Ephraim Hildreth

Biography

Ephraim Hildreth was born in Chelmsford, northwest of Boston in Massachusetts, on August 25, 1700 to Joseph Hildreth and Abigail Wilson. His father died when he was five. Marriage intentions for Ephraim and Mary Butterfield were entered in January 1722/23, and their daughter Abigail was born in 1730. She later married John Russell of Littleton.

Ephraim's later life belonged to nearby Westford. The town's death record styled him Cornet, preserving a militia title without supplying a complete service history. A study of Westford's 1774 taxpayers identifies the elder Ephraim in the southern tax district and lists him among those who did not sign that year's covenant. At approximately seventy-four, he was one of the older men represented in the record. His reason for declining to sign is unknown.

He lived through the Revolution and died in Westford on December 29, 1783. His recorded life connects the Chelmsford household of a provincial representative with the Westford and Littleton families of the next generation.