James KIDDER  (1626 - 16 Apr 1676)

He is the progenitor of practically all persons in this country who bear 
the surname. His birthplace was a small village about thirty miles south 
of London (Lat 51.08 N, Long 0.01 W) that was near Maresfield, the tradi-
tional seat of the Kidder family in England. Nothing is known of his early 
years, but it is thought he arrived in New England in about 1649, shortly 
before his marriage to Anna Moore of Cambridge, Mass. He may have been 
related to a Stephen Kidder who attempted to found a settlement at 
Newichewanock (now called South Berwick) in York County, Maine in 1633. 
For unknown reasons the colony failed and it is presumed that Stephen 
Kidder returned to his home in Maresfield. James' relation to Stephen is 
speculated only, but it may be significant that James named his sixth son, 
Stephen.

He is first mentioned in Cambridge records in 1650 when he settled and 
married there. In 1653, he leased a farm of 289 acres situated in West 
Cambridge from Deacon Nathaniel Sparhawk. It was located specifically on 
the north shore of the Monotony River and Fresh Pond; in the region of 
what eventually became the present-day city of Arlington. Early records 
show he was paid a bounty of ten shillings for killing a wolf. He was a 
member of the Church of Cambridge indicated by the records which state 
"James Kiddar and Anne his wife" were admitted to full communion and seven 
of their children were baptized there. By 1656, he was living in Shawshin, 
now named Billerica. In 1662, he was a juror in Cambridge; and in the 
same year he was made Sergeant of the militia company at Billerica. In 
1675, during the King Philip's War, his company kept guard over a small 
tribe of Indians at Wameset, now a part of Lowell, and soon afterward he 
was appointed to the command of a garrison house which protected seven 
families, his own included.

In subsequent years he received several other tracts of land as grants 
from the Church or government. Among them was a tract of sixty acres 
southeast of Fox Hill, later probably occupied by son James, and thirty-one
acres in what later became a part of Tewksbury; and two and a half acres 
on the highway adjoining his house lot and running to the Concord River.

It is speculated, but not proven that he may have been killed by Indians 
making a foray against the town of Billerica on 16 April 1676. While his 
name did not appear on any list of those killed, the story was recorded by 
a great-grandson, Samuel Kidder (1734-1776), and related to his grand-
children.

Sources:
"History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877", pp.437-442, Lucius R. 
Page, The Cambridge Historical Society, 1930.
"New England Families", Vol. II, pp.519-521, William Richard Cutter, 
Woburn, Mass., 1913.
Genealogical notes and letters of Mrs. Jerrie Moore, San Angelo, TX, 1995.