I mentioned in the end notes of the blog story Henry Hale Unsolved posted on September 21, 2020, that verbal family stories tell that “we are somehow related to Nathan Hale” the American patriot and spy who was captured and hanged by the British during the Revolutionary War. The family’s assumption was that Nathan Hale fit somehow into the family tree of our Henry Hale, my 3rd great grandfather. And since I don’t know anything about the parents or siblings of Henry Hale, it was a mystery how our HALE family might connect to Nathan Hale’s family.
In my last blog post, I shared that Henry Hale (b.1773 or 1745 – d.1841) descends through the HAILE family of Baltimore, and earlier of Virginia. I had previously checked to see how our HALE line might connect to the family of Nathan Hale, but with no luck. So, maybe Nathan Hale, the patriot, was not related to our line through the HALE / HAILE family at all, but some other way. Nathan Hale was from Connecticut, and he lived in New London where he worked as a teacher just prior to the beginning of the Revolution. I decided to check and see if the connection might be through one my many family lines in New London, CT.
Nathan Hale (1755-1776) was born in Coventry, Connecticut to parents, Deacon Richard Hale and Elizabeth Strong Hale. He had brothers, Joseph and Enoch, and a sister, Elizabeth.
Deacon Richard
Hale (1717-1802) m. Elizabeth Strong (1728-1767)
1) Joseph
Hale (1750-1784) m. Rebecca Harris (1746- ? )
2) Elizabeth
Hale (1752-1813) m. Samuel Rose (1748-1800)
3) Enoch
Hale (1753-1837) m. Octavia Throop (1754-1839)
4) Nathan Hale (1755-1766) never married
Nathan Hale attended college at Yale and graduated when he was 18 years of age. He then became a school teacher first at East Haddam, CT and next he taught school in New London. Nathan joined the Connecticut militia in 1775. And in 1776 he moved with the Continental Army to New York to defend New York City against an anticipated British attack. George Washington called for a spy to get behind enemy lines and report on troop movement. Hale was the only volunteer. The British eventually discovered his identity and captured him. He was only 21 years old when he was hanged by the British as a Colonial spy in New York City. Nathan Hale’s last words before he was hanged were said to be “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country”.
I found that our family connection to Nathan Hale probably comes through the HARRIS family of New London. The HARRIS family links with our ROGERS family line through at least two marriages with everyone sharing decendency from my 8th great grandparents, James Rogers (1615-1687) and his wife Elizabeth Rowland Rogers (~1620-1709). Below is the connection that I found with Nathan’s family:
1) Nathan Hale’s older brother, Joseph Hale (1750-1784) married Rebecca Harris (1746-?). And Rebecca’s sister, Phebe Harris (1736-1803) married James Rogers (1733-1803). The Rogers children would have all been 1st cousins to the Hale children, and Joseph & Rebecca’s children would have also been nieces and nephews to Nathan Hale.
James Rogers
(1615-1687)
James Rogers (~1653-1714)
James Rogers
(1674-1733)
James
Rogers (1704-1754)
James Rogers (1733-1803) m. Phebe Harris
2) Also Rebecca & Phoebe’s aunt, Grace Harris (1707-1787) was married to a different James Rogers (1701-1754), further blending the Harris and Rogers family relationships. This Rogers line also tracks back to the same early ancestor, our common immigrant James Rogers (1615-1687).
James Rogers
(1615-1687)
John Rogers (1648-1721)
John Rogers (1674-1753)
James Rogers (1701-1754) m. Grace Harris
By comparison, our Rogers family line runs like this:
James Rogers
(1615-1687)
Joseph
Rogers (1646-1697)
John
Rogers (1675-1739)
John
Rogers (1716-1779)
John Rogers (1760-1796) m. Hannah Smith
[For more information on our Rogers line, see the blog post James Rogers, a very early immigrant, dated July 15, 2022.]
Finding our family connection to the patriot Nathan Hale proves that there is often at least a thread of truth in oral histories and it is sometimes not exactly what is stated or implied. The verbal history told to me by my father that “we are somehow related to Nathan Hale” didn’t actually mean that our HALE family descended from or shared ancestors with Nathan Hale’s family, but more accurately our family was linked through marriage to Nathan Hale’s family.
A much more remote possibility is that we could also be related through our male HALE line, but it appears that if that is the case, it is probably in England prior to immigration to America and not easily traceable. One online accounting of Nathan Hale’s family tree takes his family back to an immigrant ancestor named Henry Hale who was born about 1575 in England and died in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1659. Whereas the HAILE genealogy for our Henry Hale [see the recent blog post titled Henry Hale Unsolved – an update] has the first immigrant ancestor as Nicholas Haile who was born in England in 1645 and died about 1670 in Virginia. It is always possible that those two immigrant ancestors are somehow related; however I doubt that it can be proven.
As genealogists we must step back and look at our oral histories and verbal tales for clues about what has been said, what it means, and even what it doesn’t say. It can be hard to pick oral histories apart and research the possibilities – but so very satisfying when you finally do see some truth in them!
* *
* * *
Key Individuals:
My 8th great grandparents:
James Rogers (1615 – 1687) born in
England & died in New London
Elizabeth Rowland (~1620 – 1709) born
in England & died in New London
Notes:
Because so many branches of our early family lived in New London, CT for multiple generations, it is likely that there are plenty more times when our family line intersected with the New England family of Nathan Hale. Noted below are two times when my research has come across other New London HARRIS family members:
1) Temperance Harris married David Bill (1751- ?) in 1776. Upon their marriage they settled in Boston, MA. This David Bill was an uncle of our Elisabeth Bill Dickinson; and a brother of Elisabeth’s father, Samuel Bill. See my blog post dated March 1, 2023 titled The Bill Family for more on this line.
2) Thomas Harris (dates unknown) was the sole survivor of a July 1796 voyage aboard the sloop Polly that left New London for the West Indies and the port of Hispaniola. The ship arrived at Cape St Nicholas Mole in Haiti with sickness aboard and it was condemned. The ship’s captain, James Deshon, died in Cape St Nicholas as did most of the crew. Nathaniel Dickinson (my 4th great grandfather) who was also aboard the Polly was taken ill and recovered somewhat. Later he took passage home on another vessel with Thomas Harris who was the only other survivor of the crew of the Polly. Nathaniel Dickinson died at sea on that return voyage, making Thomas Harris the only survivor that left New London on the sloop Polly and returned to New London. For more on Nathaniel Dickinson, see my blog post Aboard a Prison Ship in the Revolution dated June 27, 2020.
- Jane
Scribner McCrary
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