Robert Murdock

Source¹
Sex: M
Born: 6 SEP 1663 in Stirling, Central, Scotland, UK
Died: 28 APR 1754 in Newton, Middlesex Co., MA² in Roxbury, Suffolk Co., MA AFT. 1703 in Newton, Middlesex Co., MA
Notes:
Robert Murdock, the immigrant ancestor of the American family, was born in Scotland, about 1665. He and his brother, John Murdock, came to America about 1688 and settled in Plymouth colony, Massachusetts. John remained there and is progenitor of a numerous branch of the family. In the early records the name is spelled Murdo and Murdough, as well as Murdock. Robert remained in Plymouth for four years, and in 1692 removed to Roxbury, Massachusetts.

He married at Roxbury, April 28, 1692, Hannah Stedman, born in 1667, daughter of Thomas and Mary Stedman, of Cambridge. ???

In 1703, with his family, he removed from Roxbury to Newton, Massachusetts, and bought of Jonathan Hyde and John Woodward a house and a hundred and twenty acres of land, for the sum of L. 90. This farm was west of the school lot and the Dedham road, north of Jacob Chamberlain's farm, and east of John Hyde's. Afterward, Murdock owned the farm known as the Captain Jeremiah Wiswall place.

His wife Hannah died in 1727, aged sixty years. He married (second) Abigail (???). He died at Newton, in April 1754, aged eighty-nine years. Children of Robert and Hannah Murdock: Hannah, born January 22, 1693; Lieutenant Robert, February 11, 1695, married Abigail Hyde, and his only son settled in Hubbardston, Massachusetts; John, May 25, 1696, ancestor of Windham county, Connecticut, families; Benjamin, mentioned below; Hannah, born May 22, 1705.

from: Cutter, William Richard. New England Families Genealogical and Memorial: Third Series, Volume III. 1915. Reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1996.

Robert is known only by the records by which his name appears, there being practically no family tradition except that he was born in Scotland. This is sometimes coupled with the statement that he came from Scotland to Plymouth in 1688 in company with his brother John. For a fe years preceding the English revolution of that year, there was considerable emigration from the southwestern part of Scotland to northern Ireland, and a few families came directly to New England to escape the religious persecutions against the Covenanters, who were numerous in that part of Scotland. John Murdock, or Mordo, as his name was written in the early New England records, was married to Abigail Young, probably a native of Plymouth Colony, December 10, 1686. His advent may therefore be placed with considerable probability in 1685 or 1686. There is no record of the arrival of either Robert or John, and nothing to show whether they came together or at different times.

A diligent search of all accessible records, conducted by different persons through many years, has failed to discover any evidence of relationship, or even acquaintance, between Robert and John, The latter became an influential resident of Plymouth, occupying many positions of importance, and his name appears very frequently in the records of the Plymouth Colony, and after its junction with massachusetts, in those of Suffolk County, now preserved in Boston. If any relationship existed between these two men, living only twenty five miles apart for sixty years, it seems as though some evidence of it must have crept into the records. Nothing of the kind has been discovered.

The records of Newton, Massachusetts, mention the death of Robert on April 28, 1754, his age being given as 89. This gives the only existing evidence of the date of his birth as 1665. The first contemporaneous record is that of his marriage in Roxbury in 1692. He was then twenty-seven years old, and having no family, probably never purchased any property before hismarriage, and was sufficiently well behaved to keep off the court records. On April 28, 1692, he was married in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to Hannah Stedman, the daughter of Nathaniel and granddaughter of Isaac Stedman. The latter was born in Biddenden, County Kent, England, being baptized April 21, 1605, and came to New England in 1636 with his wife Elizabeth and two sons, Nathanael and Thomas. He first settled in Scituate, but later removed to Boston, dying at Muddy River, now Brookline, in 1678, his son Nathanael dying intestate in November of the same year before his father's will was settled. No record of the marriage of Nathanael has been found, but his widow Temperance was made administratrix of his estate "in right of herself and children." There is a possibility that she was the daughter of Michael Wills of Dorchester, or she may have been born in England.

Robert Murdock lived in Roxbury for several years after his marriage, but apparently bought no land there. In later years he was a housewright, and this may explain his not investing in real estate. He advanced money on two mortgages, and in company with Temperance and his brother-in-law Nathanael Stedman sold land in Cambridge in 1693, which was part of the estate of his wife's father. In 1698 Robert and Hannah Murdock and David and Mary Stowell (the sister of Hanneh) sold land in Woburn which was also part of the Stedman estate.

On June 1, 1703, Robert bought a house and one hundred and twenty acres of land in Newton, from Jonathan Hyde and John Woodward, and made this his permanent residence, although the exact date of his removal from Roxbury is not known. This land was situated on the Dedham road between Newton Upper Falls and West Roxbury. Deeds of 1726 and 1732 refer to him as a housewright and he built a shop near his house. On April 28, 1747, he sold this property for ú1,500 to his son Robert, who probably cared for him during the remainder of his life. His wife Hannah died August 17, 1727, at the age of sixty, and afterwards married Mrs. Abigail (White) Read, the widow of Samuel Read of Mendon, Massachusetts. He died April 28, 1754, his will, signed June 18, 1747, bequeathing personal property only, to the amount of ú536, his eldest son Robert receiving a double portion and being named executor. The widow Abigail moved to Uxbridge, Massachusetts, where she lived with some of her children and died October 9, 1761.

Robert's name is spelled in a variety of ways in his deeds, the spelling of the day being largely phonetic. His autograph of 1700 reads "Murdock," and his sons used the same form.

[from "Murdock Genealogy" (1925), pp 13-14)

Father: Jackson Murdock, b. 4 JUN 1635 in Ochiltree, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK
Mother: Mary Steadman, b. 1643 in Stirling, Central, Scotland, UK

Family 1: Hannah Stedman, b. 2 MAR 1664/65 in Watertown, Middlesex Co., MA

Married: 28 APR 1692 in Roxbury, Suffolk Co., MA³

Hannah Murdock, b. 22 JAN 1692/93 in Roxbury, Suffolk Co., MA
Robert Murdock, b. 1 FEB 1693/94 in Roxbury, Suffolk Co., MA
John Murdock, b. 25 MAR 1696 in Roxbury, Suffolk Co., MA
Samuel Murdock, b. 24 MAR 1697/98 in Roxbury, Suffolk Co., MA
Benjamin Murdock, b. 4 MAR 1699/00 in Roxbury, Suffolk Co., MA
Hannah Murdock, b. 22 MAY 1705 in Newton, Middlesex Co., MA

Family 2: Abigail White

Married: AFT. 1727

Sources:

Robert Murdock

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