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From: Eugene Hubbard <>
Subject: Who was the Benjamin Beals/Beal who m. Mary Porter?
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2004 12:38:38 -0500


Chamberlain created a conundrum concerning the marriage of Benjamin to
Mary Porter.

Depending upon which section of Chamberlain's "History of Weymouth,
Massachusetts" one refers to concerning the marriage of one Mary Porter
to a Benjamin, he is either a Beals in the Porter section, or a Beal in
the Beal section. In either case he is said to have been of Abington.
The Benjamin Beal in the Beal section of the above work was the son of
Jeremiah and Mary (Colson) Beal, b. Weymouth 9 Dec 1731. (Ibid:67). The
Weymouth Vital Records for Marriages, does not indicate that the
marriage took place in Weymouth, only that Benjamin was of Abington, and
Mary Porter was of Weymouth. (Ibid. ii-Marriages:143). Similarly, the
V. R. of Abington infer he was of Abington and say she was of Weymouth,
and do not list the place of marriage either. (Ibid-Marriages:26)

The troubling thing about this is the giant leap Chamberlain made in
saying Benjamin removed to Abington, where he is called a Beals,
probably a conclusion based upon the marriage entries. (But Abington
records are careful to distinguish men with the surname Beal from those
surnamed Beals, thereby striking a blow to Chamberlain's contention.) In
that case, one should look for other candidates of a consonant age and
an appropriate surname. One is found as Benjamin, son of Samuel and
Mary (Bassett) Beals b. July 1733 in Bridgewater (a section of which
became Abington.) (See Mayflower Descendant Magazine vol.16:41, and V.
R. Bridgewater, Births:47) This candidate has in his favor that he is a
Beals, as distinguished from other Beal families there, and that he was
from the appropriate locale.

While the matter cannot be resolved without some other evidence to
further identify Benjamin, I submit that Benjamin's identity is open to
question, despite Chamberlain's authority, based upon the simple fact
that Abington purposefully distinguishes between the surnames Beal and
Beals, thus diminishing Chamberlain's contention in this case.

Any help in this matter will be most appreciated.

E. Hubbard

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