Abigail (Unknown) Cutler (abt. 1646 - abt. 1711)

Born about 1646 in Massachusetts

Wife of Thomas Cutler — married 1673 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died about 19 Feb 1711 at about age 65 in Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Bob Keniston [send private message], Tom Wilde [send private message], and Kevin Mullen [send private message]

Biography

Disputed origins

The records available for Thomas Cutler give his wife as Abigail Unknown^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}. Unless something is missing from this research, the only "sources" showing her as Abigail Dewey seem to be online family trees and FindAGrave, with no sources other than those noted here. Further, there are trees on Ancestry citing this wiki page as evidence of her name and parents. Perhaps its time to change her LNAB to Unknown and disconnect the parents? Adjustments can be made again if new information surfaces, but it seems that would be based on research that has not yet been published.

• Abigail's birth record has not been found, and the original "unknown" surname was accurate
  • Some online trees give her as the daughter of Thomas and Frances Dewey of Windsor, Connecticut. These same trees give her birth date as 1652, and her birthplace as Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, which isn't consistent with Thomas Dewey's documented death in 1648 (and Francis' subsequent remarriage to George Phelps). It is also inconsistent with his home in Connecticut, where all the other children were born.
  • Other family trees give her birth date as "about 1646" in Cambridge, which addresses one of the issues and is reflected in this profile. ^{[9] [10]}, but that doesn't make it true
• There is also no source for her marriage to Thomas Cutler, which is given as Watertown, Middlesex Massachusetts on July 31, 1673.
• Online trees for Thomas show other efforts to identify his unknown wife, such as (Abigail Reed, Elizabeth White, etc), which suggests the possibility of confusion with [[Cutler-649|Thomas Cutler], who married Abigail Reed.
• The Cutler genealogy here notes that a Jonathan Cutler married an Abigail Dewey in the 1700's^[5], which may have contributed to the conflated information.
• New England Marriages to 1700 shows two Abigail Deweys, neither of whom are connected to the Cutler family of Watertown and Lexington
  • Abigail (Drake) Dewey, born 1648, who married Israel Dewey and Andrew Hillier in Connecticut^[11]
  • Abigail (Dewey) (Ashley) Dewey, born 1681, who married Joseph Ashley and Thomas Dewey son of Jedidah in Westfield, Mass^[12]

Information that is certain

The birth record for most of the children clearly indicate that Thomas' wife was Abigail, and the literature shows a marriage date "by 1674" based on the date of birth of their oldest child^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}

The gravestone indicates that Abigail (Unknown) Cutler was 65 years old when she died in 1711, which supports a date of birth of about 1646^[10], and it appears likely that she was born somewhere in Massachusetts.

Their children were born and/or baptized in Watertown, and the part of Cambridge that was known as Cambridge Farms by 1693, and became Lexington in 1713^[13]:

1. Abigail, born October 31, 1674^{[14] [15] [2] [1]}, who married Robert Merriam
2. Hannah, born Mar. 7, 1682-3^{[13] [15] [2]}, who has been confused with Hannah (Cutter) Winship
3. Mary, born Mar. 15, 1680^{[13] [15] [2]}, who married William Munroe
4. Thomas, born Jan. 19, 1677-8^{[13] [15] [2]}, who married Tabitha Rice
5. James, baptized January 9, 1687 in Watertown^{[16] [2]}, whose wife was Alice
6. Jonathan, baptized June 17, 1688^{[17] [2]}, who married Abigail Bigelow
7. Samuel, baptized May 17, 1691^[18], who may have died young (n.f.r.f.)
8. Benjamin, born July 4, 1697 in Lexington^{[15] [2]}, whose wife was Mary.

Abigail (Unknown) Cutler was buried in the Old Burial Ground, Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusett. Findagrave shows an photo of the stone and transcribes the inscription"Here lyes the Body of Abigail Cutler Wife to Thomas Cutler Aged 65 years Deceased February ye 19th 1711"^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} James Cutler Great Migration 1634-1635, Volumes C-F, pages 267-272. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F, by Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} Paige, Lucius Robinson. History of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1630-1877. With a Genealogical Register. (H.O. Houghton and Co., Boston, 1877), page 520 for Thomas Cutler
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. This secondary source provides resources for further reading in Volume 1, page 413, which states CUTLER, Thomas (?1648-1722) & Abigail ____ (-1711); by 1674; Cambridge/Lexington {Cambridge 520; Watertown 191; Sv. 1:494; Cutler 22-3; Reg. 90:171; Snow-Estes 1:65; Dawes-Gates 1:200}
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1855). Thomas' birth "about 1648" is on page 190, his marriage and children on page 191
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Cutler, Nahum Sawin, A Cutler Memorial and Genealogical History: Containing the Names of a Large Proportion of the Cutlers in the U.S. and Canada, and a Record of Many Individual Members of the Family, with an Account also of Other Families Allied to the Cutlers by Marriage (Greenfield, Mass.: E. A. Hall, 1889), see page 22 for Thomas, and the footnote on page 31 for the reference to another Abigail Dewey
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England (Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1862), see Volume, page 494 for Thomas Cutler
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Snow, Nora Emma. The Snow-Estes Ancestry (Hillburn, New York, 1939), see Volume 1, page 61 for Thomas and Abigail
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Ferris, Mary. Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines (Privately Printed, 1943). See Volume 1, page 200 for Thomas Cutler
9. ↑ Familysearch shows various online trees showing this information, with no sources
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} Findagrave Memorial #16966769
11. ↑ Torrey Volume 2, page 757, which states HILLIER, Andrew (1646-1698) & 2/wf Abigail (DRAKE) DUCE/ DEWEY (1648-1689-, 1689+), w Israel; 17 Nov 1687; Simsbury, CT {Simsbury CT VR; Drake (1933) 24}
12. ↑ Torrey Volume 1; PAGE:47, which states ASHLEY, Joseph (1671-) & Abigail DEWEY, m/2 Thomas DEWEY; 12 Apr 1699; Westfield/Deerfield {Reg. 6:271; Ashley 33; Dewey 246; Hale (1952) 513; Springfield Fam. (ms) 12; NYGBR 6:64}
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3} Massachusetts Vital Records Cambridge Volume 1, page 175, also found in NEHGS, which states CUTLER (See Cuttler)
    • Hannah, d. Thomas and Abigail, Mar. 7, 1682-3
    • Mary, d. Thomas and Abigail, Mar. 15, 1680
    • Thomas, s. Thomas and Abigail, Jan. 19, 1677-8
14. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Cambridge Volume 1, page 175, also found in NEHGS, which states CUTLER (See Cuttler) Abigail, daughter of Thomas and Abigail, Oct. 31, 1674
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4} Massachusetts Vital Records Lexington Volume 1, page 18, also found on NEHGS, which states Cutler
    • Abigail, d. Thos. and Abigail, Oct. 31, 1674
    • Benjamin, s. of Thos., Sr., & Abigail, b. Jul. 4, 1697.
    • Hannah, d. Thos. and Abigail, Mar. 7, 1682-83
    • Mary, d. Thos. and Abigail, Mar. 15, 1680.
    • Thomas, s. Thos. and Abigail, Feb. 19, 1677-78.
16. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Watertown Volume 4, page 121, also found on NEHGS, which states Ye 9 of January 86/7 I baptized 4 children viz Tho. Cutlers (who had formerly owned ye covent) viz James ... (and 3 children of other parents)
17. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Watertown Volume 4, page 126, also found on NEHGS, which states Ye 17th of June 1688 a child of Tho. Cutler called Jonathan
18. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Watertown Volume 4, page 129, also found on NEHGS, which states Ye 17th of May 1691 10 children ... one of Tho. Cutler's called Samuel

See also:

• Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.;; NOTEThis information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.
• Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.;; NOTEThis information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.
• U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 page 200[1]

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile Dewey-187 created through the import of Lent_Vise_2011-05-11aa.ged on May 26, 2011 by Bryan Sypniewski.
• Thank you to Kevin Mullen for creating Dewey-489 on 3 Nov 13.
• Dewey-887 was created by Tom Wilde through the import of Gorman - Stevens Family TreeLucyEdwardsAncestor-1.ged on Nov 25, 2015.