John Galley

1John Galley lived in that part of Salem which was incorporated as Beverly in 1668; died in the autumn of 1683; wife Florence survived him, and died, his widow, in Beverly Dec, 23, 1686. Their daughter Elizabeth married, first Osmund Trask; second, John Giles. In his will, dated May 22. 1683 Mr. Galley mentioned "my son-in-law William Hoare," "my son Killicress Ross," and "my grandchildren, Sarah Ross, Elizabeth Trask and Mary Johnson."

Notes

From Blacksheep Sunday - fined 20 shillings for that

John Galley (≈1605-1683) was my 9th-Great Grandfather, on the Crosby side.   He was born in England and emigrated to America in either 1634 or 1635.  John settled in the town of Beverly, Massachusetts and it was there that he had his first brush with the law.

John was a Puritan by faith and most likely left England for the religious freedom offered in America.  He migrated with the Puritans, settled with them and attended Puritan Churches. However, records that have survived the centuries paint a different picture of John.  John, at least for a little while, was a not-so-pure Puritan.

Though he arrived in Massachusetts in the mid-1630s, he and his wife (Florence) were not “admitted to the church” until December 8, 1667. It was almost three more years before John was chosen a Freeman on May 11, 1670.  As a Freeman, John was granted the right to vote for government leaders. So why did it take so long for John to be accepted into the church? Perhaps it was a single transgression that kept John from attaining acceptance into the church.

In 1635, John and Florence indulged in a youthful indiscretion.  They committed a sin-of-the-flesh and engaged in premarital sex [gasp!].  In the Puritan world such happenings, although not uncommon, were not tolerated.  John and Florence were most likely the talk of the town. I can picture pious puritans gossiping amongst each other, telling of John and Florence’s tryst. But public castigation was not the end for John and Florence.  On October 6, 1635, the Governor and Board of the Massachusetts Bay Colony addressed the issue of John and Florence’s fornication and fined John Galley 20 shillings for “knowing his wife carnally before marriage” (¹MBCR V1:63).  There is no indication that Florence was penalized.

Sources

1. The History of Salem Massachusetts: Volume I (1626-1637) (Salem: Sidney Perley, 1924). "First Freemen of Salem, Mass. 1635."

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GEDCOM Note

On 27 June 1637, “John More of Salem” sued “John Gally” for debt, and the dispute was “referred to the town of Salem”.

in the 1670s John Gallley associated frequently with Henry Bayley & Thomas Pickton. This may reflect the regular contact between neighbors in a small community, bvut there is at least the possibilityy of a deeper connection. On 10 December 1672, "John Galley" and "Thomas Pickton" appraised the estate of Robert Morgan On 27 une 1676 "John Galley" and "Henery Bayley" deposed jointly in the civil suit of Thomas Pickton vs. Samuel Corning In his will of 19 October 1677 Thomas Pickton appointed as overseers, "John Galley and Henry Bayley" In her will of 29 December 1677 Ann Pickton appointed "John Galley and Henerey Beyley to be overseers"

In his will, dated 22 May 1683 and proved 27 November 1683 "John Gally aged about seventy-eight years" bequeathed to "my son-in-law William Hoare eightacres of land adjoining to the land of Joseph Eaten & also three acres of land as part of my homelot ... upon conditions that neither he nor they do molest or disturb any that I do here bequeath anything unto ... otherwise I give him but forty shillings"; to "my son Killicress Ross," 20s.; to "my grandchild Sarah Ross," 10s.; to "my grandchild Mary Johnson," forty shillings; to "my son-in-law & my daughter Elizabeth Giles my whole estate remaining after the decease of myself & my wife that now is"; "all my land remaining at the decease of my son & daughter JOhn & Elizabeth Giles shall be equally divided among the children they now or shall have"; to "my grandchild Elizabeth Trask my warming pan"; "I make my son-in-law John Giles my executor"

The inventory of the estate of "Jno. Galle deceased," taken 9 November 1683, totalled £202 11s., of which £182 was real estate: "his homelot contraining about 20 acres ... with an old barn, " £162; and "8 acres of land at Long Hill so-called," £20

The earliest New England record for thsi immigrant carries with it a number of implications. On 5 October 1635, he was fined 20s. for carnally knowing his wife before marriage First the presumed pregnancy which gave rise to this record resulted in teh birth of Dorcas, as attested by later depositions Second, if Dorcas had already bee born by the date of record, then conception must have occured not later than the preceding February and the marriage some months later. Thus either John Galley had arrived in New England as early as 1634 or else he impregnated Florence in England, married her there, and then sailed for New England in the mid-summer of 1635. The first of these two scenarios is probably the more likelybut research in English records might eventually support he second possibility. Third, the 25 December 1637 grant of march and meadow indicated a houjsehold of three which would e the two parents and daughter Dorcas, so that the other two daughters much have been born in 1638 or later which is supported by all the other evidence.

On 13 May 1640 "John Gally" was one of seventeen men who were "belonging to the church and the town of Salem" who petitioned the General Court "to Have Jeoffery's Creeke& land to erect a village there" John Galley apparently never resided in Salem proper. He is early associated with Jeffrey's Creek, which was soon renamed Manchester and for most of his time in New England he lived at Bass River, which became Beverly. It is possible, in fact, that his early grant at JHeffrey's Creek fell with in the area that became Beverly, and that he never moved at all once in New England.
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