Mary (Pendleton) Brettun Cross Morey grandmother to my Brian Hall???

One of my many brick walls is the identity of Lt. Brian Hall’s parents.  Brian is my 6th g-grandfather who’s service to our country has bestowed upon me the honor of being accepted to the Daughter’s of the American Revolution Society.

The First Book of Raynham (MA) Records (Raynham is in Bristol County), 1700–1835 (Online database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003), (Handwritten unpublished transcription, transcriber unknown, “First Book of Raynham Records,” donated to NEHGS in 1897) lists his parents as:

Year	Date	Record		Type
1727	July 9	Brian son of John Hall 3d of Taunton & Mary his wife		Birth

 

There is speculation (in unsourced published genealogies) that Brian’s mother was Mary Brettun, granddaughter of Mary (Pendleton) Brettun Cross Morey who was the granddaughter of Brian Pendleton a wealthy Englishman born about 1599. He was one of the early settlers of Watertown and Sudbury, MA and owned quite a bit of land in the Saco area of Maine and Portsmouth New Hampshire.

Mary (Pendleton) Brettun Cross Morey (possibly Brian’s grandmother) left a will.  It is indexed under the name “Marcy Morey” in ”Abstracts of Bristol County, Massachusetts Probate Records, 1687-1745″ H. L. Peter Rounds.

Many years ago I stopped in at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston and got an actual copy of Mary Morey’s will which they have on microfilm.

Below is a small section which I transcribed. Not “transcription perfect” as required by the BCG, but good enough for me - I added some punctuation to make it easier for the reader (the original has no commas between the names):

….Item – I Give and Bequeath to my Grand Children William Brettun, Abiale Brettun, Ebenezer Brettun, Pendleton Brettun, Mary Hall, Lydia Brettun, Sarah Brettun, Elizabeth Brettun, & Abigail Brettun,  all the remaining three quarters of my Real Estate lands Meadows & ____ which belong to me to be equally divided between them Only that my granddaughter Mary Hall is to enjoy her part during her life and after her deceased her children to enjoy her part equally between them and their heirs….

The original will doesn’t tell us much more about Mary Hall, but it is interesting that Mary is called out separately.  Perhaps implying that Mary Hall already had a child or children?  The will was written in 1732.  Brian Hall would have been about 5 years old and living in Bristol County. 

In any case, the will clearly reads “Mary Morey” and not “Marcy Morey”.  It gives enough of a description of the actual land in Maine and New Hampshire so that a researcher (hopefully me someday) could identify land deeds related to this  property and perhaps follow the book and page numbers to determine if any of the land mentioned ends up in the hands of Lt Brian Hall, who was by the way, a large land holder.

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