APuritan 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.
Bathsheba Lothrop Bale Marsh was baptized in Barnstable on February 27, 1641. Her parents were John Lothrop and Ann Hammond.
Bathsheba married Benjamin Bale (Beal or Beale) about 1668. Benjamin was born about 1634 in England.
Bathsheba and Benjamin's children included:
Benjamin Bale (1669, married Hannah Holman),
Mercy Bale Trott (1672, married Samuel Trott),
John Bale (1674, married Anna Crosby),
and Mary Bale Baxter (1677, married John Baxter).
Benjamin died on April 27, 1680. She was the executor of his estate.
She married Lieutenant Alexander Marsh on September 18, 1683 when she was about 42 years old. He was born in England about 1628. He arrived in the colonies in 1654 and settled in Braintree, Norfork County, Massachusetts where he was made freeman on May 3, 1654. He was called yeoman. In 1670 he bought two hundred acres and iron works from Thomas Savage. He soon sold the property.
Alexander had been married before to Mary Belcher on December 19, 1655. Mary was Gregory Belcher's daughter. Alexander and Mary had 9 children who are listed below. Mary died on February 17, 1678.
Alexander died when he was 76 on March 7, 1698.
Bathsheba died when she was 82 on January 8, 1723 and was buried in the Dorchester Burying Lot on Stoughton Street.
Various spellings of Lothrop:
Lathrop, Laythrop, Lothroppe, Lothropp, Lowthrop, Lowthropp
A yeoman was a man who owned and cultivated a small farm. He belonged to the class below the gentry or land owners. A husbandman was a free tenant farmer. The social status of a husbandman was below that of a yeoman.
