Revolutionary War, p. 663.)    FSO goes on to state that he was also stationed at West Point for a time in command of the guard at the great chain across the Hudson River when the troops of Washington rushed by to secure Arnold for his treachery (p. 57). 

Issue of James (5) Orcutt and Clarissa (Arms) Orcutt (per FSO, p. 57, records compiled by F.W. Ingalsbe): 1. Sophronia (6) Orcutt, d. Dec. 3, 1848 in Goshen, Mass.;   2.  Wealthy (6) Orcutt;   3.  Josiah Arms (6) Orcutt, b. 1819 figured from date of name change, Probate record of name changes for Mass. 1780-1792, p. 91, March 23, 1840: Josiah Arms Orcutt, age 21, may take the name Josiah Orcutt Arms.  Per FSO, no reason given for name change.

Mathew (5) Orcutt (Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. April 19, 1764, North of Chesterfield [located about 7 miles south and slightly west of Goshen], Hampshire Co., Mass. [No further record.]

Thomas (5) Orcutt (Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. Mar. 15, 1766 in Gore adjoining North of Chesterfield, as above, d. August 20, 1847 age 82 years at Westhampton, Mass. [located about 10 miles southeast of Chesterfield], m. April 23, 1795 Sally Carpenter, b. 1759/60, d. July 16, 1835 at Westhampton, Mass.  (FSO Note: Land records vol. 19, 0. 472: Thomas Orcutt of Goshen buys for $1340 land in Buckland [about 12 miles north and slightly west of Goshen] Oct. 20, 1803; v. 70, p. 142: Thomas Orcutt of Buckland sells 1/2 parcel for $800 to Thomas, Jr.  Jan 6, 1829 Thomas Orcutt of Buckland sells all Real Estate owned by him in Buckland to Thomas, Jr. 9v. 89 p. 74 for $575.--signed by Thomas Orcutt and Sally Orcutt, seal Hervey Orcutt witness (FSO, p. 58).

Issue of Thomas (5) Orcutt and Sally Carpenter Orcutt, three children: (reference: F.W. Ingalsbe): Harvey (6) Orcutt (Hervey, Henry on some records), b. July 10, 1801;   Thomas (6) Orcutt, b. Sept. 19, 1806;   Laura (6) Orcutt, b. 1808 in Goshen, m. (Int.) Dec. 5, 1818, Edmund Perkins (Buckland marriage records).

Quartus (5) Orcutt (Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. March 20, 1769 in the Gore joining North of Chesterfield, Mass. (this place is between Chesterfield and Goshen), d. November 11, 1821 of Nunb [?] palsey (old Bible record), bur. first in old Fort Stanwix Cem. and afterwards taken to cem. in Rome, NY, m. by 1798, Mary ____, b. ___, d. April 5, 1813 of epidemic fever (old Bible record), bur. Cem. at Rome, NY.    Note: The old Bible had only the names and date of birth of the issue.  This Bible in possession of Mrs. C. Albert Krumm of 105 Kossuth St. Rome, NY, granddaughter of Quartus (5) Orcutt; a copy of the records of this Bible are in the Jervis Library, Rome, NY.  Mrs. C. Albert Krumm furnished the names that each child married and the death record when known.  Land Census record of owners in 1814 Rome, N.Y. gives Quartus Orcutt 50 acres (FSO, p. 59), Quartus must have moved there before or by the time their children were born (the first listed as born there 1798). 

Issue of Quartus (5) Orcutt and Mary ___: 5 children; Edward (6), b. November 18, 1798; Mehitable (6) Orcutt, b. March 3, 1801, d. Feb. 1872, m. July 16, 1820, Nathaniel Jewell; Matthew (6) Orcutt, b. October 1, 1804, m. Feb. 27;   Francis (6) Orcutt, b. March 30, 1806;   Emily (6) Orcutt, b. Feb. 18, 1808, d. Jan. 1, 1874, m. M.A. Shephard. 

George (5) Orcutt (Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), B. Nov. 21, 1771.  No further record found by FSO.

Origen (5) Orcutt (Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. May 5, 1773 in the Gore adjoining North of Chesterfield, Mass., d. July 8, 1833 age 60 years at Goshen, Mass., m. March 3, 1796 Eunice Ripley of Windsor, Berkshire County, Mass. (Congregational Church record and V.R. Windsor, Mass.), b. 1782/83 (figured from age at death), d. June 26, 1842 age 59 years. 

Issue of Origen (5) Orcutt and Eunice Ripley, 5 known children, 2 with question: Origen (6) Orcutt, b. 1797; Edward (6) Orcutt, b. 1798/99 figured from aged at death, d. Oct. 3, 1835, Troy, NY, bur. Old Eda Cem. lot #328;   Luther (6) Orcutt;   Sophia (6) Orcutt, b. 1807 at Goshen, Mass., D. June 26, 1842;   Alvin (6) Orcutt, b. July 1809 at Goshen Mass.;    then those with question: Hudson (6) Orcutt and Zerviah (6) Orcutt.  No further information on these found by FSO, p. 60.

SIXTH GENERATION

Harvey (6) Orcutt (Thomas 5, Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1) (name Hervey, Henry on some records), b. July 10, 1801 at Buckland, Mass., d. Dec. 8, 1873 age 72 years in Westhampton, Mass. m. August 15, 1826 Mary Field (this V.R. gives his name as Dr. Harvey; the Field Gen. p. 423 gives the marriage date as Aug. 15, 1825 to Dr. Henry Orcutt of West Hampton, Mass.), daughter of Rev. Timothy Field of Westminster, Windham Co., Vt., b. Sept. 12, 1897, d. March 28, 1884, Westhampton, Mass.

Note: W.B. Gay Gaxeteer of Hampshire Co., Mass. Part 1, p. 456: Dr. Hervey Orcutt came from Chicopee, Mass. in 1835, bought the Nathan Clark place where he lived until he died.  He wathe only physician in Westhampton, Mass. for years  (FSO, p. 69). 

Issue of Harvey/Hervey/Henry Orcutt and Mary Field:   3 daughters, 1.  Mary Elizabeth (7) Orcutt, b. June 14, 1829, m. William E. Lyman, November 13, 1851;    2.  Ellen S. (7) Orcutt, b. 1833, d. Sept. 19, 1836;    3.  Helen Antoinette (7) Orcutt, b. 1839, d. Dec. 11, 1892 in Westhampton; she never married, was a school teacher in Westhampton and very active in the temperance cause there.  (FSO, p. 69: Reference for this chart from records compiled by F.W. Ingalsbe.)

 
Thomas (6) Orcutt (Thomas 5, Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. September 1806 in Goshen, Mass.  d. April 17, 1870 in Buckland, Mass., m. (1) March 20, 1829 Abigail Perkins, daughter of Edmund Perkins, b. 1808/09, d. April 8, 1842 (V.R. Buckland), no issue this union; he m. (2) July 31, 1842 Minerva Taylor, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Butler) Taylor, b. Oct. 23, 1816, d. Sept. 13, 1865 at Buckland; m. (3) September 6, 1866 Cynthia Taylor, daughter of Levi and Betsy (Butler) Taylor and cousin to Thomas 2nd wife Minerva (Taylor) Orcutt, b. July 3, 1815, Buckland, Mass.  FSO gives no issue from this third marriage.

Issue of Thomas (6) and 2nd wife Minerva Taylor, 5 children all born in Buckland, Mass. and recorded there: Thomas Ashton (7) Orcutt, b. May 27, 1843;  Abigail (Abbie) Perkins (7) Orcutt, b. July 15, 1845, m. Nov. 9, 1866 Marcus Lanphear;    Sarah Delia (7) Orcutt, b. Jan 2, 1847, m. March 21, 1871 Fayette Nichols;    Baxter Adino (7) Orcutt, b. July 6, 1849;  Celie Minerva (7) Orcutt, b. May 16, 1851, m. Nov. 3, 1870 Adolphus R. Martin; they lived for many years at Chicopee Falls, Mass; issue one child Cora Minerva Martin, b. Aug. 16, 1876.  (Reference: records compiled by F.W. Ingalsbe.)

Thomas 6 made will Aug. 10, 1869 #7466.  Bur. Buckland, Mass.

Edward (6) Orcutt (Quartus 5, Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. Nov. 28, 1798, Rome, NY, d. February 20, 1861 m. Jan. 18, 1821 Lovisa (or Lovira) Hawley, b. Sept. 8, 1804, d. Feb. 29, 1884. 

Issue of Edward (6) Orcutt and Lovisa (FSO:  Lovira) Hawley, 3 children: Edward Burr (7) Orcutt, b. Feb. 22, 1822;   William Furness (7) Orcutt, b. April 15, 1825, Rome, NY, d. Nov. 25, 1845 (no further records found by FSO, p. 70);   Polly Maranda (7)      

FSO note: Edward (6) Orcutt and wife went to Ohio about 1832 but returned to NY in 1838 located in Monroe County; family record gives place as Brockport, Monroe Co., NY [20 miles west of Rochester, NY].  C.R. 1840 Brockport, NY p. 284 records Edward 96) Orcutt under name of Edwin Orcutt age 40-50, 2 sons 10-15 & 1 female 20-30 (p. 70).
 
Mathew (6) Orcutt (Quartus 5, Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. Oct. 1, 1804 (Bible record); Oct. 3, 1903 [sic; must mean 1803] (Hist. & Dictionary of Kent Co., Mich.), d. May 26, 1889, bur. Livingston Cem. Plainfield, Kent County, Michigan (Hist. & Dictionary of Kent Co., Mich. in 1970 gives Mathew Orcutt bur. section 20 Livingston Cemetery.  He was pioneer in Plainfield, Kent Co., Michigan in 1847), m. Feb. 27, 1827 Dolly Smith, daughter of Michael and Nellie Smith who settled in Liberty, Jackson County, Michigan in 1844, b. Aug. 27, 1809 Albarn NY, d. Nov. 1, 1892, bur. Livingston Cem., Plainfield, Michigan. 

Issue of Mathew (6) Orcutt and Dolly (Smith) Orcutt, 2 children: Michael Edward (7) Orcutt, b. 1834 in Oneida Co., NY;   Della M. (7) Orcutt, b. Aug. 27, 1844 in Liberty, Jackson County, Michigan, m. Jan 27, 1868 Joseph Babka in Plainfield, Michigan.  (Reference: records of F.W. Ingalsbe who received a letter from Mrs. Dolly Mae (8) Orcutt Damn, granddaughter of Mathew (6) Orcutt which gave a very complete family record and descendants of Michael Edward (7) and Della M. (7) Orcutt.

Francis (6) Orcutt (Quartus 5, Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. March 30, 1806 Rome, NY, d. August 7, 1874 in Rome, NY, Oneida County, bur. Cem. Wright Settlement, m. (1) Feb. 22, 1835 Caroline Glass, b. October 12, 1811, d. Feb. 24, 1860, bur. at Wright Settlement; m. (2) Margaret Bidell, no issue.

Issue of Francis (6) Orcutt and Caroline (Glass) Orcutt, 4 children:   Francis Lewis (7) Orcutt, b. May 27, 1836;   George Jay (7) Orcutt, b. 1840, d. 1909 in Rome, NY, m. Dec. 12, 1866 Julia Broduck, issue 2 children in Rome, NY: Geoge Frank Orcutt, d. in childhood;   Nellie (8) Orcutt, b. Aug. 7, 1873, d. Jan. 18, 1917, m. Arthur McKee, no issue; Delia Caroline (7) Orcutt, b. 1846, m. June 15, 1869 Albert N. Briggs;   Norman Glass (7) Orcutt, b. March 10, 1849, m. (1) October 19, 1876, Laura Matteson, m. (2) Ida Leggitt, d. 1936.  No issue is recorded for these children, except for Francis Lewis (7) Orcutt, below.  (Reference: record compiled by F.W. Ingalsbe from family records of Mrs. Delie (Briggs) Krumm, granddaughter of subject.  1835 census of Rome, NY records Francis Orcutt; also a will.)

SEVENTH GENERATION

Edward Burr (7) Orcutt (Edward 6, Quartus 5, Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. Feb. 22, 1822; Rome or Brockport, NY, d. Feb. 1, 1894, Faribault, Minn, m. June 13, 1851, Sylvia Dunning, b. Feb. 24, 1834, d. April 21, 1909.

Note: Reference Rice County, Minn. History, p. 532.  E.B. Orcutt at the age of 10 moved with his parents to Ohio (1832).  They returned to NY in 1838 and located in Monroe Co.  He had charge of a boat on the Erie Canal until 1852 when he moved to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.  Reference to following chart also Old Family Bible of Mrs. F.J. Orcutt, daughter-in-law of Edward (7) and Sylvia Dunning Orcutt.

.   Their issue: 1.  William Furness (8) Orcutt, b. Mar. 10, 1853 Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, m. Lydia A. Schrieber Oct. 6, 1893 Faribault, Minn; 2.  Francis Jay (8) Orcutt b. July 24, 1855 Beaver Dam, Wis. or Faribault.  m. Hannah A. Smith March 7, 1889; 3. Mary Maranda (8) Orcutt b. April 1, 1857 Faribault, Minn. m. F.J. Clorrow Dec. 25, 1879; 4.  Dollie Lovisa (8) Orcutt b. Dec. 19, 1859 Faribault, Minn. m. W.A. Thompson of Faribault April 18, 1885; 5.  Minnie D. (8) Orcutt, b. Dec. 20, 1861, Faribault, Miss. d. Dec. 13, 1916; m. D.A. McLean, Dec. 24, 1883 Faribault, Miss. 

Reference for this chart also Old Family Bible of Mrs. F.J. Orcutt, daughter-in-law of the subject.

Michael Edward (7) Orcutt (known as “Miko”) (Matthew 6, Quartus 5, Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. 1834 in Oneida Co., NY; d. Nov. 12, 1897 in Moorland, Mich.; m. Caroline Chidester (also spelled Chidister family record) dau. of John Chidester and Caroline (Davidson) Chidester of Laketon Twp., Muskegon Co., Mich.  She b. 1846, d. Sept. 21, SDD sd FDV1921 at home of dau. Dolly Mae (Orcutt) Damm/ Mrs. Carl P. Damm (V.R. Muskegon Co., Mich.).  

   Their issue: 1.  Michael Angus (8) Orcutt, b. Aug. 19, 1868, m. Sadie M. Shavalier May 14, 1904; 2.  Adelbert (8) Orcutt, b. 1873, m. Auda Jennings; 3.  Pearl (8) Orcutt, b. Oct. 10, 1874, m. Fred A. Corner/Comer of Detroit, Mich.; 4.  John Michael (8) Orcutt, b. Feb. 7, 1875, Egleston Twp., Mich.; 5.  Dolly Mae (8) Orcutt, b. June 9, 1878, Egleston Twp., Mich., m. Carl Peter Damm Nov. 5, 1904; 6.  Augustus (8) Orcutt, b. March 8, 1883, Egleston Twp., Mich., living at Ardenvoir, Washington in 1940.

Francis Lewis (7) Orcutt (Francis 6, Quartus 5, Edward 4, Thomas 3, Thomas 2, William 1), b. May 27, 1835, Rome, Oneida Co., NY, d. July 16, 1887, Sheridan, Iowa; m. 1st Roxy Brainard March 3, 1859 and moved to Iowa near Grinnell 1865; she d. Dec. 8, 1877; m. 2nd Anna Hartzell, June 1, 1879.

  Issue of Francis Lewis (7) Orcutt and 1st wife Roxy Brainard, 4 children: 1.  John L. Orcutt, b. Nov. 9, 1860, Rome, NY, d. Nov. 16, 1886, married but no issue, went to S. Dakota as farmer and returned to NY, bur. Wright Settlement, NY; 2.  DoEtta Caroline (8) Orcutt, b. March 6, 1863, Rome, NY, m. Isaac Beatty June 7, 1881; 3.  Francis Edward (8) Orcutt, b. Aug. 7, 1867, Grinnell, Iowa, m. 1st Sarah Stocking March 6, 1887, m. 2nd Matilda Theodora Hansen Nov. 19, 1909; 4.  Charles Stanley (8) Orcutt, b. May 30, 1875, Sheridan, Iowa, m. Blanche E. Wiltamuth Nov. 27, 1897.

  Issue of Francis Lewis (7) Orcutt and 2nd wife Anna Hartzel, 3 children: 5.  Helen M. (8) Orcutt, b. Jan. 18, 1880, d. Aug. 5, 1887;   6.  Lewis Percival (8) Orcutt, b. Oct. 2, 1881, d. Nov. 12, 1900 of typhoid; 7.  Jay Reginald (8) Orcutt, b. May 9, 1884 at Grinnel, Iowa, m. Caroline Hillman June 1, 1912, Searsboro, Iowa, issue 3 children, he was a hardware merchant in Searsboro, Iowa in 1938.