Richard Waldron (Colonel)

Richard Waldron
Born Richard Waldron
1650
Dover, New Hampshire
Died 3 November 1730 (age 80)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Occupation merchant, judge, councilor, mill owner, Colonel of the New Hampshire militia
Spouse(s) Hannah Cutt, Eleanor [1] or Ellenor Vaughan
Children Samuel, Richard, Margaret, William, Ann, Abigail, Eleanor [2]
Parent(s) Richard Waldron

Richard Waldron (1650 - 3 November 1730) was a military officer, politician, and business man of the Province of New Hampshire. He maintained the position of the Waldron family in Dover and colonial New Hampshire through intermarriage with other leading families and inheritance or purchase[3] of many of the positions once held by his father. He was the first of his line to adopt "Waldron" as opposed to "Walderne", the spelling that his father and previous generations had used.

Birth and offices

Richard Waldron was born in 1650 in Dover, New Hampshire.[4] "A son of Major Richard Waldron, [he] ... early removed to Portsmouth. He was chosen a representative in the General Assembly in 1691, and a member of the Royal Council in 1692. He was a justice of the Court of Common Pleas from 1702 until 1706; judge of Probate from 1708 to 1730, and held the commission of Colonel in the Provincial Militia.[1].... Col. Waldron's mercantile education was received in Charlestown, Mass., under George Willoughby." [5]

The Dominion of New England which encompassed all of New England in 1686 "seemed willing to cooperate with any individuals among the local elite who accepted their rule. Richard Waldron Jr., for example, purchased several offices which left him with formal authority in Dover almost as great as that previously exercised by his aging father." [3]

Family

His first wife was Hannah, daughter of President John Cutt.[6] He married (second) at Portsmouth, 6 February 1692/3 Eleanor (or Ellenor) daughter of Major William Vaughan and grand niece of John Cutt and a cousin, once removed, of Hannah.[7] She was the mother of all her husband's children except Samuel, her cousin Hannah's child. Her children included Richard Waldron (Secretary).[8]

Contest with natives

He "was busy fighting Indians."[9] In 1704 "a group of marauding Abenakis and Penacooks went after Richard Waldron, Jr. at his home in Dover, and although the provincial leader was not at home, killed several other colonists in the neighbourhood." [10]

Ousted

"Very shortly after [1715] Colonel Waldron and his friends succeeded in giving the Lieutenant-Governor Usher his quietus, but in the moment of victory the colonel was dismissed from the Council for being 'very much concern'd' in stealing the king's mast timber.[11] He retained his place as judge of common pleas, Secretary of the Province, and clerk of the Council, however, finding means to shift the duties and salary of the last to [his son] Richard, until on January 11, 1716/17, he had him officially sworn into that office." [12]

He died on 3 November 1730[13] in Dover.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 George E. Hodgdon, Reminiscences and Genealogical Record of the Vaughan Family in New Hampshire, (1918), p.6
  2. ↑ (Daughter Eleanor died age 20 "from the effects of drinking too much cold water after dancing") George E. Hodgdon, Reminiscences and Genealogical Record of the Vaughan Family in New Hampshire, (1918), p.9 at: https://archive.org/stream/reminiscencesgen00hodg#page/6/mode/2up accessed 29 August 2010
  3. 1 2 Jere Daniell, Colonial New Hampshire - A History; p.97
  4. ↑ C.H. Cutts Howard, Genealogy of the Cutts Family, p.485 at: https://archive.org/stream/genealogyofcutts00howa#page/n5/mode/2up accessed 29 August 2010
  5. ↑ C.H. Cutts Howard, Genealogy of the Cutts Family, p.485 https://archive.org/stream/genealogyofcutts00howa#page/n5/mode/2up accessed 29 August 2010
  6. ↑ She died in childbirth Feb 14, 1682, and infant son and only child Samuel died 11 months later. George E. Hodgdon, Reminiscences and Genealogical Record of the Vaughan Family in New Hampshire, (1918), pp.6-7
  7. ↑ C.H. Cutts Howard, Genealogy of the Cutts Family, p.21 at: https://archive.org/stream/genealogyofcutts00howa#page/n5/mode/2up accessed 29 August 2010
  8. ↑ "Pepperell Papers" In: New England historical and genealogical register, (1865) Volume 19, p.223 (footnote). At: http://books.google.ca/books?id=zdBgwAm7z3wC&dq=%22richard%20waldron%22&pg=PA223&ci=77%2C985%2C761%2C342&source=bookclip" accessed 25 August 2010.
  9. ↑ "Richard Waldron", "Class of 1712" In: Sibley's Harvard Graduates, vol. 5, pp.653.
  10. ↑ Jere Daniell, Colonial New Hampshire - A History; p.108
  11. ↑ Calendar of State Papers, Am. and W.I. 1714-1715, p. 284 In: "Richard Waldron", "Class of 1712" In: Sibley's Harvard Graduates, vol. 5, pp.654.
  12. ↑ Provincial Papers, Vol III, pp. 641, 660, 682 In: "Richard Waldron", "Class of 1712" In: Sibley's Harvard Graduates, vol. 5, pp.654.
  13. ↑ C.H. Cutts Howard, Genealogy of the Cutts Family, p.421 At: https://archive.org/stream/genealogyofcutts00howa#page/n5/mode/2up accessed 29 August 2010
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