Person:Benjamin Neale (1)

On 11 August 1688 he was mentioned as son in the will of Henry Neal of Braintree.

    Benjamin and Lydia Neale were admitted to the Braintree church on 23 October 1698.  He lived on his father's estate on Adams Street in Quincy.
   Benjamin Neale was elected fenceviewer in 1693 "for the farm field", 1698, 1705, and 1711. He was field driver "for the town" (Quincy) in 1694; surveyor of highways in 1695, 1709, 1712, and 1719; constable in 1701; tithingman in 1707; Selectman in 1720, and 1730; Moderator of town meeting in 1730 and 1736.     
    The will of Benjamin Neale, yeoman, of Braintree is dated 28 February 1742 and proved 17 February 1746. It gives: To wife Lydia my riding chair, horse & furniture belonging thereto, 3 cows, 10 sheep, & use & improvement of whole estate unless she marry, in case then to have 1/3. To son Benjamin Ð20 old tenor at decease of my wife. To son Joseph my fore orchard 1 a. part of my homestead, bounded E. on said Joseph, S. on the country road, W. on Ebenezer Field, N. on my own land, at my wife's decease, and Ð10 old tenor. To son Jonathan my best suit etc. & Ð60 old tenor. To son Abijah remainder of apparel & 1/2 of 2 1/4 a. salt marsh adjoining Beal's stakes at Dirty Bridge & Ð10. To dau. Lydia Palmer wife of Samuel Palmer of Scituate Ð30. To two daus. Hannah Bass wife of John & Abigail Field wife of Ebenezer 10 a. part of my homestead begin at N.E. corner of the little orchard above said thence Northerly down to the brook as my line runs with son Joseph's land etc. of equal breadth, equally divided between them etc. Wife Lydia sole executor. Wit: John Quincy, Seth Bass, Joseph Neale Jr.
    On 7 July 1762 Jedediah Bass, cordwainer, was made guardian of his grandmother Lydia Neal, widow, A person non - compos.  He posted bond with Benjamin Bass, yeoman & Joseph Bass, Taylor.
    On 3 December 1762, Jedediah Bass, administrator cum testamento annexo of Benj. Neal, yeoman, posted bond with above two.
    On 6 December 1762, inventory of the estate of Lydia Neal showed 22 acres of upland & fresh meadow & 2 acres salt marsh.  Division was made 17 December 1762, and Abigail Field took the West half.
    On 7 December 1770, Abigail Neal of Cohasset, widow, administrator of Jonathan Neal, gent., posted bond with Uriah Oaks, shipwright of Cohasset, & Elisha Tower of Boston, mariner.
    On 23 November 1770, inventory showed half of house, barn & land in Cohasset. Estate insolvent. Distribution was made 21 February 1772.

1. ↑ Bates, Samuel. Records of the Town of Braintree, 1640 to 1793. (Randolph, Massachusetts : D.H. Huxford, 1886)
   p. 647.

   Benjamin Neale, son of Henry Neale and Hannah his wiffe borne the 1 m'o. 7th. 68-69.
   [Note: In old-styles dates, the first month is March. More info may be found here.]

2. ↑ James Savage. Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England. (Originally published 1860-1862. Reprint published Baltimore MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994)
   3:263-264.
3. ↑ Waldo Chamberlain Sprague. Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, MA 1640-1850. (Frank E. Dyer)
   pp. 3397, 3400, 3688.
4. ↑ Charisse Taylor Bass & Emma Lee Walton. Descendants of Deacon Samuel and Ann Bass. (privately printed, Freeport, IL, 1940)
   pp. 9-10.