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Robert Cross (c. 1613–1695/1710)
Anna Jordan (say 1612–1667), daughter of Stephen Jordan
Robert Cross was born about 1613. He married first Anna Jordan on 20 August 1635. He married second Mary ___. Both Robert and Mary died between 21 May 1695 and 4 December 1710.
Anna Jordan was born say 1612, based on her marriage. The widow of Robert, Sr. died on 29 October 1667 in Ipswich. [1]
Robert deposed that he was 55 on 29 September 1668. [2, 4: 48]
Mary Cross deposed that she was 27 on 4 May 1680. [2, 7: 375] If this is Robert's second wife, she was younger than most of Robert's children.
A 29 September 1663 Ipswich quarterly court paper has written on its reverse side, "To Heere Loveing and Kind Brother Robert Crosse Att the Towne of Ipswich in new England Deliver this I pray." [2, 3: 85–86] Unfortunately, there is no indication of who wrote it.
Robert was granted six acres adjoining the land of Stephen Jordan in 1635 and by 1638 he had built a house on it. [3]
Robert was a soldier in the Pequot War in 1637. [3] He was made a freeman on 30 March 1658. [2, 2: 67] He appears to have never held a public office.
On 19 March 1649/50, Robert moved to a 40-acre farm in Chebacco, the southern part of Ipswich. [3]
Robert spent a lot of time in court.
John Fuller sued Robert Cross on 29 March 1642/3. [2, 1: 41] On 27 March 1649/50 Joseph Fowler of Ipswich was presented for "sinful speeches" concerning Robert of Ipswich. The witnesses were Robert Laud and the wife and daughter of John Cross, the farmer. The same day John Cross of Ipswich was presented for slanderous speeches against Mr. Rogers of Rowley and the witnesses were Joseph Fowler and John Bradstreet of Ipswich. [2, 1: 168] On 13 November 1649 the Ipswich court admonished Robert "for words." [2, 1: 179] John Cross may have been a relative of Robert's.
Robert was involved in a dispute with John Marshall and others over land he believed to be his. John Marshall sued Robert Cross for mowing the meadow he rented from Richard Brabooke and carrying off the hay. A writ was issued on 2 September 1662. Robert argued that the land was his, but the court found for the plaintiff on 30 September 1662. [2, 2: 434–5] Robert apparently felt that the court was biased. He was also vocal about it, saying that he could get no justice while the major [Denison] was on the bench. This led to the 5 May 1663 court ordering him to pay a fine "for speaking scandalous words" or make an acknowledgment. He chose the later. [2, 3: 65] He then sued John for unjust molestation, bringing suit against him. His action was unsuited at the 30 June 1663 court. Next, he sued John Marshall and others for mowing on his marsh and brought a separate suit against John Marshall. The 29 September 1663 found for the defendants in the first suit and Robert withdrew the latter. [2, 3: 86–92]
Robert's daughter Martha gave Robert much trouble, as did his sons Robert and Stephen. Stephen was presented at the March 1667 court in Ipswich: [2, 3: 399-400]
For his "barbarous and inhuman act of digging up the grave of the Sagamore of Agawam and carrying his skull upon a pole," Robert, Jr. was also sentenced to prison until the next lecture day and then to sit in the stocks. He was fined and ordered to bury the Sagamore's bones and restore his grave.Stephen Crose, William Andrews and Joseph Gidding, for their great misdemeanors of pulling up bridges at the windmill, were committed to prison until the next lecture day, and after the lecture to be brought forth by the marshal and constables, to sit one hour in the stocks, then to be carried back to prison until they pay a fine of 3li. each. They were also bound to good behavior. ...
John Andrews, jr., being examined, declared that Qorles [Cross?] did most of the pulling up of the bridge near Mr. Saltonstall's and also confessed that he and Joseph Gidding did the most at the windmill. At Halfield bridge he pulled up one piece of it and laid it down again in the morning, Stephen Crose being in company with them. Also the past spring he was at the Sagamore's grave with Robert Crose, jr., when he was digging it up and the latter carried the skull upon a pole to a lot where John Gidding was at plow. At first he dug up part of the grave, but later they used hoes.
In the town of Ipswich lived a widow Martha Haffield. She apparently had a significant estate and was mentally incompetent. Her son Thomas White, was her guardian. The 9 May 1666 court summoned Robert and Martha's two daughters, Martha and Rachel Haffield, to the September 1666 court to examine further the widow's estate. At the time, Robert had a servant, Clinton Lawrence, who later achieved a fair amount of notoriety in colonial New England. Clinton was anxious to get out of his contract with Robert. Dazzling the much older Rachel Haffield with his talk of wealthy connections in England, he convinced her to marry him. Rachel deposed that Robert Cross, Sr. also entreated her to marry Clinton and "labored hard" with the Worshipful Mr. Simonds to perform the marriage. After their marriage, Clinton convinced Martha to give him 21 pounds, and he used this to buy out his time. It was not entirely clear whether this money had been given to her or was only in her custody. Her family sued Robert, accusing him of conspiring with Clinton to take her money. On review at the 26 November 1667 court, Robert was found innocent. [2, 3: 321, 456–8] Clinton later deserted his wife, who ended her days in a small hut on an island in Ipswich harbor.
Robert had another troublesome servant: Nicholas Vanden. Nicholas was convicted of running away from his master and stealing from Robert and others at the 25 September 1666 court. He was sentenced to be whipped and to pay twice the amount of the stolen goods with service, at the court's choosing. [2, 4: 351] At the 31 March 1668 court he was ordered to be severely whipped for running away and to pay five pounds plus 15 pounds to Robert; Robert was given the liberty to have an iron put on his neck. [2, 4: 10] On 29 March 1670, after he ran away again and stole seven pounds and nine shillings from Robert, the court ordered Nicholas to be severely whipped and branded on the forehead with an "R." He was also ordered to pay Robert 40 pounds. [2, 4: 234]
Robert, Thomas Wells, and Benjamin Marshall had a feud, revolving around who said what about the magistrates. Townspeople signed petitions in favor of one person or another. Robert sued Thomas for slander after Thomas called him a "cheating knave." The court found for Robert and Thomas made an acknowledgment. Thomas repeated remarks Robert made about the court. The records of the 24 November 1668 court contain pages of depositions supporting one side or the other. The court bound Robert Cross, Stephen Cross, Benjamin Marshall, Thomas Wells, and Reynold Foster for good behaver. [2, 4: 76–82]
Robert Cross and John Andrews sued the widow Susanna Jordan for legacies due them. The 28 March 1671 court found for the plaintiffs. [2, 4: 334]
On or shortly before 12 March 1685/6 Robert Cross, Sr., yeoman of Ipswich, agreed to give his farm to his sons Robert and Stephen. They were to pay his wife Mary 20 pounds and she would relinquish any claim to his estate. They were to pay his daughters Elizabeth, Mary, Martha, Hannah, and Sarah twenty pounds each and his granddaughter Elizabeth Nelson ten pounds. Upon his death, he would leave Robert and Stephen the remainder of his estate. [4]
On 7 March 1685/6 Robert deeded his farm in Chebacco to his sons Robert and Stephen, who were to pay his debts and funeral expenses. Apparently, he continued to live there. [3]
Robert sued John Burnham, Jr. to recover thirty acres in Ipswich. The court found in his favor, but he lost on appeal. In the court papers is a deposition, dated 5 May 1693, of Robert's. He says, "I am the ancientest man and first Proprietor that ever lived on the South side of the Ipswich River." He goes on to say that he and his wife Anna were married on 20 August 1635. His daughter Elizabeth was born on 20 August 1635; his daughter Mary was born on 14 June 1640; his daughter Martha was born on 15 March 1643. It is unclear why he did not list the births of his other children. [5]
In 1694 Robert and Mary consented to Stephen's selling half the marsh called Daffeedowndille. [3] In April 1695 he appealed a court decision. [4]
Stephen Herrick of Beverly, attorney to Mary Herrick of Preston, and Ephraim Fellows and his wife Anna of Plainfield, both daughters of Robert Cross of Ipswich, signed a quitclaim on 4 December 1710, relinquishing their rights in Robert's estate to William Butler of Ipswich for 23 pounds. [6]
Children of Robert Cross and Anna Jordon:
i. Elizabeth Cross was born on 4 August 1636. [5] She married William Nelson. [5]
ii. Mary Cross was born on 14 June 1640. [5] She married Ephraim Herrick of Salem. [5]
iii. Robert Cross was born about 1641/2. He died before 29 June 1713 in Ipswich. [1] He married Martha Tredwell on 19 February 1664 in Ipswich. [1] Martha, the daughter of Thomas Tredwell, was born on 16 March 1643 in Ipswich. [1] Martha, the widow of Robert, died on 3 March 1738, age 95, in Ipswich. [1]
Robert deposed that he was 21 and 27 on 29 September 1663 on 24: 9: 1668. [2, 3: 88; 4: 78]
Robert (probably this Robert, not his father) was fined for excessive drinking on 24 September 1670, for excessive drinking and breach of peace on 25 March 1673, and for breach of peace on 6 November 1677. [2, 4: 289; 5: 139; 6: 344]
Robert leased land on the "little neck" in 1680 and feuded with the fisherman who were accustomed to using the beach. [3] In 1686 he broke into the hut of an old shepherd, Captain John Ayres, and brutally assaulted him. [3]
On 29 August 1694 he released his interest in the farm at Chebacco to his brother Stephen. [3]
Martha Cross, widow, posted pond on the estate of Robert Cross, deceased, on 29 June 1713. [6]
vi. Martha Cross was born on 15 March 1643 in Ipswich. died on 11 January 172/7 in Windham, Windham County, Connecticut. She married William Durkee.
vii. Captain Stephen Cross was born about 1646 or 1647. He married Elizabeth Cheney. [3]
Robert and his son Stephen deposed on 10 May 1660 and Stephen said he was 13. [2, 2: 201] Stephen deposed he was about 16-1/2 on 29 September 1663 and 21 on 29 September 1668. [2, 3: 87, 4: 49]
Stephen was fined for "striking in the meeting house" on 3 May 1670. [2, 4: 242]
On 3 June 1695 Captain Stephen Cross sold to William Butler of Ipswich the estate he had gotten from his father. [4]
viii. Anna (Hannah) Cross was born about 1649/51. She married Ephraim Fellowes.
Anna Cross deposed that she was 21 on 28 March 1671. [2, 4: 335]
x. Sarah Cross was born say 1656. She died by 21 July 1703. She married Lieutenant William Butler.
ix. Ralph Cross was born on 15 February 1658. He died young.
References:
1. Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, 2 vols. (Salem: Essex Institute, 1910), vol. 1, vol. 2.
2. George Francis Dow, ed., and Harriet S. Tapley, trans., Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 9 vols., digitized books, Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project (http://salem.lib.virginia.edu).
3. Walter Goodwin Davis, Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis, vols. 1–3 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996).
4. "Great Migration 1634–1635, C–F," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson,, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634–1635, Volume II, C–F (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001), 240–5.
5. Anson Titus, "Robert Cross, Sr. of Ipswich, Mass.," Notes, New England Historical and Genealogical Register 68 (1614): 201–2.
6. "Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638–1881," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, 6643 (quitclaim), 6644 (Robert, Jr.).
30-Apr-2023