Person:Charity Hall (8)

Charity Hall, Wife of John Gallop and Richard Burt (?)

… It is probable that John Gallop died not long after the birth of his daughter Ester, and that his widow married Richard² Burt (Richard¹) of Taunton, in which case her name must have been Charity, as Richard Burt had a wife Charity who was mother of his children, with the possible exception of Abel. [Bristol Co. Probate and Deeds]. This supposition rests primarily on the record above quoted of the 'names of the children of Richard Burt.' According to the usage of that time, Ester Gallop would have been called a child of Richard Burt if she was his step-daughter. Further, Ester Gallop, who married Henry² Hodges (William¹) of Taunton, had children Charity, Joseph, Ephraim and Abigail—names found in the Burt family but not in the family of John² Hodges, only brother of Henry. And at the division of land in Taunton on Dec. 28, 1659, Richard Burt had four heads in his family. These four heads must have been: Richard, his son Abel, and either a wife and child who died soon, or else wife Charity and step-daughter Ester Gallop. Finally, items ix and x above indicate strongly that Ester Gallop's father was dead at those dates, otherwise, in all probability, Ester would not have received land grants when she was so young. Charity Burt survived her husband Richard and was buried in the Neck of Land graveyard in Taunton. Her gravestone is inscribed that she died June 3, 1711, aged 76. According to this, she was born in 1634 or 1635.

Richard Burt had an uncle, James Burt, whose wife was named Anne. Mr. I. W. Wilcox suggests that Anne may have been the widow of Humphrey Gallop of Dorchester.

Franklin Pratt Esq., of Taunton, who has studied the Burt family, thinks that Charity, wife of Richard Burt, was daughter of George Hall of Taunton. George Hall, in his will dated Oct. 16, 1669, named a 'daughter Charity.' This was an unusual name at Taunton. Moreover John Hall, son of George, was one of the two men who swore to the signature of Richard Burt when his will was proved."^[1]

It is not proven that Charity, daughter of George Hall of Taunton, was the wife of John Gallop, then of Richard Burt, but the logic employed by Mr. Hodges in this article demonstrated that it is highly probable.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Hodges, Almon D. (Almon Danforth). John Gallop of Taunton, Mass. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Jan 1900)
   90-91.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Richard² Burt, in Burt, Henry Martyn, and Silas Wright Burt. Early Days in New England - Life and Times of Henry Burt of Springfield and Some of his Descendants: Genealogical and Biographical Mention of James and Richard Burt of Taunton, Mass., and Thomas Burt, M.P., of England. (Springfield, Mass.: Henry M. Burt; printed by Clark W. Bryan Company, 1893)
   513.

   "… widow Charity died June 3, 1711, aged 76, and was buried at Neck o'Land."

3. ↑ Charity Hall Burt, in Find A Grave.