B. before 1610 in England
M. before 1632 in unknown location
Wife: Joanna Cutter
D. 19 Jul 1659 in Charlestown, Massachusetts
Robert Hale was an early Puritan in Massachusetts, and was involved in the beginnings of Charlestown and its church. Robert was born during the first decade of the 17th century somewhere in England; there has been speculation about who his parents were, but nothing is proven. He first appeared in records as being one of the first members of the church at Boston, which meant that he likely arrived in the Winthrop Fleet of 1630.
Robert was married to Joanna Cutter; the wedding may have taken place in England, although it’s more likely that they got together in Boston. Both of them were identified as founding members of the Charlestown church on a list dated October 14, 1632, which was probably the year that they moved there. Charlestown had been first settled a few years earlier and was becoming populated enough to support its own congregation, so Robert and Joanna were among 35 people who were “dismissed” from the Boston church and reassigned to Charlestown. It was said that worshippers that year held services “in the Great House in City Square.”
The church in Charlestown became an important part of Robert’s life. Between 1636 and 1647, he had at least five children baptized at the church, and one of them was buried there as an infant in 1643. When the church’s first two deacons were chosen, Robert was one of them. Typically, deacons in Puritan churches took care of financial issues, and during services, they sat in the front with the elders facing the members “on a raised seat.” One of Robert’s assignments was noted in records on May 9, 1639 when he was appointed along with two other men to “order the building of a watch-house.” This was a two-room building with a fireplace in the middle, and each room described as “10 or 12 feet square.” It was used by church officials at lunchtime between morning and afternoon services.
In addition to being a church deacon, Robert also worked as a carpenter, and possibly a blacksmith. And he was said to have been employed by the General Court to survey new towns, which he did up to the year he died. One document dated January 31, 1659 showed Robert surveying some property in Charlestown. As with most men in Puritan towns, Robert performed some civic duty; he was a member of the artillery company in 1644, an ensign in the militia, and a Charlestown selectman for 11 years.
Robert owned may parcels of land in early Charlestown, some of which was in a wooded hilly area that became the town of Malden in 1649. One area of meadow land owned by Robert caused a dispute in February 1650. Another early settler named Edward Converse seems to have built a mill that flooded a good portion of his property. It was ruled that Converse would pay Robert £7 in cash, corn or cattle for the land that was now underwater. If the water drained away, Robert would revert to owning it and then pay Converse back at a price of 20 shillings an acre.
While still in the prime of his life, on July 19, 1659, Robert died. His wife Joanna survived him and remarried, but she passed away in 1679. Robert’s son John became a minister in Beverly, Massachusetts, who later had a connection to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692; he believed the sorcery claims of the accusers until his own wife was called out as a witch, and this prompted him to write a pamphlet denouncing the trials.
Robert was the great-grandfather of Nathan Hale.
Children:
1. John Hale — B. 3 Jun 1636, Charlestown, Massachusetts; D. 15 May 1700, Beverly, Massachusetts; M. (1) Rebecca Biley (~1636-1683), 15 Dec 1664, Ipswich, Massachusetts; (2) Sarah Noyes (1656-1697), 15 Dec 1684, Newbury, Massachusetts; (3) Elizabeth Somerby, 8 Aug 1698, Newbury, Massachusetts
2. Mary Hale — B. 17 May 1639, Charlestown, Massachusetts; D. 13 Apr 1696, Cambridge, Massachusetts; M. Edward Wilson (1636-1706), 6 Nov 1656, Cambridge, Massachusetts
3. Zachariah Hale — B. 3 Apr 1642, Charlestown, Massachusetts; D. 5 Jun 1643, Charlestown, Massachusetts
4. Samuel Hale — B. 9 Apr 1644, Charlestown, Massachusetts; M. Lydia Maynard, 19 May 1669, Charlestown, Massachusetts
5. Joanna Hale — B. 1647, Charlestown, Massachusetts; D. 18 Aug 1694, Beverly, Massachusetts; M. (1) John Larkin (1640-1677), 9 Nov 1664, Charlestown, Massachusetts; (2) William Dodge (1640-1720), 26 May 1685, Charlestown, Massachusetts
Sources:
WikiTree
Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Ellery Bicknell Crane, 1907
Genealogical Memoir of the Cunnabel, Conable or Connable Family, Edwards Joseph Connable and John Bearse Newcomb, 1886
Charlestown Land Records, 1638-1802, 1883
Records of the First Church in Charlestown, 1632-1789, 1880
History of the Puritans in North America (Wikipedia article)
