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Daniel Rea (abt. 1597 - bef. 1662)

Daniel Rea aka Ray, Rae, Rhea, Raye
Born about in Englandmap [uncertain]
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died before before about age 65 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colonymap
Profile last modified | Created 3 Apr 2011
This page has been accessed 3,445 times.
The Puritan Great Migration.
Daniel Rea migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 3, p. 1560)
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Contents

Biography

Daniel Ray, seaman

Born: c. 1597
Died: before 24 June 1662
Marriage: Bethiah _____. (possibly Jones)
Immigrated: 1630
Residence: 1st Plymouth, by 1631 Salem

Disambiguation about the Children

Daniel Ray was profiled by Robert Charles Anderson in Great Migration Begins,[1] Anderson specifically says that both Pope and Savage misread the unfinished will, and thought the grandchildren mentioned were Daniel's children. Daniel Ray had only two children: Joshua and Bethia.[1] He also mentioned his grandchildren in his will: Rebecca and Sarah.[1]

Immigrated to Plymouth

Came to Plymouth Colony in 1630.[1] On 9 June 1630, Daniel purchased a house with a garden at Plymouth from Anthony Annable.[1]

Bought a house in Plymouth in 1630 and then removed to Salem Village before February 6, 1631 as related in a letter from Bradford to Winthrop. N257

Family

Married: Between 1627 and 1637 to Bethiah _____. (possibly Bethia Jones).[1]

"Bethiah Raye" was admitted to the Salem church on 1 October 1637[2][1]

Bethiah may have been Bethia Jones (mentioned in profile of Isabel Brett) who removed from Boston to Salem in 1631 or later.[3] If she was the wife of Daniel Ray, the birth dates of his children need examination. Either Daniel was married twice, and his unknown first wife was the mother of one or both children, or the children were born a few years later.[3]

CHILDREN:[Source: Anderson's Great Migration Begins][1]

  1. Joshua Ray b c. 1627
  2. Bethia (Ray) Lothrop Grafton Goodhue b say 1630

A common mistake is the assignment of the two grandchildren to Daniel Ray as his children. Anderson cautioned that both Pope and Savage misread the will, and made this mistake.[1] It has, of course, been repeated else/ everywhere. To confuse matters further, in 1637 at Salem, meadow land was granted based on the number of people living in a household, and Daniel Ray was credited with seven members of his household.[1][4] Anderson admits he has no idea about the identity of the additional three persons; we only know the identity of the four.[1]

Salem, Massachusetts

Daniel arrived at Plymouth in 1630, but was found in Salem in 1631, and he remained there until his death.[1] Governor Bradford of Plymouth wrote a letter to John Winthrop of Massachusetts Bay in 1631, in which he mentioned several who had gone from Plymouth to Massachusetts. Daniel Ray was mentioned.[5] In a deed resulting from his estate in 1688, well after his death, he was identified as "Daniel Ray, seaman, late of Salem."[1]

Daniel served many times on the Grand Jury and on the Petit Jury at Salem. He also served as a selectman in 1636-37, as a rater in February 1639/40, a Tythingman 7 June 1644, and Constable in 1639.[1]

The Unfinished Will of Daniel Ray

Daniel died in Salem before 24 June 1662 the date on which his unfinished will was presented in court. The heirs of Daniel, agreed to carry out the wishes of Daniel’s unfinished will and then to allow the court to dispose of the remainder of his estate as they saw fit for the good of the family. The court agreed to this.

The unfinished will made the following provisions.
First: That Joshua, son of Daniel(1) deceased shall have the “farme”. When Joshua’s son Daniel(2) reaches age 21 he shall have one half of that farm. Joshua & Joshua’s wife to have the other half until their decease, when the whole goes to Daniel(2) the grandson.
"Secondly, that ye said Joshua Rea shall have the use & improvement of the seventeene Acres of land, lying on Salem North River, untill his two daughters, Rebecca & Sarah, exprest in ye will, shall attaine to ye age of sixteene yeares, & then they to have ye land with ye improvement of ye same equally divided betwixt them."
Third: Joshua is also given some land to dispose of as he sees fit.
Fourth son Thomas Lothrop & his wife shall have Captaine Damports Farme.
Fifthly: “that our Mother shall have ye thirds, of all of this Estate, dureing her life.”
The heirs leave the remainder of the estate to the court to divide.
[6]

Death and Legacy

Daniel died by 24 June 1662 at Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.[1] The will he left was incomplete, but an agreement providing for all parties was proved as a will on 24 June 1662, and inventory was made 26 June 1662, appraised at £239.19.4.[1][7]

While we do not know the death date of Daniel's widow, Bethiah Ray, she was certainly living at the time the will was proved. Daniel had made provision for his widow. In 1662, the courts specified the agreement between all heirs, and asserted that the son-in-law, Thomas Lothrop (daughter Bethia's 1st), was to "keep and maintain" his mother (Daniel's widow).[1] She must have died before Thomas Lothrop, as she was not included in his estate, dealt with in the December Term 1675.[8]

Sources

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 Anderson, Robert Charles, "Daniel Ray" in The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (1995) Pages 1560-62. AmericanAncestors.org (by subscription)
  2. Records of the 1st Church in Salem, Massachusetts, 1629-1736. (Essex Institute, 1974), p. 7.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Anderson, Robert Charles, "Isabel Brett" featured name, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (1995) Page 225. AmericanAncestors.org (by subscription)
  4. Town records of Salem, Massachusetts (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1869-), multiple vols., 1:101-102 (as records out of sequence, "relates, as I suppose, to the division [of land]" described on p. 61), 61; digital images, Hathi Trust.
  5. Bradford’s Letter to Winthrop, 1631. NEHGR 2:243-4
  6. Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County Volume II 1656-1662. Salem: The Essex Institute.,1912. Online
  7. Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County dates Vol. II. pp 413-415. Salem: The Essex Institute, 1912.
  8. Anderson, Robert Charles, "Thomas Lothrop" in The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (1995) Page 1202 AmericanAncestors.org (by subscription)

Acknowledgments

  • Thank you to Bennett Rockney for creating WikiTree profile Raye-25 through the import of Rockney GEDCOM.ged on Feb 16, 2013.
  • Thanks to Joshua Allen for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Joshua and others.






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Comments: 5

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Is there any valid source linking him to his grandfather?
posted by Chris Hoyt
Great-grandfather is thought by some to be Rea-1567

b. 1508 Denston, Suffolk, England - 9 JANUARY 1551 Denston, Suffolk, England

posted by Beryl Meehan
Raye-25 and Rea-108 appear to represent the same person because: clearly enough of the same bio info to assure these are duplicates, would lean towards Rea-108 being the best LNAB.
posted by Sandy Culver
The PGM suggestion when in doubt about how to spell a name, go with Robert C. Anderson. He used the spelling Ray.
posted by Cynthia (Billups) B
Suggest Rea-108 as the LNAB with better source for birth year.
posted by Sandy Culver

R  >  Rea  >  Daniel Rea

Categories: Puritan Great Migration