Cross Family Genealogy

Cross

   The Cross surname was first found in Lincolnshire where they held a family seat from early times. It's a topographic name for someone who lived near a stone cross set up by the roadside or in a marketplace, from Old Norse kross (via Gaelic from Latin crux, genitive crucis), which in Middle English quickly and comprehensively displaced the Old English form cruc. In a few cases the surname may have been given originally to someone who lived by a crossroads, but this sense of the word seems to have been a comparatively late development.
   The Coat of Arms at right displays a shield divided quarterly red and gold, in each of the red quarters, there is a gold cross potent. The Crest over the helmet shows a stork holding a cross formy in its beak. The family motto, "Cruce dum spero fido," means "Whilst I have breath I confide in the cross."
   Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were: John Cross, who came from Ipswich, England, on the sailing ship the "Elizabeth" in 1634. Another John Cross settled a year later, also from Ipswich, and he became a freeman in Hampton in 1635. John Cross was constable of Wells, Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1647. John Croos (same family) settled in Boston in 1633. The person we're following actually married into the Cross family, but we don't know her maiden name, just that she was MARY (?), who was born in 1617. Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, by Henry Bond, 1860. Volume I, p.416, 417., notes: "John Cross, of Wat., probably a son of the preceding, by wife Mary, had dr. Mary, b. (posthumous) May 10, 1641."

CHILDREN OF JOHN CROSS AND MARY (?)

MARY CROSS (SANDERSON) was baptized on 2 Sep 1639 in Hampton, N.H. (Source: Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, by Henry Bond, 1860. Volume I, p.416, 417.) Mary was "the first white child born in Hampton." (Source: Hands that built New Hampshire, 1940.) No birth or marriage data can be found, but she was probably raised by Mary and her 2nd husband, ROBERT SANDERSON. She married James Penniman (b. 1642) on 10 May 1659 in Boston (click on marriage record, at right); Robert Sanderson bequeathed £5 to the "children of James Penniman" in his 1693 will.

   John died sometime after Mary was born. Her mother then married ROBERT SANDERSON before 1641, in Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire.
   After three years in Hampton, Robert and Mary moved to Watertown, Massachusetts, and from there to Boston, where Robert would make his name and fortune.

CHILDREN OF ROBERT SANDERSON AND MARY CROSS

WILLIAM SANDERSON was born in New Hampshire or Hampden in 1641, according to court records. (So he could either be the first son of Mary or the last son of Lydia.) William would have been about 25 when he married Sarah (b. 1645), on 18 Dec 1666 in Watertown, Middlesex, MA (click on wedding notice, at right. SOURCE: Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Holbrook Research Institute). On 25 Nov 1670, he bought 20 acres of land in Groton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. On 20 Oct 1693, Robert Sanderson willed £5 and a musket to William's son, Joseph Saunderson of Groton; His daughters Mary and Lydia were named in the will of Robert's third wife, Elizabeth, proved 21 Nov 1695.

JOSEPH SANDERSON was born on 01 Jan 1645, in Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire (click on birth notice, at right. SOURCE: Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Holbrook Research Institute). Apprenticed about 1658 to Robert Sanderson in Boston. John Hull's diary on 8 Nov 1658 reads, "Robert Sanderson and his son Joseph were very ill and lost several days work before they recovered." He worked from circa 1663 to 1666 as a silversmith in Boston. No work by his hand is known to survive, though outstanding orders for silver at the time of his death and the number of tools in the shop inventory (conducted by Jeremiah Dummer and Samuel Paddy) indicate that he was active in the trade. Joseph died when only 25 in 1667. Just before his widow's remarriage, a deed dated Dec. 21, 1681, made arrangements for property of Joseph Sanderson's children.

BENJAMIN SANDERSON was born on 29 Jul 1649, in Watertown, Middlesex, MA. Christened: 29 Jul 1649 (click on baptism notice, at right. SOURCE: Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Holbrook Research Institute). Benjamin married Mercy Viall about 1672 in Boston MA. (Mercy Viall was born on 11 Mar 1649 in Boston MA and was christened on 18 Mar 1649 in Boston MA.) Children: Boston Births, 1630-99 records the birth of Mary, 1677; Benjamin, 1674; and Joseph, 1673, all children of Benjamin and Mary Sanderson. Benjamin apprenticed about 1662 to Robert Sanderson and John Hull in Boston. He worked from circa 1670 to 1678 as a silversmith in Boston. He signed a will on 11 Dec 1678, on file in Suffolk Probate, it names his father as executor, and the North Church and Mary Sinderlin [sic], his wife's sister, as legatees, stating "the rest of his Estate might be for some honest Poor persons. . ."

SARY (SARAH) SANDERSON was born on 18 Jan 1651, in Watertown, Middlesex, MA. Christened: 18 Jan 1651, Watertown Middlesex MA (click on baptism notice, at right. SOURCE: Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Holbrook Research Institute). She married Robert Darbey (b. 1647) and they had a son, Robert Darby II (1679-1759). Sarah probably died before Robert's will of 1693, but Robert did bequeath £10 to "grandson Robert Darby."

ROBERT SANDERSON was born on 22 Oct 1652, in Watertown, Middlesex, MA, and christened on 22 Oct 1652. Apprenticed about 1665 to Robert Sanderson in Boston MA. He worked from circa 1680 to 1693 as a silversmith in Boston MA as a journeyman in his father's shop. Examples exist from this period stamped twice with the elder Sanderson's mark, the second indicating the assistance of his son. He worked from circa 1673 to 1679 as a silversmith in Boston MA as a journeyman in his brother Benjamin's shop. It appears that he left the trade atfter his father's death. (SOURCE: Kane, Patricia E., Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers.) He died on 11 Apr 1714 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts (click on death notice, at right. SOURCE: Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Holbrook Research Institute).

JOHN SANDERSON was born about 1654, in Watertown, Middlesex, MA. He apprenticed before 1658 to John Hull in Boston. According to John Hull's diary on 1 Sep 1658, "My boy John Sanderson, complained of his head aching, and took his bed; a strong fever set in, and after 17 days' sore sickness, he departed this life." (Click on death notice, at right. SOURCE: Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Holbrook Research Institute)

ANNE SANDERSON was born about 1654, in Watertown, Middlesex, MA. She married a man named Richard West, according to Robert's will (see marriage record, at right. SOURCE: Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004). She died in 1723, in Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts.

NOTES:

¹—According to "Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston : to which is appended the early history of the town," by Henry Bond, M.D. Boston: Published by the N. E. Historic-Genealogical Society, for the benefit of the "Bond Fund," 1860. P. 189: "JOHN CROSS, aged 50, and wife ANNA (Hannah), aged 38, embarked at Ipswich, Eng., for N. Eng., Ap., 1634. He settled in Ipswich, afterwards in Hampton; adm. freeman 1639, Rep. 1640; d. 1652. His wid. went to Wat., where she d. 1669. They had a dr. Hannah, b. Ap., 1636, who ra. about 1654, Thomas Hammond. [Hammond, 7.] This was probably the Anna bap. in Hampton, Oct. 9, 1638, by Rev. Stephen Bachelor.. John Cross, of Wat., probably a son of the preceding, by wife Mary, had dr. Mary, b. (posthumous) May 10, 1641 ; m. Baker, of Boston. He (J. C.) d. Sept. 15 1640, and his wid., Mary, m. about 1642. Robert Sanderson, of Wat., afterwards of Boston. [See Sanderson ; also Registry of Deeds, Vol. 8, p. 147.] Susannah, wife of John Cross, ordered by Court, Oct. 7, 1684, to be whipt, or pay a fine of £5, for keeping a disorderly house in her husband's absence."