John Heald (abt. 1606 - 1662)

Born about 1606 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Unica (Blackeburne) Heald — married 1631 in Sandal Magna, Yorkshire, England

Descendants

Died 24 May 1662 at about age 56 in Concord, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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John Heald migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 157) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Previously a marriage of John Heald and Dorothy Royle in 1636, in Alderley, Cheshire, England, and a subsequent baptism of their son John led to the conclusion that John and Dorothy were the early immigrants to Massachusetts. Recent research uncovered the baptisms of three Heald children in the parish registers of Wakefield, Yorkshire:^[1]

18 January 1633/4 Johanes filius Johis Heald

9 April 1636 Tymothos filius Johis Healde

18 May 1639 Anna daughter of John Heald

The immigrants three eldest children were named John, Timothy and Hannah. John deposed in 1681 at age 47 or 48 (born about 1633 or 1634). Hannah married in 1658. An estimate of age 19 at marriage is reasonable.^[1]

In addition, a marriage of John Heald and Unica [Eunice] Blackeburne, in 1631, was found in the nearby parish of Sandal Magna, Yorkshire.^[2][1] The children, John and Hannah, named children Eunice. All this leads to the conclusion, that this is the correct family. John married 1st Eunice Blackeburne and had three children John, Timothy and Anna/Hannah.^[1]

Because John was found in Yorkshire, speculation about parents from Cheshire is incorrect. His parents remain unknown at this time.

What about Dorothy? John's younger children were born to his wife Dorothy, but she most definitely was not Dorothy Royle. He may have married Dorothy before migrating, but their first child wasn't born until five years after John's arrival, so they were probably married in Massachusetts.

Concord

John was made a Massachusetts freeman 2 June 1641.^[3] This suggests his arrival in 1640.^[4] His youngest child was just a year old so he probably had someone to watch over his children with him, perhaps Eunice. There is no record of Eunice in New England.

John received a second division land grant in 1654/5.^[5]

In 1666, Widow Heald held 6 lots, 161 acres. John Heald, her son, had four lots of land containing eighty six acres.^[6]

Death

He died May 24, 1662, at Concord. ^[7] His will, written 5 weeks earlier, 19 April 1662, when he was "sicke in body" named his three oldest children: sons John and Timothy, and daughter Hannah, who had received their portions. He left each of his five younger children £13. 5s. 8p. The rest of the estate he left to his wife Dorothy, naming her executrix.^[8]

Children

Children of John and Eunice (Blackeburne) Heald baptized at Wakefield, Yorkshire, England:^[1]

• Johannes (John) Heald bpt. 18 Jan 1633/4.^[9][10] He m. at Concord 10 Jun 1661,Sarah Dane/Dean^[11] dtr. of Thomas and Elizabeth. Sgt. John Heald, h. Sarah, died at Concord June 17, 1689.^[11]
• Timothy was bpt 9 April 1636;^[12] living 19 April 1662 (father's will). He is perhaps the Timothy Hale of Windsor, Connecticut, and Suffield, Massachusetts (now Connecticut)^[1] m. 26 Nov 1663 Sarah Barber.^[13]
• Hannah, bpt. 18 May 1639;^[14][10] d. at Chelmsford 14 Aug 1689; m. Chelmsford 18 May 1658 John Spalding.^[1]

Children of John and Dorothie (_______)

• Doras [Dorcas] Held, dtr of John & Dorothie Held was b.22: 3m: 1645. (22 May 1645) at Concord;^[11] Dorcas died 1. 3m. 1650 (1 May 1650.)^[11][1]
• Gershum Held was b. 23: 1m: 1647. (23 Mar 1646/7);^[11] after 1 Nov 1723, Springfield^[1] m. 6 May 1673 Ann Vinton,^[11] dtr of John and Ann. She was b. 4 Apr 1656 Lynn.^[13]
• Dorothy Held was b. 16: 8m: 1649. (16 Oct 1649) Concord;^[11] perhaps m. Lancaster 3 Aug 1670 Jonathan Prescott.^[1]
• Child Heald b. say 1653; living 19 April 1662 (father's will mentioned five younger children.^[1]
• Isaac Heald b say 1657 m. Elizabeth _____ by 1682 moved to Stow. d. between 1 Jun 1717(will dated) and 9 July 1717 (will proved) at Stow.^[1]
• Israel Held b. 30 Jul 1660;^[11] d. 8 Sep 1738 ae 78; m. Martha Wright d/o Edward and Elizabeth.^[13][1]

Threllfall lists an additional son, Thomas [Heald]: Thomas b. 19 Jan 1651/2; d. 22 Apr 1725, Enfield; m. (1) 18 Nov 1675, Enfield, Connecticut, Priscilla Markham; m. (2) 17 Dec 1713 Enfield Widow (Sarah (Patch) Osborn.^[13] However according to Torrey and Jacobus (both cited by Anderson), this Thomas' last name was Hale (Thomas Hale Jr (bef.1651-1725)}, and he was a son of Thomas Hale Sr (abt.1610-bef.1679). See Research Notes section. Thomas Heald (abt.1650-) has been disconnected as John and Dorothy's son.

Research Notes

Disputed/Unsupported children: Unconfirmed children: Amos, Ebenezer Heald (abt.1644-abt.1689), Torrey disagreed that Thomas Hale of Enfield and Timothy Hale of Windsor" were members of this Heald family: "The compiler of this family history does not accept the theory that Timothy Hale of Windsor, Conn., and Suffield, Conn., and Thomas Hale of Enfield, Conn, were sons of John Heald of Concord."^[5]

Wife is not Dorothy Royale: A note from before the Randy West article: [Note: Spouse Dorothy ___: Some sources indicate his wife as Dorothy Royle/Royale, other sources indicate Dorothy Andross married Johannes/John Heald in 1636 as his second wife. See:

• Heald-Chaffee Genealogy: The Ancestors of Edward Aiken Heald, 1862-1938, and Mary Eudora Chaffee, 1861-1916, Volume 1, Heindel, 1976, p. 85.
• Dorothy Royle is no longer a candidate
• Heald-Chaffee Genealogy: Is not online -- but a previous source lists:
• "His wife was Dorothy Andrews (History of Goffstown 2:219), called by one writer (Massachusetts Genealogies, Cutter, 1:172) a second wife, who survived him."^[15]
  • The History of Goffstown Gives no sources. Goffstown New Hampshire was not settled at all until 1734, so this several generations after the immigrant and certainly not primary information ^[16]
  • Cutter, William Richard, Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1910) p. 172 Calls Dorothy ____ a 2nd wife but does not give her a surname

Probably not from Berwick on Tweed: Savages's Genealogical Dictionary (1860) says "JOHN, Concord, came, says tradit. from Berwick on Tweed.^[17] This is repeated in The History of Concord (published 1904) which says John Heald came from Berwick, Northumberland, England, after 1637 and was an early (by 1640) settler of Concord, Massachusetts, where he was with the Rev. Peter Bulkeley and Elder John Jones.^[6] and Ancestry and Posterity of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale, (1929)^[15]

• Given the family data found in Wakefield about 170 miles away, this tradition seems unlikely.
• Baptism: 2 Jun 1619 (and other "about" dates) Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England are not at family search, not at ancestry, not at Free-reg.org There is no such date in Berwick baptisms No Heald or similar in Index.^[18] "

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} West, Randy A., "The Correct English Origin of John1 Heald of Concord, Massachusetts," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 177, (Winter 2023), pp 85-88; American Ancestors link for members
2. ↑ Eunice Blackburn in 1631, England, Boyd's Marriage Indexes, 1538-1850. Sandal Magna, Yorkshire, England. Married John Heald 1631. Available on FindMyPast.com.
3. ↑ Shurtleff, Nathaniel. Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England Vol. 1 1628-1641 (William White, Boston, 1853-) p. 379
4. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Directory (Boston, 2015), p. 157
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Torrey, Clarence Almon. The Heald-Hale Genealogy. John Heald of Concord Massachusetts and Some of His Descendants (Six Generations). (Boston: typescript 1940) D.L Jacobus in Hale, House and Related Families refers to this work as "A very good account of this family"
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Hudson, Alfred Sereno. The history of Concord, Massachusetts. v. 1- (Concord, Mass., Erudite Press, 1904) p. 65 Sereno repeats the notion that John Heald was from Berwick, in Northumberland arriving as early as 1635. Page 287 contains a 1663 list of landholders. In addition, Hudson gives John a role in one of his fanciful tales p. 43)
7. ↑ Concord Massachusetts, Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850, Printed by the Town,p. 10 "HELD, John, h. Dority, May 24, 1662."
8. ↑ Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB536/i/14462/11053-co4/38283106
9. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JSKH-XJD : 4 February 2023), Johannes Heald, 1633.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Timothy Healds in the West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812. West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records. Ancestry.com ($). West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812,database on-line. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Image of record is included. Christening of brother Johannes can be viewed in the same filmstrip, 1633, image 7. "Johanes filius John Heald baptizat xviii die Januari". Christening of sister Anna Heald can be viewed in the same filmstrip, 1639, image 2. "Anna daughter of John Heald bapt. 18th day [May]"
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7} Tolman, George, (ed) Concord, Massachusetts births, marriages, and deaths, 1635-1850 (Boston, T.Todd, printer, 1895) births pp 4, 5, 9; marriages Gershom p. 17, John p. 10 ; deaths Dorcas p. 6, John p. 55 Israel p 9
12. ↑ Timothy Healds in the West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812. West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records. Ancestry.com ($). West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812,database on-line. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Image of record is included.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3} Threllfall, John Brooks. Fifty Great Migration Colonists to New England & their Origins. (Madison, Wisconsin, 1990). FamilySearch Book: 615242/
14. ↑ "England, Yorkshire, Bishop's Transcripts, 1547-1957", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:682W-122V : 23 September 2021), Anna Heald, 1639.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Anderson, Mary Audentia Smith, Ancestry and Posterity of Joseph Smith and Emma Hale, (Independence, Missouri: 1929) p. 293
16. ↑ Hadley, George Plummer, History of the Town of Goffstown 1733-1920, Volume 2 Genealogy, (Published by the town, 1924). p. 219.
17. ↑ Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692. Vol. I-IV. (Boston, MA, USA: 1860-1862). Vol 2, p. 396
18. ↑ The registers of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the county of Northumberland .. by Berwick-upon-Tweed, Eng. (Parish) 4n; Dodds, Edwin; Wood, Herbert Maxwell, ed (1905)

• Jacobus, Donald Lines. Hale, House, and related families : mainly of the Connecticut River Valley Hartford, Conn. : Connecticut Historical Society, 1952
• Shattuck, Lemuel, A history of the town of Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts : from its earliest settlement to 1832; and of the adjoining towns, Bedford, Acton, Lincoln, and Carlisle; containing various notices of county and state history not before published.(Russell, Odiorne and company; Concorde, J. Stacy, 1835) p. 37 has a 1666 list of landholders Widow Heald has 6 lots 161 acres, resides North of Joshua Buttrick. John (the son) has 4 parcels containing 86 acres; p. 374 Text: "HEALD. This name is sometimes erroneously spelled Hale or Held. John here in 1635, came from Berwick, Eng.,; d. May 24, 1662; had John, Timothy, Dorcas, Gershom Dorothy, Israel, and perhaps other children. Gershom m. Ann Vinton 1673, and removed to Stow. John jr. ..." . Torrey points out that this brief account is incomplete and has at least one erroneous statement, there being no evidence of his arrival in 1635.