logo

An American Family History

Joseph and Elizabeth Batcheller

 
Canterbury, Kent County, England
Salem, Essex County,Massachusetts
Wenham, Essex County, Massachusetts
 
 
“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
 
 

Various Spellings of Batcheller:
Bachelder, Bacheldor, Bacheler, Bacheller, Bachelor, Bachelour, Bachildor, Bachiler, Bachilor, Batcheldor, Batcheldour, Batcheler, Batcheller, Batchellor, Batchellour, Batchelor, Batchclour, Batchiler and Batchilor.

 
Essex County, Massachusetts was created on May 10, 1643 by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when it ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four sheires."

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 were Puritans who came to America for religious freedom.

They departed from Sandwich, England. They came with one child and 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.
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.
MaryRolandson
Mary White Rowlandson,Talcot
was captured by Native Americans
during King Philip's War (1675-1676).

King Philip’s War was a bloody and costly series of raids and skirmishes in 1675 and 1676 between the Native American people and the colonials. King Philip was the Native American leader Metacom.
 

divider

 
 

from The Fiske Family by Albert Augustus Fiske, 1867

Batchelder, the first representative from Wenham (1644), emigrated in 1638, in company with his brothers Henry and Joshua, who went to Ipswich, and John, who settled with him at Salem. Joseph soon after removed to Wenham, and, according to Dr. Allen, his descendants continue there to this day.

Among his children (probably) were Joseph, Mark, David, John, and Ebenezer. Ebenezer was constable in 1714, and Mark was one of the five drafted in King Philip's war and perished in the fierce assault upon the fort of the Narragansetts, 1675.

David Batchelder, a grandson of Joseph, Sen., by wife Susanna, had sons David, Joseph, Amos, Nehemiah and Abraham, and daughters Mary and Susanna. The latter married William Fiske, Sen., of Amherst. Her brothers Joseph, Amos and cousins Israel, Josiah, and Ebenezer, were Revolutionary soldiers. The name on the records is frequently spelled Batcheller and Bachelor.

Europeans who made the voyage to America faced a difficult journey of several months.
 
 
A Puritan was a member of the religious group in the 16th and 17th centuries that advocated "purity" of worship and doctrine who believed in personal and group piety. Puritans were persecuted in England and came to America so they would be free to practice their religion.

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 Batchelder. 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 [sic brothers], born in England:—

i. Henry, 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.*
ii. Joseph.
iii. John, born about 1612.

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

 

The town of Ipswich was established on August 5, 1634, from common land called Agawam. On October 18, 1648, that portion called the "Village" at the New Meadows was set off as Topsfield. The boundary line between Ipswich and Topsfield was established, February 28, 1694.

 
 
European and indiginous American fought fierce battles as the Europeans expanded their territory.

History of Littleton, New Hampshire by James Robert Jackson and George Clarence Furber, 1905

Joseph Batcheller came to this country from Canterbury, Eng., in 1636, with his w. Elizabeth, one child, and three servants, and 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 extract: 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.).

The Huguenots were 16th and 17th century French protestants. About 500,000 Huguenots fled France because of religious persecution. They relocated to Protestant nations.
Colonial Maryland
Colonial New England
Colonial Virginia & West Virginia
Quakers & Mennonites
New Jersey Baptists
 
German Lutherans
Watauga Settlement
Pennsylvania Pioneers
Midwest Pioneers
Californians
Jewish Immigrants

©Roberta Tuller 2023
tuller.roberta@gmail.com
An American Family History is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.