Henry Neal of Braintree died 1688

Origins

• not the son of John Neale, Esq., of Dean his son was Henry Neale of Allesley, Warwickshire, MP
• Evidence needed to support as son of Henry Neale
• not a known child of Elizabeth Ingoldsby (Cromwell)
• said to have been related to Jeremiah Cromwell Neale
• seen as brother of John Neale, of Salem
• though to have been a brother of John Neale, of Salem “ I think it probable that Henry Neale of Braintree was a brother of the first John Neale of Salem.”

Biography

From https://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&d...

THE PIONEERS OF MASSACHUSETTS, NEAL, NEALE, Page 325 link

Henry, carpenter, Braintree, had land grant for 3 heads 24 (12) 1639-40. Town officer. He deposed in Mdx. court 30 (4) 1654, ae. about 35 years. Rem. to Providence, R. L, about 1657; bought house and land, which sold in 1661, after returning to Br. [Prov. rec.] Active in town business to old age. Wife Martha was bur. 23 (5) 1653. He m. 11 (12) 1655, Hanah, dau. of Quinton Pray. Ch. rec. at Br.: Martha b. 16 (11) 1642, Samuel b. 31 (5) 1647, Henry b. 19 (1) 1649, Hannah b. 2 (2) 1651, bur. 20 (9) 1657, Sarah b. and d. 1653, Joseph b. 6 (8) 1660, Mary b. 1 (11) 1664, Rachel b. 12 (1) 1665, d. 15 (10) 1675, Deborah b. 7 (1) 1667, Benjamin b. 7 (1) 1668-9, Ruth b. 25 (10) 1670, Lydia b. 8 (10) 1672, Elizabeth b. 28 (4) 1675, Joanna b. May 27, 16S0, Rebecca, Rachel, (m. 24 (1) 1697-8, Ralph Pope).

He d. Oct. 16, 1688, ae. 71 years. [Gr. St.] The statement is made on his gravestone that he was the father of 21 children.

Will dated Aug. 11 and Sept. 12, 1688, prob. Feb. 27, 1690-1, beq. to wife Hannah; sons Samuel, Joseph, Benjamin and Henry; daus. Abigail Scott, Hannah, wife of Nehemiah Heiden, Sarah Merryfield, Mary Thyre, Ruth Thayre, Deborah, Lydia, Rebecca, Rachel, Elizabeth and Joanna; calls Samuel Allis the cousin of his son Henry.

• Henry Neale Find A Grave Memorial# 74834183

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Married Hannah Pray on December 14, 1655.
Died aged 71 years.

Inscription: "The father of 21 children."

Note: Looking at the stone looks like someone altered the 7 in 1678 from 1688. - Rich O'Keefe

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: May 3 2017, 0:53:40 UTC

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GEDCOM Note

Category: Braintree, Massachusetts Category: Hancock Cemetery, Quincy, Massachusetts
{Puritan Great Migration}

Disputed

Wife: This profile has been linked and unlinked as a husband to Cromwell-138|Elizabeth Cromwell. She was married and bearing the twelve children of Ingoldsby-75|Richard Ingoldsby from about 1613 and died 1666 in England.

Source:Ingalsbe, Frederick W. Ingoldsby Genealogy. Grand Rapids, MI: Self-Published, 1904. Page 3.There is no evidence of any relationship to Henry Neale of Braintree.

Father: A previous version of this profile was connected as a son to Neale-9|Henry Neale and grandson of Neale-160|Raphael Neale. Both relationships are false. No connection has been found between the Neale family of Maryland and Henry Neale of Braintree.

Source: "Neale Family of Charles County." Maryland Genealogies in Two Volumes, Vol II. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing, 1980. By Subscription $.{Ancestry Record|48199|238523} >PDF Link.

Birth: A birth date and location of March 29, 1617 in "Castle, Fennington, Leicester" was previously reported.

Source: FindAGrave|11534977 They have been removed until scholarly evidence can be located.

Biography

Henry Neale was born about 1617, probably in England. His age is estimated from the inscription on his headstone.

Source: Pattee, William S. A History of Old Braintree and Quincy. Quincy, MA: Green & Prescott, 1878. Page 117.

As early as January 25, 1631/2 Henry Neale and others of Braintree, Essex, England promised Thomas Barrington to go on the next ship "bound for ye Isle of Providence." as indentured servants.

Source: Wilbour, Benjamin Franklin. "The English Ancestry of Samuel Wilbore, of Boston, and William Wilbore, or Portsmouth, R.I." New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 112. Boston, MA: Apr 1958. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) By Subscription $.Page 112.

Braintree

• 1638/9 Mar 5: Henry and others appeared before the Quarterly Court held in Boston. They were admonished "not to adventure too many into any boate."<ref>Shurtleff, Nathaniel B. Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, Vol. 1 1628-1641. Massachusetts State Legislature, 1853. Page 239.</ref>* 1640 Feb 10: Received a grant of land at Braintree, twelve acres for"three heads"<ref> Pattee, 1878. Page 29.</ref>* 1642 Apr 22: Henry appeared in Court at Boston; his servant Henry Hobson "was freed from him...& Henry Neale was enjoyned to pay all the witnesses & deliver up all bonds, & soe all things were ended between them."<ref> Noble, John. Records of the Court of Assistants of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay 1630-1692, Vol. II. Boston, MA: Suffolk County, 1904. Page 122.</ref> There appears tohave been some issue of Henry's fitness as a master as described in an Arbitration Agreement.<ref>Winthrop Papers, Vol. 4. Boston, MA: The Massachusetts Historical Society, 1944. Page 299.</ref>* 1648/9 Feb 25: Henry's house was mentioned in a dispute regarding the layout of the "Old Plymouth Road."<ref>Pattee, 1878. Page 67.</ref>* 1664 Jun 24: named in Thomas Thayer's will regarding an agreement topermitting his "son Fardinando to take wood thereof for their owne burneing during their naturall lives."<ref>Trask, William B. " Abstractsfrom the Earliest Wills on Record in the County of Suffolk, Mass." New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 13. Boston, MA:Oct 1859. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) By Subscription $.Page 337.</ref>
  
• 1665 Aug 10: listed in an "Indian Deed" executed by Wikipedia:Wompatuck|Wompatuck, aka Josiah Sagamore<ref>Pattee, 1878. Page 45.</ref>* The Town record notes that he was a sargeant in the train band.<ref>Bates, Samuel A. Records of the Town of Braintree 1640 to 1673. Braintree, MA: Town of Braintree, 1886. [https://archive.org/details/cu31924025963665/page/n829/mode/2up?q=%...]</ref>

Providence

About 1657 Henry left Braintree for Providence in the Rhode Island Colony.<ref name=Sprague>Sprague, Waldo Chamberlain. Genealogies of the families of Braintree, Mass., 1640-1850. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001. By Subscription $. Page 1115.</ref> He returned after selling his house on November 23, 1660. "Henry Neale of Braintry,... Carpenter" sold to Roger Mowry his house and land in Providence, signed with his mark.<ref>The Early Records ofthe Town of Providence, Vol 1. Providence, RI: Providence Record Commissioners, 1892. Page 57.

Family

Henry was married first to Martha (birth surname unknown) about 1639/40, who was the mother of the first five or more children. She and Henry likely had a child by the time he was granted land on 10 February 1640/1, based on their having three people in their household. She died giving birth to Sarah and was buried on July 23, 1653 at Braintree.[14]

He married second on February 14, 1655/6 Hannah Pray,[15] daughter of Quinton Pray[12]

According to his gravestone in Hancock Cemetery, Quincy, Massachusetts, Henry was the father of twenty-one children.[16] The appearance of the stone shows it was made contemporaneously to his death, or nearly so. It isn't known who gave the information to the stone carver, and the identity of two of those children, if this is correct, is unknown. Since Henry was granted land at Mount Wollaston based on having three people in his family, he and Martha likely had a child by then whose birth and death weren't recorded. Hancock Cemetery, with its associated Congregational Church across the street, was the first within the original bounds of the town of Braintree before it was divided to create the town of Quincy. The current town of Braintree represents what was the Middle Precinct of the original town.

Children of Henry and Martha (unknown) Neal:

1. child, b. 1640/1, prob. d. as a child aft. 10 Feb 1640/1
2. Martha b 16 Jan 1642/3;[17] d January 1679[18]
3. Samuel b 31 Jul 1647[19]
4. Henry b 19 Feb 1649[19]
5. Hannah b 2 Apr 1651;[20] buried Nov 20, 1657[14]
6. "Sarra" b 23 Jul 1653;[20] buried 16 May 1653[14]

Children of Henry and Hannah (Pray) Neal:

1. Abigail b 14 Feb 1656/7[21]
2. Hannah b 1658/9 (based on her marriage date); m Nehemiah Hayden
3. Joseph b Aug 8, 1660[22]
4. Sarah b 20 Dec 1661;[citation needed] m Mansfield
5. Mary b Jan 1, 1664;[23] m John Thayer
6. Rachel b 1 Feb 1665;[24] d 15 Dec 1675[25]
7. Deborah b 1 Sep 1667;[26] m John Payne
8. Benjamin b 7 Mar 1668/9[27]
9. Ruth b 25 Dec 1670;[28] m Ebenezer Thayer
10. Lydia b Oct 10 1672;[29] m Joseph Jones[30]
11. Rebecca b 1673;[31] m William Nightingale
12. Elizabeth b Jun 26, 1675;[32] m John Bass
13. Rachel b 1677;[citation needed] m Ralph Pope
14. Joanna b May 28, 1680;[33] m (1) Shadrach Wilbur (2) Benjamin Leach

Death and Estate

As noted above, Henry's death on 16 October 1688 is in the town records and his gravestone mistakenly gives the year 1678. He wrote a will on August 11, 1688, a codicil on September 12, and it was proved February 27, 1690/1. It first mentions his wife, then son Samuel "he being obstinate and refusing to hearken to my counsel & hath been chargeable and troublesome to me." He gave land to Benjamin, Joseph, and Henry as well as to daughters Abigail Scott, Hannah "Heiden", Sarah Mansfield, Mary "Thayre", and Ruth "Thair." Daughters Deborah, Rachel, Lydia, Rebecca, Elizabeth, and Joanna were each given 50£.[12]

References

1. WikiTree contributors, "Henry Neale (abt.1617-1688)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Neale-5 : accessed 06 March 2025).