William Orcutt First Generation

William Orcutt
b. ca. 1639, probably Warwickshire, England
d. 14 Sep 1693, Bridgewater, Mass.
m. 24 Jan 1663/4, Hingham, Mass.
Mary/Martha Lane, dau. of Andrew and Tryphena (---) Lane of Hingham
b. bap. 16 Aug 1646, Hingham
d. possibly 30 Apr 1712, Weymouth, Mass.

Children of William and Mary/Martha (Lane) Orcutt:

1. William Orcutt
   b. ca. 1664. Resided in Bridgewater.
2. Andrew Orcutt
   bap. 24 Mar 1666/7, Scituate. Resided in Weymouth.
3. John Orcutt
   bap. 18 Apr 1669, Scituate. Resided in Bridgewater and Hingham.
4. Martha Orcutt
   bap. 23 Apr 1671, Scituate.
5. Joseph Orcutt
   bap. 9 Dec 1672, Scituate. Resided in Weymouth and Stafford, Connecticut.
6. Mary Orcutt (twin to Hannah)
   bap. 11 Apr 1675, Scituate.
7. Hannah Orcutt (twin to Mary)
   bap. 11 Apr 1675, Scituate.
8. Thomas Orcutt
   bap. 2 Oct 1677, Scituate. Resided in Hingham.
9. Benjamin Orcutt
   bap. 7 Mar 1679/80, Scituate. Resided in Weymouth.
10. Elizabeth Orcutt
    bap. 16 Jul 1682, Scituate. d. young.
11. Deborah Orcutt
    bap. 7 Oct 1683, Scituate. d. young.
12. Susannah Orcutt
    b. ca. 1685, possibly Bridgewater.

The first known record of William Orcutt is the record of his marriage at Hingham in 1663/4 to Mary Lane. Between 1667 and 1683 the baptisms of ten of his children, all except William and Susannah, were recorded in the records of the Second Church of Scituate (now the First Unitarian Church of Norwell). In these records he gives his place of residence as Marshfield.

In 1670 he bought land in Bridgewater from Edward Gray of Plymouth. Again he gives his place of residence as Marshfield. It seems that he and his family did not settle on this land at Bridgewater until sometime between 1683 and 1685.

On 27 Jul 1675, upon the death of Mary's father Andrew Lane, William signed (with his mark) an agreement as one of the sons-in-law which allowed Andrew Lane's wife Tryphena the use of husband's estate for the remainder of her life.

The last records of William are his estate records in 1693 and 1694. His estate was administered by his son William and his widow Martha. The fact that his widow was refered to as Martha in the estate records has given rise to the speculation that Mary (Lane) Orcutt died and that Martha was William's second wife. However, recent Orcutt researchers have concluded that Mary (Lane) Orcutt and Martha Orcutt are the same person; that is, in her later life Mary went by the name Martha. This conclusion is based on the wording of two documents; the 27 Jul 1675 agreement signed by William, and the 30 Oct 1694 agreement between the widow Martha and her children which is part of the estate records. The latter agreement names all the children except daughters Elizabeth and Deborah.