BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Simon Crosby and Rachel Brackett

Simon Crosby was born in August 1637 in Cambridge, Massachusetts to Simon and Ann (Brigham) Crosby. He was the second of their three sons and the first to be born in America.

Simon's father died in 1639. When Simon was 8 years old, his mother married the Reverend William Tompson, a widower, and moved to Braintree, Massachusetts where Tompson was the minister.

Rachel Brackett was born in Boston, Massachusetts on November 3, 1639 to Richard and Alice (Blower) Brackett, the fourth of eight children.

Simon Crosby and Rachel Brackett were married on July 15, 1659 in Braintree and soon had a daughter, Rachel Crosby, born in 1660.

Around 1662, the family moved to the wilderness settlement of Billerica where Simon was able to secure the rights to land originally granted to a William Brown but which Brown had failed to improve as required by the grant. The first records of Billerica were, in fact, altered with Brown's name crossed out and Simon's written in its place.

"Crosby Place", built in 1678 on Bare Hill
in Billerica, Massachusetts

Simon and Rachel had eight more children, all born in Billerica with the possible exception of son Simon:

In 1672, Simon was granted permission to "keep a house of public entertainment" and he began keeping a tavern, an occupation he would continue, with some interruption, into the 1690's.

In 1678, Simon replaced his original log dwelling with a new house.

In 1684, Simon and two other men were summoned into court for fishing on Indian land.

Simon was active in the administration of Billerica, serving as a Selectman for 28 years and also recording service as Surveyor, Constable, Deputy to the Massachusetts General and a member of various committees.

Simon Crosby's signature
from a court deposition 		Rachel Crosby's signature from an
inheritance acknowledgement

Simon died at age 88 on January 22, 1725/26. He was buried in "the Old South Burying-ground" about a mile from the center of Billerica.

The date of Rachel's death is uncertain.

Sources & Related Information

  • "Simon Crosby the Emigrant: His English Ancestry and some of his Descendants" by Eleanor Davis Crosby, 1914