Mercy
Bills Cutler, wife of Benjamin Cutler, was born in 1715 in Monmouth County, New
Jersey. She married Benjamin in
Middletown Township, Bucks County, PA on December 16, 1731. She had transferred her membership from the
Shrewsbury Monthly Meeting to Middletown Monthly Meeting two months prior to
their marriage.
Mercy’s
parents were Nathaniel and Mary Gardiner Bills.
Nathaniel’s will, proved March 31, 1729, lists his children: Thomas, Girsham, Daniel, Marcey (Mercy),
Catherine, Joanah, and Elisabeth.
Nathaniel must not have been literate, as the will is signed with his
mark, not his signature. On the other
hand, the will states he is “very sick and weak,” so maybe he was too ill to
sign his name. Mary had died the year
prior. Mary was the daughter of Richard
and Hanna Grover Gardiner and was born in Eastham, MA.
Nathaniel
was the son of Thomas and Joanna Twining Bills and was also born in Eastham,
MA. His birth is recorded in the Town
Records:
Thomas
Bills was born in 1650 in Eastham, MA.
He married first Anna Twining, on October 3, 1672. Anna died three years later, and then Thomas
married her sister, Joanna, in 1676.
Thomas was a weaver by trade, and moved around quite a bit. He lived at Yarmouth, MA, Burlington, NJ, and
Shrewsbury, NJ. He is thought to be the son of William Bills, one of the first
settlers of Cape Cod.
The
Twining sisters were the granddaughters of Stephen Deane, a Pilgrim who arrived
at Plymouth in the second ship, The
Fortune, in November, 1621 and built the first corn mill in the colony. Isn’t that something that we have an ancestor
who arrived at Plymouth around the time of the first Thanksgiving feast? The Pilgrim must have been so excited to have
a ship arrive after barely surviving their first winter, but The Fortune
brought very little supplies and more mouths to feed. It has been fascinating to read more about
the Pilgrims and the settlement at Plymouth.
The
Twining sister’s grandmother, Widow Mary Ring, was also a Plymouth
Pilgrim. The Ring Family was on the ship
Speedwell, which was to accompany the
Mayflower. The Speedwell
leaked so badly that it had to turn back to England almost immediately. Mary’s husband, William, became ill and
died. Mary stayed in Holland for nine
years, then brought her three children to America in 1629. We are related to the Ring Family through Ada
Goldsberry’s ancestors as well as Clarence Goldsberry’s ancestors. More about that later!
Thomas Bills died
in Monmouth County, NJ on April 2, 1721.
Joanna died in 1723.
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