Robert Abell was born in about 1605 in Stapenhill, Derbyshire, England. He emigrated to New England in 1630 as part of the first wave of the Great Migration, and was among the early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, settling first in Weymouth, and subsequently in Rehoboth, where he died on June 20, 1663.
Family background.
Robert was the second son of George Abell (1561–1630) and Frances Cotton (b. abt. 1573-d. by 1646). On his mother's side, he was descended from a long line of English, Norman and French aristocrats and royalty.
Robert's father, George Abell, at the age of 17 enrolled in Oxford University’s Brasenose College (8 December 1578). By November of 1580, he had become a barrister and a member of the Inner Temple. Before June 1630, he arranged an apprenticeship in London for his son, but Robert decided to try his luck in the New World, instead. This was a move that his father disapproved of, but, nevertheless, financed.
In his will, dated 8 September 1630, George Abell states (original spelling retained), "I bequeath unto my second sonne Robert Abell onelie a Twentie shilling peece for his childs parte in regard of ye charges I have beene at in placeing him in a good trade in London wch hee hath made noe use of and since in furnishing him for newe England where I hope he now is."
New Life in America.
Robert Abell's first recorded act in America (19 October 1630) was to apply to be a freeman in the recently founded village of Weymouth. On 18 May 1631, he took the freeman's oath.
During his time as a resident of Weymouth (1630–1643), his civic duties included serving on various types of juries (grand, petit and coroner's), and records indicate that he accumulated a small amount of land (about 7 acres). Like many immigrants, Robert Abell did not stay indefinitely in the first place he landed. In 1643, when the opportunity to join a newly founded town presented itself, he followed Reverend Samuel Newman (and the majority of his congregation) to a place the local Wampanoag tribe called Seekonk (a portion of which was later renamed “Rehoboth”).
At the time of his death, Abell's estate “amounted to £354 17"s". 9"d". of which ‘an house and land’ accounted for £130.”
Second Generation of Robert Abell’s Family.
Robert Abell and his wife Joanna (who after Robert's death married William Hyde, and d. aft. 1682) [Abell, Horace A. "The Abell family in America", p. 43] had ten children: Abraham (d.1639), Mary (1642–1724), Preserved (b. ca. 1644), Caleb (b. ca. 1647), Joshua (b. ca. 1649), Benjamin (b. ca. 1651), Experience (b. ca. 1660), Samuel (1650-1698), James (1656-1724), and Mehitalbe (b. ca. 1655).
All of the Abell brothers had sizable families (seven to ten children each), helping to perpetuate the family name in New England. Writing in 1940, genealogist Horace Abell claimed that “probably all the present day Abells of New England stock are descended from Robert’s three sons, Preserved, Caleb and Benjamin Abell. His fourth son, Joshua, did not leave any male descendants.”
Notes.
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