In 1635 the ship "Planter" brought a number of the founders ofnew England from Hertsfordshire, England including RobertProctor, Jr., where he first appeared in Concord MA where hebecame a freeman in 1643.In 1653, Robert, in conjunction with Richard Hildreth andtwenty-seven others petitioned the general court for a grant ofland six miles square"to begin at the Merrimack River at a neckof land next to the Concord River, and so run up by the ConcordRiver south and east into the country to make up thecircumference or quantity of land above expressed". Thepetition was granted. In 1654 Mr Prescott moved to the newplantation which was organized, Nov 22, 1654, as a town underthe name of Chelmsford. His descendents resided in many of theneighboring towns, and at an early date wome of them pushedback the wilderness and settled in New Hampshire, Vermont, andNew York. Some of his children settled in what afterwardsbecame the town of Westford.