Benjamin Balch
| Charts | Ancestors of William Jerome Pierce |
Benjamin Balch, son of John Balch and Margaret (…), was born at Salem, Essex Co., Massachusetts, 1629.1,2,3 He died after January 1714/15 when he signed a deed at Salem.1,2
Benjamin married (1) Sarah Gardner, daughter of Thomas Gardner and NN (…), at Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts, about 1650;4,2,3,5,6 he married (2) Abigail Maverick at Salem, 5 February 1689;1,6 he married (3) Grace Mallet at Salem, 15 March 1691/92. The ancestry of the last two wives is unknown (or not traced here).1,2,6
Benjamin Balch lived on the homestead at Beverly which he had inherited from his father. His father's will had provided that the three sons would share in supporting Annis for seven years, but after that, Benjamin take sole responsiblity.4
On 14 November 1657, her step son, Benjamin Balch presented her will at Salem Quarterly Court, but it disallowed as "illegal". Benjamin was appointed administrator though several neighbors testified that Annis' estate "would not pay Bengeman Balch and his wife for their trouble, labor and charge." The inventory, taken 25 Nov 1657, totaled £9 11s against £15 12s in charges Benjamin had entered for the care he and his wife had given Annis in the preceeding two years. The entire estate was eventually given to Benjamin, 29 Jun 1658.3
Through the deaths of his two brothers, and their surviving heirs, Benjamin came to possess the entire 200-acre Balch farm at the head of Bass River.
Benjamin was an independent spirit, and did not closely conform to the puritanical dictates of the Bay Colony. He was once arrested and fined for giving a night's lodging and entertainment to a stranger on foot; he left the baptisms of his children until most were old enough to make their own choice. Most of them did choose to be baptized 10 Apr 1670, and at the time wife Sarah was a member of the church, but not until 7 January 1693 did Benjamin enter into full communion.
The entry for his children's mass baptism reads:
He served as constable in 1661, frequently was on trial juries, and was a witness to Roger Conant's will in 1677. He made a deposition in April 1706 that he was then about 77 years of age.
Before his third marriage (March 1691/2), he had deeded part of his farm to his three living sons, Samuel, John, and Freeborn. Grace was probably dead by 1703/4 when he deeded the remaining portion of the home property to his grandson Benjamin for consideration of personal maintenance. Having disposed of his real property, he left no will and the exact date of death is unknown, though it is after 31 January 1714/5 when he signed his last known deed.4
Benjamin married (1) Sarah Gardner, daughter of Thomas Gardner and NN (…), at Beverly, Essex Co., Massachusetts, about 1650;4,2,3,5,6 he married (2) Abigail Maverick at Salem, 5 February 1689;1,6 he married (3) Grace Mallet at Salem, 15 March 1691/92. The ancestry of the last two wives is unknown (or not traced here).1,2,6
Benjamin Balch lived on the homestead at Beverly which he had inherited from his father. His father's will had provided that the three sons would share in supporting Annis for seven years, but after that, Benjamin take sole responsiblity.4
On 14 November 1657, her step son, Benjamin Balch presented her will at Salem Quarterly Court, but it disallowed as "illegal". Benjamin was appointed administrator though several neighbors testified that Annis' estate "would not pay Bengeman Balch and his wife for their trouble, labor and charge." The inventory, taken 25 Nov 1657, totaled £9 11s against £15 12s in charges Benjamin had entered for the care he and his wife had given Annis in the preceeding two years. The entire estate was eventually given to Benjamin, 29 Jun 1658.3
Through the deaths of his two brothers, and their surviving heirs, Benjamin came to possess the entire 200-acre Balch farm at the head of Bass River.
Benjamin was an independent spirit, and did not closely conform to the puritanical dictates of the Bay Colony. He was once arrested and fined for giving a night's lodging and entertainment to a stranger on foot; he left the baptisms of his children until most were old enough to make their own choice. Most of them did choose to be baptized 10 Apr 1670, and at the time wife Sarah was a member of the church, but not until 7 January 1693 did Benjamin enter into full communion.
The entry for his children's mass baptism reads:
"The eldest of these viz Samuell, did not only claime a covenant interest by his mother's late covenant engagement, with God & before his church in her admission to it; But did desire to be owned as under ye covenant of grace, under ye watch of ye Church & to be baptized upon his personall profession of faith & repentence... Benjamin allso & John & Joseph" expressed a similar desire.
He served as constable in 1661, frequently was on trial juries, and was a witness to Roger Conant's will in 1677. He made a deposition in April 1706 that he was then about 77 years of age.
Before his third marriage (March 1691/2), he had deeded part of his farm to his three living sons, Samuel, John, and Freeborn. Grace was probably dead by 1703/4 when he deeded the remaining portion of the home property to his grandson Benjamin for consideration of personal maintenance. Having disposed of his real property, he left no will and the exact date of death is unknown, though it is after 31 January 1714/5 when he signed his last known deed.4
Family 1 | Sarah Gardner b. abt. 1627, d. 5 Apr 1686 |
| Children |
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Family 2 | Abigail Maverick d. 1 Jan 1690/91 |
Family 3 | Grace Mallet |
| Children |
| This person was last edited on | 16 Dec 2017 |
Citations
- [S24] Mary Walton Ferris, Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines: A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Rufus R. Dawes: Volume I: Dawes and Allied Families (n. p., 1943), 1:72-75, further cited as Ferris, Dawes-Gates I.
- [S644] Galusha B. Balch, Genealogy of the Balch Families in America (Salem, Massachusetts: Eben Putnam, 1897), 9-11, further cited as Balch, Balch Families in America.
- [S2281] Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I–III, 3 vols. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 1:84-86 (John Balch), further cited as Anderson, GMB.
- [S24] Ferris, Dawes-Gates I, 1:70-72.
- [S2281] Anderson, GMB, 2:731-37 (Thomas Gardner).
- [S1872] Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, 3 vols. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011), 73, further cited as Torrey, New England Marriages (2011).
- [S24] Ferris, Dawes-Gates I, 72-75.