An American Family History

Joseph Batcheller and his wife, Elizabeth, married in Canterbury, England about 1633.

Their son, Mark Batcheller, was probably born in England about 1634.

They immigrated to America in 1636. They departed from Sandwich, England. They came with one child, three servants.   Joseph’s brothers John and Henry also came. Henry, a brewer brought his wife Martha and three servants. Joseph and his partner Henry Paramor of Thanet also brought cattle.

They first settled in Salem where John Batcheller and Elizabeth Batcheller Davis were born.

They relocated to Wenham. The church at Wenham was organized on October 8, 1644 and Joseph was listed as one of the members.  Elizabeth became a member on November 17, 1644.

Hannah Batcheller Warner was born in June, 1644.

Joseph died in March, 1647.

(from The Essex Antiquarian edited by Sidney Perley)

The name of Batchelder is spelled in many other ways in the early Essex county records, the more common being Bachelder, Bacheldor, Bacheler, Bacheller, Bachelor, Bachelour, Bachildor, Bachiler, Bachilor, Batcheldor, Batcheldour, Batcheler, Batcheller, Batchellor, Batchellour, Batchelor, Batchclour, Batchiler and Batchilor.

The head of the principal Batchelder family of New England was Joseph Batchelder1. He is said to have come from Canterbury, Kentshire, England. Savage says that he was a tailor, and embarked at Sandwich, with wife Elizabeth and three servants, in 1636. He was admitted an inhabitant of Salem 28:6:1637, and he had land granted to him. He was made a freeman in March, 1638. He settled in that part of Salem that became Enon, or Wenham, in 1643; and was the first representative from the new town to the general court, in 1644. He died about 1647, and his widow was living about 1657.

Children [brothers?], born in England:—

2—i. Henry2, lived in Ipswich; m. Martha before 1653; d. Feb. 3, 1678-9; she d. April 4, 1686; no issue. The general court ordered the county court to dispose of Henry Bachelor and his wife and their estate for their future good. The county court ordered that Thomas Treadwell and Theophilus Wilson find a house for them and let their farm.*
3—1i. Joseph5. See below (3).
4—iii. John8, born about 1612. See below (4).

*Savage says that Henry Batchelder of Ipswich, a brewer, came from Dover, county of Kent, England, in 1636, with wife Martha and four servants.

Joseph Batcheller came to this country from Canterbury, Eng., in 1636, with his w. Elizabeth, one child, and three servants, und settled in that part of Salem now known as Wenham, in Essex Co., Mass. His bro. Henry and family and his bro. John accompanied him. The records of the Huguenot parish of Canterbury, recently published, preserve significant evidence that Joseph Batcheller by descent and kinship was closely identified with the Huguenot people.

His ch. were:
(1) Mark, slain by the Indians, Dec. 19, 1675;
(2) John;
(3) Elizabeth, m. James Davis;
(4) Hannah, b. 1644, m. John Mariner. April, 1665;
(5) Joseph, bap. Aug. 22, 1647, d. 1699.

Joseph, the first ancestor in this country, was one of the original members of the church in Wenham, organized Oct. 8, 1644. He was the first representative of Wenham in the Gen. Court, in 1644 (2 N. H. Hist. Soc., 215).

In respect to the date of the death of Joseph Batcheller, the histories of Grafton and Sutton are in error. The church record seems to establish that his decease occurred as is stated in the following extrac: In the record of a case of church discipline, under date of 11 of the 8 mo., 1647, occurs this passage (p. 84, Wenham Church Records):

In ye mesne space it pleased God to take to himself our brother Batchel., a man wise, moderate, and very able to be helpful in such cases.

Says another authority:

He was a prominent and useful man in the plantation " (Hist, of Wenham, pp. 28, 29).

He d. in Wenham, March, 1647 (O. S.).