Happy Anniversary John and Sarah (Noyes) Hale

Dear John and Sarah,
Today we are remembering the 336th anniversary of your marriage in Beverly, Massachusetts. It was sort of a May-December marriage, you, the groom, 47, and your bride 29. 

Both the Hale and Noyes families were of English origin. The exact origin of the Hales remains unknown. Sarah's father, Rev. James Noyes, was born about 1608 in Cholderton, Wilts, England, the son of Rev. William and Anne (Parker) Noyes. William matriculated at University College, Oxford in November 1588 and received his BA Degree May 21, 1592. He became the Rector of Saint Nicholas Church in Cholderton in 1602.

Drawing of the first St. Nicholas Church, Wilts, England. Church is
supposed to have been constructed by the Saxons. The following is from the Church Records,
"The Church of St. Nicholas, Cholderton, was given to the Monks of St. Neats about 1175 and
the grant was confirmed by Pope Alexander III."
used with permission from http://evermore.imagedjinn.com/blg/154/data-concerning-the-church-of-st-nicholas-at-cholderton-wiltshire-england/

William's and Anne's sons, James and Nicholas, along with Sarah (Brown) Noyes and cousin Thomas Parker swore oaths of allegiance so they could sail for New England on the Mary and John under Master Robert Sayres arriving at Boston in March 1634.

James and Sarah settled in Newberry where they had ten children, Sarah being the youngest. Unfortunately, James died when Sarah was only a year old.

Photo from Find A Grave Memorial ID 35286148 added by
Paul M. Noyes, used with permission
Headstone is located at the First Parish Burying Ground,
Newbury, Massachusetts

John Hale's father Deacon Robert Hale is one of the immigrants covered in Robert Charles Anderson's "The Great Migration."  The ship he arrived on is unknown but we know that he was in Boston by the fall of 1630 when he was admitted to the Boston church as member #18. His occupation was carpenter. One source, U. S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700, gives his wife's name as Joanna Cutter and a marriage date of October 14, 1632. By that date Robert and Joanna removed to the church at Charlestown. John, born June 3, 1636, was the oldest of their five children.

John was educated at Havard and graduated in 1657. After graduation, he moved to Beverly where he had been hired to teach religion. On September 20, 1667 he was ordained pastor of the newly organized church at Beverly. He remained in this post until his death.

As an upcoming young man, John married Rebecka Byles December 15, 1664 in Ipswich. They had four children, John, James, Rebecca and Robert before she died April 30, 1683.

Rebekah Byles Hale Headstone
Find A Grave Memorial ID 48178556 photo by Jude
Abbott Street Burial Ground, Beverly, Massachusetts

After a marriage of nearly 20 years, John missed being wed. Both the Noyes and Hale families were Puritans. Beverly and Newbury were only about 20 miles apart so it is assumed that the families were acquainted. At 29 years of age, Sarah was either very picky or had not been interested in any propsed suiters. We don't know why John appealed to her or if the courtship was long. We do know that you were married this day in 1684.

Two sons were born of this marriage, James in 1685 who also became a minister and Samuel who was born in 1687 (Nathan Hale, martyr of the American Revolution, is Samuel's grandson but that is a story for another day).

Kitchen at Hale House photo by author March 2017

There are many more tales to tell of your marriage but those also will be saved for another day. My siblings and I visted your home in Beverly which stands to this day and is a museum maintained by the Beverly Historic Society.

So Happy Anniversary. You have not been forgotten by your descendants.

Love, Cecily

P.S. for family members our descent is as follows:
John Hale and wife Sarah Noyes
James Hale and wife Sarah Hathaway
James Hale, Jr. and wife Elizabeth Bicknell
Eleazer Warner and wife Joanna Hale
Thomas Warner and wife Rhoda Hopkins
Naaman Cone and wife Joanna Warner
William Warner Cone and wife Eliza Utley
Frederick Naaman Cone and wife Helen Brown Newton
Charles Newton Cone and wife Hazel Bynon Allen
Charles Newton Cone, Jr and wife Betty Lorraine Werst

Happy 355th Birthday Grandfather Samuel Huntington,
Can you imagine, a descendant, 11 generations removed from you, knowing that today is your birthday? I feel certain that your would be shocked by the amount of information we know about you so many years later.

I've just returned from Salt Lake City, Utah and RootsTech 2020, a convention gathering of thousands of Genealogy and Family History enthusiasts and professionals from around the world. In noticing on my Legacy Family Tree Software calendar report that today was your birthday, I thought about all of the services represented at RootsTech that I have used to discover more about your life story.

The Huntington Family began meeting to discuss their family history in Norwich September 3, 1857.  That lead to the publication of The Huntingon family in America: a genealogical memoir of the known descendants of Simon Huntington from 1633 to 1915, including those who have retained the family name, and many bearing other surnames published in 1915. This book is available online from a variety of sources.

Their research states that you were born in Norwich on March 1, 1665 in Norwich, Connecticut the son of Deacon Simon and Sarah (Clark) Huntington. Deacon Simon was born in Norwich, England May 6th 1629. He came to New England with his parents Simon and Margaret (Baret or Barrett) Huntington in 1633. The elder Simon died of smallpox enroute and was either buried at sea or at the mouth of the Connecticut River.

I use Ancestry.com to research and build family trees. They have collected billions of records including a database that they've built entitled US, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 the orginal source comes from Clarence A. Torry's "New England Marriages Prior to 1700" published in Baltimore by the Genealogical Publishing Co. in 2004.

You could help us with one problem. Many genealogists think that Mary's father is the John Clark who married Sarah Treat. Others believe Mary to have been the daughter of William Clark of Wethersfield.

Our records show that you and Mary are the parents of eight children: Elizabeth who married Moses Clark. Samuel who married Hannah Metcalf, Caleb who married Lydia Griswold, Mary who died young, Rebecca who married Joseph Clark, Sarah about whom we only know her birthday, John who married Mehitable Metcalf, sister of his brother Samuel's wife,  and Simon who married a Sarah, surname unknown.

You served as a military officer and were entered in the rolls in Norwich as Lieutenant. Your service impressed the people of Norwich and you were granted a parcel of land at Trading Cove Brook, "by the fathers to be laid out by measure, 30 or 40 rods wide, the length of his father's land."
I wonder if you would recognize your land on this map from July 1892.

Norwich, Connecticut Sanborn Insurance Map 1892
Library of Congress

You relocated to Lebanon in 1700.  In 1710, the citizens of Lebanon appointed you to a commission trying to resolve a dispute over the location of a new meeting house. As far as we know, you lived the rest of your life in Lebanon.

Headstone for Lt. Samuel Huntington from the Old Cemetery
at Lebanon, New London County, CT from Find A Grave Mem. #46073474
photo by Brett, used with permission

As you can see, it is difficult if not impossible to decifer the words chiseled on the stone. Not to worry. I discovered the inscription on your headstone at American Ancestors, the on line site for the New England Historical Genealogical Society. Since 1845, this organization has built a comprehensive resource library for family history research and has become the largest Society of its kind in the world.

"Here Lyes ye Body of Leiut Samuel Huntington, Geneleman, Who Died May ye 19, 1717 & In ye 52nd Year of His Age."

from Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999
this collection is from the Connecticut State Library
and can also be found on www.Ancestry.com 

We've also found your Probate Packet containing 1 bond, 2 inventories, 2 distributions, 1 account of Administration, 18 receipts and 1 miscellaneous item. Theses were deposited in the Connecticut State Library under provisions of the Public Act 1909 Chapter 175 and were added July 23, 1912. I've included a photograph of the first page of your inventory. I wonder if you would feel accomplished or embarassed by the number of items listed. What would you think of the valuation of your items?

Love your 9th great granddaughter,
Cecily

My descent from Lt. Samuel follows:
his daughter Elizabeth Huntington married Moses Clark
their son James Clark married Ann Gray
their son James Clark married Anna Lyman Tiffany
their son James Clark married 2nd Parnel Champion
their son John Champion Clark married Lydia Hornell
their daughter Mary Elizabeth Clark married Charels Shepard Newton
their daughter Helen Brown Newton married Frederick Naaman Cone
their son Charles Newton Cone married Hazel Bynon Allen
their son Charles Newton Cone, Jr. married Betty Lorraine Werst
they are my parents and there are two more generations