LETTERS-DIARY OF 1788-LETTER FROM GENERAL PARSONS TO DR. LETTER FROM GENERAL PARSONS-CORRESPONDENCE OF PUTNAM AND CUTLER DIRECTORS' INSTRUCTIONS TO PUTNAM AND CUTLER— DIRECTORS' PETITION TO CONGRESS-REPORT OF COMMITTEE-ACT GENEALOGY-EARLY LIFE-MARRIAGE-ENGAGES IN COMMERCE-STUDIES DIVINITY-SETTLES IN IPSWICH HAMLET. Among the many Puritans who came to the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in the early years of its settlement was James. Cutler, a young man from Norfolkshire, England. Those who thought for themselves and lived in accord with their convictions of duty in that time of religious persecution, were obliged, at much sacrifice, to leave friends and country, and cross the ocean in order to secure in this new continent their civil and religious rights. James Cutler was the first of his family to come to America. He married Anna, the sister of Captain John Grout's wife, a woman of Puritan faith, and "of wonderful decision, energy, and enterprise." He settled in Watertown in 1634, where, having passed through the necessary preliminaries, he was admitted to citizenship, and the usual allotments of land were assigned to him. He prospered in his new home and added to his possessions by the purchase of more land. Here his first child, James, was born, November 6, 1635. After encountering for ten years the trials of pioneer life in a rigorous climate, Anna died, and was buried September 30, 1644. He married, second, Mary King, the widow of Thomas King, of Watertown; and sold, about 1651, his property there, and removed to Cambridge Farms (Lexington); and is "said to have built one of the first houses erected in that place, the door-steps and cellar of which are now to be seen." The spacious farm he occupied was recently still in possession of his descendants. Here he lost his second wife, and in 1662 married Phebe Page, daughter of John Page, and the niece of William Paine, a wealthy iron merchant of Boston, who mentioned her in his will. James Cutler made his will November 24, 1684, bequeathing property to each of his twelve children, and also to two step-daughters. He died at Cambridge Farms, May 17, 1694, aged 88 years. His sons, James, Thomas, John, and Samuel, were useful and influential men. His daughter Hannah married John Winter, Jr.; Mary married John Collar; Elizabeth married John Parmenter, third, of Sudbury; Sarah married Thomas Waite, of Cambridge Farms; Joanna married Philip Russel. James Cutler, the eldest son of James and Anna, born in Watertown, November 6, 1635, married June 15, 1665, Lydia (Moore) Wright, daughter of John Moore, of Sudbury, and the widow of Samuel Wright before she was twenty years old. She lived to an advanced age, and died at Sudbury, the widow of James Cutler, November 23, 1723. He served in the Indian war as a soldier under Captain Henchman, and, in common with others, endured great hardships while engaged in the campaigns against King Philip, in 1675 and 1676. He resided in Lexington, where he made his will, July 28th, and died July 30, 1685, in the 50th year of his age. His widow, Lydia Cutler, and her brother, Benjamin Moore, were the executors of his will, proved October 8, 1685. He had sonsJames, Samuel, Joseph, John, and Thomas; and daughters, Ann and Elizabeth. John Cutler, fourth son of James and Lydia, born April 14, 1675, was ten years old when his father died. He married, February 6, 1700, Hannah Snow, daughter of John Snow, of Woburn. She was received into the church at Lexington from the church of Woburn, July 5, 1702; and he united with the church in full communion February 13, 1704. He removed with his family from Lexington, where eight of his eleven children were baptized, to Killingly, Connecticut, about 1713. The country was then new. He owned a large tract of land east of the Quinebaug River, and a saw-mill on Five Mile River. He was an upright and pious man. He died in 1729, at the age of 54 years. On the ancient records of Killingly there is a deed made by |