| Joshua Tidd migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 336) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
Joshua arrived in Charlestown in 1637 from Hertford, England, which was a known center of Puritan activity.[1] He was admitted to the church on March 10, 1639 and was accepted as a freeman of Charlestown on May 22 of the same year. His wife Sarah was admitted to the church on September 9.[2][3][4]
"By trade he was a carpenter, a highly valued and well paid profession...In 1648 he built a shop and portal by the east door of the meetinghouse. He served the town as constable, and Middlesex County as grand juryman, acting as foreman in 1655. In the 1660s and 1670s he was twice a selectman, as well as rate commissioner."[1]
He owned and commanded a vessel named the Swallow, and "traded along the Eastern shore".[2] "During the 1650s, Tidd used Chelmsford fur trader John Cromwell as his agent in small transactions with Indian trappers. He also dealt with Captain John Trumbell for English goods, especially fabrics and haberdashery."[1]
In May of 1656, some of his partners in Kennebec seized his ship and its cargo of beaver pelts.[2] This led to his involvement in a number of law suits with Cromwell, Trumble and others.[2][5]
The same year that his vessel was seized, Joshua's eldest daughter Sarah, married Zacharias Long, a successful sea captain.[6]
In 1662 he signed a petition on behalf of Walter Edwards, who having "served his apprenticeship in England for stilling of strong waters, petitioned for relief from the rate set to prohibit retayling drinks".[7]
All the litigation seems to have meant the end of his trading activities and he turned his attention back to carpentry. "In 1668, he managed major renovations of the meetinghouse. Inside the building he had been recruited as reliably orthodox by the three deacons in 1665 to help them contain and control the Baptist challenge. He refused an unusual third term in the responsible but time-consuming job of constable, and his reasons were eventually accepted."[1]
Joshua served as a lieutenant of the militia during King Philip's War.[8] "He lived a long and useful life in Charlestown, a reliable middle manager in the militia, church, and town government."[1]
His wife Sarah died in 1677 and he remarried to the widow Rhoda Porter in 1678.[3] He died shortly after this in Charlestown on September 15, 1678. He is buried in the Phipps Street Burying Ground in Charlestown.[9] His will dated April 12, 1675 was probate on October 30, 1678. Rhoda declined administration of the estate and it was granted to Joshua's son in law, Samuel Lord.[2]
This person is an ancestor of President Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.
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Joshua is 23 degrees from Herbert Adair, 19 degrees from Richard Adams, 17 degrees from Mel Blanc, 23 degrees from Dick Bruna, 19 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 31 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 21 degrees from Sam Edwards, 18 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 21 degrees from Marty Krofft, 12 degrees from Junius Matthews, 13 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 19 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
Categories: King Philip's War | US President Direct Ancestor | Puritan Great Migration