JohnsonFamily2/19/24 - Person Sheet
JohnsonFamily2/19/24 - Person Sheet
Notes for Richard Gale
Good for Daughters of the Pilgrims104 . Marriage recorded in NE Marriages before 1700.
Richard Gayle, whose name was then spelled Gall and later Gael, is found in the records of Watertown, Massachusetts of 1640 when he purchased a housestall of 6 acres. Although he prospered and owned 250 acres at the time of his death, he was never admitted as a freeman nor held an office in the town government. Since membership in the Puritan church was a prerequisite for both positions, it is possible he rebelled against some of the excesses of the church. The authority of the church can be seen in the action taken by Gov. Thomas Dudley of the Massachusetts colony when in 1644 he refused admittance to colonists who would not adhere to the Puritan church.
For 200 years, little was known about his wife, Mary, and it was believed the couple had married in England. However, a researcher going through papers of John Winthrop Junior found the following note among the time darkened documents:
Sir: It hath beene three times published at Watertown meeting house that this bearer Richard Gale and Mary Castle intended to enter into a covenaunt of marriage not having els I rest.
Watertown ye 16th of ye 7th 1640
your Worshipps to command
Thomas Mayhew
to the Worshipfull
Jn Wynthropp Junior Esquire
Thomas Mayhew was a Selectman of Watertown and later Governor of the Province of Rhode Island. Richard and Mary probably carried the note to Winthrop in Boston since as a magistrate Winthrop was empowered to perform marriages and a Puritan Minister could not. Watertown was settled by people from Suffolk. Winthrop came from Groton and Gale possibly from Wickham Market, so Gail and Winthrop may even have been acquainted when both resided in England. The
Richard and Mary Gail either remained in Boston or returned there the next year for the birth of their first child, a daughter Sarah. Abraham was the first of at least five more children born to them in Watertown. 88
Richard Gayle, whose name was then spelled Gall and later Gael, is found in the records of Watertown, Massachusetts of 1640 when he purchased a housestall of 6 acres. Although he prospered and owned 250 acres at the time of his death, he was never admitted as a freeman nor held an office in the town government. Since membership in the Puritan church was a prerequisite for both positions, it is possible he rebelled against some of the excesses of the church. The authority of the church can be seen in the action taken by Gov. Thomas Dudley of the Massachusetts colony when in 1644 he refused admittance to colonists who would not adhere to the Puritan church.
For 200 years, little was known about his wife, Mary, and it was believed the couple had married in England. However, a researcher going through papers of John Winthrop Junior found the following note among the time darkened documents:
Sir: It hath beene three times published at Watertown meeting house that this bearer Richard Gale and Mary Castle intended to enter into a covenaunt of marriage not having els I rest.
Watertown ye 16th of ye 7th 1640
your Worshipps to command
Thomas Mayhew
to the Worshipfull
Jn Wynthropp Junior Esquire
Thomas Mayhew was a Selectman of Watertown and later Governor of the Province of Rhode Island. Richard and Mary probably carried the note to Winthrop in Boston since as a magistrate Winthrop was empowered to perform marriages and a Puritan Minister could not. Watertown was settled by people from Suffolk. Winthrop came from Groton and Gale possibly from Wickham Market, so Gail and Winthrop may even have been acquainted when both resided in England. The
Richard and Mary Gail either remained in Boston or returned there the next year for the birth of their first child, a daughter Sarah. Abraham was the first of at least five more children born to them in Watertown. 88