Category Archives: Generation 2, Samuel Hall

Last Will and Testament of Samuel Hall

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Note: The original will consists of one long paragraph, so I have broken it up for ease of reading. As it is difficult deciphering the old handwriting, I have a few blank spots; I have transcribed the spelling as close to original as possible.

Bristol County Massachusetts Probate, Book 1, 1687-1745

In the name of God Amen, I Samuel Hall of Tauton in the County of Bristoll in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, being of sound memory through the mercy of God, capable to dispose of my worldly estate, though at this time labouring under some bodily illness, do make this to be my last will and testament: In primis I comit my soul into ye hands of Christ and desire my body may be decently buryed by my Executors hereafter named, and after funeral expenses and just debts are payed my will is as followeth:

First the lands which I have already ___? on my eldest son Jonathan Hall by Deed, I do hereby confirme the same unto him and his heyrs and assigns forever.

Secondly, what money, moveables, bedding, cow hath been received already by my daughter Esther Blake shall be all that she shall have of my Estate as long as her mother lives, only that one cow now at sd Blakes house which he took of me to the halves, shall not be taken from my daughter if I dy, ___? I give it to her.

Thirdly, whereas I have an whole purchase right to undivided lands in Tauton and one third part of a purchase right to undivided lands in Tauton, I give my sd purchase rights to my two sons Jonathan Hall and Samuel Hall, to be equally between them, to them and to theyr heyrs and assigns forever, to be theyrs immediately after my decease.

Fourthly, to my beloved wife Abigail Hall I give my dwelling house and homested and all the rest of my lands ___? estate during the time of her natural life if she continue my widow so long or otherwise during her widowhood and bearing my name (excepting all ways that I ___? for her use and improvement in case she should marry again, the north end of my dwelling house and the land on the north side of ye road between my dwelling house and my son Jonathan’s land) but after my wives decease or marriage my lands shall pass to my sons in manner as followeth,

To my youngest son Samuel Hall, I give the house I now dwell in in Tauton and my homelands to have and to hold the same to sd Samuel Hall his heyrs and assigns forever; the bounds between him and his brother Jonathan Halls land shall be that place which we call the cross (crop?)fence namely that cross (crop?)fence which my son Jonathan ___? ___? of a part of. Also to my sd son Samuel Hall and his heyrs and assigns forever, I give a piece of land called Misery, ____? thirty five acres or more; Excepting four acres of sd tract at ye northeast end of it I give to my eldest son Jonathan Hall and to his heyrs and assigns forever.

My Lott called Shaws Lott and an eight acre lott adjoining to it I give to my sons Jonathan Hall and Samuel Hall and to theyr heyrs and assigns forever, to be equally divided between them. My eight acre lott at the old Coaling (so called) I give to my son Jonathan Hall and to his heyrs and assigns forever; my three(?) acre lott at the old Coaling I give to my son Samuel Hall and to his heyrs and assigns forever. My land at Tareall(?) (so called) be it seven five acres more or less, I give to my two sons Jonathan Hall and Samuel Hall and to theyr heyrs and assigns forever to be equally divided between them; Excepting only that the Lad who now lives with me namely Ebenezer Pratt shall have twenty acres of it at that end next to Crossmans, to him and to his heyrs and assigns forever, that is to say if he lives with my wife until he be twenty one years of age or in case of my wives decease to live with my son Jonathan until he arrives unto that age.

My land at Kehtehtiqut* [see note below], namely the Neck and the Little Lott (so called) I give to my two sons Jonathan and Samuel to be equally divided between them; And I order my sd two sons that at ye end of four years after sd ____? lands comes into ye possession (namely after my wives decease) is to pay each of them the sum of ten pounds to theyr two sisters Esther Blake and Hannah Hall which sd sum of twenty pounds is to be equally divided between sd Esther and Hannah.

Fifthly, as to my stock of living Creatures(?) and money (if I leave any) and moveables, I give them all to my beloved wife, to her disposal(?) and for her comfort; Excepting one yoak of steers I give to my son Samuel Hall and to the girl who lives with me called Elizabeth Prat I give one cow if she live to be seventeen years of age, with liberty to my wife to give her more if she feels cause; also it is my will that my younger daughter Hannah Hall shall have thirty pounds payd her out of my moveables when she arrives to be eighteen years of age; also my wife hath liberty to bestow(?) more on any of her children if she can spare it and see cause and what is left of my sd stock or moveables unspent and not disposed of by my wife shall after my wives decease go to and among all my children, only one shall have power to appoint how much or what part each of my children take thereof.

Lastly, I constitute my beloved wife Abigail Hall and my eldest son Jonathan Hall to be joint Executors of this my last will and testament testimony hereof I have hereunto sett my hand and seale this twenty first August Anno Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixteen In ye ___? of ye reign of our Soveraign Lord George of Great Brittain the King.

Signed, sealed and delivered by Samuel Hall ye Subscriber to be his last will and testament.

Samuel H Hall (his mark)

In Presence of
Abraham Jones
Samuel White
Jabez Prat

Editors Note: Samuel Hall’s son, Samuel, died Intestate about 1736-37. A record of the payment of his debts was entered November 18, 1741 in the Tenth Book of Wills, 108:109. One entry is extremely important in helping to identify Samuel Sr.’s two daughters, Esther and Hannah:

“To said Blake [Samuel] and wife and to Barnabas Crossman and wife of Middleborough (by ye last will of said deceased’s father, a Legacy – one of them from the share of the deceased. Paid Ten Pounds.”

In addition, the division of the lands of Samuel Hall, son of Samuel who died intestate about 1736/37 might hold clues as to the location of the homestead. Mercy, wife of Samuel was given the home and 2 acres of land…beginning at the old forge pond; from said pond by land of Judas Chase and mentions as a bound, the highway that leads through Raynham to Bridgewater.

*”Tetiquet or Titicut, which passes for the Indian name of Taunton, and of a fishing place on Taunton River in the north-west part of Middleborough, Mass., shows how effectually such names may be disguised by phonetic corruption and mutilation. Kehte-tuk-ut (or as Eliot wrote it in Genesis xv. 18, Kehteihtukqut) means ‘on the great river.’ In the Plymouth Colony Records we find the forms ‘Cauteeticutt’ and ‘Coteticutt,’ and elsewhere, Kehtehticut,—the latter, in 1698, as the name of a place on the great river, “between Taunton and Bridgewater.” Hence, ‘Teghtacutt,’ ‘Teightaquid,’ ‘Tetiquet,’ &c.”

taken from p. 12, The Composition of Indian Geographical Names, J. Hammond Trumbull, 1870, available at The Project Gutenberg EBook.

On a modern day map, the Raynham Center area is located on both Route 104, between Bridgewater and Taunton, MA (Pleasant Street intersects with Route 104), as well as on Route 44 (the Cape Highway) between Taunton and Middleboro, MA. From Raynham Center, it is approximately 3 miles to Taunton; 7 miles to Bridgewater, and 9 miles to Middleboro.

Samuel Hall, 1656-1716, son of Edward Hall

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Edward1 Hall of Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Samuel2 Hall

Samuel2 Hall’s birth was recorded in the Vital Records of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, p. 630, and written as:  Hall, Samuel, of Edward, born October 24, 1656.  It is uncertain when he removed to Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts, however his marriage to Abigail Pratt of Plymouth, daughter of Jonathan Pratt, is recorded in the Vital Records of Taunton, vol. 2, p. 218 where it is written as follows: Samuel Hall, Jr. and Abigail Pratt of Plymouth, January 3, 1683.  Samuel would have been 26 years old when he married Abigail.

Samuel Hall, Sr. appeared on the June 1689 list of freeman for Taunton (PCR, Miscellaneous Records, 1633-1689, p. 206).

It may be worthwhile to note here that at one time there were 3 Samuel Halls in Taunton:  Samuel Hall b. 1644, Samuel Hall b. 1656, Samuel Hall b. 1664.  This has led to much confusion, however, in the 17th century men of the same town of the same name were designated Sr. and Jr., not by relationship, but by age.  While Samuel Hall, b. 1644 was alive, our Samuel Hall, b. 1656 was generally designated Jr., and Samuel Hall, b. 1664, the son of Samuel Hall, b. 1644 was generally referred to as Samuel, son of Samuel or Samuel2d. Thus, when our Samuel married Abigail Pratt in 1683, he was called Samuel Jr.  However, Samuel b. 1644 was deceased by June 1689 so our Samuel was called Samuel Sr. on the list of freeman, since he was then the eldest of that name in Taunton.

The topic of the multiple Samuel Halls in Taunton has previously been dealt with on the Halls of Bristol County blog. This is a well written post and well worth reading for additional information regarding the confusion surrounding the two younger Samuels. While this blog is about Edward Hall of Rehoboth and his descendants through his son Samuel2, Kathryn Hall’s blog, Halls of Bristol County, is about George Hall of Taunton and his descendants, and in particular her descent from George –> Samuel –> Samuel, etc. Thus, we share a mutual interest in unraveling the confusion, through documentation, of the Samuel Halls in early Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts, that have been previously published and carried over into numerous genealogies.

Samuel2 and Abigail Pratt Hall had 4 known children:

  • Jonathan3 Hall, born August 22, 1686 in Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts; married first Sarah Ockington; second Sarah Smith; he died April 19, 1750 in Raynham, Bristol, Massachusetts; buried in the Town Cemetery at Raynham Center (now known as the Pleasant Street Cemetery).
  • Samuel3 Hall, born abt. 1688; married Mercy Willis; he died abt. 1736.
  • Esther3 Hall, birth date unknown; married Samuel Blake.
  • Hannah3 Hall, born abt. 1700; married Barnabas Crossman; she died December 14, 1754 in Raynham, Bristol, Massachusetts

Samuel2 and Abigail lived in that part of Taunton that became Raynham in 1731, and more specifically, Raynham Center.  The Hall homestead as well as much of the Hall lands was on the road leading to Taunton.  This has been documented through deeds.  In fact, the cemetery where Samuel is buried, the Town Cemetery at Raynham Center, also known today as Pleasant Street Cemetery, was once a part of that Hall land.  Samuel’s son, Jonathan3 Hall Sr., deeded one acre, 8 rods of land to the Town of Raynham for a burying ground on July 4, 1737.  This is the original land comprising the Town Cemetery at Raynham Center, located on Pleasant Street in Raynham Center.  It would seem obvious that since Samuel Hall died in 1716 and is buried in this cemetery, and since Jonathan did not deed it over to the town of Raynham until 1737, that the land that Jonathan Hall deeded to the town for a burying ground also contained this Hall family’s burial grounds.

Samuel2 Hall wrote his will on August 21, 1716.  He died on August 30, 1716 and his will was recorded on November 26, 1716, naming his wife, Abigail; sons Jonathan3 (eldest) and Samuel3 (youngest) and daughters Esther3 Blake and Hannah3 Hall (youngest).  His will also named two children that were living with him:  Ebenezer Pratt (under 21 years) and Elizabeth Pratt (under 17 years), who are believed to have been the nephew and niece of Abigail, children of her brother, Jabez Pratt.

Samuel2 is buried in the Town Cemetery at Raynham Center (Pleasant Street Cemetery) and his headstone is inscribed:

Here lies the body
of Samuel
Hall who dyed
in y[e] 60 year of
his age August
30 1716
1716

To view this headstone, please see the earlier post Samuel Hall Headstone Revealed.

Next post will be the transcription of Samuel2 Hall’s will.

Samuel Hall Headstone Revealed

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I couldn’t stand it any longer.  I had to make a trip to Raynham, Massachusetts to view the Hall headstones in the Pleasant Street Cemetery, originally the Town Cemetery at Raynham Center, myself.  I’d been wanting to go over there for the last two years, ever since we had learned through DNA testing that we were descendants of Edward Hall of Rehoboth, Massachusetts.  Our Samuel Hall, son of Edward Hall, the immigrant ancestor, had lived in that part of Taunton, Massachusetts that became Raynham in 1731.  He is buried in the town cemetery in Raynham Center, along with many of his descendants.  It was his headstone that I was driven to see before any more time went by.  But would I be able to read any of the 1700 headstones, particularly the headstone of Samuel Hall?  His son, Jonathan Hall, Sr., in 1737, deeded 1 acre, 8 rods of land to the town of Raynham for a burying place for the inhabitants of Raynham.  That 1 acre, 8 rods of land made up the original part of the current Pleasant Street Cemetery and without question, included the Hall family burying ground.

I had two days to learn as much as I could about the Hall burials in Pleasant Street Cemetery.  The first day, it rained.  I walked through the cemetery in the rain reading and recording as many headstones as I could.  I found Samuel’s headstone but reading a headstone that was dirty from 292 years of being exposed to the elements, and wet on top of that, proved to be impossible.  The following day was to be sunny and warm; perhaps it would be easier to read!

The following day I was back to the cemetery fairly early.  As I am standing there getting my bearings on what to do first, I noticed a man walking toward me.  He comes up to me and asks who I am looking for.  I told him the Hall burials in the old section but in particular I am trying to read the inscription on the Samuel Hall headstone.  He says give me a minute to get my kit and we’ll find out what is on it.  I couldn’t believe it!  Mr. Bousquin spent nearly 3 hours working on Sam’s headstone cleaning it and chalking it so that we could read the inscription.  I will be forever grateful to Mr. Bousquin for his kind assistance so that I can now put this one to rest.

I can now say, without a doubt, that the Samuel Hall headstone is inscribed:

samuel-hall-1716-blog1
(Click on the photo to view larger image)

Here Lyes the body
of Samuel
Hall who Dyed
In Y[e] 60 Year of
his age August
30 1716
1716

samuel-hall-1716_invert_blog3
(Click on the photo to view larger image)

I am also grateful to my friend, Johnna Armstrong, for quickly thinking to invert the image, so that there are two different ways to look at the photo. The inverted image helps to bring out some letters (or placement) that are faint in the original image.