Young Girl in Early Salem — Anna Palgrave

B. 1626 in (probably) Great Yarmouth, England¹

M. about about 1651 in (probably) Salem, Massachusetts²
Husband: Nicholas Woodbury
D. 10 Jun 1701 in Beverly, Massachusetts³

When Anna Palgrave was still a child in colonial Massachusetts, her mother died and she seemed to live without close family around her during her teen years. Anna was born in about 1626 to Richard Palgrave and Joanna Harris, their only known child. She was baptized on October 29th in Great Yarmouth, England, a town on the east coast of Norfolk.¹

In March 1630, Anna’s father died, and her mother married a widowed Puritan minister named John Youngs.² He brought children into the marriage, and had several more with Anna's mother. The family migrated to New England on the ship Mary Anne, arriving on May 15, 1637,² and they settled in Salem. By 1639, Anna’s mother died,² leaving her without a living biological parent. It’s likely that Reverend Youngs had more of a hand in raising her than her own father, but when he remarried that year, her status in his household is uncertain. She was only about 13-years-old, so she wasn’t yet an adult.

In October of the following year, Reverend Youngs headed a group of New Englanders who sought to form a new community on the northeast part of Long Island.⁴ This became the town of Southold, named for the place he was from in England. Southold is thought to be the first English settlement in what later became New York (some claim that distinction belongs to Southampton). While Anna may have still been a part of Reverend Youngs’ family, there’s nothing to verify that she moved with them to Long Island, and she likely separated from them at this time.

What then happened to Anna? Perhaps she was left behind under someone else’s supervision. One possibility is that she may have become a servant, or lived in the household, of a Salem man named John Thorne. He died about July 1646 and left his estate to her; Thorne seems to have been unmarried and had no descendants. Anna also inherited property in Great Yarmouth from her father when he died, and presumably had full title when she came of age. This has been described as “a vast amount of land.” She kept what she inherited all during her life, although there’s no evidence that she ever returned to England.

Salem in the 17th century.

Curiously, Anna turned up in a Salem court record in July of 1645. The case was concerning another woman, Susan West, who was charged with “immodesty towards Anna Palgrave.” Also mentioned as a witness was Tristam Dolliver, a man about ten years older than Anna. West had been accused of immodesty the year before, but was let off with a warning. In Puritan communities, being immodest meant wearing too much fancy clothing, such as lace, or exposing too much hair or skin in public. The suggestion here is that Anna tattled on the other woman for such an offense, but this is speculation.

In about 1651, Anna married Nicholas Woodbury and they made a home in eastern Salem, which later was split off to become Beverly, Massachusetts. She gave birth to nine children between 1653 and 1668, with two children dying young.

Anna appeared in another court case in January 1673 as a witness against a woman who was guilty of “abusive carriage” at Sunday services. The incident seemed to be about some bickering over seating, and a woman who wouldn’t slide over to allow space for another to squeeze in. The transcript gives Anna speaking in her own words about what happened:

“Goodwife Wolfe came in to the seat, and there not being enough room for her to sit down between us, [she] stood up in the seat before Goodwife Stackhouse, a good while till at last I being ashamed to see them, as I thought, contend for the upper hand, I spoke to Goodwife Stackhouse desiring of her to sit a little farther that Goodwife Wolfe might sit down. But she would not.” 

Her story went on to say that Mrs. Stackhouse wouldn’t give an inch until Mrs. Wolfe actually sat down on her lap for a few minutes. After Mrs. Wolfe got up and found a seat elsewhere, Mrs. Stackhouse called for her husband, who took her home. This little scene was important enough for the courts to get involved in 1670s Salem!

On May 16, 1686, Anna’s husband Nicholas died, leaving an estate worth £2,573; some of this was the property she had owned from her inheritances before she was married. She lived another 15 years and passed away in Beverly on June 10, 1701, and the land she held onto all those years was divided up among her surviving children.

Children:
1. Abigail Woodbury — B. before 4 Dec 1653, Salem, Massachusetts; D. before 28 Aug 1655, (probably) Salem, Massachusetts

2. Joanna Woodbury — B. Mar 1653, Salem, Massachusetts; D. before 30 Jun 1714, Boston, Massachusetts; M. Samuel Plummer (1647-1718), 5 Dec 1670, Newberry, Massachusetts

3. Nicholas Woodbury — B. May 1654, Salem, Massachusetts; D. before 31 Jul 1657, (probably) Beverly, Massachusetts

4. Abigail Woodbury — B. before 28 Aug 1655, Salem, Massachusetts; D. 28 Jan 1742, Beverly, Massachusetts; M. Richard Ober (1641-1715), 26 Dec 1671, Beverly, Massachusetts

5. Nicholas Woodbury — B. 31 Jul 1657, Salem, Massachusetts; D. 13 Oct 1691, Beverly, Massachusetts; M. Mary Elliott (1662-1729), 4 Jun 1684, Salem, Massachusetts

6. Joseph Woodbury — B. 20 Sep 1659, Salem, Massachusetts; D. 14 Oct 1714, Manchester, Massachusetts; M. Elizabeth West (1663-?), 19 Dec 1687, Beverly, Massachusetts

7. Isaac Woodbury — B. 1661, (probably) Salem, Massachusetts; D. Oct 1733, Ipswich, Massachusetts; M. Elizabeth _______ (1668-1703), about 1687

8. Andrew Woodbury — B. before 20 Sep 1665, Salem, Massachusetts; D. 3 Jun 1694, Beverly, Massachusetts; M. Emma Elliot (~1665-?), about 1688 

9. Benjamin Woodbury — B. before 26 Apr 1668, Beverly, Massachusetts; D. 23 Mar 1698, Beverly, Massachusetts; M. Mary Woodbury (1674-1712), 23 Mar 1693, Beverly, Massachusetts

Sources:
Genealogical Sketches of the Woodbury Family, Charles Levi Woodbury, 1904
Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Volumes I - IX, edited by George Francis Drew, 1912-1921, 1975
John Youngs (Wikipedia article)
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