As previously written, Samuel and Abigail (Pratt) Hall had four known children with Jonathan Hall, born August 22, 1686 being the eldest son and Samuel Hall, born 1688, being the youngest son. Jonathan’s birth is documented in the Taunton Proprietor’s Records, while Samuel’s birth year is taken from David B. Hall’s 1883 publication, The Halls of New England, p. 578, in which no documentation is offered; and, I have yet to find any actual documentation of his birth. So unless or until that documentation can be found, I use 1688 as the tentative birth year for Samuel. Esther Hall was the eldest daughter, date of birth unknown, while Hannah is the younger daughter, as confirmed by the Last Will and Testament of Samuel Hall. Hannah was born circa 1700.

Before treating the children of Samuel and Abigail Hall, I think it would be beneficial to give you some background for further understanding of this Hall family. I’d like to take a few minutes to talk about a few published genealogy books (secondary sources) that had been the source of, or continued to contribute to, the confusion of the Samuel Halls in Taunton and Raynham, and their wives and children.

While The Halls of New England is a large, and for the most part, impressive effort to bring together the genealogies of multiple Hall families in early New England, it is not without mistakes and some are just outright huge glaring errors. This book has a fair amount of good information on Abigail (Pratt) Hall and her children, however, David B. Hall makes a huge mistake when he attaches Abigail and her children to the wrong Hall family! He places Abigail and her children, as well as their descendants into the chapter on the “Halls of Taunton” with Abigail as the wife of Samuel Hall, son of Samuel Hall, son of George Hall. This is wrong. Probate documents along with deeds have proven it so, not to mention the new ultimate tool of documentation that goes along with a good paper trail…DNA testing. A descendant of George Hall of Taunton through his son Samuel and his son Samuel, who married Elizabeth Bourne has recently perfectly matched another proven descendant of George Hall of Taunton. See George Hall and Edward Hall DNA.

Abigail and her children instead should have been placed into the chapter on the “Halls of Rehoboth”, with Abigail as the wife of Samuel Hall, son of Edward Hall, where she and her children and their descendants properly belong. This error has been perpetuated time after time in other published genealogies, The Nicholas White Family 1643-1900, compiled by Thomas J. Lothrop, 1902, for one, and unfortunately, has much more recently been reaffirmed in the 1998 publication by Robert Leo Hall, George Hall and His Descendants (1603-1669), when the author cites the work of David B. Hall in his presentation of the Samuel and Abigail (Pratt) Hall line. This will all be discussed a bit more in-depth in a future post.

In addition to the huge error mentioned above, David B. Hall, in his The Halls of New England made other errors in his narrative about the children when he stated that Samuel Hall (1688) left a will (p. 578) and that Hannah Hall married Silas King (p. 572). Samuel Hall (1688) actually died intestate and Hannah Hall married Barnabas Crossman. Unfortunately these errors have also carried over into other publications and genealogies.

Continuing with the children….

Jonathan³ Hall married first Sarah Ockington and second, Sarah Smith. Jonathan Hall and his family will be treated fully in a future post.

Samuel³ Hall, born 1688, married Mercy Willis, born circa 1690, of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, April 15, 1718 (Bridgewater Vital Records). It has been speculated that her parents were Comfort and Hannah Willis, however, absolutely no documentation has been found to prove this. Samuel inherited his father’s homestead in that part of Taunton that became Raynham on the road leading to Taunton from Bridgewater.

Samuel³ and Mercy (Willis) Hall had four children:

1. Hannah⁴ Hall, born abt. 1718/19, married Joseph Alden (1716-1787), son of John Alden and Hannah White. She died July 1, 1766 and is buried in the Purchade Cemetery, Middleboro, Massachusetts. Their children were Ebenezer⁵, Amariah⁵, Moses⁵, Phebe⁵, Hannah⁵, Joseph⁵, Fear⁵, Eunice⁵, Lois⁵, Abner⁵, and Eliab⁵ Alden. Note: Fear⁵ Alden married her second cousin, Lewis Hall⁵, son of Amos⁴ and Abigail (Blake) Hall; Lois⁵ Alden married first Samuel Padelford, and second Reuben Hall⁵, son of Amariah⁴ and Hannah (White) Hall.
2. Amariah⁴ Hall, born 1723/24, married November 27, 1747, Hannah White, dau. of Samuel White and Susanna Goodspeed. He died April 22, 1775 and is buried in the Town Cemetery at Raynham Center, Massachusetts. Their children were Reuben⁵, Susannah⁵, Prudence⁵, Samuel⁵, Amariah Jr.⁵, Hannah⁵, Zilpah⁵, Philena⁵, Pamelia⁵, and Asa⁵ Hall.
3. Mercy⁴ Hall, born 1728/29, married her first cousin, Mason⁴ Hall (son of Jonathan³ Hall, Sr. and Sarah Ockington), in Raynham, January 16, 1748/49. She died July 9, 1792. Their children were Patience⁵, Sarah⁵, Mercy⁵ and Mason Jr.⁵ Hall.
4. Patience⁴ Hall, born abt. 1731, married Abraham Jones February 6, 1755 in either Raynham or East Bridgewater (marriage is recorded in both the Raynham Church Records and the East Bridgewater VRs). She died September 13, 1775. Their children were Sarah⁵, Abraham⁵, Israel⁵, Eliakim⁵, and Joel⁵ Jones. It is possible that it is this Abraham Jones who *might* have married second, Waitstill Lee of Bridgewater on May 28, 1777, however this has not been documented.

Samuel³ Hall died 1736/37 and he did not leave a will. His estate was administered in 1741 and an order issued for the division of his property in 1743. The division names his widow, Mercy Hall, Amariah Hall, his only son, Hannah Hall his eldest daughter, Mercy Hall his second daughter, and Patience Hall, the youngest daughter. The burial location of Samuel Hall has not been determined.

Samuel’s sisters, Esther³ Hall and Hannah³ Hall are further identified in the above mentioned administration papers by their husbands’ names, when a legacy is paid from Samuel’s estate: “To said Blake [Samuel] and wife and to Barnabas Crossman and wife of Middleborough (by ye last will of said deceased’s father see Will), a Legacy – one of them from the share of the deceased. Paid Ten Pounds”.

Nothing further has been found on Esther³ Hall and her husband, Samuel Blake.

Hannah³ Hall married Barnabas Crossman about 1728. Their children were Elisha⁴, Hannah⁴, Barnabas⁴, Elkanah⁴, Abigail⁴, Samuel⁴, and Theophilus⁴ Crossman. Barnabas died October 1, 1744, in Middleborough, Massachusetts. It is possible that it was the widow Hannah Crossman who married Thomas Baker in Raynham on June 27, 1751, however, this information comes from the Mahurin Genealogy (Hugh Mahurin of Taunton, Massachusetts, NEHGR 136:20) and is not documented, and no further research has been done. If this is correct in the Mahurin Genealogy, Hannah, died December 14, 1754 in Raynham, Massachusetts. However, the Mahurin Genealogy became of interest to me because it has that Hannah Mahurin, not Hannah Hall, married Barnabas Crossman so in-depth research and documentation would need to be done to determine if the widow Hannah Crossman remarried and her death date. The fact that it was Hannah Hall and not Hannah Mahurin that married Barnabas Crossman is documented by probate records.

Addendum to Post, February 13, 2010. A review of the Mahurin Genealogy finds that the author stated that his information that Barnabas Crossman married Hannah Mahurin came from the Bassett Genealogy as well as private correspondence and that he, unfortunately, had yet to find a primary reference source to fully confirm this identity. We now know that he could not find the primary reference source because it was Hannah Hall, not Hannah Mahurin who married Barnabas Crossman, as identified by Bristol County Probate records.

Sources for the marriage (2 records) and death of Hannah (Hall) Crossman Baker are:

June 1, 1751, Thomas Baker of Rainham and the Widdo Hannah Crossman of Middleborough (Middleborough, Massachusetts Vital Records, Vol. 2, p. 46).

June 27, 1751, Thomas Baker and Hannah Crossman (First Book of Raynham Records).

December 14, 1754, Hannah Baker died in Raynham (Raynham Congregational Church Records, vol. 1).