Dorothy seems to have been known as Mary when she was young and Dorothy when she was older. Mary Kinge was born in 1624 in Sherbourne, Dorset, England. She emigrated to Salem, Massachusetts with her parents onthe “Abigail” in March 1635 when she was 12.

The first English settlers (the Dorchester Company) came to Salem in1626. It was at the mouth of the Naumkeag river at the site of an ancient Native American village and trading center. More settlers arrivedwith the Great Puritan Migration/Fleet of 1629/1630 and it was at thistime that John Winthrop was elected Governor. Mary and her parents arrived in 1635.

Dorothy married John Scudder in 1642. In the year that they married, John was granted a half acre lot as a house lot near his 10 acres, located by Kings Cove in "Royalls Neck." This half acre was for "other uses" so he may have had his business there. John was a currier, that isa person who dresses, dyes, and colours leather. During June 1650, hewas regularly excused from military training because of his trade, since leather might spoil after a day's absence. He was obliged, however,to pay an 18 pence fine for each day of training he had to miss.

They appear on the Salem Church list in 1647. They had five children and their fourth was Elizabeth, our ancestor, who was born in 1648.

In 1651, John sold their house in Massachusetts and moved to Southold,Long Island. They sailed, along with his brothers Thomas and Henry, from Salem to Southold on the eastern tip of Long Island. Southold wasoriginally settled in the early 1640s by a Salem Minister, John Youngs. It was established as a part of the newly founded New Haven Colony.In 1651 Reverend Youngs brought a boatload of Puritans from Salem andthe Scudders were on board.

Southold is the oldest English settled town in New York State and thechurch is the second oldest in New York State, after the Dutch ReformChurch in New York City. Originally part of the New Haven Colony jurisdiction, Southhold later joined with the Connecticut Colony in 1662 and was acquired by the New York Colony in 1664.

John Scudder was a currier and tanner of leather while in Salem and hecontinued this profession after he moved to Long Island. Economically, the region was heavily dependent on small farming, with fishing along the coastal areas, and trade with New England.

John and Mary Scudder remained in Southold from 1651 to 1657 when theymoved to Huntington. By 1660, they were prominent in Newtown, New York where they lived for the remainder of their lives.
On October 3, 1662, John Scudder and others purchased the neck of landcommonly called by the English `Plungers Neck' lying on the south side of Long Island bounded on the east by the river Hohosboco, from theIndian Chiefs Womatupa, Wonoxi and Powatahuman.

They made application to the Hon. Richard Nicoll by the inhabitants of Newtown, L.I., June 23, 1663 to empower them to make whatever land purchases they should think fit. In pursuance of said license, in the same year, John Scudder, Samuel Scudder and others did in due form of law purchase of and from the Indian Natives, all that tract of land situate between Mespath Kills and Flushing Creek to hold unto the inhabitants of Newtown forever, by certain deed made under the hand and sealof Powwanhon, Indian Chief dated July 9, 1666.

Mary died on 5 Jan 1668 in Newtown, New York at the age of 44.

In 1668, John owned what was later known as Schenck's Mill on a dammedriver in the Buswick area. There was a fever spreading in the area atthe time, and the officials felt the dam was stagnating the river andcausing the problem. The Court of Newtown ordered that the dam be broken.
On 13 December 1680 John gave his estate to his son, Samuel, in exchange for the maintenance of himself and his wife for the remainder of their lives.

John Scudder died in Jun 1692 in Newtown, New York at the age of 73.