Obituary |
Notice in the Boston Evening Post, 4 Dec. and 11 Dec., 1749:
All persons that are indebted to, or have any Demands on the Estate of Stephen Hall, late of Charlestown, Esq; deceased, are desired forthwith to apply to Capt. Stephen Hall, Administrator, in his Dwelling-House in Cole-Lane, in Boston, or to Mr. Thomas Symmes and Peter Eade his Attorneys, at their Dwelling Houses in Charlestwown, to pay and recieve their respective Dues. |
Notes |
- name from daughter Esther's marriage record. There is no clear connection to his father & mother as named here.
The question is: IS Stephen Hall m. Grace a son of Stephen Hall m. Ruth? Brooks says no; Willard says yes. I have it here that he is, but I am NOT sure that this is correct! I've looked back at the records, and transcripts of them, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence that denies Willard. There on the other hand seems to be no clear evidence that SH who m. Grace is a son of SH who m. Ruth.
FIRST: Brooks History of Medford gives two early Stephen Hall families. (Note that Brooks, pub. 1855, was updated by Usher, pub. 1886, and pagination differs—I cite the latter edition). The first is Stephen Hall who m. Ruth:
"Stephen Hall was of Concord; afterwards (in 1685) of Stow, of which latter place he was a representative in 1689. He m. Dec. 3, 1663, Ruth Davis, and had: four children: Samuel (b1665), Ruth (b 1670), Mary (b1677), Elizabeth (b1685). Brooks gives NO son named Stephen of this couple.
SH&Ruth
>
NO son named Stephen
A second is Stephen Hall m. 1) Grace and 2) Ann Nowel:
"Stephen Hall of Charlestown m. 1st, Grace —, who d. of smallpox, Nov. 12, 1721; and 2nd, Feb 5, 1739, Mrs. Anne Nowel. He d. Sept. 3, 1755, aged 85" (539). Brooks gives this couple five children: Grace, Esther, Josiah, Williard, and Ruth."
First, the death date is an error that confuses him with Lt. Stephen Hall, d. 1755. Brooks *also* gives this death date to SH&Grace's son Stephen, and names *him* as the Lieutenant (#13-39 in his numbering, on 541). SH the Lieutenant died in 1755 aged 85. He must have been born abt. 1670, not 1693. Second, the probate file of Stephen d. 1749 includes notes by his wife Anne, and names his children as Stephen, a merchant in Boston; Grace Parker of Charlestown; Esther, the widow of Peter Eades, a hatter in Charlestown; Willard of Westford, a clerk; and Ruth, whose husband was Thomas Symmes, potter of Charlestown. SH the LIeutenant is buried in the Salem St. Burying Ground in Medford. He had a wife named Elizabeth and children Stephen and Mary.
Leaving that error aside, this is Brooks' second family:
SH&Grace
>
Stephen b.1693.
Brooks says that Stephen who m. Ruth was the son of the Widow Mary Hall of Cambridge whose children were all adults by 1662. He says that Stephen who m. Grace was born 1670 as the the 5th of 10 children of John Hall and Elizabeth Green (538).
SECOND: Willard (pub. 1858) includes a discussion of this Hall family based on letters from relations (pp106-111). Willard differs from Brooks by connecting the two families, saying that Stephen who m. Grace is the son of Stephen m. Ruth:
"Stephen and Ruth Hall had seven or more children. Of these two were sons: viz., Samuel, who lived in Stow, born in Concord Dec. 8, 1665; and Stephen, first of Medford, and afterwards of Charlestown, where he died Nov. 8, 1749. This last Stephen was the father of, 1st, Captain Stephen Hall, a distinguished merchant in Boston; born Nov. 5, 1693; died Feb. 24, 1773. . . ".
So, Willard gives this:
SH&Ruth
>
SH d.1749
>
SH b.1693/d.1773
SH the Lieutenant is not part of this family. Ann is not named as second wife of SH&Grace in Willard, presumably because she married him well after his children were born. [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
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