Fascinated by Charlestown, MA and the Tidd Family

When studying the Tidd family, who seem to have first come to the colonies in about 1637, I reviewed the works of many authors. Recently I purchased two books relative to the town of Charlestown, Massachusetts where they are known to have first inhabited. The first book is From Deference to Defiance, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1629-1692 by Roger Thompson, published by the New England Historical Genealogical Society, Boston, 2012, 593 pages. The second book is Charlestown, Mass. Vol. 1Vital Records to 1850 by Roger D. Joslyn, published by the New England Historical Genealogical Society, Boston, 1984, 919 pages.

The first book covers the following topics, with notations about the Tidd family:
Peopling, the Origins - includes the tax list of 16 November 1658, Josh Tid page 49.
Town - includes a list of officeholders, J. Tidd held several, pages 60, 62, 73, 77.
Land - includes a map ca. 1638 showing Tidd property between Harvard St. and Crooked Lane, page 100; Josiah Tidd one of the founding elite, page 96.
Sea - includes a list of Charlestown Maritime Inhabitants, 1630-1685, J Tidd merchant and retailer 1656-1678, page 150; Joshua Tidd battle with neighbor John Trumball, page 155; Joshua Tidd v. Richard Collicutt court case 1656-1657, pages 174-180; his eldest daughter Sarah married the successful sea captain Zechariah Long, page 176; Trumball cases and Tidd family references, note on page 176; Joshua Tidd merchant, small business, Maine, pages 255, 258; Sarah (Tidd) Long died on 3 July 1674, page 274.
Church
Women
Violence - Joshua Tidd customer of John Cromwell embroiled in the beaver trade with the Indians in the Kennebec Valley in Maine, other customers were Francis Norton, Richard Russell, and Richard Sprague, found in Cromwell's records,  page 474 and note.
Defiance
Epilogue
Index - pages 537-593.

On page 176, " Joshua Tidd or Tead (1607-78), by now about fifty, had arrived in Charlestown in 1637 from Hertford, a renowned Puritan center twenty-five miles north of London, which gave its name to the capital of Connecticut. He became a church member in 1639. By trade he was a carpenter, a highly valued and well paid profession. He served the town as constable, and Middlesex County as grand juryman, acting as foreman in 1655. In 1648 he built a shop and portal by the east door of the meetinghouse. In the 1660s and 1670s he was twice a selectman, as well as rate commissioner, ensign, and then lieutenant of the militia. In the year of the seizure, his eldest daughter Sarah married the successful sea captain Zechariah Long. During the 1650s, Tidd used Chelmsford fur trader John Cromwell as his agent in small transactions with Indian trappers. He also dealt with Captain John Trumbell for English goods, especially fabrics and haberdashery. His bruising experiences with both Trumball and the Kennebec residents seem to have driven him back to woodworking. In 1668, he managed major renovations of the meetinghouse. Inside the building he had been recruited as reliably orthodox by the three deacons in 1665 to help them contain and control the Baptist challenge. He refused an unusual third term in the responsible but time-consuming job of constable, and his reasons were eventually accepted. He lived a long and useful life in Charlestown, a reliable middle manager in the militia, church, and town government. The Kennebec imbroglio appears a rare external venture."
The sources for this information include Hertford: "John Dane's Relation", R8 (1854), 147-56; life: Wyman, Savage, Cromwell; Rodgers, 2:60, and below, "Mass Violence." Trumbull and Tidd fell out in 1658 and again in 1663;Tidd won three cases of debt as defendant, MxCCRB, 1:161, 278, 292; D&O, 1; docs 758, 763, 2228, 2245, 2253; see above, "The Sea: Introduction." On 31 December 1671, he had bought L5 worth of carpenters' nails and steel imported from London. Hull, Letter Book, 46."

The second book covers the following topics, with notations about the Tidd family:
Earliest Charlestown Vital Records in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Record Volume, pages 1-10
Charlestown Vital Records in Middlesex County Records, pages 11-32
Charlestown Town Vital Records Volume 1- Part I, pages 33-262
Charlestown Town Vital Records Volume 1- Part II, pages 263-446
Charlestown Marriage Intentions Volume 1- Part I, pages 447-496
Charlestown Marriage Intentions Volume 1- Part I, pages 497-586
Charlestown Marriage Intentions Volume 2, pages 587-742
Charlestown Marriage Intentions Volume 3, pages 743-752
Other Charlestown Marriages from Transcript, pages 753-756
Index of Persons, pages 757-910
Index of Subjects and Places Outside of Charlestown, pages 911-919

Tidd, Ted, Teed, Tid
Elizabeth Ted married Samuel Lords, by Mr. Ric. Russell, Oct. 15 [altered from 10], 1667, page 25.
Miss Hannah Tidd of Medford, married Mr. Caleb Brooks of Charlestown, entered Sept. 7, 1806, page 524.
John Tid, son of Joshua & Sara, b. 15 (4) 1641, page 9.
Joseph Tid, son of Joshua & Sarah, b. 15 (10) 1643, page 9.
Joshua pages 9 as above, 103 as below.
Samuel Tidd of Woburn & Lucy Gardner of this town, entered Dec. 9, 1769, page 488.
Sara Tid, page 9 as above.
Sarah Tid, pages 9 as above; Sarah Tid married Zach. Long by Mr. Ri. Russell, Commr.,, Sept. 24, [16] 56, page 20; Sarah Teed, wife [of] Joshua Teed, 71, d. Oct. 15, 1677, page 103.
 

These two books only provide snippets about the Tidd family, but when compared they raise additional questions and provide some resources that need to be accessed. What is clear is that there are two Tidd families, one of John (1589-1656) having lived in Charlestown for a short time before becoming an early settler of Woburn and living out his life there; and Joshua (1607-1678) having settled in Charlestown and living out his life there. John is not mentioned in either book, but may have been one of the J. Tidds in the first book. Each has been connected to Hertford, Hertfordshire, England. The first reference in John Dane’s Relation seems to refer to John who was a tailor, not Joshua who was a carpenter and merchant. “A Mr. Tead or Tidd, who afterwards settled in Charlestown, Mass., was, about the year 1630, a tailor in business at Hertford, Hertfordshire, Eng. He was a young man then." And in his narrative, he mentions, "I then Rout with M" Tead, that Liues at Charlostoune. He was a young man then. He and I was goint to a dansing on nite, and it began to thunder, and I tould him I doubted we ware not in our waie; and he and I went back againe."

From my personal notes:

John Tidd, a tailor, came early and settled in Charlestown, where he was a proprietor in 1637; and the next year owned eight lots, the sixth which was in Waterfield (now Woburn). He removed to Woburn, where he subscribed to "Town Orders," Dec., 1640; freeman May 10, 1643; and on the County Rate Sept. 8, 1645; Surveyor of Fences, 1646; petitioned General Court regarding land, 1648. Town officer. Sold land 1652; bought Thomas Moulton's old house in Woburn and sold it the next year to Nathaniel Hadlock.
"Dr. to John Tead for ringing the bell 1pd., 10s. od.," 1640.

His will dated Apr. 9, 1656, probated Nov. 10, 1656, bequeathes to wife Alice, son John, Daus. Mary and Elizabeth; to son Savell's children, Benjamin, Hannah, John and Samuel; to son Samuel's daus.; to grandchildren, Thomas Fuller and John Kendall.
The Snow-Estes Ancestry at ancestry.com

In the first book on page 125 there is the following:
 "In 1637, Charlestown's grazing common, on the Mainland (roughly modern Somerville), was assigned by the town meeting to a hundred and thirteen inhabitants, known as the Proprietors."
Were John and Joshua part of this group?

From the Hertford, England church records three of the children of Joshua and Sarah have been located. Their family is as follows:
1. Joshua Tidd, christened 17 June 1631/32 in Hertford, married Ruth Gardner 15 Oct. 1677 in Charlestown.
2. Elizabeth Tidd, christened 20 August 1634 in Hertford, married Samuel Lords 15 Oct. 1667 in Charlestown.
3. Sarah Tidd, christened 15 January 1636 in Hertford, she probably died there.
4. Sarah Tidd, christened 2 June 1639 in Charlestown, married Zachariah Long 24 September 1656 in Charlestown, died 2 July 1674 in Charlestown.
5. John Teed, born 15 June1641 in Charlestown, married Mary Jennings in 1666 in Huntington, Suffolk, New York, and died there in 1685.
6. Joseph Teed, born 15 December 1643 in Charlestown, died 15 September 1678.

From the Field Dalling, Norfolk, England church records the first five children of John and his wife Margaret Greenleaf have been located. Their family is as follows:
1. Elizabeth Tidd, 15 September 1617 in Field Dalling, married Thomas Fuller 13 April 1643 in Woburn, died in 1684.
2. Susan Tidd, born in 1619 in Field Dalling.
3. John Tidd, born in 1621 in Field Dalling, married Rebecca Wood 14 April 1650 in Woburn, died 13 April 1703 in Lexington.
4. Mary Tidd, born in 1623 in Field Dalling, married Francis Kendall 24 December 1644 in Woburn, died 1705 in Woburn.
5. William Tidd, born 1626 in Field Dalling, no record in New England.
6. Samuel Tidd, birth unknown, married Sarah 13 April 1650 in Salem.
7. Hannah Tidd, birth unknown, married William Savell, children Benjamin, Hannah, John and Samuel, she died before 1656.

Many people have researched these families. With the availability of records increasing every day, there may be answers to the questions surrounding them. They were held in high esteem in each of their respective towns. Reading the first book, From Deference to Defiance, I am learning more about the cultures that they lived in even if little of the information is specific to them. It is time that I return to the original records available for these locations and explore the records for more information about the Tidd famiies. From the information about the children's births it appears that the families lived in specific locations in England. Learning about whom they may have traveled with, the direct connection between John and Joshua, and then what became of their children will help me in piecing together the family history. I appreciate that I came across both books and ordered them for personal reading. It takes a lot of time to read and decipher the content, but I am gaining valuable insight into the records that will help in my search.

Consider ordering a book about a locality you are researching to explore the culture that affected your ancestor's lives. Now I need to go finish reading the first book, as I am still only halfway through.