Thomas Kidder
Thomas Kidder
| Born | 1700-08-03 |
| Died | 1791-01-08 Tewksbury, MA |
| Select Board | |
| In Office | 1738 - 1747 1749 - 1750 1752 - 1753 1755 - 1762 |
| Representative to the General Court | |
| In Office | 1747 - 1747 |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Tompson |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Tompson |
| Representative to the General Court | |
| In Office | 1749 - 1749 |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Tompson |
| Succeeded by | William Stickney |
| Father | Ephraim Kidder |
| Mother | Rachel Crosby |
| Spouses |
Rachel Danforth Susanna Snow |
| Children | Jonathan (b. 1728-03-26) |
Thomas Kidder was born on August 3, 1700, a son of Ephraim Kidder and Rachel (Crosby) Kidder and a grandson of the settler James Kidder; Enoch Kidder was his uncle. His sister Hannah married Jonathan Ballard. On May 10, 1726 Thomas married Rachel Danforth, daughter of Samuel Danforth, and that December he bought his brother-in-law's farm. On December 14, 1726 Jonathan Ballard, a tailor, and his wife Hannah sold him for 340 pounds about forty acres of "Pasture Mowing and Plowland" north of the meeting house, between the County Road and the range line, "with a Dwelling house and barn." This is the Thomas Kidder Farmhouse at 17 Farmers Lane, which he owned for half a century.
Kidder rose steadily in the town. He was "Lt. Thomas Kidder" in the minister's tax list of 1733 and "Capt. Thomas Kidder" by 1746, and he was chosen a selectman for seventeen years: 1738 to 1746, 1749, 1752, 1755 to 1758, 1760 and 1761. He was Billerica's representative in 1747 and 1749. On March 3, 1746/7, when the question of a colleague for the aging pastor, Samuel Ruggles, came before the town, Benjamin Tompson, Esq., Capt. Thomas Kidder and Deacon Joshua Abbott were appointed to confer with Mr. Ruggles, who they reported was "very free" and "desired that the town would proceed in that affaire."
In February 1746/7 he and Rachel sold three acres at the County Road end of the farm, "together with a Mansion House and all other the Buildings thereon," to David Osgood of Andover, a joiner, for 900 pounds old tenor; he kept the rest of the farm. By the 1750s he was styled Esquire. The church record of October 20, 1752 notes the baptism of Pompey, a "Negro child belonging to Thomas Kidder Esqr." His and Rachel's children were Jonathan (1728), Francis (1730), Rachel (1732), who married John Hovey of Malden, Alice (1734), Abigail (1735/6), and the twins Hannah and Dorothy (1738); Hannah married William Bowers of Chelmsford in 1761. Francis died on September 15, 1748, at eighteen. Jonathan graduated from Harvard College in 1751 and was the town's schoolmaster from 1753 to 1784, except for 1763 and 1764.
Rachel Kidder died on September 15, 1764, and on July 7, 1767 Thomas Kidder, Esq., married Susanna Phelps of Andover, a widow. On April 15, 1777 he sold "my Homestead Farm," sixty acres "together with all the Buildings thereon standing," to John Wood of Woburn for 553 pounds, Susanna releasing her dower by her mark; three weeks later Wood resold it to Solomon Pollard with "a pew in Billerica Meeting House ... lately owned by Thomas Kidder Esq." Long afterward Pollard's mortgage still called it the "Kidder Farm." Thomas Kidder died in Tewksbury on January 8, 1791.
References
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 82: Ephraim Kidder (no. 3) and his children, Thomas b. 1700, Hannah m. Jonathan Ballard
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 83: Thomas Kidder (no. 6), marriages, children, d. 1791 in Tewksbury; son Jonathan, schoolmaster 1753-84
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 306: selectmen list, Thomas Kidder 1738-46, 1749, 1752, 1755-58, 1760-61 (17 years)
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 304: representatives list, Thomas Kidder 1747, 1749
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 180: 1746/7 committee of Benjamin Tompson, Capt. Thomas Kidder and Deacon Joshua Abbott to confer with Mr. Ruggles
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 204: minister's tax list of 1733, Lt. Thomas Kidder
- Vital Records of Billerica, births p. 118: Thomas, son of Ephraim and Rachel Kidder, Aug. 3, 1700
- Vital Records of Billerica, births p. 211: baptism of Pompey, "Negro child belonging to Thomas Kidder Esqr.," Oct. 20, 1752
- Vital Records of Billerica, marriages p. 280: Thomas Kidder and Rachel Danforth, May 10, 1726; Thomas Kidder Esq. and Susanna Phelps, July 7, 1767
- Vital Records of Billerica, deaths p. 373: Rachel, wife of Thomas Kidder Esq., Sept. 15, 1764; Francis, son of Capt. Thomas, 1748
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Property | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 14, 1726 | Warranty | Jonathan Ballard of Billerica, tailor, and Hannah Ballard | Thomas Kidder of Billerica | Details | Thomas Kidder Farmhouse 17 Farmers Ln |
25/631 (South) |
For 340 pounds, "one Parcel of Pasture Mowing and Plowland situate in the Town of Billerica ... Containing about forty acres," bounded "Westward by the County Road Southward by the Land of John Baldwin and partly by the Land of Thomas Danforth and John Dutton and on the East by the Ranging line on the North by the Land that was formerly Samuel Mannings," its corners marked by stakes and stones and a little black oak, "in this Lott there is allowance for a bridle or a private highway," conveyed "with a Dwelling house and barn." Hannah Ballard released her dower. Dated Dec. 14, 1726; witnesses Simon Crosby Jr. and Benjamin [illegible]. Billerica town book 3 pages 22-23.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.