Matthew Bridge I (abt. 1618 - 1700)

Born about 1618 in Earls Colne, Essex, England

Husband of Anne (Danforth) Bridge — married 1643 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 28 Apr 1700 at about age 82 in Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts

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Biography

Mathew BRIDGE Baptism 02 Apr 1620 Essex Earls Colne : St Andrew : Parish Register. ^[1]

Matthew Bridge (2. 1), b. in England circa 1615,^[2] or about 1618^[3] seems to have done, in good part, the service for Lexington which his father rendered to Cambridge.

" Matthew of the second generation lived in Lexington, and was a large landholder there, and an active and public-spirited citizen."^[4][5]

Crowded as almost from the first the New Towne settlers felt themselves, with Charlestown, Boston, and Watertown pressing so close upon three sides of them, the Cambridge Proprietors soon looked for new lands toward their northwest.  As early as 1643, John Bridge cut grass on a lot he owned at Vine Brook, at Cambridge Farms, as Lexington was then called. These lots were bounded, we are told, by other earlier improved lands of his. This  fact leads Mr. Hudson to suppose that even so early Matthew had gone to the Farms to live. But Mr. Paige's opinion seems more trustworthy, — that he lived, probably till about 1668, at the comer of Main and Brattle Streets in Cambridge, on Iand which he bought in l657, and which he sold to Captain Pyam Blowers in 1672. At this last date, certainly, he had left it, as it was at that time occupied by Reuben Luxford.  

At the time of his probable removal to Lexington, Matthew was one of the largest landholders of the precinct. As early as 1648, he owned at least four hundred acres there.  In 1683, he sold his father's homestead to John Marrett, and thus cut the last strong material tie that bound him to the old home. For fifteen or twenty years before that time, he had energetically served the new settlement. And when the town was organized in 1692, he helped in its organization, as, before, when the meeting-house was built he contributed as largely as any to build that, — more largely than any but three. ^[6][7]

6 Jun 1637: "General Court bound Mathew Bridge and John Bridge 'his father' for Mathew's appearance at the next court to answer the charge of causing the 'untimely death of John Abbot'... When Mathew appeared in court on 19 Sept 1637, no evidence was brought against him, and 'he was quit by proclamation.'^[8]

He died in 1700 and was buried at Old Burying Ground, Cambridge. His memorial has a picture of a monument of his, and links to those of his father, wife and four of their seven children.^[9]

Samuel Bridge, a descendant, prepared an epitaph for a memorial erected many years later, that describes his life. Seeking original records to confirm this information:

In memory of Matthew Bridge, Esq., eldest son of Deacon John Bridge. Came over with him from England in 1631. He resided with his father in this city, in 1632. A member of the Artillery Company in 1643. Admitted a freeman in 1645. Removed to Lexington, and a large landholder in 1666. He subscribed for the erection of the First Church in 1692, and paid the largest parish tax at its organization in 1693. At the ordination of Rev. John Hancock, in 1698, as a mark of distinction and respect for his advanced age, he was seated at the table in the meeting-house by order of the parish.

"He was a prominent citizen, having served the town in many important public stations with honor and fidelity. A man who feared God and loved his fellow-men. He died at Lexington, April 28, 1700.

" In 1643, He married Anna, daughter of Nickolas and Elizabeth Danforth, a woman of most exemplary virtue and piety. She died Dec. 2, 1704, aged eighty-four years." ^[10]

He married Anna Danforth, daughter of Nicholas Danforth, about 1645^[11] in Holland, Hampden, Massachusetts (location needs confirming; doesn't seem accurate).^[12]

The 1658/9 list of Cambridge church members included "Anne Bridge the wife of Matthew Bridge daughter also of Mr. Nicholas Danforth."^[13]

Children

1. John Bridge, b Cambridge 15 Jun1645
2. Anna Bridge; m. Edward Garfield and/or m. Samuel Livermore^[14]
3. Matthew Bridge
4. Was there another daughter who married Edward Garfield? Or did Anna, above, have two marriages? This needs checking.

Sources

1. ↑ FreeReg. https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_queries/620844234325a62720602b5e?locale=en
2. ↑ U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 : Ancestry.com: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data - Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls. http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=sarmemberapps&h=675960&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt APID: 1,2204::675960
3. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Vol I., A-B, b 396
4. ↑ [NEHGS Register vol 49, page 84]
5. ↑ SAR Application, op cit.
6. ↑ Bridge, William Frederick, An Account of the Descendants of John Bridge, Cambridge, 1632, Boston: J.S. Cushing & Co., printers (1884)
7. ↑ Savage, James, John Farmer, and O. P. Dexter. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1860.
8. ↑ Anderson, p 396, citing Massachusetts Bay Court Records Vol I, p 198, 203
9. ↑ Matthew Bridge memorial at Find A Grave.
10. ↑ History of the Military company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and honorable artillery company of Massachusetts. 1637-1888, (1895), p 128; see footnotes.
11. ↑ Anderson, p 396
12. ↑ LDS Indexing Project (Batch) Number:M54144-1. System Origin:Massachusetts-EASy. Source Film Number:886998
13. ↑ Anderson, p 396, citing Cambridge Church Records, p 9
14. ↑ The New England historical and genealogical register (1852); https://archive.org/details/newenglandhistor1852wate

See also:

• Roberts, Gary Boyd; Ancestors of American Presidents. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009, p. ???
• Genealogy of the John Bridge family in America, 1632-1924...
• Find A Grave: Memorial #46451976
• Lexington, Massachusetts, Record of Births, Marriages, and Deaths to January 1, 1898 (Wright & Potter, Boston, 1898) Page 8: Bridge. "Matthew and his wf. Anne or Anna, d. of Nicholas Danforth, and five of their children were in the ch. in 1658."