It is our purpose to publish in this work a portion of the great mass of material we have collected in our researches, consisting of extracts from public records in various parts of Great Britain, which all go to show how widely spread the Cutler family was, even before the settlement of America, and incidentally bear witness to the social standing and respectability of the race. These may be valuable in the future, as should any, following in our footsteps, wish to pursue the research further, they will find the material we have gathered at hand. They will also substantiate the fact, whatever it may be worth, that the same family names of the emigrant Cutlers and their children are found in the records. The will of Robert Cutler of London contains the only explicit statement connecting the English Cutlers with the American branch:

I, Robert Cutler, of London, yeoman, being purposed very shortly to make a voiage to the seas, and set sayle for *Virginia, whereas I have several sums of money lnt out to divers persons at 10 per cent., for which bonds etc. are in the hands of my exors. I bequeath these to my natural mother, Dorothy Muddock, wife of William Muddock, of Ipswich, merchant, for her life. After her death, I bequeath the same to my three natural sisters, Jillian Baxter, Mary Wyeth, and Ann Cary, equally between them. I ordain my brother in law, Allen Cary and William Versey, gent, to be exors.

Wit. By Bright, & Wm Rowe

John Farnsoterwick, ser.

Date 8 Sept. 1607, proved 4 May 1611.

The above will proves only that the testator intended to go to Virginia in 1607. There is no evidence that he did come. He probably died unmarried, previous to May 4, 1611, when the will was proved or admitted to probate. That he had money invested in some venture, as early as 1607, shows that there was a tide of emigration setting towards America the year that Jamestown, in Virginia, was settled, and that he fully intended to cross the seas and probably settle. It is possible that he did so, and died in America, but we find no further mention of him. It will be seen by other wills that he had brothers whose names were the same as those so common in our early families, *Virginia, at that time, included New England.

and are strong indications that these old families, or others of the same name in Ipswich, are the source whence the Cutlers of the New World sprang.

We leave here the subject of origin, subject to further light, if that shall come later, and proceed to the main work we have proposed.

1. James Cutler, born in England in 1606, settled as early as 1634 in *Watertown, Mass., where the first record of the family name in New England is to be found, and was one of the original grantees of land in the northerly part of the town, on the road to Belmont. He married Anna tradition says a sister of Capt. John Grout's wife, both of whom were so opposed and tantalized in England for their Puritanism, that they resolved to seek their fortunes in New England, and came unattended by parents or near friends. There is no authentic record by which to fix the year of James Cutler's arrival here. His first child, James, was born "ye 6th day 9th month 1635." He had that year passed all necessary probation, had been received an inhabitant of Watertown, and had

a house-lot assigned him. It contained eight acres, bounded east by Thomas Boylston, west and north by a highway, i. e., by Common street and Pond road, south by Ellias Barron.

In the first "great divide" (that is, general division of land), July 25, 1636, he was assigned twenty-five acres, and three acres in the further plain (now Waltham), next to the river. In 1642, from the farm lands, he had assigned him eighty-two acres in the fourth division, and

*Watertown, situated six miles west of Boston, was settled in July, 1630, by Sir Richard Saltonstall, with a large number of emigrants, and Rev. George Phillips as their pastor, who sailed from the Isle of Wight, April 8, of that year, in the ships Arbella, Jewell, Ambrose and Talbot, arriving in Salem June 12, 13, 18, and July 2, respectively. Soon after their arrival, June 17, a party, including Gov. John Winthrop and Sir Richard Saltonstall, started out to explore the country about the bay, for the purpose of selecting a place for settlement. Having chosen the peninsular of Charlestown, they returned to Salem, and, as soon as preparations could be made for their accommodation, the passengers of the fleet proceeded to Charlestown. That their stay here was brief is evident from the fact that a church was organized in Watertown, July 30, when forty men, with Sir Richard at the head, signed the covenant.

Capt. John Grout m., first, Mary -, and, second, Sarah, widow of Thomas Cakebread; he removed to Sudbury, where he d., 1697.

four other lots. October 2, 1645, he was one of the petitioners "in relation to Nashaway plantation, now Weston." December 13, 1649, James Cutler and Nathaniel Bowman, for £70, bought of Edward Goffe 200 acres in Cambridge Farms, adjoining Rock Meadow, and near to or adjoining Waltham, "payable in instalments of £10 annually, in money, cattle, hogs, wheat, pease, rice Indian corn or barlie, at the dwelling house of Edward Goffe, in Cambridge," and payment secured by mortgage. March 4, 1651, Cutler sold his share (100 acres) to Bowman for £39. About this time, he settled at Cambridge Farms (now Lexington), on what is now known as Wood street, near the place where William Hartwell resides, not far from the Concord (now Bedford) line. A part of the farm has been in the family until recently, when it was sold by the heirs of Leonard Cutler. He is supposed to have built one of the first houses at the Farms; vestiges of the cellar still remain. The house was located some thirty rods from the present highway, on an elevation commanding an extensive view. *James Cutler buried his first wife, Anna, September 30, 1644, and married, second, March 9, 1645, Mary, widow of †Thomas King. She died December 7, 1654, and he married his third wife, Phoebe, daughter of John Page, about 1662. Mr. Cutler was too remote from Watertown, and especially from Cambridge, to have admitted of his serving in town affairs in either place. He made his will November 24, 1684, at Cambridge Farms, being then seventy-eight, and died May 17, 1694, aged eighty-eight *James Cutler and others signed a petition to the General Court, in October, 1682, to be set off as a distinct parish, having no ministry without going from five to ten miles. The people of Cambridge zealously opposed the separation and the passage of the petition was not granted. The oldest paper upon the records at Lexington is a subscription list, in 1691, for the purpose of erecting a meeting-house in the precinct. It was signed by forty-one persons, among whom were Thomas Cutler, £2; James Cutler, 1; John Cutler, 128.; and a tax bill for salary for the minister, from May 1, 1692, to May 1, 1693: John Cutler, ros. 6d. ; Thomas Cutler, 18s. 9d.

Thomas King, aged 15, embarked at Ipswich, April, 1634, with John Barnard's family; he m. Mary, and d. at Watertown, December 3, 1644.

John Page, with wife Phoebe, came from Dedham, Eng., in 1630; he d. at Watertown, December 18, 1676.

years. In his will, he bequeathed to his son James Cutler a parcel of land on the north side of the brook and meadow, adjoining land which he had formerly sold him, and ten acres of meadow in the "great meadow," and a small parcel of meadow of the upper end of his home meadow as his portion of his estate. To his son Thomas Cutler, twenty acres of upland and meadow, in addition to fifteen acres of meadow previously given him; to his son Samuel Cutler, twenty acres of land, more or less, as may appear by deed under his hand and seal; to the rest of his children, including the two children of his former wife, widow of Thomas King, and to his sons Thomas and John, equal portions of the balance of his estate, notice being made that he had given to John Collar, (the husband of his daughter Mary), twenty acres of upland, and to Richard Parks, (husband of his step-daughter Sarah King), £6 5s.; to his daughter, the wife of John Parmenter, £7 and a cow; to his daughter Sarah Waite, a mare and cow; to Mary Johnson, £5; to Hannah Winter, £5; to his daughter Joanna Russell a feather bed and bolster and coverlid and an iron pot, and to his daughter Jemima, his feather bed and bolster and all that belongs to it; that these things be accounted a part of his estate; that his sons Thomas Cutler, John Cutler and Samuel Cutler have his house and lands not formerly disposed of, paying to the rest of his children their several parts, according to his will, in three annual payments; and that Thomas and John should be his executors. His will was proved August 20, 1694. Such is the brief, unvarnished record of the James "Cuttler," who came to New England 250 years ago. There is no direct testimony as to his character, bis social standing, or his intelligence. That he was honest and persevering, however, is evident by bis acquisition of lauds and payment for the same. His early investment with full citizenship shows he had established a fair reputation among his fellow-townsmen; while the provisions of his