Tag Archives: Huldah Hall

John Hall, son of Amos Hall, married Huldah Hall, not Huldah Williams

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In 1883, the Rev. David B. Hall published The Halls of New England; an enormous undertaking and a book that continues today to be the go to book for Hall genealogy. While there is a great deal of accurate information in this book, it is not without errors, and unfortunately those errors continue to be published in new family trees every day. Why? It must be because the genealogical information in this book is presumed to be accurate without performing the individual research for primary records that is absolutely necessary when documenting our ancestors. As family historians or professional genealogists we must always document what is found in a reference book with primary sources. Reference books should become our main source only when primary records do not exist.

I wanted to document the marriage of John Hall, son of Amos (Jonathan, Samuel, Edward Hall of Rehoboth) to Huldah Williams. In the Halls of NE book, page 620, Family 112, the following is written:

John Hall b. Nov. 15, 1745; was a farmer in Raynham Centre; member of the Congregational Church; removed to Rochester, Mass. and thence to Wilton, Me., where he d. Feb. 8, 1830, ae 84; m., January 1, 1770, Huldah Williams, of Raynham (5th from Richard), b. Jan. 1741, d. Dec. 26, 1804, ae. 64 years.

The only Huldah Williams that I have found in any records was born September 28, 1750 to Edmund and Lydia Williams. I cannot find a Huldah Hall in either Massachusetts or Maine who died in 1804. I realize that the Taunton, Massachusetts fire destroyed primary records and I also realize that an 1804 headstone might be long gone….but, no one seems to have anything out there on the Huldah Williams who, according to the Halls of NE book, married John Hall.

In the Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Ancestry.com, 2011 a record is found for the marriage of John Hall to Huldah HALL in 1770 (no month or day given) in Raynham, Massachusetts, but there is no marriage record found for John Hall and Huldah Williams on January 1, 1770.

There is no record found for Huldah Williams born January 1741 BUT there is a record for Huldah HALL born January 18, 1740/41 to Philip and Huldah (Leonard) Hall in the Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988.

In my research, I came across another record of interest, also found in the Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 database. This record caught my attention because it appears to be an attempt to reconstruct the vital records for the Philip and Huldah (Leonard) Hall family that were lost in the Taunton fire. It gives names of children, birth dates, and death dates, death of Huldah, marriage of Philip to Hannah Leach, as well as Philip’s death date and at the bottom of the first page this entry is included:

John Hall son of Amos Hall and his wife Abigail was born Novr ye 16th 1745 on Sabbath Day. The names of the children of John Hall and Hulda his wife

Amasa their first son born August 12th 1771 on Monday

Keilah their second son born April 18th 1774 on Monday.

The top portion of the next page completes the entries for Philip and Huldah Hall’s family with the marriage of John Gardner to their daughter, Phebe in 1766, along with the births of their children and their death dates.

Is it merely a coincidence that John Hall and his wife Hulda are thrown into the middle of entries for the family of Philip and Huldah Hall? After all, John Hall is from a different, unrelated Hall family than Philip is. I don’t think so. I think this is a huge clue, however, there is nothing written into this document to confirm that suspicion.

Philip Hall died in Raynham, Massachusetts on 2 January 1764. In the Mayflower Deeds and Probates, 1600-1850 database, in the record for the Estate of Philip Hall, Huldah is named as the eldest daughter and Phebe as the 2nd daughter. This entry indicates that both daughters were single at the time of Philip’s death and at the time the inventory of his estate was taken.

Philip Hall’s (identified in Halls of NE as being a descendant of George Hall of Taunton); (Hall DNA Project Family 024) widow, Hannah (Keith) Leach Hall marries Jonathan Hall (a brother to Amos [father of the subject John Hall]; Hall DNA Project Family 006) in April 1764. It would be reasonable to assume that with this marriage Philip’s unmarried daughter, Huldah was living in the Jonathan Hall home after his marriage to Hannah, the same as her unmarried children by Benjamin Leach. Jonathan’s son, Seth, married Hannah’s daughter, Diadamia Leach in 1769, so would it not be possible that Jonathan’s nephew might have married Philip Hall’s daughter, Huldah? Seems almost too much a coincidence that according to Halls of NE, Huldah Williams was born January 1741 and the only Huldah born about the same time in Bristol County, Massachusetts was Huldah Hall, born January 18, 1740/41; and that Huldah Williams married John Hall January 1, 1770 and the only record to be found is for the marriage of Huldah Hall to John Hall in 1770. In other words, Huldah Williams cannot be documented in available records. But so far everything has been theory based on coincidences; can anything with substance be found? The record for the Estate of Philip Hall mentioned a division. Are there records of that division and will they help? There are, indeed!

A deed naming the legal owners of all lands that were set off to Hannah Hall as her right of dower clearly settles the question of who John Hall, son of Amos (Jonathan, Samuel, Edward) DNA Family 006 married and thereby corrects the erroneous statement that David B. Hall made in his Halls of New England book, that John Hall, son of Amos Hall, married Huldah Williams. Finally, a primary source was found.

Bristol County Deeds, Book 74, page 310, dated November 14, 1794, recorded February 5, 1796

Know all Men by these presents that we ISAAC HALL yeoman, JOHN HALL yeoman and HULDAH his wife, JOHN WILLIAMS yeoman and SILENCE his wife, and SETH HALL yeoman, all of Raynham, County of Bristol, being now ye legal owners in fee simple of all the lands that were set off to HANNAH HALL, the late widow of PHILLIP HALL late of Raynham decd – as her right of dower in said estate, said land lying and being in Raynham……..

Isaac Hall is the son of Philip and Hannah (Keith) Leach Hall.

John Williams married Silence Hall, daughter of Philip and Huldah (Leonard) Hall.

John Hall, son of Amos Hall, married Huldah Hall, daughter of Philip and Huldah (Leonard) Hall.

Seth Hall, son of Jonathan Hall (Jonathan, Samuel, Edward) and Hannah (Keith) Leach Hall’s third husband, married Diadamia Leach, daughter of Hannah (Keith) Leach Hall Hall and her first husband, Benjamin Leach.

The entire deed can be fully (and freely) viewed on the FamilySearch.org web site here.

Now when we look back at that earlier record that appeared to reconstruct the vital records for the family of Philip and Huldah (Leonard) Hall, finding John Hall, son of Amos, and his wife “Hulda”  in that record makes perfect sense.

Jonathan3 Hall, 1686-1750

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Edward1 Hall of Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Samuel2 Hall married Abigail Pratt
Jonathan3 Hall
Jonathan3 Hall, the first of that name, was born August 22, 1686 to Samuel Hall and his wife, Abigail Pratt (Taunton Proprietors’ Records) in that part of Taunton, Massachusetts that became Raynham, Massachusetts in 1731. Jonathan was probably named after his maternal grandfather, Jonathan Pratt.

Jonathan3 was a Freeman, although it is unknown in what year he took the Oath of Fidelity; a farmer, a large land owner through his own acquisitions in addition to lands he inherited from his father. Jonathan’s family was one of the 15 founding families of Raynham when it was incorporated as a town on April 2, 1731. Jonathan was prominent in the town government and affairs as well as an original member, and deacon, of the first church in Raynham, Massachusetts.

  • 1728/29 Jonathan Hall was assessed for a town meeting hall (Taunton records).
  • 1731 he was named fence viewer by the Selectmen in the newly organized town of Raynham, and again in 1732/33.
  • 1734/35 Jonathan was named surveyor of the highways, and again in 1744.
  • 1735/36 he was named constable and again in 1746.
  • 1747 he was named “hog reeve”.
  • February 1748 Jonathan’s name was drawn to serve on the jury at the March court.

A couple of other items of interest have been found on Jonathan Hall:

Jonathan Hall (Raynham Yeoman) v. Solomon Leach (Bridgewater Husbandman) by atty. James Hovey, Gent. Case, on 5-month note dated 10 January 1744/45 for “Seven Loads of Cole Delivered at the old Iron Workes in Raynham…being of Value Fourteen pounds old tenour,” to pltf.’s damage of L10. Default by deft. Judgment for L3.10s (n.t.) and L1.8s. (n.t.) costs. Appealed by deft., with Joseph Haskall, Gent. (Rochester) and George Holmes (Plimouth Cordwainer) sureties. [No further record] PCR 7:50 (Court of Common Pleas, December 1745).

The above record is of interest because the “old coaling/coling place” is mentioned in deeds of Samuel Hall as lands passed down to his sons, Jonathan and Samuel.  Perhaps the Halls owned land where coal was obtained to support the Iron Works in Raynham. This needs additional research.

Another item of interest was found in The Diary of Isaac Backus, 3 volumes edited by William G. McLoughlin, Brown University Press, Providence, 1979; vol 1, p. 53, mentions a letter that Elder Backus received from Jonathan Hall, dated June 17, 1749, in which Jonathan warned Elder Backus of an itinerant preacher named Blanchard who was coming his way “Be ware of him for I Dout not But he is a woulf in sheeps Clothing.”

Jonathan3 married Sarah Ockington about 1714.  Sarah was born August 28, 1691 in Dedham, Massachusetts to Thomas Ockington and his wife, Rebecca Mason (Vital Records of Dedham, Revised 1997).  Sarah was the sister to Hopestill Ockington who married John Hall of Newton, Massachusetts (son of Andrew Hall), Jonathan’s first cousin.  Sarah died March 28, 1726 and is buried in the Town Cemetery at Raynham Center, now called the Pleasant Street Cemetery.

Headstone photo courtesy of Brady Fitts

On July 4, 1737, just 39 years before that date would become known as Independence Day, Jonathan3 Hall deeded to the Town of Raynham one acre and eight rods of land for a Burying Ground for the inhabitants of that town (Bristol County Deeds Book 25, Page 389).

Know all men by these Presents that I Jonathan Hall in the county of Bristol, Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, yeoman, for the love and respect that I have and bear unto the Town of Raynham aforesaid…do fully freely and absolutely give grant and confirm unto the Town of Raynham forever one acre and eight rods of land situate lying and being within the same town of Raynham to be for the use of a Burying place for the inhabitants of the said town…. Signed by Jonathan Hall on the 4th day of July 1737 and witnessed by Stephen Wood and Solomon White.

Pleasant Street Cemetery, formerly known as the Town Cemetery at Raynham Center

By 1737 several deaths had already occurred in the Hall family and it is likely that Jonathan donated this particular tract of land to the town of Raynham for a burying ground in order to preserve the family burials on the Hall property. His parents, Samuel2 and Abigail had died in 1716 and 1734 respectively; his wife, Sarah in 1726, and his daughters, Rebecca4 and Sarah4 in 1723 and 1725/26. Although his headstone has not been found, it is possible that his brother, Samuel3, who died in 1736/37 is also buried here.

Jonathan and his first wife, Sarah Ockington had six children.

  • Jonathan4 born May 3, 1716 in Taunton, Massachusetts, died February 25, 1789 in Raynham Center, Massachusetts. There will be a full post on Jonathan Jr. in the near future.
  • Sarah4 Hall, born July 16, 1718 and died February 11, 1725/26 in Taunton.
  • Amos4 Hall, born April 5, 1720 in Taunton, married Abigail Blake on December 20, 1744, died February 29, 1816, buried in the town cemetery at Raynham Center. Their children were John5 Hall (1745-1830) married Huldah Hall, daughter of Philip and Huldah (Leonard) Hall (see October 2016 post) and probably died in Wilton Maine although a death record/burial site has not yet been found; Lewis5 Hall (1747-1812) married Fear Alden. Both Lewis and Fear are buried in the town cemetery at Raynham Center; Amos5 Hall (1750-1752), buried Raynham Center.
  • Rebecca4 Hall, born May 21, 1722 and died May 15, 1723 in Taunton.
  • John4 Hall, born May 15, 1724 in Taunton and died at the age of 21 years, May 26, 1745 in the battle of Cape Breton (now Nova Scotia, Canada).
  • Mason4 Hall, born January 28, 1725/26, married his first cousin, Mercy Hall (daughter of Samuel and Mercy Willis Hall) on January 16, 1748/49 and died April 6, 1795.  Their children were Patience5 Hall born 1750; Sarah5 (1753-1816) married Philip Ellis; Mercy born 1758; and Mason5 Jr. who married Hannah Willis.

Children by Jonathan3 Hall and his second wife, Sarah Smith:

  • Elizabeth4 Hall, born May 29, 1828 in Taunton, married Nathaniel Shaw on December 10, 1745. She died January 19, 1784 in Raynham.  Their children were: Nathaniel5, John5, Betsey5, Asel5, Jarius5, and Sarah5 Shaw.
  • Hannah4 Hall was born March 29, 1734 in Raynham.  Nothing further is known about Hannah.

Jonathan3 Hall wrote his will on February 10, 1745/46 and he died April 19, 1750 in Raynham Center.  Although we cannot know, it is possible that Jonathan died from “Quick Fever” that was epidemic in the area for about one year from the fall of 1749 through the fall of 1750.

In his will Jonathan mentioned his wife, Sarah, sons Jonathan4, Amos4 and Mason4, and daughters, Elizabeth4 Shaw, wife of Nathaniel Shaw, and Hannah4 Hall.  His eldest son Jonathan and his son-in-law, Nathaniel Shaw were designated as joint executors of his estate.

Jonathan3 is buried in the town cemetery at Raynham Center, now Pleasant Street cemetery.

Headstone photo courtesy of Brady Fitts