Holbrook line: Richard Hildreth, Immigrant

The only reason I haven't written about Richard Hildreth before is that he is one of the recent funds I made when finally determining the identity of Lucy Snow Whittemore.  That connection leads to several more immigrant families, and this is one of them.  Much has been found about Richard Hildreth but much more needs to be found. Still, my view on writing these posts is that something is better than nothing. 

Among the "minor" details we don't know about Richard are the names of his parents, his birthdate or location, and the maiden name of his first wife.  We're not at all sure about the maiden name of his second wife, either.  Other than that,,,

We do know that he was in Massachusetts Bay Colony at least by May 10, 1643, when he was made a freeman.  At the time, he resided in Cambridge.  Some records indicate that he lived at Woburn but had his children christened in Cambridge, so it's possible that he moved. The two towns are about eleven miles apart now, but I don't know where the boundaries were then.   Richard had come to America with his first wife, Sarah, and their two children.  Sarah died at Cambridge June 15, 1644.  He must have married Elizabeth, who may have been a Hinchman or Henchman, (but I've found nothing to document that) very soon after Sarah's death, because second wife's first child, Elizabeth, was born on September 21, 1646.  Sarah and Richard had at least seven children.  Based on the ages reported on their gravestones, Elizabeth was about 20 years younger than Richard and was probably only about twenty years old when she married. 

In Cambridge, Richard was well respected and was a selectman of the town.  He was also referred to as "sergeant", and most likely would have had this title as part of the military training band.  Sometime in his life, he lost the use of his right hand.  Whether this was as part of a military expedition, a training accident, or some other kind of accident is not known, not is it known exactly when this loss occurred. 

He acquired land in Chelmsford in 1653 and he and the family had moved there sometime before 1658, when his a son was born at Chelmsford.   In 1664 the Court granted him 150 additional acres of land because of the loss of his right hand, so we know that the incident occurred before that date.  There doesn't appear to be a skirmish or war to which we can attribute it, but as mentioned above, there are several explanations.  The Court would likely not  have given land to those who had suffered non-military injuries, as far as I can tell. 

Richard was a member of the church at Chelmsford and must have also been a member earlier, when he attained freeman status.  

Richard died at Chelmsford February 23, 1693 and Elizabeth followed him a few months later.  He had disposed of most of his property by the time of his death, as his inventory shows a value of only about 17 pounds.  However, it did include four books, which tells us something.  His mind may have still been active even at such an advanced age.  His son Ephraim had the use of Richard's estate while Richard lived, and was appointed executor of the estate.  Oldest son James was to get 20 shillings more than the others when the estate was settled. 

So we're left wondering...Was his wife a Hinchman?  How did Richard support himself, before and after the incident that cost him his right hand?  Where was he born, and who were his parents?  The search goes on.

The line of descent is:

Richard Hildreth-Elizabeth
Elizabeth Hildreth-John Stevens
Joseph Stevens-Elizabeth Tidd
Elizabeth Stevens-William Snow
Lucy Snow-Josiah Whittemore
Josiah Whittemore-Betsy Foster
Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph R Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants