Holbrook line: Robert Hale, Deacon, Ensign, and Immigrant

It's always a joy to find information about an ancestor, already written and even with the will transcribed.  Much of the information on this post came from the geni website, which in turn used a lot of information from Robert Charles Anderson's Great Migration project.  If you've been following this blog, you'll recognize that Robert Hale was an early immigrant to New England, specifically to Massachusetts. 

However, we still don't know some of the most basic information about Robert, such as who his parents were and where he was from.  We know that his wife was "Jone" but her maiden name and origins have also not been proven, although I've read in several places that her name was Jone or Joanne Cutter or Cutler. 

Robert is said to have been born in 1606, possibly in Canterbury, Kent, England.  However, the first thing we're able to say with certainty is that he arrived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1630 with the Winthrop Fleet.  He was a carpenter, and carpentry was in high demand since those 1000 people who landed with the fleet needed shelters to get them through the first winter, and homes to live in as they put down roots. 

Robert and Joan may have been married in England or more probably in Boston soon after Robert's arrival, although so far no one seems to have found records.  Robert was admitted to the Boston church as member number 18, in the fall of 1630. Two years later, Robert and Joan were dismissed to church at Charlestown, where they were founding members of the Charlestown church.  They were probably already living closer to Charlestown than to Boston. He became a deacon of the church, and was made a freeman on May 14, 1634.  Apparently their first child arrived in 1636.

Robert soon acquired several parcels of land (13 parcels by 1638), as an early settler of the town, and was a selectman for at least the early years of the town.  He also assisted in surveying and laying out lands in "the wilderness" and helped settle land disputes, so his talents were not limited to carpentry.  Most if not all men in the town were required to join the "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company", which I think was the same thing as the training band, and Robert joined in 1644. He was chosen as sergeant by 1652, and ensign by 1658, so he showed leadership abilities. 

We don't know a lot about his educational level but he did have books in his inventory valued at two pounds.  We could speculate whether these were practical books of use in the carpentry trade, or whether they were religious books, or whether there were some of each.  We could also wonder how many of the couple's children were taught to read, or write.

Robert Hale, carpenter, deacon, and ensign died May 5, 1659.  He may have had an illness or suffered an injury earlier because his will was dated June 26, 1647, and most wills in that time period were written when death seemed to be imminent.  His inventory totaled 407 pounds, 18 shillings and 3 pence, of which about 241 pounds was real estate.  Joan was given about a third of the estate and the children (four surviving) mostly got land and cash. 

Joan married Richard Jacob on September 24, 1662, and there was apparently some sort of pre-nuptial agreement, because she was able to dispose of land to her children, grandchildren, and step children in her will which was dated July 30, 1679 and proved December 20, 1681.  Her inventory was valued at 264 pounds, 4 shillings and 6 pence, so she was a good steward of what she was given, it would seem.  (She was a widow at the time she wrote her will so she had probably inherited also from her second husband).

I have a mental picture of Robert as a good, hard working man, who was probably "good with money" and who also likely loved the Lord his God.  He was respected in his community and was another ancestor we can respect, too.

The line of descent is:

Robert Hale-Joan
Joanna Hale-John Larkin
Sarah Larkin-David Fay
Edward Fay-Sarah Joslin
David Fay-Mary or Mercy Perrin
Luceba Fay-Libbeus Stanard
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Etta Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants