Monthly Archives: January 2011

Sarah Ockington (1691-1726), Sarah Smith (1691-1753), wives of Jonathan3 Hall, Sr.

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As with the previous posts on Esther Hall, wife of Edward Hall of Rehoboth, and Abigail Pratt, wife of Samuel Hall, there is, again,  very little to tell about Sarah Ockington and Sarah Smith, wives of Jonathan Hall, Sr.  It is truly regrettable that so little can be discovered about our early female ancestors. It would so enrich our ancestral history to know something about them but the lack of written documentation on the wives is, well, just history.

Jonathan’s first wife, Sarah Ockington, was born in Dedham, Massachusetts Bay Colony, on August 28, 1691 (Vital Records of Dedham, Mass. 1635-1845, Revised and Expanded Edition, compiled by Robert Brand Hanson, Picton Press, Camden, Maine, 1997), to Thomas Ockington and Rebecca Mason. The original Dedham Vital Records have her as having been born in 1690 but I prefer to use the revised edition of the Dedham vital records as my primary source.

There is no record of the marriage date, or place, of Jonathan and Sarah, so an approximate year of 1714 is used. It is likely that they were married in Dedham. According to the First Book of Raynham Records, their first child, Jonathan Jr. was born in May of 1716 and their sixth child, Mason, in January of 1725/26. If Mason’s birth year was actually 1726, perhaps there were medical issues with the birth that caused Sarah to die three months later on March 28, 1726, at the age of 35 years, five months short of her 36th birthday. Sarah is buried next to her husband, Jonathan, in one of the several Hall plots in the Pleasant Street Cemetery in Raynham Center, MA.

Headstone photo courtesy of Brady Fitts

A year after the death of his first wife, Sarah Ockington, Jonathan married second, Sarah Smith, born August 7, 1691 in Dedham, Massachusetts Bay Colony to Asahel and Elizabeth Smith. Their April 11, 1727 marriage in Dedham, MA is recorded in the revised Dedham Vital Records (see cite above). Sarah was the mother of two children, Elizabeth Hall, born 1728 and Hannah Hall, born in 1734.

Sarah (Smith) Hall was one of the original members of the First Congregational Church in Raynham, and her death is recorded in the Raynham Church Records as having occurred on July 15, 1753. Her headstone has not yet been located, though it is likely that she is buried in the Hall plot in the Pleasant Street Cemetery in Raynham Center, Massachusetts.

A Brief History of Raynham, Bristol County, Massachusetts and its First Congregational Church

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Raynham, Massachusetts was incorporated April 2, 1731, having been taken from the eastern precinct of Taunton, Massachusetts in Bristol County.  Taunton was first settled by English emigrants in about 1637-39.  Settlements in the area that was to become Raynham were made about 1652 by James and Henry Leonard and Ralph Russell, who had come from Wales, and established in Raynham the first iron forge on the continent.  By a free town vote they were given the liberty to “build and set up this work, and that they shall have the woods on the other side of the Two-Mile river, wheresoever it is common on that side of the river, to cut for their cord-wood to make coals; and also to dig and take mine or ore at Two-Mile Meadows, or in any of the commons appertaining to the town where it is not proprietary.”  The iron forge was held by the Leonard family and their descendants for a century, during which time the iron works were enlarged by adding more furnaces and eventually being converted into an anchor forge, and providing a livelihood for the inhabitants of the area for about 200 years.

Abraham Jones, who was born about 1659 in Hull, Massachusetts and died March 18, 1734/35 in Raynham, appears to have been the major voice in petitioning for separation from Taunton; his name appears first on each of the petition’s. The separation does not seem to have been from any political difference but rather from a convenience of the people as most of the inhabitants were too far from Taunton to attend public worship.  Three petitions to separate were presented to the Massachusetts General Court before the Court declared that it was “competently filled with inhabitants” to be set off into a distinct township.  The first petition, dated December 8, 1726, sought exemption from charges for the new meeting house in Taunton, and to be set off as a separate town from Taunton; the second petition dated October 17, 1728 asked that Taunton be erected into three separate and distinct districts; the third petition dated April 16, 1729 made the request to be set into a separate precinct from Taunton. The General Court, on the third petition, set off Raynham as a distinct township.  There were 30 families living in Raynham at the time that it was incorporated on April 2, 1731.

The inhabitants of Raynham, in anticipation of separation from Taunton had already erected and partially finished a meeting house two years before incorporation.  This first meeting house, according to “The History of Raynham, Mass.” stood a fourth of a mile east of the forge, on the north side of the road leading to Squawbetty.  On the website for the First Congregational Church of Raynham UCC, it is more clearly defined that the first meeting house was located along Richmond Street, not far from the Iron Forge.

The first town meeting for selecting officers was held April 22, 1731.  Samuel Leonard, Jr., was chosen town clerk, and John Staples, Samuel Leonard and Ebenezer Robinson, selectman.  In 1732 John White was chosen as clerk of the market and Elijah Dean and Thomas Baker were elected tithing-men. At a meeting on May 10, 1731, Mr. John Wales, who had already been preaching in Raynham for a year and a half, was chosen minister. The church was officially established on October 19, 1731 and the Rev. Mr. Wales was ordained as the pastor the following day. Mr. Wales continued as the minster of the Raynham church for another 34 years. He died February 23, 1765.  About two years after the death of Mr. Wales, Perez Fobes, of Bridgewater. was chosen pastor of the church, and served for 45 years.

On October 7, 1731 at a church meeting at the public meeting house in Taunton, 15 men and 17 women, all living in Raynham, and all brethren and sisters in full communion with the Taunton church, requested to be dismissed from the church in order to enter into a church state by themselves, and have the ordinances of the gospel administered among them. The church voted that they be dismissed accordingly.

It is every family historian’s desire to obtain primary source documents.  The following is the list of original members of the Church in Raynham, taken from page 129 of the Raynham Church Records, Vol. 1 (Old Colony Historical Society, Taunton, Massachusetts).

The Original Members of the Church in Raynham
Men (15) Women (17)
Abraham Jones Hannah White
John Staple Mary Hacket
John Leonard Kathrine Leonard
Samuel Hacket Hannah Campbell
Joseph Jones Susannah White
Samuel Leonard Hannah Staple
Seth Leonard Mehetable White
Samuel White Ruth Crane
Ebenezer Campbell Elizabeth Shaw
John White Mary Jones
Gabriel Crossman Joanna Leonard
Jonathan Hall Abigail Hall
Thomas Baker Lydia Brettun
Samuel Hacket 2d Patience Hacket
Henry Crane Sarah Hall
Rebecca Leonard
Abigail Baker

Three Halls appear on the list of original members of the church: Jonathan, Abigail and Sarah Hall. Abigail Hall was the widow of Samuel Hall, he being the first of this family to settle in this area; Jonathan was the son of Abigail [and Samuel], and Sarah was Jonathan’s second wife, Sarah Smith.

The second meeting house was built sometime during the 1760’s to early 1770’s by Israel Washburn, on the present lot of the church today, in Raynham Center. The land upon which it was erected belonged to Amariah Hall (nephew of Jonathan Hall).    A steeple was added later as a tower attached to the side of the house. When the church decided to replace this building, the town expressed an interest in it as they had been using it for town meetings and had no place else to meet.  Some of the church people were not fond of this idea and one night the tower was severed from the building.  In the morning the tower lay upon the ground, extending across the street with the spire projecting into the orchard of Amos Hall (son of Jonathan Hall).   Subsequently, no serious objection was made by the town to remove the dismembered building.

The third meeting house was built on the corner in Raynham Center.  It stood until July 22, 1913 when a fire in a shed belonging to a nearby blacksmith spread and the church was completely destroyed.  When the church members rebuilt their house of worship, they decided to use a stone exterior for better fire protection.  The Stone Church, as it is commonly known, was dedicated on April 1, 1915 and remains active today.

Sources
1. Raynham Church Records, Vol. 1, Old Colony Historical Society, Taunton, Massachusetts.
2. History of Raynham, Mass. From its First Settlement to the Present time, by Rev. Enoch Sanford, A.M., Providence, 1870.
3. First Congregational Church of Raynham UCC, (web site).
4. A Brief History of Raynham, Massachusetts, Town of Raynham (web site).
5. Descendants of Thomas Jones of Hingham, Hull, and Manchester, Mass., compiled by Claude W. Barlow, NEHGR, vol. 113, 47-48, 1959.

The Children of Jonathan3 Hall, Sr. and His Wives, Sarah Ockington (1691-1726), Sarah Smith (1691-1753)

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Edward1 Hall of Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Samuel2 Hall
Jonathan3 Hall, Sr.
Jonathan4 Hall, Jr., Sarah4 Hall, Amos4 Hall, Rebecca4 Hall, John4 Hall, Mason4 Hall, Elizabeth4 Hall, Hannah4 Hall

Jonathan3 Hall, Sr. married Sarah Ockington, daughter of Thomas and Rebecca (Mason) Ockington, about 1714 probably in either Dedham or Taunton, Massachusetts. No primary record of their marriage has been found to date. Jonathan and Sarah lived in that part of Taunton, Massachusetts that became Raynham in 1731, where Jonathan was a farmer, a large land owner, and a Deacon of the First Congregational church. Jonathan and Sarah had six children.

For the sake of historical “correctness” all births, marriages or deaths prior to Raynham’s incorporation in 1731 will be written as occurring in Taunton even though this family had always lived in that section of Taunton that became Raynham, and more specifically Raynham Center.

1. Jonathan4 Hall, Jr., born May 3, 1716 in Taunton, died February 25, 1789 in Raynham. He married Lydia Leonard, daughter of Seth and Dorcas (White) Leonard. Lydia was born about 1721/22 and died in Raynham on June 26, 1763. Jonathan married second, Hannah (Keith) Leach Hall, daughter of John and Hannah (Washburn) Keith. Jonathan and Lydia are buried in the Cemetery at Raynham Center, now known as the Pleasant Street Cemetery. This family will be treated fully in a future post. After Jonathan’s death, Hannah married her fourth husband, Israel Washburn.

2. Sarah4 Hall was born July 16, 1718 in Taunton, and died February 11, 1725/26.

3. Amos4 Hall was born April 5, 1720 in Taunton and died February 29, 1816 in Middleborough, Plymouth, Massachusetts. He married Abigail Blake, daughter of Samuel Blake (Bristol Deeds 53:435) on December 20, 1744 (First Book of Raynham Records). Abigail died November 23, 1804 and she and Amos are both buried in Raynham Center. They had three known children:

  • John5 Hall, born November 15, 1745 in Raynham, died February 8, 1830 in Wilton, Franklin, Maine. He married Huldah Williams on January 1, 1770.
  • Lewis5 Hall, baptized November 15, 1747 (Raynham Church Records) in Raynham, died September 23, 1812 in Raynham.  He married his second cousin, Fear Alden, daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Hall) Alden on February 23, 1775 in Middleborough (MA marriages before 1800). Fear died March 29, 1841 in Raynham and they are both buried in the Town Cemetery at Raynham Center.
  • Amos5 Hall, baptized August 26, 1750, died July 4, 1752 and is buried in Raynham Center.

4. Rebecca4 Hall born May 21, 1722, died May 15, 1723 in Taunton.

5. John4 Hall, born May 15, 1724 in Taunton died May 26, 1745 during the siege of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada.

6. Mason4 Hall, born January 28, 1725/26 in Taunton, died April 6, 1795. He married his first cousin, Mercy Hall, daughter of Samuel and Mercy (Willis) Hall, January 16, 1748/49 in Raynham (Raynham Church Records). Mason and Mercy had four children.

  • Patience5 Hall, baptized October 28, 1750 in Raynham.
  • Sarah5 Hall, born about 1753 in Raynham, died May 11, 1816 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts.  She married on March 18, 1783, Philip Ellis, son of Philip and Mary (Staples) Ellis.
  • Mercy5 Hall, baptized August 13, 1758 in Raynham.
  • Mason5 Hall, Jr., born about 1769, died June 1821 in Middleborough, Plymouth, Massachusetts.  He married on July 29, 1789, Hannah Willis, daughter of Beriah and Abigail (Hayward) Willis.

Sarah (Ockington) Hall died on March 28, 1726 in that part of Taunton that became Raynham, and was buried in the Town Cemetery in Raynham Cemter.

Jonathan Hall married on April 11, 1727 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts as his second wife, Sarah Smith, daughter of Asahel and Elizabeth Smith. She was born August 7, 1691 in Dedham, Massachusetts Bay Colony and died in Raynham on July 15, 1753. Jonathan and Sarah had two children.

1. Elizabeth4 Hall, born May 29, 1728 in Taunton, died January 19, 1784 in Raynham. She married on December 10, 1745, Deacon Nathaniel Shaw, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Hodges) Shaw. Nathaniel was born August 4, 1723 in Taunton and died May 4, 1804 in Raynham. Elizabeth and Nathaniel are buried in the cemetery in back of the school house in South Raynham. They had six known children shown below, names and birth dates taken from Mayflower Families through Five Generations, volume 16, part 3, John Alden, p. 213; no primary sources have been found to date.

  • Nathaniel5 Shaw, Jr., born August 6, 1746 in Raynham.
  • John5 Shaw, born February 25, 1748/49 in Raynham.
  • Betsey5 Shaw, born September 28, 1753 in Raynham, died June 1820.  Married Sergeant George King, son of Benjamin and Abiah (Leonard) King.  He was born November 27, 1744 in Raynham and died January 16, 1827.
  • Asel5 Shaw, born November 25, 1754 in Raynham.
  • Jairus5 Shaw, born September 28, 1755 in Raynham.
  • Sarah5 Shaw, born November 21, 1758 in Raynham.

2.  Hannah4 Hall, born March 25, 1734 in Raynham. No further information as to whether Hannah ever married, or when she died, has been found.

Informal listing of some sources used for this post:
1. Vital Statistics and Early Town Records, 1699-1807, Town of Raynham, Vol. 1 (Raynham Town Clerk).
2. Raynham Church Records, Vol. 1 (Old Colony Historical Society, Taunton, MA).
3. Mayflower Source Records (First Book of Raynham Records).
4. Massachusetts Vital Records for Taunton, Bridgewater, Dedham, Middleborough.
5. Mayflower Families through Five Generations, volume 16, part 3, John Alden, p. 213.
6. Massachusetts marriages before 1800.
7. Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire.
8. Maine: A History, Maine Historical Society, 1919.
9. US Federal Census, 1790, Raynham, Bristol, MA.
10. The Diary of Isaac Backus (3 volumes).
11. Headstone Inscriptions, Town Cemetery at Raynham Center (Pleasant Street Cemetery).

Last Will and Testament of Jonathan Hall, Sr.

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Note: The original will becomes difficult to read toward the end. Therefore, at some point in the transcription below, the language will change to a summary of what can be read. In addition, I have placed in italic type the interesting and/or unusual names that identify specific tracts of land such as Old Coleing, Mount Misery, Hammer Beam, Great Tearall, etc.

Bristol County Massachusetts Probate, Book 12

In the name of God Amen, I Jonathan Hall, the Eldest of that name in Raynham in Bristol County in New England being in the Sixtieth year of my age and at this time in reasonable good health and of sound mind and memory, Blessed be God for it, I do make this my Last Will and Testament as followeth,

First I give and bequeath my Soul to God that gave me it and Redeemed it by the blood of his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly I give and bequeath my body to the grave to be Decently buried by my Executor herein after named in hopes of a Joyfull Resurrection, and as to my outward and worldly Estate I give and dispose of it as followeth:

Firstly I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Sarah Hall after my Honest Debts and funeral charges are paid the life use and benefit of my now dwelling house and barn as also the use and Improvement of all my land Adjoining to my said house and barn, as also the use and Improvement of my New Lot Joyning to the way that Leads from the Country Rhode to Elnathan Joneses land and also one third part of my orchard together with four acres of Improved Land that ___ there to Adjoining, as also all my Land at a place Called the Hammer Beam Except what I have already given to my Son Jonathan Hall by Deed and one acre more at the westward end of my Land there at the Corner in Joseph Joneses Line Adjoining to Deacon Shaw’s Land where my Son Jonathan Hall has lately set some apple trees. Excepting also one acre of land in the Hammer Beam Neck next to the Land of Timothy Jones, being all that is in said neck which my Son Jonathan Hall now Improves there. I also give him the Improvement of five acres of Land at the old Coleing ___ be it more or less, Bounded Adjoining on the north by Land of my son Jonathan Hall and westward and Southward to the Highway that Lyeth between My Land and the Land of Samuel Leonard Esqr. And it is also bounded on the East from a stake which stands in the Line of my Son Jonathan Hall’s Land by two white oak trees marked with the Surveyor’s mark south thirty five degrees and an half West to a stake in the aforesaid Highway for a Corner(?) with the privilege of all the wood and Timber upon this last mentioned Land and also ___ fire wood for her own fire on any of my Lands if she Doth Stand in need of it and also ___ fencing ___ to fence these above Described Lands if she doth stand in need of it, and also Liberty to pasture one horse and three cows and one young beef if she ___ Cause in that which is now my pasture at Great Tareall. The sd particulars I do give to My said wife during her Natural Life and the Continuing my Widow. And I do give and bequeath to my Said wife and her heirs and Assigns forever all the goods and Household stuff which she brought with her when I married her together with three good cows and a horse and one young Beef out of My stock such as She shall Chuse to be to her disposing as above said, if any remain thereof after her Decease my will is that it Descend to my two daughters, Namely Elizabeth the Wife of Nathaniel Shaw and Hannah Hall or to their Legal Representatives. Also my ___ in Raynham __ing house I give that to my said wife and to my two daughters above named.

Secondly, I give and Bequeath to my Son Jonathan Hall and to his heirs and Assigns forever a tract of Land at the old Coleing Bounded on the North by the land of Timothy Jones partly and partly by his own land, westerly by the line of land there which I have here in given the Improvements of to my wife, which is a dividing line between what I have given to my said wife as aforesaid, and what I give to him, and southerly by the highway that Lyeth betwixt this tract of land and the Land of Samuel Leonard Esqr and Easterly by a Dividing Betwixt this tract and what I shall give to my Son Amos Hall hereafter mentioned which begineth at a red oak tree in the line of Timothy Jones & land Ranging __ thence south one degree Eastward to a Horn Pine tree marked. Ranging ___ south ten degrees Eastward to a stake by the above mentioned tree(?), it being a ___. I also give to my son Jonathan Hall two pieces of land at the Hammer Beam, one is one acre of Land at the westward corner of my land there Joyning to the land of Joseph Jones and the land of Deacon Shaw where my Son Jonathan has already set some apple trees. The other is in the Hammer Beam Neck Joyning to the land of Timothy Jones Containing one acre be it more or less. And also the northwardly.

I give and Bequeath to my Son Amos Hall my tract of land at Mount Misery Containing Sixty Acres, be it more or Less, Except the Improvement of my new field which I have herein before given the Improvement to my wife During her Natural Life ___ Continuing my widow. And also a tract of Land at the Eastwardly of my ___ at the Old Coleing Containing Nine Acres be it more or less Bounded on the __ by a Line of Land before mentioned which I have given to my Son Jonathan Hall and northwardly partly by the Land of Timothy Jones & partly by the Land ___ Jones and Eastwardly by the Land of Samuel Leonard Esqr and Southerly by the way that Lyeth between this Land and the Land of said Samuel Leonard. I do give unto my Son Amos Hall my Home Lott Lying Southerly from the new burying place Bounded Norther by a Line before mentioned of the northerly part of the Lot given to my Son Jonathan Hall & to all my land southerly…

continuing in summary form….

Improvement to Lot given to his wife after her death or marriage, the dwelling house and the land adjoined thereto, as well as his new field and one-sixth of his right in the undivided lands in Taunton Old Township are given to his Son, Amos Hall.

To his Son Mason Hall, his pasture land at Great Tearall so called and also the tract of Land in Raynham near Bridgewater line at Titticut plain and all land adjoining thereto called Fifty acres more or less, also one quarter part of his right to the undivided Land in Taunton Old Township. Mason Hall to pay to Jonathan’s daughter Hannah Hall, within two years of his death, the sum of Five Pounds.

To his daughters, Elizabeth, wife of Nathaniel Shaw and Hannah Hall, all money that he might have and all his moveables both within doors and out not already disposed of except his wearing apparel that he gives to his Sons Jonathan Hall, Amos Hall and Mason Hall.

Nominated and appointed his Son Jonathan Hall and his son in-law, Nathaniel Shaw to be joint executors.

In witness that this is my Last Will and Testament I do here unto set my hand and seal this tenth day of February in the year of our Lord Christ 1745/6.

Signed Jonathan Hall

Witnessed by
Nathaniel Shaw
George Leonard
Nathan Leonard
Samuel Leonard