Ancestors of Tim Farr and Descendants of Stephen Farr Sr. of Concord, Massachusetts and Lidlington, Bedfordshire, England


Samuel Walter ALDOUS [Parents] 1 was born on 20 Jul 1741 in Fressingfield, Suffolk, England. He was christened on 20 Jul 1741 in Fressingfield, Suffolk, England. He died on 29 Dec 1819 in Ubbeston, Suffolk, England. He was buried on 29 Dec 1819 in Ubbeston, Suffolk, England. Samuel married Margaret KEMP on 20 Apr 1767 in Ubbeston, Suffolk, England.

Rather than a history of Samuel Aldous and his wife Margaret, this is a brief outline of the steps involved in proving that he is our ancestor.

In the 1851 census of Fenstanton, Lincolnshire, England it is re­corded that James Aldous, a carpenter (and father of Robert Fredrick Aldous who came to 1'.merica and Utah), was born in Laxfield, Suffolk, England, in the year 1777. Our cousin, Melvin T. Aldous, visited the parish of Laxfield and examined the registers there, finding the christening of James, the son of Samuel and Margaret. As further proof of this connection, in 1810 James married a second wife, and on the marriage certificate (received from Somerset House, London) he lists his father as Samuel Aldous, a carpenter.

Searches were made in the neighboring villages to Laxfield, and more children were found for Samuel and Margaret. Dozens of parishes have been searched for their marriage, but it has not been found.

At this point it was desired to find the birth and parentage of Samuel Aldous. Several nearby parishes were searched, and a few Samuels were found that would fit to be the husband of Margaret. Only one of these could be the correct one, however, and the problem was to prove which one that was. Neither Samuel's nor Margaret's burial appeared at Cratfield or Laxfield, which added to the problem.

Eventually all Aldous wills for Suffolk for a wide period were read and abstracted. This was a most tedious undertaking, but paid off by giving us the necessary clues to establish which Samuel was the right one. A William Aldous died in 1827 in Fressingfield and left money to “the children of the late Samuel Aldous of Ubbeston my late brother,” and also mentioned brothers John, James, and Robert. The Samuel born in Fressingfield with brothers William, John, James, and Robert, was one of those already on the list for possibly being the one we were looking for, and Ubbeston adjoins the two parishes of Lax- field and Cratfield, where our Samuel's children were born.

Search was made at Ubbeston, and our problem was solved: the en­try found reads, “Samuel Aldous (carpenter) a married man of Ubbeston, buried 29th Dec. 1819 age 78.” The name was right; the occupation was right; the place was right; and the age was right. The regrettable note is that Margaret's burial still has not been found. From the wording of Samuel's burial entry we can quite safely assume that she was still living, unless he had a second wife. Perhaps after his death she moved to another village where one of her children was living, and died there.

Margaret KEMP [Parents] was christened on 13 Sep 1742 in Chediston, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. Margaret married Samuel Walter ALDOUS on 20 Apr 1767 in Ubbeston, Suffolk, England.

They had the following children.

  M i
Henry ALDOUS was christened on 11 Mar 1770 in Cratfield, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. He was buried on 6 May 1795.
  F ii
Margaret ALDOUS was born in Cratfield, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. She was christened on 5 Jan 1772 in Cratfield, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom.
  M iii
John ALDOUS was christened on 17 Mar 1775 in Laxfield, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom.
  M iv
William ALDOUS was christened on 17 Mar 1775 in Laxfield, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. He was buried on 26 Dec 1777.
  F v
Sarah ALDOUS was born in Cratfield, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. She was christened on 16 Apr 1780 in Cratfield, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom.
  M vi Charles ALDOUS was christened on 31 Mar 1782.
  M vii James ALDOUS was born on 22 Jun 1777. He died on 14 Jun 1862.

Daniel KING [Parents] was born 1 on 19 Sep 1675 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Daniel married Elizabeth.

Elizabeth. Elizabeth married Daniel KING.


John KING [Parents] was born 1 on 8 Jul 1677 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. He died in 1721. John married Rebecca.

Rebecca. Rebecca married John KING.

Other marriages:
KING, John


Ichabod KING [Parents] was born 1 on 24 Apr 1681 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. He was christened on 24 Apr 1681 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. He died in 1753. Ichabod married 2 Hannah WITHKELL on 8 May 1701 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.

Other marriages:
GUIBS, Judith

Middleborough Births Marriages and Deaths
[p.4] Hannah King the wife of Ichabod King deceased March the first 1716/15 [p.3] Ichabod King of middleboro & Judith Guibs of plimouth were married. august: 22. 1716 by me peter Thacher

Hannah WITHKELL died 1 on 1 Mar 1715/1716 in Middleborough, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Hannah married 2 Ichabod KING on 8 May 1701 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.

Middleborough Births Marriages and Deaths
[p.4] Hannah King the wife of Ichabod King deceased March the first 1716/15


Ichabod KING [Parents] was born 1 on 24 Apr 1681 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. He was christened on 24 Apr 1681 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. He died in 1753. Ichabod married 2 Judith GUIBS on 22 Aug 1716 in Middleborough, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.

Other marriages:
WITHKELL, Hannah

Middleborough Births Marriages and Deaths
[p.4] Hannah King the wife of Ichabod King deceased March the first 1716/15 [p.3] Ichabod King of middleboro & Judith Guibs of plimouth were married. august: 22. 1716 by me peter Thacher

Judith GUIBS. Judith married 1 Ichabod KING on 22 Aug 1716 in Middleborough, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.


George KING [Parents] was born 1 on 27 Aug 1682 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. He was christened on 27 Aug 1682 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. He died on 16 Jun 1754 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. George married 2 Deborah BRIGGS on 12 Jul 1710 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.

Scituate, Mass., Vital Records
[p.20] George King and Deborah Briggs both of this Town, were Joyned together in marriage July the l2th 1710 by me Nathaniell Fells

Deborah BRIGGS. Deborah married 1 George KING on 12 Jul 1710 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.


STETSON. STETSON married Anne KING on 29 Jan 1712/1713.

Anne KING [Parents] was born 1 in May 1684 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Anne married STETSON on 29 Jan 1712/1713.


Thomas CUTLER [Parents] [scrapbook] was born on 7 Nov 1578 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. He was christened on 7 Nov 1578 in St Nicholas, Ipswich, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. He died on 3 Jul 1640 in Sproughton, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. Thomas married Anne DOUNDY in 1600 in England, United Kingdom.

Anne DOUNDY [Parents] was born in 1582/1583 in Sproughton, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. She died on 19 Aug 1613 in Sproughton, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. Anne married Thomas CUTLER in 1600 in England, United Kingdom.

They had the following children.

  M i John CUTLER was born in 1600. He died on 24 Feb 1637.
  M ii
Robte CUTLER was christened on 17 Nov 1605 in St Nicholas, Ipswich, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom.
  M iii James CUTLER Sr was born on 21 May 1605. He died on 17 May 1694.
  F iv
Alice CUTLER was born about 1607 in Sproughton, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom.
  M v
Thomas CUTLER was born about 1608 in Sproughton, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom.
  F vi
Elizabeth CUTLER was born about 1609 in Sproughton, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom.

James CUTLER Sr [Parents] [scrapbook] was born on 21 May 1605 in Sprowston, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom. He died 1, 2 on 17 May 1694 in Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. James married 3, 4 Anna GROUT after 1630 in England, United Kingdom.

Other marriages:
KING, Mary
PAGE, Phoebe

According to the source listed below, James had three wives; Anna, Mary King and Phebe Page. He had children with each wife. The AF has all the children linked to one wife.
Source: "A Genealogy of The Cutler Family of Lexington, Massachusetts James and some of his Descendants 1634-1964" National Genealogical Society.  FHL #929.273 C973b

202        NEHGS NEXUS Vol. XV, No. 6
COLUMNS GREAT MIGRATION DIARY
by, Melinde Lutz Sanborn, F.A.S.C.

Just WHEN I THOUGHT it was safe to ignore the A-C sketches, RCA brings back the last three "C"s for Some detail work. James Cutler, Richard Cutting and William Cutting are all old friends: I met them all in the Same place, as a matter of fact, as James and Richard were featured in the first volume of The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton. (William just falls off the face of the earth, so he is fairly easy to handle.) Richard Cutting is a curious person. RCA wants some comment about why he waited until he was seventy before he joined the church, became a freeman, and served as a Watertown selectman. Fortunately, the minister quoted from Corinthians in his sermon, Unfortunately, the Corinthians quotation does not make any sense in this context. After a few minutes, it occurs to me that it needn't be l Corinthians. lt must be ll Corinthians, which describes a man who comes to an understanding of God before he becomes a member of the church. That leaves James Cutler, who really ought to be a snap but isn't. Everybody has worked on James Cutler: Mary Walton Ferris and J. Gardner Bartlett, to name but two. The problem is, they all come to the same conclusions. It should be safe to agree with them, but it turns out not to be.

I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT Cutler had too many daughters named Mary but the more I look at it, the more suspicious the whole farmily group looks. Jarnes Cutler had three wives and, by conventional wisdom, twelve children. The trick is to reconcile his will with what is known about the family from other records. After three days of working on a vague hunch - and looking at vital and probate records, deeds, town histories, compiled genealogies, and court records-it still does not add up. Finally, I decide to chuck everything and start from scratch. I hunker down with James's will and Torrey's New England Marriages Before 1700 and suddenly things start to happen. Cutler wrote his will in 1684 when he was 78 years old. He took care of his three eldest sons first, then said "the rest of my children, including with them the two children of my wife formerly the widow of Thomas King," were to have the rest of the estate divided between them. I list the people who got shares of the estate: John Coller, Richard Parks' wife, the wife of John Parmenter, Sarah Waite, Mary Johnson, Hannah Winter, Johanna Russell, Jemima [Cutler], and Thomas, John, and Samuel Cutler. Since they all got equal shares, I assume that all these people were children and not grandchildren representing deceased children. Given that, we can look for the two children of the second wife, Mary King. Clearly they were daughters, as none of the sons was named King. Torrey's index says that John Coller married first Hannah and second Mary Cutler. I tangled with John Coller's family in the Kempton book, and could never understand why the earlier genealogists picked Mary as John's wife when I could never find any evidence of another wife than Hannah. Sigh. I leave this blank, reserving room for John Coller's wife but not naming her.

Richard Parks' wife is another problem. There is little evidence of who she might be, although there is a deed in which she was called Mary. There is a birth record in Watertown for Mary Cutler in 1643. I go back to Mary Walton Ferris's analysis. Strangely enough, she did not connect Richard Parks' wife to the Cutler family. I assumed earlier that she believed that Richard's wife was one of the King girls. This is not right, either, and the Torrey entry reflects the confusion. Since there were three Richard Parkes alive at the time in question, someone chose the wrong Richard to connect to the Cutler and King families, asserting that a much too young Richard married a Sarah "King not Cutler."

I KNOW THE WIFE of John Parmenter was Elizabeth Cutler because they got into a little trouble before marriage, and James Cutler had to post bond for her. Sarah Waite was the wife of Thomas, She deposed in 1678 and died in 1743/44, so her age works out to make her a Cutler daughter of James's marriage to Mary King. Mary Johnson (another Mary!) was called Mary King when she married John Johnson. One King daughter down. Unless both King daughters were named Mary, the wife of Richard Parks must be Mary Cutler. This means Mary Cutler was not John Coller's wife. Hannah Winter. There is a birth record in Watertown for Hannah Cutler, She was the first daughter of james and first wife. It would be easy to match them up but I am suspicious now. If John Coller was not married to Mary Cutler, then his known wife Hannah could be Hannah King or Hannah Cutler. How to choose? I set the problem aside for the moment.

NEHGS NEXUS, Vol. XV, No.6 p. 203

Johanna Russell was born in 1661, based on an exact age at death, and was therefore necessarily a daughter of James' third wife, Phebe Page. Jemima was unmarried in 1684, but married soon after and had children. To be of childbearing age when Jemima Snow had her last recorded child, she must be the youngest of the Cutler daughters and a child of James and Phebe.

WHERE DOES THIS ALL LEAVE US? Clearly the King daughters were born before James married the widow King, so only the oldest girls could possibly provide the identity of the second King daughter. The only daughter old enough and mysterious enough is Hannah. The final clue lies in the phrasing of the will. When speaking of each of his daughters, James Cutler said "to my daughter," but in the case of Mary Johnson and Hannah Winter, merely said "I have already given to," never actually calling them his daughters. The order in which the daughters were named in the will also appears to proceed from eldest to youngest, given what else is known about them. This interpretation would mean that Hannah Cutler was the wife of John Coller; that Hannah King was the posthumous daughter of Thomas King and became the wife of John Winter; that Mary Cutler did not marry John Coller but was the wife of Richard Parks;  and that Sarah Parks, wife of one of the other Richard Parkses, was neither a King nor a Cutler. PHEW! All of the pieces were there, they just needed some shulffling. This means five new Torrey entries and lots of new ancestry for many Cutler and King descendants. (Of course, it does not begin to address the curious situation of the woman James Cutler called "my daughter Phebe," who was undoubtedly not a Cutler at all, but rather a daughter of the notorious Phebe Page by a previous liaison; see The Great Migration, second series.) Just one final problem. It seems that the last time I struggled with the identity of John Coller's wife I agreed with the previous genealogists who married him to Hannah___and then Mary Cutler. I did not just privately agree with them: I did so in print in The Ancestry of Warren Francis Kempton, complete with color frontispiece, autographs, photographs of gravestones, and transcriptions of documents. How to tell the author of this hook, one Dean Crawford Smith, that his editor is fallible? Oh, well, maybe he reads "Great Migration Diary" in NEXUS....

Melinde Lutz Sanborn, F.A.S.G., joined NEXUS as a Consulting Editor with the September-October issue, and "Great Migration Diary" will appear henceforth in each issue of the magazine. Ms. Sanborn is co-author - with Robert Charles Anderson, C.G., F.A.S.G., and George Freeman Sanborn Jr., F.A.S.G. - of The Great Migration, second series.

Anna GROUT was buried 1 on 30 Sep 1644 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Anna married 2, 3 James CUTLER Sr after 1630 in England, United Kingdom.

Source: "A Genealogy of The Cutler Family of Lexington, Massachusetts James and some of his Descendants 1634-1964" National Genealogical Society. FHL #929.273 C973b

They had the following children.

  M i James CUTLER was born on 6 Nov 1635.
  F ii Hannah CUTLER was born on 26 Jul 1638.
  F iii
Elizabeth CUTLER was born on 28 Jan 1639 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. She was buried on 30 Dec 1644 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
  F iv Mary CUTLER was born on 29 Mar 1644.

James CUTLER Sr [Parents] [scrapbook] was born on 21 May 1605 in Sprowston, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom. He died 1, 2 on 17 May 1694 in Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. James married 3, 4 Mary KING on 9 Mar 1645 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.

Other marriages:
GROUT, Anna
PAGE, Phoebe

According to the source listed below, James had three wives; Anna, Mary King and Phebe Page. He had children with each wife. The AF has all the children linked to one wife.
Source: "A Genealogy of The Cutler Family of Lexington, Massachusetts James and some of his Descendants 1634-1964" National Genealogical Society.  FHL #929.273 C973b

202        NEHGS NEXUS Vol. XV, No. 6
COLUMNS GREAT MIGRATION DIARY
by, Melinde Lutz Sanborn, F.A.S.C.

Just WHEN I THOUGHT it was safe to ignore the A-C sketches, RCA brings back the last three "C"s for Some detail work. James Cutler, Richard Cutting and William Cutting are all old friends: I met them all in the Same place, as a matter of fact, as James and Richard were featured in the first volume of The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton. (William just falls off the face of the earth, so he is fairly easy to handle.) Richard Cutting is a curious person. RCA wants some comment about why he waited until he was seventy before he joined the church, became a freeman, and served as a Watertown selectman. Fortunately, the minister quoted from Corinthians in his sermon, Unfortunately, the Corinthians quotation does not make any sense in this context. After a few minutes, it occurs to me that it needn't be l Corinthians. lt must be ll Corinthians, which describes a man who comes to an understanding of God before he becomes a member of the church. That leaves James Cutler, who really ought to be a snap but isn't. Everybody has worked on James Cutler: Mary Walton Ferris and J. Gardner Bartlett, to name but two. The problem is, they all come to the same conclusions. It should be safe to agree with them, but it turns out not to be.

I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT Cutler had too many daughters named Mary but the more I look at it, the more suspicious the whole farmily group looks. Jarnes Cutler had three wives and, by conventional wisdom, twelve children. The trick is to reconcile his will with what is known about the family from other records. After three days of working on a vague hunch - and looking at vital and probate records, deeds, town histories, compiled genealogies, and court records-it still does not add up. Finally, I decide to chuck everything and start from scratch. I hunker down with James's will and Torrey's New England Marriages Before 1700 and suddenly things start to happen. Cutler wrote his will in 1684 when he was 78 years old. He took care of his three eldest sons first, then said "the rest of my children, including with them the two children of my wife formerly the widow of Thomas King," were to have the rest of the estate divided between them. I list the people who got shares of the estate: John Coller, Richard Parks' wife, the wife of John Parmenter, Sarah Waite, Mary Johnson, Hannah Winter, Johanna Russell, Jemima [Cutler], and Thomas, John, and Samuel Cutler. Since they all got equal shares, I assume that all these people were children and not grandchildren representing deceased children. Given that, we can look for the two children of the second wife, Mary King. Clearly they were daughters, as none of the sons was named King. Torrey's index says that John Coller married first Hannah and second Mary Cutler. I tangled with John Coller's family in the Kempton book, and could never understand why the earlier genealogists picked Mary as John's wife when I could never find any evidence of another wife than Hannah. Sigh. I leave this blank, reserving room for John Coller's wife but not naming her.

Richard Parks' wife is another problem. There is little evidence of who she might be, although there is a deed in which she was called Mary. There is a birth record in Watertown for Mary Cutler in 1643. I go back to Mary Walton Ferris's analysis. Strangely enough, she did not connect Richard Parks' wife to the Cutler family. I assumed earlier that she believed that Richard's wife was one of the King girls. This is not right, either, and the Torrey entry reflects the confusion. Since there were three Richard Parkes alive at the time in question, someone chose the wrong Richard to connect to the Cutler and King families, asserting that a much too young Richard married a Sarah "King not Cutler."

I KNOW THE WIFE of John Parmenter was Elizabeth Cutler because they got into a little trouble before marriage, and James Cutler had to post bond for her. Sarah Waite was the wife of Thomas, She deposed in 1678 and died in 1743/44, so her age works out to make her a Cutler daughter of James's marriage to Mary King. Mary Johnson (another Mary!) was called Mary King when she married John Johnson. One King daughter down. Unless both King daughters were named Mary, the wife of Richard Parks must be Mary Cutler. This means Mary Cutler was not John Coller's wife. Hannah Winter. There is a birth record in Watertown for Hannah Cutler, She was the first daughter of james and first wife. It would be easy to match them up but I am suspicious now. If John Coller was not married to Mary Cutler, then his known wife Hannah could be Hannah King or Hannah Cutler. How to choose? I set the problem aside for the moment.

NEHGS NEXUS, Vol. XV, No.6 p. 203

Johanna Russell was born in 1661, based on an exact age at death, and was therefore necessarily a daughter of James' third wife, Phebe Page. Jemima was unmarried in 1684, but married soon after and had children. To be of childbearing age when Jemima Snow had her last recorded child, she must be the youngest of the Cutler daughters and a child of James and Phebe.

WHERE DOES THIS ALL LEAVE US? Clearly the King daughters were born before James married the widow King, so only the oldest girls could possibly provide the identity of the second King daughter. The only daughter old enough and mysterious enough is Hannah. The final clue lies in the phrasing of the will. When speaking of each of his daughters, James Cutler said "to my daughter," but in the case of Mary Johnson and Hannah Winter, merely said "I have already given to," never actually calling them his daughters. The order in which the daughters were named in the will also appears to proceed from eldest to youngest, given what else is known about them. This interpretation would mean that Hannah Cutler was the wife of John Coller; that Hannah King was the posthumous daughter of Thomas King and became the wife of John Winter; that Mary Cutler did not marry John Coller but was the wife of Richard Parks;  and that Sarah Parks, wife of one of the other Richard Parkses, was neither a King nor a Cutler. PHEW! All of the pieces were there, they just needed some shulffling. This means five new Torrey entries and lots of new ancestry for many Cutler and King descendants. (Of course, it does not begin to address the curious situation of the woman James Cutler called "my daughter Phebe," who was undoubtedly not a Cutler at all, but rather a daughter of the notorious Phebe Page by a previous liaison; see The Great Migration, second series.) Just one final problem. It seems that the last time I struggled with the identity of John Coller's wife I agreed with the previous genealogists who married him to Hannah___and then Mary Cutler. I did not just privately agree with them: I did so in print in The Ancestry of Warren Francis Kempton, complete with color frontispiece, autographs, photographs of gravestones, and transcriptions of documents. How to tell the author of this hook, one Dean Crawford Smith, that his editor is fallible? Oh, well, maybe he reads "Great Migration Diary" in NEXUS....

Melinde Lutz Sanborn, F.A.S.G., joined NEXUS as a Consulting Editor with the September-October issue, and "Great Migration Diary" will appear henceforth in each issue of the magazine. Ms. Sanborn is co-author - with Robert Charles Anderson, C.G., F.A.S.G., and George Freeman Sanborn Jr., F.A.S.G. - of The Great Migration, second series.

Mary KING died 1 on 7 Dec 1654. Mary married 2, 3 James CUTLER Sr on 9 Mar 1645 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.

Widow of Thomas King of Watertown.
Source: "A Genealogy of The Cutler Family of Lexington, Massachusetts James and some of his Descendants 1634-1964" National Genealogical Society.

They had the following children.

  F i Elizabeth CUTLER was born on 22 Jul 1646.
  M ii
Thomas CUTLER was born about 1648 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
  F iii Sarah CUTLER was born about 1653. She died on 17 Jan 1744.

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