James KIDDER was most probably born in East Grinstead, Sussex, England, in the year, 1626. East Grinstead is a small town about 30 miles from London. The KIDDER family, while one of antiquity in ENGLAND, is hardly as ancient as some would have us believe. What is known is that the KIDDER family lived in Sussex more than 600 years ago. Reverend Turner of Maresfield, a nearby parish, agreed that that town was the centuries-old seat of the family. Nothing is known of his early life, nor of his reasons for leaving home to travel to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. But, researchers believe that he arrived about 1649. In 1650, soon after his arrival in Cambridge, MA, James leased of Deacon SPARHAWK a farm of 289 acres, lying on the north shore of Fresh Pond and Menotomy River, in the region which would eventually become Arlington, MA. It is assumed that James married Anna MOORE this same year. This is partially based on the fact that their first child was born in Cambridge, MA, in March 1650/51. The records show his presence in Cambridge in 1653, and he probably remained there until he removed to Billerica, probably in 1656. In 1644, the Colony ceded to Cambridge a large tract of land on the Shawshin and Concord Rivers, then known as Shawshin, soon after to be known as Billerica. The Church at Cambridge received as its portion several hundred acres which it distributed in 1653 as house lots among the older residents of the town, of which one was "Elder" Francis MOORE. It is believed that James settled for a time on his father-in-law's 50 acres, having preceded his family for the purpose of establishing a new home. James received a grant of land from Billerica in 1656, which he located in 1658 and occupied in 1659. It is probable that Anna, his wife, and their young children joined him a year or so later, for the birth of their son, Ephraim, appears in the records of Billerica in May of 1661, while that of Nathaniel was recorded in Cambridge in February of 1659.
This tract of land is described as "30 acres of land, .. lying upon ye township, about ye center of it, his houselot being part of it. It is bounded by John ROGERS, Sr., on the south, by the "common" on the east, and by West Street on the north, and by the great river on the west. ... Here, on the south side of what became West Street, opposite the house of his friend, Jonathan DANFORTH, Sergeant KIDDER erected a large and substantial dwelling, planned for easy conversion into a garrison huse. How long it remained is not known, but it did disappear before 1879, when the DANFORTH house, which was just then starting to disappear, was the only structure in town which was an incontestable relic of the first settlers. The site of the old KIDDER house was occupied in later years by Gardner PARKER, a descendant.
People find it very difficult to fully comprehend what it meant for a young couple of refinement with small children to leave a settled community of Cambridge, and make a new home miles away in a wilderness tenanted by wild beasts and by savages. It required ceaseless vigil and courage of a high order to face such a pioneer life, with only a handful of fellow settlers as neighbors. In subsequent years, James KIDDER received several other grants of land of varying acreage, among them a tract of 60 acres southeast of Fox Hill, later probably occupied by son, James; 31 acres in what became Tewksbury; and 2 1/2 acres on the highway adjoining his house lot and running to the Concord River. In November 1658, he joined the other inhabitants in signing "a Covenant" in regards to Mr. DUDLEY's farm, providing for the communal use of the DUDLEY land. Shortly after the establishment of the church in Billerica about 1662, James and Anna KIDDER became members of said church. In 1663, James was assessed money towards the support of Reverend Samuel WHITING, Jr. Also in 1662, James appears as a juror of a Court in Cambridge. At a town meeting in 1663 he was chosen a Constable, and he served as a Selectmen on and off from 1666 to 1675. In 1661, James was chosen as a Sergeant of the Military Company at Billerica. He held this position until shortly before his death in 1676, when he was elected Ensign.
Billerica was a favorite resort of the Pawtucket tribe of Indians, who lived in large numbers in the Wameset section of the town, around Fort Hill, later of Lowell. When King Philip's War broke out in 1675, Sergeant Kidder was placed in charge of a guard. The house of James and several others were designated as garrison houses. One of the people who took refuge in the Kidder garrison was the Reverend WHITING, an indication of the high degree of confidence reposed in him for judgment and military ability. In April 1676
the Indians made a foray which was met in force by Billerica men, several of whom were slain. James was probably slain then but did not die immediately because he was not listed as being one of the dead from the battle.
That Ensign KIDDER was a man of high standing in the community is evident from the fact that he married the daughter of so prominent and prosperous a man as Elder Francis MOORE of Cambridge, as well as his varied activities in both Cambridge and Billerica. He died leaving an estate of about 370 pounds, a comfortable wealth for the period in which he lived.
James and Anna KIDDER had the following children: 1) Hannah KIDDER, b1650/1, who married Nathaniel KETTELL of Charlestown, 2) Dorothy KIDDER, b1651/2, who married Jonathan HYDE, Jr. of Newton, MA, and Canterbury, CT, 3) James KIDDER, b1653/4, who married Elizabeth BROWN of Billerica, 4) John KIDDER, b1655/6, who married Lydia PARKER of Woburn, MA, 5) Thomas KIDDER, b1657, who married Elizabeth _____, 6) Nathaniel KIDDER, b1659, died unmarried in 1690.91, leaving land in Newton, MA, to his siblings, 7) Ephraim KIDDER, b1660, married first Rachel CROSBY of Billerica, and secondly, Elizabeth CARY of Bristol, RI, 8) Stephen KIDDER, b1662, married Mary JOHNSON of Charlestown, MA, 9) Enoch KIDDER, b1664, married first Mary HAYWARD of Concord, MA, and secondly Mrs. Hannah (CROSBY) DANFORTH, of Billerica, 10) Samuel KIDDER, b1665/6, married Sarah GRIGGS of Roxbury, MA, 11) Sarah KIDDER, b1667, married George BROWN of Billerica, 12) Joseph KIDDER, b1670, died there in 1683.
James Kidder's son, James Kidder, remained living in Billerica. His son, John Kidder, resided for some years in Billerica, but in 1681 he purchased land in Chelmsford, MA, and moved there. He also at one time owned land on the northern side of Chelmsford, which I believe both became parts of Lowell, MA. His son, Ephraim Kidder, owned land southeast of Billerica Center, and also inherited the old homestead in Billerica on which he was born, and there he died at around Age 65. His son, Enoch Kidder, became owner of and resided on the Kidder ancestral homestead. He always lived in Billerica and died there at Age 89. A brief study of the first four generations of the KIDDER family in New England reveals facts and figures which warrant interest. James, the progenitor of our KIDDER family, and of all persons in the United States bearing his surname, left 347 known direct descendants of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generations, and perhaps even more, for his son, Thomas, disappears from the scene in 1690, when he was made a Freeman in Watertown, MA. Of this number, 12 were his own children, 94 were his grandchildren, and 241 were great-grandchildren. Of his 94 grandchildren, a total of 58 carried the surname, KIDDER.
Most of the married children of James and Anna left Billerica for homes in other localities. James, his eldest son, remained in Billerica, but James' son settled in Mansfield, CT, and left many descendants. John, the second son left a numerous progeny. Ephraim and Enoch married and made their homes in Billerica, leaving many descendants. Stephen settled at Charlestown where he had a tidy estate, but left a smaller number of descendants, some of whom settled in Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Samuel, the youngest son, seemed to have lived his youth with an uncle (MOORE), from whom he probably inherited the MOORE mansion and farm in Cambridge, MA. Samuel continued to reside in Cambridge, the former home of his parents, and his descendants are largely associated with Cambridge, Medford, or Boston. Of the three daughters, Hannah had 11 children, Dorothy had 11 children, and Sarah had 14 children. MY NOTE: I learned a little more about the MOORE family in early Cambridge, MA, and found out that their large farm near Fresh Pond eventually became part of Arlington. The uncle referred to in the last paragraph could have been Francis MOORE, Jr., brother to Anna MOORE. They had brothers, Samuel and John, and a sister, Sarah, but I have not yet found out about them. (Golden MOORE had a nearby property in Billerica in 1600's, and he might have been another son.)
Of all the localities mentioned, succeeding generations have spread throughout the entire land, and most of the States in the Union have Kidder families within their borders. Canada also includes Kidder families, bearing a lineage back to James and Anna. Almost invariably, in whatever region members of the KIDDER family have settled, and in every field of endeavor in which they have become engaged, they have borne their parts well, and have won the respect of their fellow citizens. FYI: There currently exists in Billerica .. "the Ephraim Kidder, Jr., 1801 House," which is located on Darby Avenue in the section of North Billerica known as "the Corner." FYI: This is a paragraph from the document, "A Walking Tour of Billerica Center," ..... Before 1790, the center schoolhouse was set here "in Stephen Parker's corner." It was replaced by the Billerica Academy (1820-1836), the building in Barber's sketch. This was converted to a store, shown in the sketch of 1858, which burned in 1876. The latter was promptly replaced by the present building, in a then more obviously Victorian style. After the Gardner Parker Hall on River Street burned in the Valentine's Day blizzard of 1940, Thomas Talbot Lodge, A.F.&M., remodelled the old store for its own use. Thus, the present facade is 1942; only the Italianate brackets under the eaves speak of earlier origins.) Then the "old" Town Hall, dedicated in 1895, from which the town offices have just been moved to a refurbished school building farther north down Boston Road. Gardner Parker (son of Stephen, living in the ancestral KIDDER homestead on River Street) was chairman of the building committee and must have helped behind the scenes in persuading his cousin, Ann Parker's, heirs to part with a little more land to make room for the larger. It was the last great public building built in the Town, a handsome example of the "Colonial Revival" of the day. MY NOTE: From different things I have read, it appears that "the KIDDER homestead" of James Kidder's day .. stood on the land at the corner of Boston Road (Concord Road) and River Street, opposite the land of Jonathan DANFORTH. I do not yet know whether it consisted of that entire piece of land at that corner, or whether it was farther back on River Street .. behind "the Brown house" and behind the current Library building. But, a researcher in Billerica has stated that the actual house (Kidder homestead) was where the Parker School currently stands.
MY NOTE: One of the "paper streets" in Billerica is a Kidder Street, which is located off of Salem Road, behind Charme Road. This probably had something to do with the other piece of land which James Kidder bought in the "Fox Hill" section of town.
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The information, and words, used to compose this summary of JAMES KIDDER was taken from "the KIDDER family history book" with the exact title, "Descendants of Ensign James Kidder (1626-1676) of Cambridge and Billerica, Massachusetts, ....." which was published in 1941 by the NEHGS in Boston, MA.George KIDDER in FL is currently updating this book, and is looking for input. He hopes to publish the updated version before 2004. He can be contacted at georgekidder@hotmail.com


Betty Fredericks
bbffrrpp@comcast.net

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