Enoch Kidder

Enoch Kidder was born in Billerica on September 16, 1664, a son of Ensign James Kidder and Anna (Moore) Kidder. His father, one of the first settlers, had a thirty-acre house lot south of West Street running down to the Concord River; his house was a garrison in King Philip's War, and he was put in charge of the Indians at Wamesit, "a position which indicates, in that critical period, the confidence reposed in his skill and courage," as Hazen wrote. James Kidder died on April 16, 1676, when Enoch was eleven. Enoch took the oath of fidelity in May 1685, and the town's list of polls and ratable estate of August 1688 shows him with one poll and a small estate.

He married Mary Haywood and lived on his father's homestead. Their children were Mary (1693, who died in infancy), Abigail (1694), who married Simon Crosby, Enoch Jr. (1697), William (1700, died 1702), Francis (1703), who settled in Oxford, a second Mary (1707), and a second William, born about 1710. He was chosen a selectman in 1703, 1706, 1707, 1710, 1715, 1716 and 1717. When the town granted the new minister, Samuel Ruggles, eight acres on the common west of the meeting house in 1707, the grant was bounded "by Enoch Kidder west," and when pews were first allowed in the meeting house in 1711 and 1712, he and Simon Crosby were given "that place between the west door and the stay."

Kidder added steadily to his lands. The deeds record his purchase of fifty-one acres west of the Concord River from Jonathan Paterson in 1707, a piece of the Mill Meadow by Alewife and Fox Brooks from Samuel Manning in 1711, and a house lot near the Center from Nathaniel Rogers in 1713. He also held a large farm in what is now North Billerica, between the road to Wamesit and the river: when the General Court considered a bill to set off a Wamesit Parish in 1729, its bounds were to begin at the Concord River "between the lands of" John Rogers Jr. "and Enoch Kidder." In the minister's tax list of 1733 he appears as "Mr. Enoch Kidder."

On September 30, 1736, "for and in Consideration of the parental Love good will and affection which I have and do bear to my son William Kidder," he gave William sixty-five acres "bounded Easterly by the highway that leads to the Wamassett" and "westerly on Concord River," with Rogers land north and south, "together with the house and Barn thereon standing," with land in Tewksbury and two acres at Broad Meadow, all valued at six hundred pounds as William's "full portion." This farm, where 216 High Street is today, is the Enoch Kidder House. Tradition dates the house to 1711, but no deed of the farm to Enoch Kidder has been found, and the 1736 gift is its first record. William farmed it for 45 years. When the town built the Centre bridge over the Concord in 1737 it was placed "against the bridle way, betwixt Mr. Enoch Kidder and Oliver Whiting" lots.

Mary Kidder died on March 21, 1742/3, and in June 1743 Enoch married Hannah, the widow of Samuel Danforth. She died on October 3, 1752, and Enoch Kidder died on December 1, 1752, "in 89th y." His son Capt. Enoch Kidder Jr. served the town as selectman and representative, and the old Kidder homestead south of West Street stayed in the family through the marriage of Enoch Jr.'s daughter Abigail to John Parker in 1751.

References

1. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 81: James Kidder, his house lot south of West Street, garrison and charge of the Indians at Wamesit, d. 1676
2. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 82: Enoch Kidder (no. 4), b. 1664, marriages, children, d. 1752; "He lived on the homestead"
3. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 305: selectmen list, Enoch Kidder 1703, 1706-07, 1710, 1715-17
4. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 176: pews granted in the meeting house 1711-12, Enoch Kidder and Simon Crosby
5. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), pp. 217-218: 1729 Wamesit Parish bill, bounds beginning at Concord River between John Rogers Jr. and Enoch Kidder
6. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 101: Centre bridge built 1737 "betwixt Mr. Enoch Kidder and Oliver Whiting" lots
7. Vital Records of Billerica, births p. 115: Enoch, son of James and Anna Kidder, Sept. 16, 1664; children of Enoch and Mary
8. Vital Records of Billerica, marriages p. 280: Enoch Kidder and Mrs. Hannah Danforth, June 1743
9. Vital Records of Billerica, deaths p. 372: Enoch Kidder, Dec. 1, 1752, in his 89th year
10. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 172: 1707 grant to Rev. Samuel Ruggles of eight acres west of the meeting house, "bounded by Enoch Kidder west"