Tag Archives: Raynham Center Massachusetts

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.

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

Abigail Pratt, 1665-1734

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Abigail Pratt, wife of Samuel2 Hall, was born June 16, 1665 in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts to Jonathan Pratt and Abigail Wood. Abigail was the eldest of seven children, having four younger sisters, Bathsheba, Hannah, Meletiah, and Bethiah, and two brothers, Jonathan and Jabez (Plymouth Colony Records 8:32,35).

Jonathan Pratt was the son of Joshua Pratt, the immigrant ancestor, who came to the Colony on either the Ann(e) or the Little James in 1623. In 1667 Jonathan was in Eastham, and in 1673 in Plymouth. After his wife, Abigail’s death in Plymouth in 1684, he removed to Taunton where he married abt. 1690, Elizabeth (White) Hall, daughter of Nicholas White, and the widow of Samuel Hall, son of George Hall of Taunton (the other, unrelated, Hall family); for those interested in the George Hall of Taunton family, please see Kathryn Hall’s Halls of Bristol County).

Abigail married Samuel Hall on January 3, 1683, a few months short of her eighteenth birthday and had her first known child, Jonathan3 Hall, in 1686, when she was 21 years of age. Abigail was 51 years old when her husband, Samuel, died in 1716. She is found on an Assessment List for Raynham, circa 1731/2 (Raynham Town Records), assessed 15 shillings. She was listed as Abigail Hall, Widow.

Ebenezer Pratt and Elizabeth Pratt, both minors at the time, were named in her husband, Samuel Hall’s Will. There is no documentation as to who the Pratt children were, but it is believed that they were the children of Abigail’s brother, Jabez (a witness to Samuel Hall’s will) and his wife, Elizabeth Cobb, thereby being Abigail’s nephew and niece. Ebenezer was to receive 20 acres of land if he were to live with Abigail until he reached 21 years of age. A deed written March 11, 1726/27 shows that Ebenezer Pratt was deceased by that date as in the deed, Samuel Hall, son of Samuel Hall, deeds to his daughter, Hannah Hall, “all my part in the twenty acres of land that my Honoured father did in his last will give to Ebenezer Pratt deceased…”.

Elizabeth Pratt is thought to have married Joseph Jones, son of Joseph Jones and Lydia Neale (Jones Genealogy) abt. 1723. Her first born son was named Ebenezer, possibly being named after her deceased brother. In 1729/30 Samuel Hall, son of Samuel, sells his portion of land that had been willed jointly to him and his brother Jonathan, by their father, to his brother Jonathan and Joseph Jones Second, possibly documenting a familial relationship of the Halls to the Jones family through Elizabeth Pratt.

Abigail lived for 18 years after her husband’s death. She remained a widow and died in Raynham on July 6, 1734 (First Book of Raynham Records). She must certainly be buried next to her husband, however, her headstone has not been found in the Town Cemetery in Raynham Center, Massachusetts (Pleasant Street Cemetery).

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.