Thomas Hale

Biography

Thomas Hale’s public work in Newbury, on the northeastern Massachusetts coast, consisted of repeated, practical duties. He inspected fences, served on juries, helped oversee highways and carried the town’s votes to Salem. The published town-office account lists him as a selectman in 1665, 1675 and 1678, with further committee work throughout the 1670s.

Born in 1633, he came to New England as a child with his parents. He married Mary Hutchinson at Salem, Massachusetts, on May 26, 1657. Their first infant died within days of birth; eight later children were living when Thomas made his will in 1686/87. His household and property remained centered on Newbury, although he also acquired land at Amesbury, Haverhill and Salem, other communities in northeastern Massachusetts.

Local government did not mean agreement with the town’s religious leadership. During the dispute around minister Thomas Parker, Thomas sided with the opposing Woodman party. The Ipswich court fined him in May 1671.

His estate arrangements were elaborate. An earlier deed to his son Thomas reserved half the property until the deaths of Thomas and Mary and imposed payments to other children. The will distributed land, money, tools and weapons, acknowledged earlier provisions to daughters, and directed that Joseph be placed with a suitable trade by eighteen or nineteen. Mary was named sole executrix.

The will also placed a Native person called Wott, described as Thomas’s servant, under Mary’s control. The language establishes coercive authority over Wott but does not explain the terms or duration of that service. Thomas died on October 22, 1688.

The burial listing associates Thomas Hale with Burying Ground of the First Settlers, Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States.