NEXUS
THE BIMONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF
THE
Vol. VIII, No.5 October-November,
1991
(from a contemporary woodcut by Paul Revere)
Found: The Later History and Early Progeny of Richard2 HALL
(1676-1760/1)
of Bradford and
by Joy F.
(Hartwell) Peach
Descendants of Richard2 Hall,
born at Bradford, Mass. 6 February 1676, son of Richard and Martha (—) Hall
(Bradford VRs, 64) have had to content themselves
with the cryptic “at his death about 1740 she [i.e. Mehetaball,
his second wife) went to live in Harvard, Mass.” (Rev. David B. Hall, Halls of
New England [1883], hereafter Hall, pp. 180-82). Recent finds in the Worcester
Co. [Mass.] Registry of Deeds show that not only did Mehetaball
go to Harvard, but Richard himself was “alive and well” there as late as 1760.
It is a fairly easy task to track
Richard from his birth in Bradford, through his first marriage there on 24
April 1699 to Abigail Dalton (Bradford VRs, 216), the
births of their six children, his second marriage to Mehetaball
Barker sometime after their intentions were recorded at Andover 26 April 1715
(Andover VRs, 2:163), and the births of five more
children (Bradford VRs, 63-64).
From there it is not much more difficult
to trace the family to Tewksbury, Mass., where several of Richard’s children
married and began raising families, and where the death by drowning of the
next-youngest child, James, is recorded in 1741 (Tewksbury VRs,
213). From
It is known that Timothy Hall, the
middle child of Richard and Mehetaball, married
(int.) at Harvard 7 October 1744 Mary Colburn of
The Worcester Co. Registry of Deeds
proved more fruitful, however, yielding the following:
Worcester Deeds, Book 31:49, deed dated 6 August
1743: Richard Boynton, of Tewksbury, for £220 to
Richard Hall, yeoman, and Timothy Hall, cooper, of Harvard, 57 acres of land in
Harvard on the east side of the Penicook [Nashua]
River, bounded west by the river, east by land of Simeon Farnsworth, north by
Dole Johnson and southerly by Joseph Hutchins, Jr. (This deed was witnessed by
Joseph Hutchins, Jr. and Joseph Wilder, Jr., and recorded 22 August 1751,
shortly before Timothy’s death)
Worcester Deeds, Book 53:278, deed dated 24 October
1754: Richard Hall of Harvard, yeoman, for £20 to John Farwell, yeoman, piece
of land in Harvard in the northwest of town, seven and one-half acres in
common with seven and one-half acres this day deeded to John Farwell by Mary
Hall, widow, administrator to the estate of Timothy Hall late of Harvard
deceased and the whole 15 acres bounded as follows... (This deed was witnessed
by John Pratt and Peter Atherton, and Richard Hall personally appeared and
acknowledged it to be his free act.)
Worcester Deeds, Book 43:291, deed dated 29 September
1760: “I, Richard Hall of Harvard, etc., yeoman, for £54 lawful money paid to
me...by my son Ephraim Hall of Dracut, County of Middlesex, etc., cordwainer... land in Harvard where I the said Richard now
live, lying in common with land belonging to the heirs of my son Timothy Hall
late of Harvard, dec’d, it being the same land that
said Timothy and I ye said Richard bought in common from Richard Boynton
excepting fifteen acres we sold of (sic) to John Farwell on ye north side of said
land...ye whole being about 40 acres.” Excepted was the barn and designated
premises belonging to Timothy’s heirs. Mehetaball
Hall, wife to said Richard, yielded her right of dower, and both Richard and Mehetaball appeared before Peter Atherton, Justice of the
Peace, and acknowledged this deed to be their free act, etc.
Worcester Deeds, Book 45:338, deed dated 18 June 1761:
“John Pratt of Harvard, cordwainer and Ephraim Hall
of Dracut, cordwainer for £83 [illegible] shillings
eight pence to John Clough of Topsfield in the County of Essex, a certain piece
of land situate in Harvard being the land that Richard Hall lately lived on and
there is about 42 acres...” Mary Pratt, wife of John Pratt, and Eunice Hall,
wife of Ephraim Hall, gave up their dower rights and power of thirds, and all
four signed the deed in the presence of Amos Stone and Peter Atherton,
witnesses. This deed was filed 4 Nov. 1761.
While these deeds don’t give an exact date for
Richard’s death they do indicate that he probably died between 29 September
1760 and 18 June 1761, considerably later than Rev. Hall’s “about 1740.”
These deeds also serve to identify the Richard Hall
who signed a petition on 8 December 1747 (along with several residents each
from Harvard, Groton, Lancaster and “Stow Leg,” including son Timothy and
neighbor Simeon Farnsworth) requesting that the area in which they lived be
incorporated into a separate district or township (Henry S. Nourse,
History of Harvard, Mass. [1894], pp. 116-18). Later Richard’s name appears on
a “Report of the Committee to Seat the meeting house,” dated 21 May 1750, where
he is accorded a seat in the “Second Seat Below.” The committee had been
instructed to “seat the two foremost seats below Respecting
men for Age as well as Pay, and all the other seats and persons
to be seated on Dignity according to what they payed to the minister, real and personal estate the three
last years passed” (ibid., p. 192). Thus Richard Hall was an elder or one of
the biggest contributors to the church at Harvard —despite his desire, three
years earlier, to form a separate town.
Hereafter follows a short account of Richard Hall’s
children and grandchildren. Unless otherwise indicated, dates below are taken
from published vital records volumes of the town where an event was recorded.
Children of Richard Hall by first wife Abigail
Dalton, all born at Bradford, Mass. (Bradford VRs,
63-64):
i.
Sarah3
Hall, bp.
15 Sept. 1700, no further record (henceforth n.f.r.).
ii. Richard Hall, Jr., b. 24 Feb. 1700/1, d. in
1. John Hall,
b.
2. Richard
Hall (3rd), b.
3. Oliver
Hall, b.
4. Asa Hall, b.
NOTE: An
early deed at Worcester Registry of Deeds (Book 10:327, dated 21 Dec. 1735,
wherein Richard Hall, Jun’r of Tewksbury, Middlesex
Co., etc., Blacksmith, for the sum of £5O current money paid by Thomas Rogers
of Billerica, husbandman, quitclaimed “his right... to a certain new town
called Nitchawag (sic) [now Petersham]
lately granted by the Great and General Court to a number of volunteers who
served His Majesty under ye Command of Capt. John Lev’el
[Lovewell?] and Capt. John White, said town being
granted to Jeremiah Perley and John Bennit and associates lying on ye northwest side of Rutland...”
almost certainly refers to this Richard. His occupation, the fact that lie is
twice called “Jun’r”, plus the fact that he is
referred to as “Serg.” in the Tewksbury records, make
it quite certain that this is not Richard, who, since his father died in 1730,
would not be called “Jun’r” in 1735. No other Richard
Hall old enough to execute deeds was known to be in
iii. Abigail Hall,
b. 17 Oct. 1702, d. Tewksbury 14 June 1785, of “old age”; in Billerica 20 Feb. 1727/8 Abraham
Stickney, b. Bradford 16 Oct. 1703, d. Tewksbury 23 Aug. 1783, son of Samuel
and Mary (Hazeltine) Stickney. Abraham and Abigail
(Hall) Stickney’s children were born at
1.
Abigail
Stickney, b. Billerica 12 July 1731,
d. Tewksbury 12 Feb. 1767, of consumption; m. at Tewksbury as his first wife
10 March 1752 James Kittredge (IV), app. b. there (as
James Kittredge “Tert[ius]”) 15 Feb. 1729/30, son of James and Elizabeth (—) Kittredge.
2.
Abraham
Stickney, Jr., b.
3.
Benjamin
Stickney, b.
The Stickney Family: Descendants of William and Elizabeth Stickney, from 1637
to 1869(1869) [hereafter Stickney, 112); said to have m. (1) a dau. of John Plummer of Rowley, Mass.; (2) Hannah Grover,
who d. at Windsor ae. 88 (no date given in Stickney,
113).
4.
James Stickney, b. Tewksbury 6 August 1742, d. prob. at Shawangunk, Orange Co., N.Y. in 1823; m. at Newburgh, N.Y.
Mary Belknap, b. [Newburgh?] 9 Jan. 1740, dau. of Samuel and
iv. Hannah Hall,
b. 11 Sept. 1704, n.f.r.
v. Samuel Hall,
b. 11 Jan. 1707; m. (1)
1. Thomas Hall, b. ca. 1730, bp. 27 May 1750, ae. “about 20.” A Thomas Hall, who had m.
2. Hannah Hall, b. ca. 1732, bp. “after 27 May 1750, age about 18”; may have m.
3. (prob.) Isaac Hall, b. ca. 1738, “bp. 7 May 1758, in 20th yr.”
4. (prob.) Jacob Hall, b. Ca. 1740, bp. 7 May 1758 “in 18th y.”
5. John Hall, b. 28 March 1747, d.
vi. Mehitable Hall, b. 19
June 1712; m. Woburn, Mass. (rec. Tewksbury VRs, 133)
5 May 1737 Josiah Colburn, Jr. of Dracut, Mass., b. there 19 March 1711, d.
Westford (rec. Chelmsford), Mass. 9 April 1790 (G.A. Gordon and S.R. Coburn,
Genealogy of the Descendants of Edward Colburn-Coburn [1913], henceforth
Colburn-Coburn, 38), son of Josiah and Sarah (Coburn) Colburn. They had issue,
born at
1. Nathan Colburn, b. 23 March 1737/8;
poss. the Nathan Coburn, schoolmaster, who arrived in
2. Mehittebel Colburn, b. 14 Feb. 1739/40; m.
prob.
3. Abigail Colburn, b. 29 March 1743.
Children of Richard(2) Hall and his second wife, Mehetaball Barker, born at
vii. Nathan Hall,
b. 25 Dec. 1715, d.
1. James Hall, b.
2. Mary Hall, b.
3. Nathan Hall, Jr., b.
4. Mehetable
Hall, b.
5. David
Hall, b.
6. Daniel Hall, b. 5 May 1756 (ibid., 202).
7. Henry
Hall, b. 26 Oct. 1758 (ibid.).
8. Elizabeth
Hall, b. 5 March 1765 (ibid.).
9. Richard Hall, b. 12 Sept. 1768
(ibid.), d. Mason. 16 July 1822, ae.
“54 y.” (ibid., 217).
viii. Ephraim Hall,
b. 10 Feb. 1716/7, d.
1. Lydia Hall, b. Tewksbury 26 Aug. 1739,
d. prob. Dracut 6 June 1819; m. (int.) Dracut 24 Sept. 1757 Jacob Coburn, Jr.,
b. Dracut 10 Feb. 1729, d. there 2 Feb. 1809, son of Jacob and Johanna (Varnum) Coburn. Jacob, Jr. marched at the Lexington Alarm
in April 1775, in the Dracut co. of his brother’s father-in-Law, Capt. Stephen
Russell (Colburn-Coburn, 20).
2. Ephraim Hall, Jr., b. Billerica 22Aug.
1741, d. Dracut 25 Nov. 1821; m. (int. Dracut 9 March) Tewksbury 21 May 1765
Lydia Russell, b. Dracut 5 Aug. 1744, d. there 28 Apr. 1821, dau. of Stephen and Abigail (Gage)
Russell. One son, Phineas Hall (b.
3. Martha Hall, b. Dracut 25 Oct. 1743,
d. there 20 Feb. 1834; m. there (int.) 26 May 1764 Ezekiel Cheever,
bp. Salem, Mass. 24 June 1733, d. Dracut 25 Jan.
1806, son of Benjamin and Mercy (Wilkins) Cheever.
4. William Hall, b.
5. Moses
Hall, b.
6. Eunice
Hall, b.
7. Timothy
Hall, b.
ix. Timothy Hall,
b. 3 Feb. 1718/9, d.
1.
John Hall, b. 22 May 1747, prob. the “John of Lunenburg” who
m. Harvard 5 July 1774 Sara Willard, b. Harvard 2 March 1748, dau. of William and Ellen (
2.
Mary Hall, b. 25 Aug. 1749, d. N.H. in 1824; prob. the Mary
Hall who m. Harvard 25 Oct. 1770 Gibson Willard, b. there 13 Oct. 1750, d.
prob.
3.
Timothy Hall,
Jr., b. (posthumous) 18 Feb. 1752, d.
prob. in
x. James Hall,
b. 25 Sept. 1720, drowned at
xi. Martha Hall,
b. 5 Nov. 1722, d. Harvard 7 May 1754, ae. 34 (sic),
apparently in childbirth; m. Harvard 28 May 1744, as his first wife, Simeon
Farnsworth (ibid., 163), b.
1. Mehitebel Farnsworth, b. 25 May 1745, d.
prob.
2. Simeon Farnsworth, Jr., b. 10 Sept.
1746, d. Washington, N.H 27 Jan. 1791; said to have m. Ellen or Esther Ellingwood of Lyndeborough, N.H
(Farnsworth Memorial, 334, believes he could have m. two Ellingwood
sisters, but in a poss. confusion with Simeon Jr.’s
father, gives the son a second wife Lucy); Simeon Jr.’s
wife d. prob. Washington 27 Oct. 1811.
3. Samuel Farnsworth, bp.
9 March 1747/8, d. Harvard 17 April 1756, ae. 8 yrs.
4. Martha Farnsworth, b. 20 Aug. 1750, d.
Harvard 10 March 1776; m. there 16 Nov. 1769 Nathaniel Whittemore,
Jr., b. Concord, Mass. 4 July 1741, d. Lancaster, Mass. 3 Jan. 1822, ae. 80:6, son of Nathaniel and Abigail
(Blood) Whittemore (NEHGR 108 [1954]:171).
Martha likely died in childbirth; her fourth child Calvin Whittemore
d. 20 March 1776, ae. l5days.
5. Lucy
Farnsworth, b. 3 May 1752, d. N.H. 2b Feb. 1825; m. (I) Harvard 20 Oct.
1772 Abner Sampson (“Abner
Oliver Sampson” in Farnsworth Memorial, 335); (2) prob. N.H. 28 Nov. 1799, as
his second wife, Samuel Hurd of
6. Joseph Farnsworth, bp.
8 May 1754, d. poss.
Joy F. (Hartwell) Peach, genealogist for the Hartwell Family Association, is
a sixth-great-granddaughter of Richard2 Hall. Earlier NEXUS articles
include “The Tale of Bathsheba Woods Moore and Bathsheba Moore Woods”
(5[1988]:15-16), “Elisha Smith and Sarah (Hartwell)
Melvin of Watertown and
NOTE: Added by Jeffrey Lee Hall, 3/1/03:
Under item ix:3 above for
Timothy Hall, Jr. please add the following information:
History of
1. Timothy(3)
2. Sarah
3. John
4. Mehitable
5. Molly
6. James
1. Timothy(3) married Sophia
Parker, daughter of Hananiah Parker of
2. Sarah married Timothy Dale Holt.
3. John married Nancy Moore in
4&5. Mehitable and Molly are so
far missing from all known records.
6. James moved to
After the death of Timothy(2)
around 1800, his wife Sarah Keyes Hall remarried an Ezekiel Jewett of Temple,
NH where her son Timothy(3) lived. It may be that Sarah moved in with her son
for a while before marrying Jewett. Timothy(2) is
mentioned in the Town History of Temple as having served around the time of the
war of 1812 in the Army.
I have found all the Jewett headstones in