Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
Alexander and Mehitable Kidd
The 'wife of Alexander Kidd' (Mehitable Haines) appeared in the Colden Store on this day, 250 years ago. She purchased a pair of wool cards on her husband's account. Then she charged to her own account two fabrics (Chints and Lawn), and a bit more than a yard of fancy lace.
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This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.
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Yesterday, June 1, 1768, 250 years-ago, there were 28 items sold at the Colden Store to eight different customers. It was a relatively normal day at the store in terms of customers and items. In fact, I found nothing extraordinary to write about for that day...so that brings us to today, 250 years-ago, and the purchases of Mehitable Kidd.
The Kidd surname appeared over 33 times in the DayBook, the majority (25) were identified as 'Alexander.' In one case, Alexander was specified as 'Junr.' Alexander was represented at the store by 'his son Robt,' 'his son Alexander,' his son,' and 'his wife.' James Kidd appeared five times at the store, Andrew Kidd appeared twice, and Robert Kidd shared a single entry with Alexander.
In most cases, it is not clear whether a specific entry for 'Alexander Kidd' was the father (58 years old) or the son (22 years old). Because the son did not have a family yet, any mention of a son (13 entries) would indicate that the entry was for Alexander Sr.
Just six weeks prior, on April 14, 1768, Alexander Jr. married Mehitable Haines. So it is possible the person in the store on this date was Mehitable, but it could also have been the wife of Alexander Sr.
The brothers, Alexander Sr., Robert, and Andrew Kidd, were Scotch-Irish and emigrated to this area of New York in about 1736. [Pioneer Families of Orange County, New York, Martha & Bill Reamy] Alexander was listed as a member of the Wallkill Precinct militia in 1738. He had children including Robert, Alexander Jr., James, Anna, and Hannah.
The Kidd family homes were near the falls of the Wallkill River at what is now the Village of Walden, New York and for a while was known as Kiddtown. James Kidd built a grist mill on the river that was eventually sold to Colden's son in 1789.
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| 1798 Map of Montgomery, New York showing location of A. Kidd and I. Kidd homes at the falls on the Wallkill. Note that the road southward to the Goodwill Church would take the Kidds through the farm owned by Samuel Campbell from about 1765-1793. |
It is possible that Alexander Jr. (1746-1822) was represented at the store on this day by his new bride, Mehitable Haines (1749-1815). They were active in the Goodwill Church where Alexander served as an Elder. And that is where they are buried, their lichen-covered stone markers barely legible.
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| Headstone of Mehitable Haines Kidd, wife of Alexander Kidd, in Goodwill Church Cemetery. Image courtesy of Katacomb. |
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| Headstone of Alexander Kidd in Goodwill Church Cemetery. Image courtesy of Katacomb. |
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| Goodwill Church Cemetery Plot Map showing location of Kidd markers. Image courtesy of Katacomb. |
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The dating of the entries in the DayBook is often hard to determine. In many cases the scribes made errors. In other cases it appears that someone retrospectively inserted a date on the page header. Often the header date is the date of the majority of entries on the page and has been written over. Because the header may have been written days or months after the fact, it is less accurate than dates on individual entries.
There are no entries for Friday, June 3rd, (tomorrow) which seems odd. The entries for Thursday were more numerous (47) than usual which may mean some June 3rd entries were mislabeled as June 2nd? At any rate, the store appeared to be closed on Friday, opening again on Saturday, then closed on Sunday.
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