Richard Curtis

RICHARD CURTIS (d. 1693)

ANN HALLETT, daughter of John Hallett and Anne Unknown

Richard Curtis died on 15 October 1693 in Scituate. [1] He married first Ann, the daughter of John Hallett, in 1649. [2] He married second Lydia Unknown.

John Curtis (presumably Richard and Ann's son) is referred to as the grandson of John Hallett.

Richard was one of four brothers—Richard, Thomas, John and William—who came to New England. [2] The division of John's estate suggests that there was also a sister Elizabeth who married Jacob Bumpas.

Richard is on the 1643 list of those able to bear arms in Scituate. He had land at Marblehead in 1648, and he bought land in Scituate the same year and bought a house. [2]

Richard was appointed a surveyor of highways in Scituate on 4 June 1650 and 5 June 1671. On 15 November 1655 he was on a jury that determined that William Pake's child had tumbled down an unfenced hill, gone into the water and drowned. He was a freeman on 1 June 1658. He was a constable in Scituate on 7 June 1659. He was on a jury that determined that Samuel Jenkin's child had drowned in a well on 29 October 1673. He was a jury that determined that Joseph Ellis had gone into the harbor to swim or wash and had drowned on 6 March 1676/7. He was on a jury of grand enquiry on 5 June 1677. [3]

On 26 February 1673 land allocations in Scituate were summarized. Nine lots located on the patent line (dividing Scituate from the Massachusetts Bay Colony) beginning at Prospect Hill and going up to Accord Pond were to be allocated to John Williams and Walter Briggs (75 acres each), William Hatch and John Turner, Jr. (60 acres each), Richard Curtis, Samuel Jackson, and Thomas Clap, the heirs of Thomas Chittenden, and Mihiel Pierce (50 acres) each. [4: 59]

On 1 June 1680 the court ordered that the estate of [Richard's brother] John Curtis be divided into five parts. Two parts to go to John's eldest brother, Thomas, living in York, Maine. One part was to go to Richard, one part to William and one part to Elizabeth, the wife of Jacob Bumpas. [3]

John Hallett of Scituate made his will on 30 August 1669. He left bequests to his wife Anne, his granddaughters Hannah, Mary Martha, Elizabeth, Deborah, and Sarah Curtis, his grandsons John and Thomas Curtis, his son-in-law Richard Curtis. He named Richard his sole executor. [5]

Richard made his will on 26 December 1692 and it was proved on 19 December 1693. He left his eldest son John all the upland and meadow that previously belonged to John Curtis of Scituate, deceased, on the condition that John maintain him and and his wife during his life. He left his wife Lydia half the profits of his house and land during her life. After Richard and Lydia's decease, John was to have two-thirds of the house and lands and Thomas one-third. He left his daughter Hannah Curtis ten pounds, his daughter Elizabeth Brooks 12 pounds, his daughter Martha Badcock ten pounds and his daughter Martha Clarke ten pounds, all to be paid by John. He left his daughter Sarah Curtis 13 pounds, to be paid equally by John and Thomas. He left John the rest of his estate. [6]

Children of Richard Curtis and Ann Hallett:

i. Anna Curtis was born on 12 May 1649 in Scituate. [1] She must be the Hannah Curtis mentioned in her father's will.

ii. Elizabeth Curtis was born on 16 April 1661 in Scituate. [1] She married Nathaniel Brooks in 1678 in Scituate. [1] Nathaniel was the son of William, baptized on 29 March 1646 in Scituate. [2][7]

iii. John Curtis was born on 9 December 1653 in Scituate. [1] He married Miriam Brooks, the daughter of William Brooks, on 4 April 1678 in Scituate. [1]

On 5 April and 21 August 1695 land in Scituate was granted to John Curtis in right of his grandfather John Hallett. [7]

iv. Mary Curtis was born on 9 January 1655 in Scituate. [1] She married Unknown Badcock.

v. Martha Curtis was born in 1657. [2] She married Thomas Clark in 1676. [2]

v. Thomas Curtis was born on 18 March 1659 in Scituate. He died on 20 January 1757. He married first Mary Cooke. He married second Mary Guilford.

vi. Deborah Curtis was born on 16 April 1661 in Scituate. [1] She probably died by 1692, when she was not mentioned in her father's will.

vii. Sarah Curtis was born on 20 July 1663 in Scituate. [1] She married William Cock on 30 August 1705 in Scituate. [1] She probably died by 1692, when she was not mentioned in her father's will.

References

1. Vital Records of Scituate, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850, 2 vols. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society), vol. 1: 104–15 (Curtis births); vol. 2: 82–88 (Curtis marriages) vol. 2: 373–377 (Curtis deaths).

2. Samuel Deane, History of Scituate (Boston: James Loring, 1831),118, 237, 251, 277.

3. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, vol. 1, 1633–1640, vol. 2, 1641–1651, vol. 3, 1651–1661, vol. 4, 1661–1668, vol. 5, 1668–1678, vol. 6, 1678–1691 (Boston: William White, 1855, 1866), vol. 2: 155; vol. 3:92, 137, 163; vol. 5: 58, 131, 226, 230, vol. 6: 40.

4. Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, The Seventeenth-Century Town Records of Scituate, Massachusetts, 3 vols. (Boston: New England Historical Genealogical Society, 1997, 1999, 2001).

5. "Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories," Mayflower Descendant 34 (1937): 113–4.

6. Genealogical Advertiser (Cambridge, MA: Lucy Hall Greenlaw, 1896–1901), digitized volumes, AmericanAncestors pp. 110–1.

7. Vital Records of Scituate, vol. 1: 50.

last revised 26-Dec-2022