John Hall (1611 - 1696)

Born 1611 in England

Husband of Bethia (Unknown) Hall — married before 1636 in Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 23 Jul 1696 at about age 85 in Barnstable County, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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John Hall migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 2, p. 840) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

This profile is part of the Hall Name Study.

Disputed Origins

John Hall was born about 1611 and perhaps earlier, origins unknown.

"Savage and Wyman suggest that this John Hall came from Coventry in England, but there is no evidence for this whatsoever. Banks offers St. Mary Whitechapel, London, as an origin for this man, but cites only "Banks Mss.," so not much weight should be put on this claim either, without further exploration [Topo Dict 102]".^[1]

"John Hall was admitted as an inhabitant of Charlestown in April 1633...^[1]

"Both Savage and Pope muddled this John Hall and one or two others. Savage combined the records of this John Hall with those of a second man of the same name at Charlestown, whereas Pope distributed the records of two John Halls and one Samuel Hall across two entries under the name of John Hall. Jacobus sorted out the confusion in a long note published in 1948 [Brainerd Anc 142-43]; the critical point is to watch the name Bethia as wife of John.^[1]

Life in New England

He migrated by fall 1630, residing initially, perhaps, in Boston, then Charlestown by 1632, Barnstable 1640, and Yarmouth by 1653.

He was made Freeman 14 May 1634 [MBCR 1:369].

The Charlestown church record says "John, Bethiah, Haule" were admitted 2 Nov 1632 as part of a group having been dismissed from the Boston Church the previous 14 August ^[2], implying a marriage to Bethiah before the November date. Anderson suggests otherwise:

"The gap of six years between the first record of Bethia as wife of John Hall (2 November 1632) and the first record of a baptism for a child (13 May 1638) is puzzling... Savage demonstrated that the Charlestown church records [recorded another couple as having married] some time before the marriage actually took place. The same may have happened with John and Bethia. If that is true John and Bethia may not have married until about 1636"^[1] [Anderson omitted this paragraph from the Hall sketch in his subsequently published Winthrop Fleet: Massachusetts Bay Immigrants to New England 1629–1630 (Boston, 2012), 357–58.]

Bethia is said to have died in Barnstable 1 Feb 1683/4.^[3]

He held a variety of positions, including Barntsable constable (1647), Yarmouth surveyor of highways (1653), Plymouth Grand Jury (1657, 1664).

He died in Yarmouth, MA 23 July 1696.^[4]

Last Will & Testament

Dated 15 Jul 1695, proved 25 August 1696, inventoried 6 Aug 1696^[5][6]

"all those several parcels and portions of land which I formerly gave to my sons shall stand and remain to them... to my eldest son Samuel... to my son John... to my son Benjamin... to my son Elisha... my son William... my sons... Joseph... Nathaniel... Gershom...

Children

1. Samuel, b abt 1636; m by ?? Elizabeth Folland; Samuel died without surviving issue; in his 1693 will he made bequests to his wife, to his eldest brother John Hall, to my second brother Joseph Hall, to my third brother Nathaniel Hall, to my fourth brother Gershom Hall, to my fifth brother William Hall, to my sixth brother Benjamin Hall, to my seventh brother Elisha Hall... my brother-in-law Thomas Follin...
2. John, bp Charlestown 13 May 1638; m by 1661 Priscilla _____ (thought to be daughter of Augustine Bearse, but "full evidence is not seen.")
3. Shebar (son), bp Charlestown 9 Jan 1639/40; no further record.
4. Joseph, bp Barnstable 3 Jul 1642; m by ?? Mary Joyce, dau of John Joyce
5. Benjamin, bp Barnstable 14 Jul 1644; bur. Barnstable 23 Jul 1644
6. Nathaniel, bp Barnstable 8 Feb 1645/6; m by 1675 An Thornton
7. Gershom, bp Barnstable 5 Mar 1647/8; m1 by 1669 Bethia Bangs, dau of Edward Bangs; m2 Hingham 9 Dec 1698 Martha Bramhall.
8. William, bp Barnstable 8 June 1651; m by 1683 or as early as 1675 Esther _____. She might have been dau of James Mathews.
9. Benjamin bp Barnstable 29 May 1653; m Yarmouth 7 Feb 1677/8? Mehitable Mathews
10. Elisha, b abt 1655; m by 1680 Lydia ____

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, 3 vols. (Boston, 1995), 2:843 (COMMENTS section).
2. ↑ Records of the First Church in Charlestown, 1632-1789 (David Clapp and Son, Boston, 1880) p. 7
3. ↑ Jacobus, Brainerd Ancestry, p 141
4. ↑ Yarmouth Vital Records, p 129
5. ↑ Mayflower Descendant, 31:36, citing Barnstable Probate Records 2:23
6. ↑ "Probate records v. 1-3 1686-1747" database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YB-N95L : 22 April 2024), Film# 00770540, Barnstable, Massachusetts, image 87, Vol 2, Page 23-24.

• Major source used: Anderson, Robert Charles The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995) p 840-843(Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010),