A HISTORY OF TIIE KIDDER FAMILY FROM A.D. 1320 TO 1676. INCLUDING THE BIOGRAPHY OF OUR EMIGRANT ANCESTOR, JAMES KIDDER, ALSO A GENEALOGY OF HIS DESCENDANTS THROUGH HIS SON, JOHN KIDDER, WHO SETTLED IN CHELMSFORD~ MASS., ABOUT I68x. PUBLISHED BY F. E. KIDDER, ALLSTON, MASS. 1886. PRESS OF DAVID CLAPP & SON, BOSTON'. l4(IDDER. 1320 to 1886. DR. RICIIARD KIDDER. Hisltaf of l11lilt 1111d I l ·t:1ti. (Thi~ cut is a photo-cngrnving fro111 a wood cnt, mack from a ,:an! photo­ graph of a fine engraving of the Hhhop, publi~-d1L'.Ll l,y E. & S. }larding, Pall i\[all, February-, 17lJI· The orig·inal c11µ;raYi11g was froin a painting by :\fr~. Beale, in the Gallery at Ernal!u,:l Colkg·e, Carnbridge.) PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. THOSE who may possess this book, can hardly conceive of the vast amount of correspondence, research and patient study required in its preparation. April 3, 1816, Thomas Kidder, of London, En~., wrote to Samuel Kidder, apothecary, of Charlestown, Mass., asking information concerning an elder brother, who was supposed to be in America. In a subsequent letter he wrote a brief history of the family in England, which is contained in pages I to 5 of this book. This was doubtless the first definite knowledge that those of the family in America had of their English origin. About the year 1850, Mr. Frederic Kidder (No. 59) undertook to prepare a history of his native town, including a history of the principal families. He solicited the aid of the Rev. Edward Turner, rector of Maresfield, Eng., in completing the history of the family in Engbnd, and in tracing out our emigrant ancestor; through him he also came into communication with James Crosby, Esq., of London, nephew of the Thomas Kidder mentioned above. Through the joint researches of these three men, he was enabled to prepare the history given in pages t to 10. Some years after the appearance of Frederic Kidder's book, the Rev. Corbin Kidder becoming strongly interested in the work, prepared a genealogy of a portion of his own branch of the family, which was published in I 876, by his son, Rev. Sam uei T. Kidder, now of F ontl Du Lac, \Vis. This pamphlet contained most of the matter included in the first twenty pages of this book, and the genealogy of his own immediate branch of the family, making in all 32 pages. In 1877, Miss S. B. Ki<lcler, of Boston, commenced copy­ ing all the original papers in the possession of Mr. Frederic Kidder, and in 1879 had blank letters of inquiry printed, iv PREFACE. which she commenced sending to every person of the name of Kidder whose address she could obtain, with a view to obtain­ ing sufficient information to warrant the publication of a complete history of the Kidder family. This work she is still carrying on, devoting to it all the time she can spare from her business, and when fuller information of many of the lines is collected, she hopes in the not distant future to publish a complete history of the family. In preparing this volume, the larger portion of the genealogy was taken from her reconls and completed by the writer, aided by many of the family, who have manifested a strong interest in the work. The proofs have been read by Miss Kidder, and the index prepared by her. The writer's interest in the subject was first awakened in the summer of 1879, when he received a letter of inquiry from Henry S. Kidder, of North Berwick, Me., who had be­ come interested by receiving the circulars sent out by Miss Kidder. Being very busy with other literary work, the writer did not do much towards tracing out his ancestry beyond his immediate family until the winter of 1884 and 5, when he actively engaged in the work, and now concludes his labors in this volume, which financially bids fair to prove a failure; but if it shall awaken an interest in our family history and a family pride which shall be a motive to nobler aims, the writer will feel repaid for his trouble. It is desired that any errors in this book, and all future births, marriages and deaths, also all changes of residence, may be communicated either to Miss S. B. Kidder, No. 39 Court St., Boston, or to the undersigned. After supplying the present subscribers there will be about 125 copies of the book containing the hcliotype portraits, and 100 copies not containing them, but in all other respects the same. The former may be had at $1.50, and the latter at '1,1.00 a copy. F. E. KIDDER, Allston, 1rfass. JULY 24, 1886. Coat of Arms granted the descendants of Vincent Kidder, Junior, Jan. ,s, 1810. This cut was made from a roug-h skl!ld1 which Samuel Kidder, of Lowell, <>hlained somewhcrc, and as it <.:01-rcspo11ds so well with the Jcscription in the grant, page 5, I have not lu::sitakd in a<.:ccpting it as the one there n.:ferred to.-F. E. K. Coat of Arms, as used by Thomas Kidder, of London, great-grandson of Vincent Kidder, Senior. TI-IE FAMILY IN ENGLAND. (From History of New Ipswich, published 1852, and private papers of Miss S. B. Kidder.) "FROM researches that have been made, it has been ascer­ tained that this may be called one of the ancient families of England. It is certain that for several centuries a respectable family of the name is found to have resided in the old quiet agricultural village of Maresfield, or as it was more anciently written, 'Marsfielde,' which is situated in the county of Sus­ sex, about seventy miles from London. Some account relating to a transfer of land there, elated as early as I 3i0, in which the name of Kydder is a party, is said to be still extant. But if tradition is to be relied on, they are of the stock of ancient Britons, and existed as a family previous to the incursions of the Romans, Danes or Saxons, and were not disturbed in the possession of their lands at the conquest. In some of the early documents the name is stated to be written 'Kyddwr'; this would indicate a Welch, or more properly, ancient British lineage. "The late investigations of English and French historians seem to warrant the belief that but a small part of the_ latter race either fled or were driven into \,Vales; and a strong probability exists that the more quiet and peaceful were allowed to remain and cultivate their lands in quietness. Of the derivation of the name much uncertainty exists. 'Kyd' in vVelch means a town on a hill, -and 'dwr' a small river or brook; while in Saxon, Kidder means a dealer in grain. Some 2 2 THE KIDDER FAMILY changes seem to. have been made in writing the name at different periods; as early as about I 500, it was written ' K ydder' ;-this spelling was retained for over a century ; in the Cambridge Church Records, as early as 1656, it was writ­ ten 'Kiddar.' "Although the name has been found in different parts of England, and at one time in Ireland, it is now well ascertained that previous to I 500, all of the name who were then on the earth were residing at Maresfield. But soon after that time, a considerable emigration of them took place to some parts of the adjacent county of Kent, and of one family to London. "A family of the name seem to have taken up their abode in the city of Canterbury, where there is a will on record, dated l 543, made by one of them, in which he distributes his property to his children, who were tradesmen of that city. The post-office was held by this family for over a century. Some of the descendants were living in that vicinity within a few years (of 1850), but they are now extinct. "There were, a few years since, two or three families living in London ; they were the descendants of Gilbert Kidder, who was born at Maresfield about 1670, and came to London be­ fore 1700. A wealthy branch flourished for near two hundred years at Lewes in Sussex, and one family were long seated at East Grinstead, in that vicinity, and here was the birth place of the patriarch of the American family. "There has been a family residing in Kent for several generations, of which some respectable gentlemen are now living (1850), and arc supposed to be the only males bearing the name in England. "Vincent Kidder was son of George Kidder, and emigrated to London about 1630; he was a silver smith. He joined the Parliament forces under Cromwell, and went to the reduction of Ireland, -was a successful and brave officer, -attained the rank of major, -had a grant of near one thousand acres of land on the 10th of July, 1668, situate in the county of Kilkenny,-marriecl Ellen, daughter of Adam Loftus and granddaughter of Sir Adam Loftus. She was descended from IN ENGLAND. 3 Edward III., King of England 1327-1377. * His second son, Vincent, was a lieutenant in Capt. Cottingham's company at the battle of the Boyne, 1690, afterwards a colonel, and was appointed assay-master for proving the standard of the gold and silver articles made in Dublin. A picture of him is still to be seen in the G~ldsmith's Hall. A curious engraving of the Major is now in the possession of the writer (Frederic Kidder), representing him in the military costume of that period, and the face bears a strong resemblance to some of the name now living in (New Ipswich, N.