Tag Archives: Edward Hall Rehoboth

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.

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.