Cruttenden Family History & Genealogy

Please allow me to preface further comment by stating that the first wife of Abraham Cruttenden Sr of Guilford, CT was NOT Mary Hinkson. The English research cited below has definitely identified his 1st wife as Elizabeth Usborne. (His 2nd wife was the widow Joanna (Sheafe) Chittenden). Please do NOT connect Abraham Cruttenden Sr with Mary Hinkson. Abraham Cruttenden was also NOT the son of Abraham & Elizabeth (Roberts) Cruttenden – NOR was he born in 1610. While his paternity is a credible probability - though not certainty - Abraham Cruttenden Sr of Guilford, CT is presumed to have been the Abraham - son of Thomas Cruttenden - baptized in the parish of Etchingham, Sussex on 30 Sep 1599. Hawkhurst and Cranbrook (the latter being the locale which many secondary sources cite as Abraham Cruttenden Sr's place of English origin) by the way, are located in between Staplehurst and Etchingham (about 15 miles apart) on what is today trunk road A229. Please note that while located in different counties, Etchingham, Sussex and Hawkhurst, Kent are only 5 miles apart. (This paternity theory derives credence from the fact that Abraham Cruttenden of Hawkhurst, Kent and Guilford, CT named his firstborn son Thomas - it would seem, after Abraham's presumed father - and from the fact that the time and place both fit). Abraham Cruttenden, was one of the founders of Guilford, Connecticut, and was a signer of the Guilford Plantation Covenant. Prior to his immigration into Connecticut, Abraham Cruttenden was for several years a resident of Hawkhurst in Kent. Both Abraham Cruttenden and William Chittenden, two of the founders of Guilford, attended the Parish Church of St. Laurence With All Saints in Hawkhurst, (still in operation today). Baptismal entries for six children of Abraham Cruttenden were recorded in the Hawkhurst Parish Register, cited as follows: Thomas on 22 February 1624 (obvious proof that Abraham Cruttenden was not born in 1610 as various researchers claim), Abraham Jr. on 24 December 1626, Isaack on 01 November 1629, Mary on 29 April 1632, Elizabeth on 30 November 1634, and Hannah on 25 January 1637. These same six children of Abraham Cruttenden can be placed in Guilford - plus Deborah, who was presumably born following the family's arrival in New England (Genealogies of Connecticut Families, from the New England Historical & Genealogical Register, selected and introduced by Gary Boyd Roberts, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1983, p 502). Although the name is sometimes rendered as Crittenden, it was recorded as Cruttenden in the Hawkhurst Parish Register. Many genealogical works identify Abraham Cruttenden's first wife as Mary Hinkson. The Hawkhurst Parish Register does not support this, however. The mother's name is not given for the first four Cruttenden children baptized in Hawkhurst, and in the case of the last two, the mother is identified as Elizabeth. GCF, p. 502 states concerning Abraham Cruttenden the immigrant, “It is said that he came from the county of Kent in England and had been a neighbor of William Chittenden, whose widow he afterwards married”. The proof of this contention is found in the Hawkhurst Parish Register, on the page encompassing the period 25 March 1636 through 25 March 1637. On that page are entries for Thomas baptized 20 November 1636, son of William Chittenden & Joana his wife, and for Hannah baptized 25 January 1637, daughter of Abraham Cruttenden & Elizabeth his wife. Abraham Cruttenden married the widow Joanna Chittenden on 31 May 1665 in Guilford, per GCF p 502. Martha A. Lynes published an article in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 160, No. 639 July 2006 "The Ancestry of William Chittenden of Guilford, Connecticut", pp 199-214 (see p 214 for the Cruttenden info), in which she identifies the wife of Abraham Cruttenden of Guilford, Connecticut, as Elizabeth. At that time she was unable to determine Elizabeth's maiden surname. (Joan Sheafe Chittenden was the second wife of Abraham Cruttenden, hence the connection to the Chittenden article). That Elizabeth was the given name of Abraham's first wife was determined by the baptism records of his children in Hawkhurst, Kent, England. (It is fitting to mention that this information had already been uncovered by a professional genealogist in England, John Dagger, who I had hired some twenty years earlier. I received his report in November of 1986, and I have shared it with Cruttenden researchers ever since). In the January 2011 (Vol. 165, No. 657) issue of the NEHGR, an article by Leslie Mahler entitled "The English Ancestry of Elizabeth Usborne, First Wife of Abraham Cruttenden of Guilford, Connecticut", pp. 15-26, identifies Elizabeth's surname as Usborne. An extensive search in local wills yielded the essential information to develop Elizabeth's ancestry. She was baptized (christened) on 13 Jan 1597/1598 in Staplehurst, Kent, England. Her parents were Thomas Usborne and Ann Bridgeland. She was married to Abraham Cruttenden by 1623, as their first child Thomas Cruttenden was born in 1624. Elizabeth’s connection to Abraham Cruttenden is proven by the will of her brother Peter Usborne of Staplehurst "dated 2 November 1632, proved 26 Nov. 1632, naming 'Thomas Abraham Isaack and Mary as the children of 'Elizabeth Crittenden my sister." These were the four oldest children of Abraham Cruttenden baptized in Hawkhurst. Mahler goes on to trace Elizabeth Usborne's family back several generations to Osbert Usborne b. abt. 1425 in Staplehurst. From this solid documentation in England, we know that the mother of all 6 of the Cruttenden children born in Hawkhurst, was Elizabeth Usborne - NOT Mary Hinkson. These two articles are a must read for any descendants of Abraham Cruttenden of Guilford. Moreover, the 22 February 1624 baptismal date for Thomas Cruttenden, the eldest child born to Abraham Cruttenden & Elizabeth Usborne, renders the 1610 birth year shown for Abraham Cruttenden in many secondary sources quite impossible. Abraham's wife Elizabeth Usborne was baptized 13 Jan 1597/8 in the parish of Staplehurst, Kent, The Abraham Cruttenden baptized just a few miles away in Etchingham, Sussex on 30 Sep 1599, would be a likely candidate as her husband. Abraham Cruttenden presumably married his first wife Elizabeth Usborne in about 1623, as their first child Thomas was born in 1624. She is thought to have died in Guilford before 1664. On 31 May 1665, he married his second wife, Joanna (Sheafe) Chittenden, the widow of William Chittenden. Abraham Cruttenden died in Guilford in 1682 or 1683.

Lelia M Cruttenden of Mansfield, Tioga County, PA was born on October 24, 1875, and died at age 91 years old on August 15, 1967.

Lida Cruttenden of Pennsylvania was born on February 6, 1880, and died at age 82 years old in January 1963.

Louise Cruttenden of Wallingford, New Haven County, CT was born on September 11, 1884, and died at age 98 years old in April 1983.

Charles Cruttenden of Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota was born on October 31, 1884, and died at age 86 years old in July 1971.

Harriett Cruttenden of Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois was born on February 7, 1885, and died at age 88 years old in November 1973.

Florence B Cruttenden of Salem, Essex County, MA was born on April 30, 1885, and died at age 87 years old on January 15, 1973.

Thomas Cruttenden of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA was born on July 20, 1887, and died at age 86 years old in June 1974.

Lola Cruttenden of Corning, Steuben County, NY was born on November 24, 1889, and died at age 84 years old in January 1974.

Mary Cruttenden of Wisconsin Rapids, Wood County, Wisconsin was born on January 18, 1889, and died at age 80 years old in June 1969.

Margaret Cruttenden of Drexel Hill, Delaware County, Pennsylvania was born on October 10, 1891, and died at age 81 years old in February 1973.

Emma Cruttenden of West Hartford, Hartford County, CT was born on October 10, 1892, and died at age 73 years old in February 1966.