Short Biography of Abraham Cruttenden

Abraham Cruttenden was one of the first settlers of Guilford and was one of the twenty-five signers of the Plantation Covenant in 1639. It is said that he came from the county of Kent in England and had been a neighbor of William Chittenden, whose widow he afterwards married. He was probably married in England about 1630, and was probably about twenty-eight or nine years old at the time of the settlement in Guilford. He died in January, 1683, aged about seventy-three years. None of his children's births are recorded in Guilford, although some must have been born after he came to that place. On April 30, 1646 he was appointed "overseer of the mill bay dams or floodgates." On June 6, 1651, he was chosen assessor and on June 9, 1653, townsman. In addition to his home lot, he owned "a parcel of upland and marsh in the valley on each side of West River", a "parcel of upland 20 acres abutting to the common woods", a "parcel of marsh land to the South 10 1/2 acres" and a "parcel of upland over against the mill" containing 19 acres. The name is also spelled Crittenden. He married first, Mary, who died 1664; second, widow Joanna Chittenden, May 31, 1665. She died August 16, 1668. His children were all by his first wife.

Source: "The New England Historical and Genealogical Register" ⁶⁰¹⁵