Mary Hutchinson Hale

Biography

Mary Hutchinson Hale made substantial property decisions after her husband’s death. In January 1689/90 she bought six acres of marsh in Newbury, on the northeastern Massachusetts coast. In June 1692 she and her son Joseph received a deed for two hundred acres at Boxford, farther inland in northeastern Massachusetts. A year later, she arranged a larger transfer to Joseph on terms that preserved part of her interest for life.

Her deed of November 13, 1693 conveyed 280 acres in Boxford and six acres of Newbury marsh, half to pass immediately and half at her death. The transfer was conditional on Joseph’s marriage to Mary Watson. It joined a marriage settlement with provision for Mary’s own remaining years, specifying when possession would change rather than giving the entire property away at once.

Mary had been baptized at North Muskham, Nottinghamshire, on December 28, 1630. She married Thomas Hale at Salem in May 1657 and raised their family at Newbury. Thomas died in October 1688, leaving her sole executrix. She swore and filed the estate inventory in September 1689. His will also assigned a Native servant named Wott to her disposal. That provision records the authority intended for her over another person; Wott’s subsequent circumstances are not established.

Mary married again on February 5, 1694/95, to William Watson of Boxford—the father of Joseph’s wife. Thus her remarriage strengthened an existing connection between the two households. William died in 1710, and Mary died at Boxford on December 8, 1715.