Bethiah Evans Gatchell (1640-?)
Bethiah Evans Gatchell is our 9th great grandmother by the following path: RWA → Fred Pemberton Abbott → Arthur Merrill Abbott → Justin Edwards Abbott → Rebecca Boynton Abbott → Thomas Boynton → Hannah Ames Boynton → Benjamin Ames → Samuel Ames → Bethia Gatchell Ames → Bethiah Evans Gatchell
Any of you who feel rebellious, skirt the law, or are otherwise troublemakers may have the Gatchell family to thank for those genes. John Gatchell (1615-1694) was in the very first group of settlers in Marblehead, Massachusetts arriving there by 1636. There is a lot of documentation on this family as they were often in Court and the Court records for Essex County are well preserved. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are over a hundred references to John Gatchell, his wife, and his children in the Court records.
This Gatchell family originates in Somersetshire, England and two brothers, John and Samuel, came on the ship Hopewell in 1635. Samuel wound up settling in Maine, but John settled in Marblehead. The Gatchells were on the outs from the beginning with the established church and several were members of the Quaker sect which was persecuted at the time. But, their legacy in Marblehead arises from their rowdy behavior including implication in a burglary. There were also various suits to have debts repaid, loud arguments among family members, feuds, charges for “failure to attend church,” blasphemy, public drunkenness, beating up the neighbors, and on and on.
Bethiah Evans, whose parents are unknown, married Samuel Gatchell one of the sons of John Gatchell. Bethiah and Samuel had a daughter Bethiah who is our ancestor. Bethiah Evans came to the attention of the court for several reasons, but the main reason was that she had two children with her brother-in-law Joseph Gatchell. Her relationship with her brother-in-law may have occurred after her husband left her, as her husband was also in Court for abandoning his wife. Bethiah was sent to jail for having the illegitimate children, but it is not known how long she was there. The brother-in-law Joseph was sent to prison but escaped after one day and apparently was not recaptured.
One other piece of trivia about Bethiah was that around 1678 she was in Barbados. This is known because there was a suit against Bethiah’s brother to repay a debt for the passage fee for Bethiah to come from Barbados to Marblehead. There were British colonies in Barbados and St. Kitts and there was a certain amount of travel among the colonies.
Click here to see family information: http://sites.rootsmagic.com/Genealogy_Abbott_Feld_Family/individual.php?p=1743
Sources:
Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County Massachusetts, Volume VII
Russell, George. (2007). John Gatchell Family of Marblehead, MA. The Genealogist, volume 21.