Middlesex County, Massachusetts was created on May 10, 1643. The county originally included Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, Wayland, and Reading.
Lush forests in Colonial America allowed settlers to build wooden homes.
Sarah Fiske Gale was born in 1656 in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Nathan and Susannah Fiske.
When she was 17, she married her neighbor, Abraham Gale (Gael), on September 3, 1673 in Watertown. He was born in 1643 and was the son of Richard Gale and Mary Castle.
Sarah and Abraham's children included:
Abraham Gale (1674),
Sarah Gale (1675),
Richard Gale (1677),
Hopestill Gale (1678),
Mary Gale (1680),
Abigail Gale (1682, married Edward Jackson, Jr.),
Mercy Gale Sanderson (1683, married Samuel Sanderson),
Ebenezer Gale (1686, married Elizabeth Green),
John Gale (1688),
Mary Gale Pratt (1689, married Michael Pratt),
Sarah Gale (1694),
Jonas Gale (1697), and
Joshua Gale (1697).
Abraham died on September 15, 1718. Sarah died on May 14, 1728.
Mary White Rowlandson,Talcot
was captured by Native Americans
during King Philip's War
(1675-1676).
Watertown was settled in 1630 by English Puritans in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
Old Style Calendar
Before 1752 the year began on Lady Day, March 25th,. Dates between January 1st and March 24th were at the end of the year. Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) are used to indicate whether the year has been adjusted. Often both dates are used.
The New England Meetinghouse was the only municipal building in a town. Both worship and civil meetings were held there. It was customary for men and women to sit separately and the town chose a committee once a year to assign seats according to what was paid, age, and dignity.
Bond's genealogy of Watertown is available on Kindle.
In 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, the Protestant king and queen,William and Mary, took the English throne from Catholic King James II. The bloodless revolution profoundly impacted the American colonies.
Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers by Henry Bond, Horatio Gates Jones
Richard Gale, was of Wat. as early as 1640; in. Mary. The birth of only one child recorded. His Will, dated Feb. 25, 1678-9, proved Ap. 1, 1679, mentions his wife (not named), sons Abraham and John, and drs. Mary Flagg and (Sarah) Garfield.
Dec. 2, 1661, he bought of Richard Dummer the east "or northeast half [250 acres] of the Oldham farm, some part of which has remained in the possession of his descendants to a very recent date, if not to the present time.
1. Sarah, b. Sept. 8, 1641; m., Ap. 3, 1663, Joseph Garfield. [Garfield, 7.]
2. Abraham, d. Sept. 15, 1718.
3. Mary, m., Mar. 30, 1670, John Flagg. [Flagg, 12.]
4. John.
5. Abigail, (?) d. Sept. 5, 1718, aged 76, not mentioned in fathers Will.
6. Ephraim. May, 1673, a vagrant, "distempered in his mind." [Court Files.] Probably d. before his father.
Abraham Gale, adm. freeman Oct. 11, 1682; m., Sept. 3, 1673, Sarah Fiske. [N. Fiske, 5f] She d. May 14, 1728.
1. Abraham.
2. Sarah, b. Feb. 15, 1674-5; d. young.
3. Richard, b. Sept. 25, 1677.
4. Hopestill, b. and d. Dec, 1678.
5. Mary, b. Mar. 27, 1680; d. young.
6. Abigail, b. Mar. 12, 1681-2; d. Nov. 21, 1696.
7. Mercy, b. Sept. 16, 1683; m., Ap. 13, 1708, Samuel Sanderson. [Sanderson. I 21.]
8. Ebenezer, b. Ap. 30, 1686; m., Dec. 27, 1709. Elizabeth Green....
9. John, b. Ap. 23, 1687; d. Feb. 15, 1734, by wife Lydia, had...
10. Mary, bap. Ap. 1689; (?) m., Nov. 3, 1731. Michael Pratt, of Oxford.
11. Sarah, b. Aug. 29,1694.
12. Jonas, bap. Nov. 14,1697; d. Mar. 17, 1717-18.
13. Joshua, b. Feb. 22, 1696-7; d. Sept. 15, 1719.
14. Elizabeth, b. July 9, 1699.
15. Lydia, b. July 9, 1699.
16. Abigail, m. about 1720, Edward Jackson, Jr., of Newton, son of Edw. and Mary, and gr. son of Sebas. 11 chil.
Any man entering a colony or becoming a a member the church, was not free. He was not forced to work, but his movements were carefully observed to see if they followed the Puritanical ideal. After this probationary period, he became a "freeman." Men then took the Oath of a Freeman where they vowed to defend the Commonwealth and not to overthrow the government.
Early European settlers in the American colonies were mostly farmers and craftsmen. They had to work hard to provide daily neccesities for themselves.
Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity, by Ellery Bicknell Crane, published by The Lewis Publishing Company, 1907
Abraham Gale, eldest son of Richard Gale, was born in 1643, in Watertown, Middlesex county, Massachusetts. He occupied the old homestead, situated in what is now Waltham, and was a selectman of Watertown in 1706 and 1718. He died in the latter year. His name in his will is spelled "Gael." He married Sarah, a daughter of Nathan Fiske, of Watertown. and they were the parents of sixteen children, of whom nine lived to maturity and married.
