Richard Gale (abt. 1614 - 1679)

Born about 1614 in England

Husband of Mary (Castle) Gale — married 16 Jul 1640 in Watertown, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 22 Mar 1679 at about age 65 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Richard Gale migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 125) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

According to Robert Charles Anderson, the origins of Richard Gale of Watertown are unknown.^[1] Undocumented information regarding his origin is frequently seen and cobbled together starting with mid-19th Century research. See Research Notes.

Court records of Middlesex County, Massachusetts for 1656 contain the testimony of one Richard Gall believed to be this Richard Gale. In it he gives his age as 42 years of age which places his year of birth about 1614, age at marriage as 26 and age at death about 64.^[2]

The name of Richard Gale, ancestor of the family, here given first appears upon the records of Watertown, Massachusetts in 1640, as the purchaser of six acres of land, being part of a lot of nine acres in the town plot, of Richard Browne, the original proprietor.^[3] On the 2d of December he purchased 250 acres of Richard Dummer, being the north-eastern half of the "old town farm" in Watertown, which has continued as the family homestead to the present day. His wife was named Mary. His will, dated Feb, 25, 1678-9, was proved April 1, 1679. It appears by the testimony in a suit in 1679, that John Gale, son of Richard, was in 1677, " a goodwiller" to the daughter of Henry Spring, senior, who, with his wife Mehitable, testified that " Goodman Richard Gale came to our house to ask our goodwill to make a match between our daughter Elizabeth, and his son John H. He promised to give his son John half of his farm".^[4]

Marriage and Children

Richard married 16 September 1640 to Mary Castle. The original marriage certificate is in possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society,^[2] a PDF facsimile is attached to this profile. The referenced book contains a transcription of the document as well as discussion of the marriage, that the document was found in the papers of Gov. Winthrop, and discussion of how marriages were formalized at the time.

They had children:

• Sarah, born 8 September 1641, was the wife of Joseph Garfield and was named in hier father's will^[4] NOTE: she is the only child of Richard and Mary for whom a birth record was found
• Abraham, named in his father's will as "Abram", was born c. 1643 and married Sarah Fiske^[4]
• Mary, wife of John Flagg, was named in her father's will^[4]
• John, who was named in his fathers will, married Elizabeth Spring^[4]
• Ephraim, who likely predeceased his father, was in 1673 a vagrant who was "distempered in his mind," according to the court files^[4]

Death and Will

Richard died 22 March 1678/9 in Watertown.^[5] His will, dated 25 February 1678, was proved 1 April 1679 ("1: 2: 79").^[4] His will appears in Volume 5 of Middlesex Probate records on page 252 (the index gives this as page 282, the actual will page is marked with a "numbering error" label). The will listed sons Abram and John, daughter Sara Garfield, daughter Mary Flagg and the testator's "well-beloved wife" although he does not state her name. His son Abraham's two eldest sons, Abraham and Richard, were also named in Richard's will.^[6] A transcription of his will is found in The Gale Family Records.^[4]

Research Notes

Disputed Parents

This profile was previously attached as the son of Richard Gale and Alice Atwood, and FindAGrave has given son Richard a birth date of 16 February 1618 in Devon, England in conflict with other evidence.

That he originates in Devonshire seems to come from George Gale's 1866 "The Gale family records in England and the United States..." in which George Gale clearly stated that his place of origin is (at that time) unknown. However, Gale wrote that the Samuel Freeman who purchased 3 acres of the original 9 acre lot was "said to be from Devonshire."

The following is frequently seen but is not supported by documentary evidence: "RICHARD GAEL (1618 - 1678), also shown as Gale, Gall, and Geale, was one of four brothers, including JOHN, HUGH, and EDMUND GALE, who came to New England in the 1600s. Information on his family comes primarily from pre-published genealogies by the Hon. George Gale (1816 - 1868) of Galesville, Wisconsin and by Edward Chenery Gale. Additional information found online and in various records has been compared and integrated and appears in the Bibliography. Richard is placed here as Generation I but it is thought that his grandfather was Abraham Gael (1543 - ??), who married Margaret (Unknown) in 1567, and that his father was Richard Gale (1585, Devonshire - ??), who married Alice Atwood."^[7]

Disputed Children

Abigail Gale and Thomas Gale were previously attached as children of Richard and Mary, but no source is cited for their births. They are not mentioned in Richard's will, but they could have predeceased their father. Nevertheless, as there are currently no sources to connect them to Richard, they have been detached until evidence is found to connect them.

Sources

1. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, Great Migration Directory, p 125
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Gale, Edward Chenery, Richard Gale, yeoman of Watertown, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1614-1678. Minneapolis, Minn.: Priv. print., 1932 (note date of publication is incorrectly stated many places as 1989). pp 5-6 Archive.org
3. ↑ First Inventory of Grants & Possessions, Watertown Records, p 47; also Third Inventory of 1646, Watertown Records, p 131
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7} Gale, George. The Gale Family Records in England and the United States... Galesville, WI: Leith & Gale, 1866, pp. 27-32. Archive.org
5. ↑ "Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988", Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook), Ancestry Record 2495 #3773721 ($), Richard Gall death 22 Mar 1678 in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA.
6. ↑ Probate records 1648--1924 (Middlesex County, Massachusetts) Authors: Massachusetts. Probate Court (Middlesex County) FHL film 521767 1679 will of Richard Gall/Gail image 316 of 616
7. ↑ Information researched and compiled by Gayle N. Mandell at http://gale-gaylefamilies.com/the-gale-families-of-new-england-part-ii.html (last accessed 22 May 2015)[Note this domain no longer exists 26 Aug 2018: View on Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20121205024409/http://gale-gaylefamilies.com/the-gale-families-of-new-england-part-ii.html]

See also:

• "Genealogies of the families and descendants of the early settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, including Waltham and Weston : to which is appended the early history of the town", by Bond, Henry, 1790-1859; Jones, Horatio Gates, 1822-1893, p. 229. https://archive.org/details/genealogiesoffam00bond/page/228/mode/2up
• Find A Grave: Memorial #122614265 (last accessed 22 May 2015) [Note: no documentation for the information given.]
• Anderson, The Great Migration, Vol 3, Pg 20. See reference under Joseph GARFIELD.
• Worcester County, Masachusetts , Memoirs, Volume II, page 254 (details of Will and death)
• New England Marriages prior to 1700; page 291.
• Bond, Henry: "Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts"; page 229 (Gale) - Marriage and children