USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Chelsea > Documentary history of Chelsea : including the Boston precincts of Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, 1624-1824, vol 1 > Part 57
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Costes paid by Edwd Watts to Mr Allen's Attorney 3=17= 0
filing papers Examing
0" 6"-
Taxing Costs
0" 3"-
4=18
Examd per Elisha Cooke Cler £0- 6-0
0- 3-0
0- 6-0
0-12-0
0-12-0
1-19-0
SUMS OF THE COST
Imprimis
£3-10- 0
Item
2- 8- 0
7- 8- 0 If
4-18 - 0 It
18- 4- 0
Watts's Attendance is Double Chargd, for which must be
deducted
0-19 - 6
£17~4.6
May, 11th 1708. Allowed Seventeen pounds, four Shillings, and Six pence
Per Samuel Sewall.]
.
7= 8= 0
Copies of the Case and originall
3=10=10
572
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XV
CHAPTER XV
THE CLERGY OF BOSTON MAKE AN ADDRESS TO THE GENERAL COURT
PITHE Bellingham estates had been in litigation for more than thirty-five years. In 1676 the General Court set aside the will, as has been so often said, and in 1708 the Superior Court, three judges to one, gave the same judgment. Yet in June, 1709, the Congregational clergy of Boston made one more effort in an address to the General Court.
To his Excellency Joseph Dudley Esq!, With the Honorable Council and Representatives, of the Province of the Massachusets-Bay now in General Court assembled : The Address of sundry Ministers of the Gospel.
Having been informd, that the Honble Richard Bellingham Esq, who was for many Years the Governour of this Colony, did by his last Will and Testament devote a considerable Part of his Estate unto pious Uses ; particularly that He instructed and em- powred those, whom He had made Feoffces in Trust, that, out of the Rents of his Land, there should be erected on one of the Farms an Edifice, wherein the Neighbourhood should assemble for the solemn Worship of God : And He willed also, that six or more young Students should be educated for the sacred Ministry; and this Benefaction to be annually and successively continued :
And having understood, that this very pious Will was after- wards, and when it had been executed for diverse Years, declared void in a General Court; but without the Concurrence of that Honorable Gentleman, who was then the Governour of the Col- ony 1 : Whereupon the Estate has been wholly alienated from the Purposes, to which it had been so religiously devoted; and much other Confusion has followed in the Application of it :
On this Occasion we beg leave to express the Concern & Sorrow, which may justly be expected from such as wish well to the Countrey.
1 [Governor John Leverett.]
A
573
CHAP. XV] ADDRESS TO THE GENERAL COURT
We know, that a Testament should be in Foree, when the Tes- tator is dead : And if it be confirmed, (as we understand Gov- ernour Bellingham's Will was in the legal Methods) No Man ought to disannul it. (Gal iii. 15. Heb. ix. 17.) It is also a dangerous Thing to devour that, which is holy. ( Prov. xx. 25.) And, in all Nations, they have been afraid of alienating Deodands.
Upon sueh Considerations, we cannot be without Fear, that, if a Thing of this Nature should be approved in a Countrey of our Profession, and by the Heads and Representatives of the Prov- inee, it may be found among those Errors, which expose the Land to the Displeasure of Heaven, and be neither for our Honour nor our Safety.
We have heard, that the principal Reason, which sway'd those who did so far disannul the Will of the deceased Governour with- out and against the Will of the then living Governour, was their Doubt, that He had not done well in leaving so little of his Estate unto his onely Son. But their Opinion has in the Providenee of God sinee had a notable Confutation. - By means of their Aet, besides the little Benefit, that the younger Bellingham had from it in his Life Time; the Estate is now wholly gone from the Family of the Bellinghams, as well as from the pious Uses de- signed by the Honorable Testator : And it is fallen into the Hands of those, who are as little disposed to do with it that Good, which He projeeted, as they are related to his Family.2 - In short, an evident & remarkable Blast from Heaven seems to have attended the Matter.
No Man ean think, but that if the Religious Gentleman were now living, He would rather confirm this his aneient Will than have his Estate applied, as now it is.
There was in Lineolnshire a Person of Quality, Sir George Senpaul, renowned for the Piety and Charity expressed in his last Will and Testament. Among other good Works, the Funeral Sermon upon Him tells us, He eaused six Seholars to be brought up in the Universities, whereof several proved great Instruments of Good in the World. Our Bellingham was a Lineolnshire Gen- tleman : And sinee He has expressed the like Piety and Charity in his last Will and Testament; eertainly it will be a Dishonour unto New England, if thro' us it be defeated.
Considering, that it is no new Thing for a General Assembly
2 [The will of Mrs. Elizabeth Bellingham, wife of Samuel Bellingham, left a legacy to Harvard College. This will had been set aside by the English courts on the petition of Edward and Rebecca Watts. (Supra, pp. 509, 513.) All the signers of this petition, except Rev. Thomas Bridge, had served as Fellows of the College.]
574
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XV
to rectifie a Mistake in a preceeding Assembly; We esteemed it our Duty in all respectful Manner to pray, that this great Matter, wherein the good of the Country is more than a little involved, may be again and in the Fear of God considered; since the Inter- est of Religion and the Souls of many; and this not onely for the Present Age, but in the Generations to come, is after an un- common Manner concerned in it.3
We are your Servants in the Lord
June 10. 1709. -
Increase Mather Peter Thatcher Thomas Bridge John Danforth Cotton Mather Nehemiah Walter.
Benjamin Wadsworth. Ebenezer Pemberton.4
8 Neither the address, nor the action of the Assembly upon it, has been preserved, save as referred to in the vote of November 15. A copy of the former, in the hand of Samuel Mather, is in Chamberlain MSS., i. 105. Joseph Hiller, near the close of his letter of February 1, 1709/10 (infra, p. 580), refers to this address to the General Court, adding that a hearing was voted in the Lower House, but refused in the Upper. A memorandum [on the copy preserved among the Chamberlain manuscripts] shows that it was of interest long after the General Court had refused to re-open the question of the will :
" On the Outside Page, there is the following Endorsement by the late venerable Dr Increase Mather in his own Hand-Writing.
" J cannot but look upon the destroying of Governour Bellingham's Will as a very unrighteous and sacrilegious Jmpiety; and that the Countrey is involved in the Guilt of it. - J therefore desire, that, after my Decease, mny Executors will take effectual Care, that this Testimony against it be published to the World; hoping, that, when some Persons are removed, there will those succeed, who will concern themselves to endeavour, that That, which is just and right in the Sight of God, shall be done. May 1 . 1712.
Increase Mather.' [Endorsed] Revd Mr Mathers Letter Governor Bellingham 1709 "
I do not know whether Dr. Increase Mather's executors regarded his desire, nor if Governor Joseph Dudley was one of those persons whose removal would have promoted right and justice by setting up Governor Bellingham's will. A few years before the date of this endorsement, In- crease and Cotton Mather had made war against Governor Dudley, which would not incline him to promote any affair of theirs; nor would the fact that his son, Paul Dudley, was attorney for Edward and Rebecca Watts.
4 [ Pastors and associate pastors of the First, Second (North), and Third (South) churches in Boston; the church at Roxbury ( Nehemiah Walter, whose wife was a daughter of Rev. Increase Mather) ; the church at Dorchester (John Danforth) ; and the church at Milton ( Peter Thatcher, whose first wife was a daughter of Rev. John Oxenbridge, a
575
CHAP. XV] ADDRESS TO THE GENERAL COURT
The General Court answered November 15, 1709: "Upon Reading an Address of sev]]: Ministers relating to ye: Will of Richard Bellingham Esq": Decd : made void by the Order of the General Court of the late Colony of the Massachusets with the Resolve pass'd thereon in the House of Representves : Viz,
That the Act of the General Court Septem" : 6th : 1676, referring to the Will mentioned in this Petition was wrong & ought to be made null & void : - - Voted a Non-Concurrence." 5
trustee under Governor Bellingham's will). Dr. Colman, pastor of the Brattle Square Church in Boston, did not sign.]
5 MISS. Records of the Council, 1703-1709, p. 502.
576
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
ICHAP. XVI
CHAPTER XVI
A LONG TRUCE
THE refusal of the General Court in November, 1709, to reopen the Bellingham will case, and the death, Septem- ber 22, 1710, of Rev. James Allen, who had resolutely fought to secure the Winnisimmet cstates for the pious uses intended by the old governor, led to a truce of nearly fifty years. Some time in 1710 Edward Watts with his wife Rebecca, and be- tween 1711 and 1715, Elizabeth Bellingham, came from Lon- don to Boston. Doubtless Edward and Rebecca Watts had found litigation expensive, and, from remoteness, troublesome. Doubtless, also, they thought it best to take charge of their estates. Joseph Hiller had been their agent and attorney. One account of his stewardship is given below.1
When it became apparent after the death of Elizabeth Savage Bellingham in February, 1698, that the Bellingham estates would pass to Rebecca Watts, her sister and sole heir, wife of Edward Watts of London, the latter made an agree- ment April 25, 1699, known by its recital, to pay to Eliza- beth Bellingham, daughter of Samuel, certain proportions of the rents and proceeds from sales of the Bellingham estates.2 This arrangement for the division of rents and profits probably continued until November 1, 1715, when Elizabeth Belling- ham, having returned to Boston, in consideration of £80 and an annuity of £50 sccured by a mortgage on the Townsend or Cary farm,3 quitclaimed to Edward Watts, the younger, all arrearages due under the agreement of April 25, 1699, and cancelled the same. She also relinquished her claims to the estate of her grandfather, the governor.
I can add but little to the subsequent history of Elizabeth Bellingham, last of the old governor's lineage. She was living
1 Infra, pp. 579-581.
2 Infra, pp. 581-583.
Suff. Deeds, L. 30, f. 62.
577
A LONG TRUCE
CHAP. XVI]
in Boston, March 30, 1742,4 apparently in respectable cir- cumstances, for in 1720 she was one of " seven Single persons sitting in the Fore-scat," whom Madam Winthrop " pro- pounded, one and another," to Chief Justice Sewall, as eligible to succeed his lately deceased wife.5 But he thought "none would do," mainly, it may be conjectured, because Madam her- self, widow of his predecessor in office, was the object of the venerable suitor's matrimonial scheme. Elizabeth Belling- ham's father, Dr. Samuel Bellingham, probably without intending it, disinherited her by his marriage settlement with Elizabeth Savage, his second wife, so that on the latter's death, as we have seen, the Bellingham estates passed to Edward and Rebecca Watts, who appear to have treated her fairly. Though they acquired these estates without original cost, the defence of their title, both here and in England, was expensive. 6
After the apparently decisive defeat of the clerical party in their effort to secure the Bellingham estates for ecclesiastical · uses, and the arrangement with Elizabeth Bellingham, given above, the Watts family might have reasonably hoped to enjoy their property without further molestation. Three of the great Bellingham farms were theirs. The fourth farm, seized by Richard Wharton for his services, was irrevocably gonc, though we shall hear more about it.
But neither Edward nor Rebecca Watts long enjoyed their estates, for he died in 1714, and she in 1715. Her will, [pro- bated] April 15, 1715,7 mentions a daughter Rebecca, sons Edward, Samuel, and Daniel. After various legacies, she devises one half of her estate to her eldest son, Edward, and
4 [See a receipt for her annuity, dated September 28, 1742, among Chamberlain MSS., i. 157. In a writ dated September 19, 1757, it is said that she died February 3, 1745. Infra, p. 611.]
Sewall, Diary, iii. 262.
6 In the suits of Watts vs. Allen, Paul Dudley, son of the governor, was counsel for the Watts family, and between March 22, 1716/17, and March 22, 1717/18, Edward Watts the younger (his father being dead), made two mortgages, aggregating £350, on the Ferry farm, to Paul Dudley; these were discharged November 29, 1722. (Suff. Deeds, L. 31, f. 94.) They may have been in payment of fees, or to add capital needed for his large business. It is noticeable that he covenants as sole owner, whereas his title under his mother's will was one undivided half. [Neither of his brothers, Samuel or Daniel, had attained his majority.]
" Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 18, f. 456; also supra, p. 329. VOL. I .- 37
-
578
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XVI
the other half to Samuel and Daniel. Apparently she died in the mansion house 8 near the ferry. The farms remained undivided until 1728, Edward occupying that at the ferry, which he carried on with the inn and a very considerable local trade. After his death in 1727, his widow, Anne Antram, married Thomas Greaves of Charlestown, who seems to have taken up the business of her former husband .? Edward Watts left a large estate, an inventory of which is given.1º June 25, 1728, there was a partition of the real estate, Thomas Greaves and his wife taking the Cary farm, Samuel Watts the Ferry farm and ferry, and Daniel the Carter farm.
' [Presumably in the ancient tavern, marked on the plan, supra, p. 294. The mansion house dates from a later period. May 10, 1734, Benjamin Lynde wrote that he went " with horse over ferry to Watts', where dincd in his new house." Diaries of Benj. Lynde and of Benj. Lynde, Jr., 53. See also supra, p. 297; also the letter of John Tudor, supra, p. 334.]
" [June 23, 1728, Thomas Greaves, a physician, married Mrs. Ann Watts ; June 25, 1728, as stated in the text, the divisional agreement was signed, by which Samuel Watts became the owner of the Ferry farm. At the January term of the Suff. Co. Court in 1728/9, Samuel Watts of Boston, innholder, and Thomas and Anne Greaves of Charlestown, as administrators of the estate of Edward Watts, late of Boston, innholder, brought suit against William Burgis. Court Records, 1728-1729, p. 298. Supra, p. 308, note 41.] 10 Supra, p. 323.
?
579
APPENDIX
CHAP. XVI]
APPENDIX
LETTER FROM JOSEPH HILLER TO EDWARD WATTS 1
Boston Feby 1st 1709/10
M! Edward Watts
S! I wrote you some time since by two Vessells that I had reed yours by the Man of War and Cap! Eason and that I had rec! the Deeds by both of them when I had only recd those by Capt Eason Cap! Mathews the Capt of the Man of War being arrived I did not question but he had brought one Sett, but by some mistake those that should have come by him were left behind and he only brought a Letter from Cosen Hiller. There being an opportunity by Two Men of War viz! the Dragon and the Guernsey I sent the Sett of Deeds I rec! by Cap! Eason back again by the Dragon with. a Coppy of the Letter by the Guernsey and Reasons why they were not Authentick viz! for want of Witnesses that were bound here that could have testified to the execution of them there, but for want of such I could not get them proved here; I sent only the Deeds, the other Papers I have, but I am as far from having any Deeds as ever I was. I hope you will take extraordinary care that I have one Sett well executed.2 I take notice of your sending me word to Send the Rents to your Self, and that you have done. with m! Hall. Accordingly I have sent by Capt Teat Commander- of her Majesties Ship Reserve, as p bill of Lading inclosed, Two, hundred Fourty two Ounces of Silver money and Bullion and Two Ounces and a half and three penny weight of Coined Gold on your accott also Two peices of Brazile Gold in the Same bag to
1 Chamberlain MSS., i. 109.
2 [By deed dated July 2, 1709, Edward and Rebecca Watts of the " Parish of St. Botolph Aldgate in the City of London," and " Elizabeth Bellingham of the Parish of St. Giles Cripplegate London aforesd. Spin- ster," conveyed to Joseph Hiller for £400 " Lawful money of New England " a messuage in Boston. John Gore and John Russell, the last two of six witnesses to the signatures, made oath to the same on the first Tuesday of October, 1710, and the deed was recorded October 5 in Suff. Deeds, L. 25, f. 130. This property was in the possession of Joseph Hiller as early as April, 1707. ( Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xxix. 183, 184.) It was the mansion house of Governor Bellingham, and, according to this deed, was lately in the occupation of John Cotta, Jr. See supra, p. 551, for the suit by which Edward Watts obtained possession; also, infra, p. 582.]
580
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XVI
be delivered to Cosen Nathan! Hiller in Leaden Hall Street for my Friend ME Coney to buy Pools Annotations on the Old and New Testaments " I Pray deliver them the First opportunity he being urgent to have them come by the first good Ship for Boston I reed M! Brentnall's + Rent almost all in Silver the Rest of the Rents in Paper money, which with much difficulty I got changed for Silver, which is extraordinary Scarce, the People give two and a half p Cent and Some more for the Exchange I concluding money would be very acceptable with you I strove to get it in and send it. Youl'e see by the Accott I have charged no Comissions nor any thing for Exchange of the Paper for Silver which would have amounted to between Thirteen and Fourteen pounds. I wrote you in my last that the Two m" Mathers with the Rest of the Ministers in Boston had Petitioned the Generall Court for a new hearing of Governour Bellingham's Will, and that the Lower house as they did before (you know) had Voted a hearing of it, You may conclude I was not wanting in what I could do; when it came to the Upper house they refused to act in it by a Major part and I hope are discouraged from medling with it any more, especially as I wrote you before, if you and your Family comes over and Settles here. . I wish you and your Family well I pray God give you all a Safe Passage over. ME Moorcock is troubled he has no accott from his Friends nor you concerning what he wrote to them [and] he saith he could have ordered his money there to more advantage. I have forgot the Place to direct to you I sent the last directed to m' [Hall?] for you I think to inclose these to Cozen Hiller for you.
The Tennants and m" Giles 5 desires to be remembred to you and would be glad of you and your Family's coming Over.
My Service to Madm Bellingham m" Hall, with mine and my Wives Service to your Self and Wife and Family I Remain
Yor assured Friend To Command
Joseph Hiller
THE ACCOUNT REFERRED TO ABOVE 6
1709 Mr Edward Watts - Dự May To Cashı pd Doctr Cutler p yr Order 2 :10 : To Ditto paid Postage of Sundry Letters - Via Philadelphia for you . 3: 6
3 [Matthew Poole, Synopsis criticorum Scripturae, London, 1669-1676, 4 vols.]
4 [Tenant on the Ferry farm, supra, p. 296.]
5 [Thomas Gyles was lessee of the ferry from Boston to Winnisimmet. Infra, chap. xxiv.]
" Chamberlain MSS., i. 103.
581
APPENDIX
CHAP. XVI]
Jany : 30 To Ditto to mr Brentnalls Daughter and Boy when recd Rent Ferrages Sundry Times . . : - 8 : -
To Ditto Spent when reed Townsends Rent . . : 1: 3 To 21/2 Ounees 3 penny weight Gold at 68 : 5s . - 16 : 11 : 3 To 242 Ounces Silver p the Reserve at 8s/ -. 96 : 16 : Allowed mr Brentnall for 2 horses one to Salem One to Piseataqua . 1 : - 5 : -
Allowed mr Townsend to lay out on the House 15 : -:-
132 : 15 : -
Contra
1709 Dee : 30 D Cash of the Townsends for that You paid the Sherrif 10 : -
Januy : 29
n Ditto of Senter for Rent 15 : -
30 D Ditto of mnr Brentnall for Rent 55 :
p Ditto of the Townsends for Rent 50 :
p Ditto of Capt Belcher for Rent ? 2 : 15
132 : 15
Joseph Hiller
RECEIPT FROM ELIZABETH BELLINGHAM 8
London Augt 31. 1709.
Be it knowne unto all whome it may Concern that on this 31st day of Augt as abovesaid J do acknowledg to have recd of Mr Edward Watts my full proportion according to an agreement made between him & my selfe bearing date ye 25th Aprill 1699 - vizt one 15 [ ] of such monys as should be raised by sales of lands [ in ] New England also my full proportion of all Rents and arrears of Rents dew unto Lady day last unto weh time all was adjusted & paid J do by these presents acknowledge to have had and received my full proportion of } also of 1's of each percell of Rentes unto ye ist of Aprill last past -
Wittniss
J Hall
Witness my hand Elizabeth Bellingham :
[LETTER FROM ELIZABETH BELLINGHAM TO JOSEPH HILLER ?
S! London February, 10, 1705/6
These may Advise You that by Mr Watts I Recd your Account dated in Boston March 9th 1704/5. So far as Concerns Me I have & do Allow it & have Recd my dividend out of the Same by Mr
7 [Presumably Andrew Beleher rented the pasture at the South End of Boston which he purehased later. See Suff. Deeds, L. 26, f. 100; L. 39, f. 73.]
8 Chamberlain MSS., i. 107.
º Suff. Early Court Files, No. 6949, Paper No. 5; an attested copy. See supra, pp. 542; 559, note 1.
582
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XVI
Watts who is again Intended as I perceive for your Country so all farther Management is left to him with your Assistance wherein I Intreat you not to be wanting
I Understand your Agent Mr Newton dos Scruple the Title altho We had all Joined in a Conveyance unto you.19 Its Judged here he was much more Nice than Wise; I was & am Still ready to Joyn in any proper Conveyance as Sales may be made.
So with Kind Respects to your self I Remain your Loving friend
Elizabeth Bellingham
Sr I Pray you Acquaint all the Tenants that I am Satisfied with what M' Watts dos concerning the Rect of Rents and his Reets for the same are as Sufficient as if Signed by me also.
I do not intend to allow one penny towards the funeral Charges of my Grand Mother neither Law nor Equity will oblige me in that Case.
Signed in presence of J Hall & Wm Collard his Servantt
Superseribed.
To Joseph Hiller In Boston
In New England
A true Copy left insteed of the Original Examd per Elisha Cooke Cler
A true Copy of that on file
Examd per Elisha Cooke Cler]
LETTER FROM ELIZABETH BELLINGHAM TO EDWARD WATTS, 1711 11
Mr Edw Watts
I read yr let" to Mr Hall dated Jan ye 7th 1711 & reed twenty Six pounds thirteen shilings & 4ª from Mr Foy by your Order & Capt belehers : tis unacountable you should delay ye payment of this & the other Mony wch is due to me so long & could not have sent it by ye same Oppertunity, but send to know how J would have it sent whereas J writt to you to return it in Spannish pieces of Eight, pray put it off noe longor nor give mee nor yr self any vnnecesary trouble but make it payable to my self Elizabeth Bel- lingham living att the Tobaco Roll & Sugr Loaff in little Moor Fields ; & make noe pretenees to keep baek any thing that is my due according to Our Agrement, soe you may expect to prosper the bet".
10 Supra, pp. 500; 579, note 2.
11 Chamberlain MSS., i. 113.
CHAP. XVI]
583
APPENDIX
J have som very Considerable Persons in [Boston] that are my friends & have promisd me thiere assistance & know the Estate very [well] if you give me Ocasion J shall make vse of them. My service to yr self & Mrs Watts is all att prsent from Yr well wisher
Elizabeth Bellingham
London July ye 10th 1711.
J expect & desire a Just acct of Rents & all things as you promisd [Addressed] ffor Mr Edward Watts Living in Boston Jn New England - ddd wth Care -6ª
584
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XVII
CHAPTER XVII
THE BELLINGHAM WILL IN TOWN MEETING
B ETWEEN the judgment of the Superior Court in 1708, adverse to the trustees under the Bellingham will, and the proceedings to be narrated, the three northerly precincts of Boston, - Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, - had been set off and incorporated as Chelsea. On its records, December 2, 1756, is this entry : 1 " Voted not to aet at this meeting upon the Petition of Thomas Goldthwait 2 and others." This petition has not been found, nor does its purport appear until nearly three months later, when the fol- lowing entry is found :
" February 28, 1757. At a Town's meeting legally assembled to see if they will choose a Comittee to inquire into and prosecute the town's claim to the late Gov! Richard Bellingham's Estate at Winisimett as { Warrant. which being read the Town chose Thomas Goldthwait Esqr Moderator.
" and Voted Thos Goldthwait Esq! Mess Nath! Holmes, Thos Flucker, James Pitts, David Jenkins, William Stoddard and Oxnabridg Thatcher Esq! be a Comittee 3 to prosecute any claim
1 [Town Records, City Hall, Chelsea. Hon. Samuel Watts, owner of the Ferry farm of Governor Bellingham, was the moderator of this meeting.] ' Infra, pp. 602-609.
3 [This was a committee of Boston men. Nathaniel Holmes, a merehant in Boston, was one of the seven original proprietors of Point Shirley and, like Thomas Goldthwait, may have removed thither. Janes Pitts (H. C. 1731), a proprietor of Point Shirley by purchase from Ezekiel Goldthwait (Suff. Deeds, L. 82, f. 103), was a merchant in Boston. Both he and Thomas Flueker were overseers of the poor in that town in 1757. They were brothers-in-law, and held jointly large landed interests in Chelsea, as for instance in the Keayne-Oliver farm. (Suff. Deeds, L. 83, f. 112; L. 84, f. 24; L. 87, f. 186.) David Jenkins owned· a farm in Chelsea (supra, p. 238), but was always deseribed as of Boston in deeds and elsewhere. In 1724 when he was three years of age, his mother married Joshua Cheever of Boston, son of Rev. Thomas Cheever of Rumney Marsh. Oxenbridge Thatelier was a well-known resident of Boston and Milton, and had appar- ently no eonneetion with Chelsea. He was descended from Rev. John Oxen- bridge, trustee under the will of Governor Bellingham, and Peter Thateher,
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