DESCENDANT LINE:
Edward BRIDGE & Elizabeth WHEELER
John BRIDGE* (1578 - 1665) & Elizabeth WILCOX (1582 - 1632)
Matthew BRIDGE (1615 - 1700) & Anna DANFORTH (1622 - 1704)
Anna BRIDGE* (1646 - 1727) & Samuel LIVERMORE (1640 - 1691)
Anna LIVERMORE (1690 - 1769) & John BEMIS (1686 - 1754)
Josiah BEMIS (1716 - 1797) & Elizabeth WARREN (1727 - 1807)
Lydia BEMIS (1767 - 1855) & Amos FROST (1762 - 1850)
Susan FROST (1801 - 1866) & Thomas TEEL (1799 - 1873)
Abner Gardner TEELE Sr. (1837 - <1870) & Ellen SMITH (~1847 - )
Gardner Abner TEELE Jr.* (1868 - ) & Emma A (1868 - <1920)
Louis Gardner TEELE Sr. (1889 - 1982) & Grace BOULTON (1890 - 1943)
Louis Gardner TEELE Jr. (1913 - 2004) & Margaret Catherine SLINE (1943 - )


Matthew Bridge, s. of John, m. Anne, dau. of Nicholas Danforth, one of the most prominent families in Cambridge. Matthew and Ann removed to the Farms (Lexington) where he owned 400 acres.

SOURCE FOR FOLLOWING: http://jpgmag.com/stories/16314
•1615: Born Braintree/Norwich, Essex, England
•1632: Came to New England with his father.
•1632-1642: Lived in Cambridge, Ma
•1642: Matthew moves to Lexington to work fathers land; one of the largest landowners. Present day. Bridge Elementary school is named after the Bridge family that settled here.
•1642: Stood against the witch trial of Winnefret Holman, declaring her innocents. Matthew was a witness in the case. Signers included John Palfrey, Matthew Bridge, Ann (Danforth) Bridge, Elizabeth Bridge and John Bridge.
•1643 : Married Anne Danforth, daughter of Nicholas Danforth.
•1643: Member of the Ancient & Honorable Artillery Co.
•1645: eldest son John Bridge was born on June 15
•1647: daughter Anne was born
•1648: Increased land holdings to 400 acres
•1648-9: daughter Martha was born Jan 19 and died Feb 1649-50
•1650: son Matthew was born on Mar. 5 (see more below)
•1652-3: son Samuel was born; died Feb 25, 1672-3
•1656: son Thomas was born on June 1; died Mar 28, 1672-3
•1659: daughter Elizabeth was born on Aug 17. She would later marry Benjamin Garfield; ancestors of James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States.
•1683: Sold the Cambridge lands and Craigie-Longfellow lands to Amos Marrett
•1692: Helped organize the Parish and Meeting House
•1693: 4th highest taxpayer in town.
•1698: Attended and planned the ordination of Rev John Hancock, grandfather of the revolutionary leader and founding father John Hancock.
•1700: Died Mar. 28. Buried in the Old Burying Grounds, Cambridge, MA

MEMO: THE 1659 WITCH TRIAL – THIS WAS NOT PART OF THE 1692 SALEM TRIALS, BUT WAS EARLIER IN CAMBRIDGE. THE ABOVE MAY BE WRONG ON THE ‘1642’ DATE, BUT MATTHEW AND HIS FAMILY WERE INVOLVED:

“Winifred Holman (fl 1659) Accused and acquitted of witchcraft
A widow, living in Cambridge, Winifred Holman, and her daughter Mary were accused in the summer of 1659 of witchcraft by a family living nearby. The neighbors included John Gibson, his wife, and their married daughter, Rebecca Stearns. Over some time previously, Rebecca began to experience unexplained fits in which she barked like a dog and screamed that Mrs. Holman and her daughter were witches. Her parents became alarmed and sought an explanation. In an indictment they prepared, the Gibsons claimed that Winifred Holman had offered herbs to their daughter during a previous fit and noticed that the daughter, Rebecca, seemed worse whenever she saw the Holmans. They also cited some assistance by the Holmans to their daughter’s child after the child had fallen ill that did not result in any improvement. The indictment included observations on the behavior of Winifred Holman and her poultry, which the Gibsons considered peculiar, attributing the death of some of their own hens to witchcraft. This indictment could have had serious consequences since an unfortunate woman, Goody Kendal had been executed as a witch in Cambridge because of a claim by the nurse of a child that she had “made much of” a child and caused its sudden death.

In defense of her character as a “good Christian woman,” Mrs. Holman submitted certificates signed by two deacons and her neighbors that said she was diligent in attending church and had never been perceived to do or say anything or to give any grounds to suspect her of “witchery”. Without the hysteria that engulfed similar cases in Salem thirty years later, the case was dismissed. Mary and Winifred Holman then brought two suits in the county courts at the end of March 1660 against John Gibson and his daughter Rebecca Stearns for defamation.
Reference: Lucius R.Paige. A History of Cambridge 1630 -1877 with a Genealogical Register Boston, Cambridge 1877, 856-863.