Robert Proctor, Jr.

http://rjohara.net/gen/ahnentafel/at01_034.html

Robert PROCTOR105, 9G Grandfather. Born in 1624 in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England. Will dated on 10 Mar 1695/6. Died in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, on 28 Apr 1697. Immigrated by 1643. in 1643.

The male-line descendants of the immigrant Robert Proctor were monographed in 1898 by William Lawrence Proctor and his wife.105 According to their work, Robert Proctor, "the earliest American Ancestor of the families to which this volume is devoted, first appears in this country at Concord, Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman in 1643. He married, Dec. 31, 1645, Jane, the eldest daughter of Richard Hildreth of Concord and Chelmsford, the ancestor of the Hildreths of America, who died at Chelmsford in 1688, and whose younger daughter, Abigail, became the wife of Moses Parker.

"In 1653 Robert Proctor, in connection with Richard Hildreth and twenty-seven others, petitioned the General Court for a grant of land six miles square, 'to begin at Merrimack river at a neck of land next to Concord river, and so run up by Concord river south, and west into the country to make up that circumference or quantity of land as is above expressed.' The petition was granted. In 1654 Mr. Proctor removed to the new plantation which was organized, November twenty-second of that year, as a town under the name of Chelmsford. The first four or five of his children were born in Concord, the others in Chelmsford. His descendants resided in many of the neighboring towns, and at an early date some of them pushed back into the wilderness and settled in New Hamp-[p. 5]shire, Vermont and New York, and have since scattered over the West.

"He died at Chelmsford, April 28, 1697. Letters of administration upon his estate were granted to Jane Proctor, executrix, July 13, 1697. In his will, dated March 10, 1695-6, he speaks of having already deeded lands to his sons Gershom, Peter, James, John, Samuel and Israel, and mentions son Thomas, to whom certain lands are given if he 'live and return from Sea to New England;' also daughters Dorothy Barrett, Elizabeth Proctor, Sarah Chamberlain and Mary Bourne. Some of his children settled in what afterwards became the West Precinct, and later in the town of Westford."105

The information given here on Robert Proctor's ancestors as well as his birthdate and place come without sources from Ancestral File. This information may not be correct. The following email message provides some background:

Date: Fri, 25 Jun 1999 09:28:48 From: Kathleen (Proctor) Rowe <akrowe@clubi.ie> Subject: Robert Proctor of Chelmsford

To my knowledge, coincidence is the only thing connecting Robert of Chelmsford to Robert of St. Albans. Although that information is in one of the family histories at the Family History Center Libraries, that family history has many errors and inconsistancies -- so many that most serious researchers have discarded the majority of the information therein.

The connection between Robert of MA and Robert of St Albans was also published in _Proctor Genealogy 1546 - 1982_ by A. Carlton Proctor. I have not seen the book personally, but the author supposedly cites Parish Records of St Mary's Parish of St Albans (which is just outside of London).

Here is the coincidental evidence:

1. Richard Hildreth, father in law of Robert of Chelmsford, is probably from St Albans. 2. Ties between the Hildreth and Proctor families are quite strong; Robert of MA married Richard's daughter, Jane Hildreth; Robert and Richard had a number of business and community dealings together. 3. Robert of St Albans was born about the right time to actually be Robert of MA. 4. Richard Hildreth and Robert of MA arrived in Concord about the same time.

Please let me know if you are interested in more specific details. I'd love to share and compare sources and information.

He married Jane HILDRETH, 9G Grandmother, on 31 Dec 1645 in Concord, Massachusetts.

They had the following children: 2035 i. Sarah (1646-1706) ii. Gershom105 (1648-) iii. Mary105 (1650-) iv. Peter105 (1652-) v. Dorothy105 (1654-) vi. Elizabeth105 (1656-) vii. James105 (1658-) viii. Lydia105 (1660-1661) ix. John105 (1663-) x. Samuel105 (1665-) xi. Israel105 (1668-) xii. Thomas105 (1671-)

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Ancestors of the New England PROCTOR Proctors were early arrivals in Boston and participated in the original settlement of several important outlying districts. Descendants of the original immigrants penetrated into remote regions, becoming original settlers in territories which afterward acquired dignity of statehood, and not a few of them went beyond the limits of New England into the great west, where their posterity are still to be found. The Proctors were patriotic during the Revolutionary war and that of 1812-15; loyal to the Union in the memorable civil strife of 1861-65; and in addition to their honorable military services they have acquired distinction in civil life. The family is of English origin, and the name is first met with in the records of Norfolk, where as early as the fourteenth century they were closely allied by intermarriage with the celebrated Beauchamps, which was the family name of the earls of Pembroke. Among the land-holders mentioned in these records are Sir William Beauchamp Proctor and his son George, who inherited in turn an estate which had been granted originally by John, earl of Pembroke, to his cousin, William de Beauchamp, who died in the year 1378. In searching for Proctors in other parts of England we find it recorded in "A History of Northumberland," published at Newcastle-on-Tyne by Andrew Reid & Company, that a family of that name was established at Shawdon in Yorkshire at the beginning of the sixteenth century, through the marriage of William Proctor, of Nether Bordley, to Isabel, daughter of John Lilburn, of Shawdon. Early in the emigration period which began about the year 1629, four of this name are known to have come to New England. They were John, Richard, George and Robert. Whether they were near relatives or not is now impossible to determine, but there is some evidence to show that they were descendants of the abovementioned William of Nether Bordley, and it is quite reasonable to infer that the latter was descended from old Sir William Beauchamp Proctor of Norfolk. These immigrants landed in Boston between the years 1635 and 1643. John Proctor, aged forty years, sailed from London in 1635 on the "Sarah and Ellen," with his wife and two children, settling first in Ipswich and subsequently in Salem. His son John and the latter's wife were both convicted of witchcraft in 1692, and the husband was executed, but the wife escaped the death penalty. Some of their descendants are now residing in Boston. Richard Proctor settled in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, and there disappears wholly from the records. George Proctor located in Dorchester, and there reared a family. The branch of the family coming directly within the province of this sketch, is a line of descent from Robert, through the latter's son James.

(I) Robert Proctor, the earliest American ancestor of the families mentioned in this sketch, first appears in this country at Concord, Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman in 1643. In 1653 Robert Proctor, in connection with Richard Hildreth ami twenty-seven others, petitioned the general court for a grant of land six miles square "to begin at Merrimack river at a neck of land next to Concord river, and so run by Concord river south, and west into the country to make up that circumference or quantity of land as is above expressed." The petition was granted. In 1654, Mr. Proctor removed to the new plantation which was organized November 22, of that year, as a town under the name of Chelmsford. The first four or five of his children were born in Concord, the others in Chelmsford. He died in Chelmsford, April 28, 1697, leaving lands to some of his children, and having already granted other lands to six sons. His widow administered on his estate. He married. December 31, 1645, Jane, the oldest daughter of Richard Hildreth, of Concord and Chelmsford, the ancestor of the Hildreths in America, who died at Chelmsford, in 1688. The children of Robert and Jane were twelve in number: Sarah, Gershom, Mary, Peter, Dorothy, Elizabeth. James, Lydia, John, Samuel, Israel and Thomas.

Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 3 ROBERT PROCTOR, the earliest American ancestor of the families to which this volume is devoted, first appears in this country at Concord, Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman in 1643. He married, Dec. 31, 1645, Jane, the eldest daughter of Richard Hildreth of Concord and Chelmsford, the ancestor of the Hildreths of America, who died at Chelmsford in 1688, and whose younger daughter, Abigail, became the wife of Moses Parker.

In 1653 Robert Proctor, in connection with Richard Hildreth and twenty-seven others, petitioned the General Court for a grant of land six miles square, "to begin at Merrimack river at a neck of land next to Concord river, and so run up by Concord river south, and west into the country to make up that circumference or quantity of land as is above expressed." The petition was granted. In 1654 Mr. Proctor removed to the new plantation which was organized, November twenty-second of that year, as a town under the name of Chelmsford. The first four or five of his children were born in Concord, the others in Chelmsford. His descendants resided in many of the neighboring towns, and at an early date some of them pushed back into the wilderness and settled in New Hampshire, Vermont and New York, and have since scattered over the West.

He died at Chelmsford, April 28, 1697. Letters of administration upon his estate were granted to Jane Proctor, executrix, July 13, 1697. In his will, dated March 10, 1695-6, he speaks of having already deeded lands to his sons Gershom, Peter, James, John, Samuel and Israel, and mentions son Thomas, to whom certain lands are given if he "live and return from Sea to New England;" also daughters Dorothy Barrett, Elizabeth Proctor, Sarah Chamberlain and Mary Bourne. Some of his children settled in what afterwards became the West Precinct, and later the town of Westford.

A Genealogy of Descendants of Robert Proctor of Concord and Chelmsford, Mass By William Lawrence Proctor Published 1898 Republican & Journal Print 307 pages Page 5.