William Paul (abt. 1624 - 1704)

Born about 1624 in England

Husband of Mary (Richmond) Paul — married 1656 in Taunton, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 9 Nov 1704 at about age 80 in Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Paul, Paull, Paule

William Paul AKA Paule, Paull (spelled "Paule" by William Saxbe in his article for The American Genealogist,^[1] spelled "Paul" by Robert C. Anderson in The American Genealogist^[2], spelled "Paull" in the NEHGS article entitled, "Marriages, Births, and Deaths at Taunton, Mass."^[3] and on his headstone shown in the Images). Actually in the transcription of the Taunton Vital Records, the heading reads "PAULL (Paul)" as if the two spellings were combined (and there is no indication of the spelling, Paule).^[4]

Origin Unknown

Nothing is known concerning William's origin.^[5]

From his headstone, we may infer that he was born about 1624. While his headstone may be incorrect, it is the most solid evidence we have for his birth date.

A William Paul left Gravesend, Kent, England, on June 10, 1635, aboard the True Love de London, Robert Dennis, master. He was 20 years old and bound for the Bermudas.^[6][7] That may have been this William Paul, but if so the gravestone is incorrect (his birth year would be 1615 rather than 1624).^[5]

William's parents are sometimes given as Richard Paull and Margery Turner.^[8][9] No evidence for this relationship has been found and all records were destroyed by fire long ago.^[5] The dates of birth also make this relationship unlikely. Margery is said to have been born 1617, two years after, or more likely 7 years before, William. In either case, she is not likely his mother and Richard's age does not look much better.

Taunton

William was described by Edward J. Paul as a Scotchman and a weaver.^[6]

"William Paul and John Hathaway appear to have been among the earliest settlers in that part of Berkley bordering upon Assonet Neck, and these, with Timothy Holloway, made a trio from whom the red remnants of the original owners of the soil had not much to learn that was good."^[10] William was fined for breach of the peace once, and for "distemper with ye wine" several times and was set in the stocks for "profane swearing".^[5]

On 3 February 1656/7, Katheren Aines/Innes and William Paule, Scotchman, were sentenced at Weymouth to be "publickly whipt" for adultery.^[1] In addition, the court convicted Katheren's husband, Alexander Anis/Innes, of leaving his family, thus exposing his wife to such temptations, and he was sentenced to be put in the stocks.^[1]

On 6 October 1657, William Paule and his wife, Mary Richmond^[11] of Newport, Rhode Island, were expelled from Taunton (PCR 3:122).^[12] At this point, it is said that he took up residence beyond the limits of Taunton, adjacent to the town line on Assonet Neck in a cave.^[5]

His banishment apparently did not keep him out of Taunton, as on 1 June 1663, he was fined there for drunkenness (PCR 4:43).^[12] Later that year, on December 14, John Richmond names William and Mary in his will, bequeathing them a pair of sheets and specifically leaving a "hammock" to William, his son-in-law.^[5]

On March 5, 1671/2, William brought suit against John Hathaway, Sr., of Taunton for damnifying and defaming his meadows, over a boundary dispute.^[6][5]

William was one of the 87 owners who signed the South Purchase (which eventually became Dighton) on November 26, 1672. He apparently never left the Assonet Neck area which eventually became Dighton in 1712 and then Berkley in 1735. The site of his cellar near the residence of Peter F. Chase was still discernible as late as 1872.

In 1675, William was listed in the names of heads of families of Taunton when Philip's war began.^[5]

William received 20 acres of land in Taunton in the year 1683, laid out to him as a Rumford lot, on the south-west of Skunk Hill, by a committee consisting of his father-in-law, John Richmond, James Walker, William Witherell and John Macomber, Sr., and another 30 acres in the year 1684, laid out to him on the north-east side of Skunk Hill by a committee of John Hall, William Witherell, John Hathaway and John Macomber, Sr., according to the old proprietor's records.^[6]

He was witness to a deed of lands given to his son, James Paul, by Edward Bobit, March 5, 1683/4.

In 1687, he contributed toward lands for the benefit of Rev. Samuel Danforth, minister of Taunton.^[6]

William gave his dwelling house, 50 acres of land, two other parcels of land and four acres of salt marsh near Assonet Neck to his sons, John and Edward, February 27, 1687/8.^[6]

On March 5, 1688, he received out of proprietor's lands, 45 acres on the north-east side of the brook that runneth through the land called Macomber's Meadow, and ranging 60 rods on said brook, and on the town line far enough to make up the same.^[6]

January 19, 1696/7, William received 40 acres out of proprietor's lands, beginning at the east end of his own land which he bought from James Phillips, extending the breadth north and south 56 rods, and in length on the Freetown line east by south 120 rods.^[6]

William received another 8 acres from the proprietor's lands November 17, 1702, on the northwest side and the northeast end of Joseph Dean's lands on the east side of the Great Plain and the westerly side of John Burt's land.^[6]

Questions about Childrens' Parentage

William Saxbe claims that, in practice, the court would only have found reason to prosecute Katheren Aines/Innes if she became pregnant during her husband's absence. Katheren would have been seven months pregnant at the time of the trial^[1], if she was pregnant with James Paul. On the date of the trial, William Paule was unmarried.^[1] William Paule and Mary Richmond married in 1657.^[12]

James' birth is recorded in the Taunton records as 7 April 1657, however this entry was made eleven years after-the-fact.^[1] He is reported as "son of William," no mother recorded.^[1] William Saxbe contends that the probable mother of James was Katheren Aines/Innes, the wife of Alexander Aines/Innes.^[1]

In the Taunton Vital Records, "Hannah Paul, d. Mary" was born 14 October 1657.^[12] Often the birth of a child was recorded using only the father's name, but if a child was recorded using only the mother's name, this usually meant the mother was widowed or unmarried. In the June 1658, Court Session, "Mary Paull, daughter of John Richmond of Newport, confessed that she was with the child of Richard Canterbury before she was married (Rhode Island Court Records 1: 46).^[12] Robert Wakefield believes this child, Hannah, was almost surely the daughter of Richard Canterbury.^[12] Edward J. Paul says that Hannah has not been identified beyond the birth record.^[5]

If Hannah Paul, born 14 October 1657, was the daughter of Mary (Richmond) Paul, then James Paul, born 7 April 1657, could not have been Mary's son. As William Saxbe points out, all this raises some questions: who raised James Paul, and where?

Family

William married c. 1656 at Taunton, (later Bristol County), Plymouth Colony (later Massachusetts) to Mary Richmond, daughter of John Richmond, Sr.^[2] Their marriage was not recorded, but is proved by the will of Mary's father, John Richmond, Sr. which mentioned "son in law William Paule, and Mary his wife."^[13]

Children attributed to William and Mary:^[3][6]

1. James Paul b 7 April 1657 Taunton; mar Mary Unknown
2. John Paul b 10 July 1660; mar Dorothy Walker
3. Edward Paul b 7 February 1665; mar Esther Bobbit
4. Mary Paul b 8 February 1667;
5. Sarah Paul b 5 July 1668; mar Henry Tew who became Deputy Governor of RI
6. Abigail Paul b 15 May 1673; mar 1) Joseph Woode/Atwood, 2) John Burt

Children not included in the "Marriages, Births, and Deaths at Taunton, Mass."^[3] or in "Taunton Births".^[4] Their births were not recorded at Taunton (as children of any parents), however they are mentioned in the will of Sarah Richmond as "Ebenezer and Benjamin, children of brother William Paule" along with "Sister Paule".^[5]

1. Ebenezer Paul b 1677; mar Sarah perhaps widow Sanford
2. Benjamin Paul b 1681; mar Ruth Dyer

Death and Legacy

William died 9 November 1704 at Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, aged 80 years.^[2] As of 1914, his grave stone, "short, rough, hard, and brown" was still visible at "the grave-yard near the ancient musterfield on Assonet neck, now in Berkley."^[6] His wife, Mary died October 3, 1715 at Taunton, aged 76 years.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} Saxbe, William B., "Who Was the Mother of James Paule?" (Vol 73, Page 312) The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database accessed March 17, 2015. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Anderson, Robert C., "Ancestry of President Calvin Coolidge" (Vol 53 No. 2, Page 163) The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-April, 1977. (Online database accessed March 17, 2015. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Reed, Edgar H., "Marriages, Births, and Deaths at Taunton, Mass." The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Vol 17, Page 34) Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database accessed March 17, 2015: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2013.)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "Taunton Births" (Taunton V-1, Page 325) Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850, (Online Database accessed March 17, 2015: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2010).
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9} Paul, Edward J., "Notes on the American Families of Paul or Paull, Volume I", Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1897. Old Colony Historical Society, Taunton, MA 02780
6. ↑ ^{6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11} Paul, Edward, Joy, The Ancestry of Katharine Choate Paul, Now Mrs. William J. Young, Jr. Milwaulkee: Burdick & Allen, 1914, OpenLibrary.org accessed March 17, 2015
7. ↑ Paul, Edward, J., "The Part Borne by Sergent John White Paul ..." Magazine of New England History: Volumes 1-3. (Page 101) Risbrough Hammett Tilley, 1891, GoogleBooks.com accessed February 11, 2015
8. ↑ Emery, Samuel Hopkins. "History of Taunton Massachusetts", Syracuse, NY, D. Mason & Co., 1893.
9. ↑ Connelley, William E. "A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans. Vol. 3", Chicago, IL, USA: Lewis Publishing Company, 1918.
10. ↑ Peirce, E. W., "Contributions, Biographical, Genealogical, Historical", Boston, 1874
11. ↑ U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, by Yates Publishing (Ancestry.com)
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5} Wakefield, Robert S., "Additions and Corrections to Austin's Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island: The Richmond Family" (Vol 54, 1978, Pages 96-98) The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database accessed February 10, 2015. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .)
13. ↑ barbpretz, John Richmond Fleming Family History, December 24, 2013, accessed March 17, 2015

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