Mary Magdalene Turner, “The Scarlet Letter"

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Mary Magdalene Turner (Bailey), “The Scarlet Letter"

Also Known As: "Mary (Bailey) Beadle- Batchelder-Turner", "Mary Bachiler"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: Middlesex, England (United Kingdom)
Death: after February 06, 1685
Kittery, York County , Massachusetts Bay Colony, Colonial America
Immediate Family:

Daughter of Robert Bailey and Cecily Bailey
Wife of Robert Beadle, Jr. and Thomas Turner
Partner of Rev. Stephen Bachiler, of Hampton and George Rogers
Mother of Elizabeth Edwards - Staples; Christopher Beedle; Robert Beadle and Mary Richards

Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:

About Mary Magdalene Turner, “The Scarlet Letter"

From A Red-hot 'A' and a Lusting Divine:Sources For The Scarlet Letter By Frederick Newberry. The New England Quarterly. 1987 -- Pages 256-264. (Reprinted with permission). Lane Memorial Library.

A book written in 1910 states that Mary Magdalene Bailey Beedle Bachiler Turner was the woman upon whom Nathaniel Hawthorne patterned Hester Prynne in "The Scarlet Letter". The evidence is strong that Hester Prynne was a character derived from Hawthorne's extensive knowledge of the history of Kittery in colonial times. (S25).


See timeline tab for more source information


'Mary Bailey, 1621-1685

  • Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins (1995)
  • Victor C Sanborn, Stephen Bachiler: An Unforgiven Puritan (1917)
  • Excerpt from "History of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire" page 589-590
  • Excerpt from the "Press Reference Library, Notables of the Southwest" page 13

When Robert Beadle died on February 14, 1648, his farmstead was confirmed to his widow, Mary Bailey by the town of Kittery. Mary accepted a job as housekeeper for the 83-year-old reverend who came to Kittery from Lynn, Massachusetts in 1644, the widower Stephen Bachiler (Batcheler). He was recently excommunicated by the Puritans for allegedly attempting to seduce a neighbor's wife in nearby Hampton, New Hampshire, a town that he helped found in 1638. Oliver Wendell Holmes described the Reverend as "that terrible old sinner and ancestor of great men…There has been some controversy as to the fitness of the first distinction, but of the second there can be no doubt. Among his well-known descendants are Daniel Webster, orator; John Greenleaf Whittier, poet; General Benjamin F. Butler, soldier and lawyer, Wm. Pitt Fessenden, statesman; Caleb Cushing, diplomat; General R. N. Batcheler, Grant's Chief Quartermaster of the Army of the Potomac, and many others of lesser note." Townspeople of Kittery became concerned when Mary took a job with the tainted reverend, enough to cause him to write a letter to the Maine Governor Winthrop that "it is a world of woes to think what rumors detracting spirits raise up, that I am married to her [Mary Bailey-Beadle] or certainly shall be; and cast on her such aspersions without ground or proof." On the first of April, 1650, the Reverend married Mary. On April 9, 1650, the Reverend was fined ten pounds by the court at Salisbury for not publishing his marriage according to law, and it was further ordered that he and Mary, regardless of the legitimacy of the alleged marriage, should live together as they agreed or face a fine of 50 pounds each. Later that same year at the York court, Mary Bailey-Beadle-Batcheler and her next door neighbor, George Rodgers, were charged with 'living in one house together and lieing in one room”. On October 15, 1651 they were convicted of adultery. George was sentenced to 40 stripes and Mary was sentenced to 30 stripes, six weeks after the birth of her baby with George. Kittery also mandated she wear the letter 'A' on her clothing. The baby, Mary Bachiler, was born, grew to adulthood, married William Richards, and lived a respectable life in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Meanwhile, Captain William Hawthorne, who lived three farms north of the Batcheler home, documented Mary’s unique form of branding for adultery, and retold the story to his grandson, Nathaniel, who modeled Hester Prine in The Scarlet Letter after Mary.

On 14 October 1652, Mary was charged by the Kittery District Court for “entertaining idle people on the Sabbath”. Nevertheless, on 16 November 1652, she was the only woman among forty men who signed the Certificate of Submission required by the Puritan government of Massachusetts. She signed her name, when half the men could not. Signing the document brought her additional land in 1653 and 1654. Amid the years of adultery, the Reverend Batcheler returned to England and died in 1660. Mary meanwhile caught the attention of Thomas Turner, a laborer for the Hansom Ship Yard at Kittery, who wanted to marry her, but was unable to do so because the Reverend failed to get a divorce. Mary appealed to the Massachusetts General Court in 1656 to obtain a divorce, arguing that she did not want to live on the “charity of others and needed her freedom to remarry for assistance in rearing two ailing children and preserving her estate”. Her petition was granted and she married Tom in 1657.

DennisPotter55added this on 15 Nov 2010

'MARY BACHELER.

A Young Widow

Our g-grandmother Mary Baily came from England when she was a child. She met Robert Beadle, a fisherman out of Kittery ME, and fell in love. They got married before she was 20 years old, and they made their home in Kittery. She was a church-going woman and active in her community. They were married for 5 years and had 2 children (Christopher and Elizabeth) when he died, presumably lost at sea. Mary was left alone to raise her young children -- there was no extended family, no social security insurance, and no help from the community. In those days, the options for single mothers was to get a menial low-paying job or get married.

Stephen Batchelder, an older widowed minister, invited Mary to be his housekeeper. In a letter to his friend, Governor John Winthrop, he wrote:

"And whereas, by approbation of the whole plantation of Strawberry Bank, they have assigned an honest neighbor, (a widow) to have some eye and care towards my family, for washing, baking, and other such common services, -- it is a world of woes to think what rumors detracting spirits raise up, that I am married to her, or certainly shall be and cast on her such aspersions without ground or proof, that I see not how possibly I shall subsist in the place, to do them that service from which, otherwise they cannot endure to hear I shall depart. The Lord direct and guide us jointly and singularly in all things, to his glory and our rejoicing in the day and at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ!"

Mary accepted his offer and moved in with her children. This arrangement was congenial and platonic, but Stephen's enemies saw this as a way to get revenge. The court ruled that Stephen and Mary both needed to tow the line. Although their age difference would seem to make their relationship improbable (he was 86 and she was only 25), they were fined 10 pounds for living in the same house while not being married. Stephen was not above bending the rules if he could side-step his enemies. Rather than pay, Stephen announced that he had performed the wedding ceremony himself and had forgotten to record it with the court. On April 9, 1650, the fine was reduced to 5 pounds "for not publishing his marriage according to law," and, in fact, the marriage appears never to have been recorded at all. It was "ordered that Mr. Bachelor and Mary his wife shall live together, as they publicly agreed to do, and if either desert the other, the Marshal to take them to Boston to be kept until next quarter Court of Assistants, to consider a divorce. Bail to be granted if satisfactory security could be obtained. In case Mary Bacheller live out of this jurisdiction without mutual consent for a time, notice of her absence to be given to the Magistrates at Boston." This order was unusually harsh even by Puritan standards, and shows how vindictive Stephen's enemies were.

The Trouble With Mary

Stephen and Mary did not want to be married to each other. Although the court threatened to divorce them, they would not grant it at the couple's request. Meanwhile, Mary fell in love with a neighbor closer to her age, George Rogers. This affair was discovered when Mary became pregnant. In 1651, Mary was sentenced by the Georgiana (York) Court: "We do present George Rogers and Mary Batcheller, the wife of Mr. Stephen Batcheller, minister, for adultery. It is ordered that Mrs. Batcheller, for her adultery, shall receive forty stripes save one, at the first town meeting held at Kittery, 6 weeks after her delivery, and be branded with the letter A." George was also flogged. In the end, their relationship did not survive the social pressure and the couple ended their affair. Mary had a baby girl and gave her Stephen's last name, although Stephen and his family disowned her.

Mary separated from Stephen and lived on a lot in Kittery, granted her in 1648, adjoining the Piscataqua River, nearly opposite the boundary line between Portsmouth and Newington. Meanwhile, Stephen's enemies had made life impossible for him and he left for England, never to return.

Meanwhile, Mary was stigmatized by the events and her actions were closely watched. She generally rejected the local church-goers as hypocritical, and they were quick to show their disapproval of her. She was accused and fined several times for adultery. Having sex while legally married to someone else was a sin and, therefore, a crime. Mary tried for many years to get a divorce from Stephen, but until it would be granted (even though the marriage was never recorded), any attempt at starting a relationship was illegal. When Mary was found to be living with Thomas Hanscom of Kittery, the court disapproved and the couple was ordered not to live together.

In a final appeal, Mary went to the court in Boston. Desperately, she claimed Stephen had taken another wife and that her children were "diseased". Stephen's relatives were afraid she was after his property and did their best to further malign her character, pointing out her supposedly loose character. In 1656, Mary's divorce was finally granted, and ironically, Stephen Bachiler was buried just seventeen days later. By this time, Thomas Hanscom had moved on and Mary was once again alone.

Finally, in 1657, at age 34, she married Thomas Turner and lived the rest of her life in quiet respectability.

links

Sources

  1. [S25]. Our Fascinating Ancestor, Stephen Bachiler. A Presentation by Eleanor Campbell Schoen. Solomon and Naomi Cox Reunion, May 22, 1999. http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/biog/bachilerschoen.htm
  2. link to Second Supplement To Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700

Convicted of adultery with her next door neighbor, George Rogers, while married to her second husband, The Rev. Batchelder. She was sentenced to wear a brand (Letter "A") on her upper garment.

A book written in 1910 on Nathanial Hawthorne states that Mary Magdalene Baily Beadle Batchelder Turner was the woman upon whom the author patterned Hester Prynne in "The Scarlet Letter". The evidence is further supported by Hawthorne's love and interest in Kittery, Maine, and his extensive knowledge of the town during colonial times.



Find A Grave Memorial# 35979126

'Mary Bailey Beedle Bachiler

Birth: unknown Death: unknown

Rev. Stephen Bachiler married (4) by 14 February 1648, Mary (_____) Beedle,

widow of Robert Beedle; she soon left her husband, and cohabited with George Rogers at Kittery.

On 15 October 1650 at a court at York "George Rodgers & Mrs. Batcheller

[were] presented upon vehement suspicion of incontinency for living

in one house together & lying in one room." At a court at Piscataqua [i.e., Kittery]

on 16 October 1651 the grand jury presented "George Rogers for,

& Mary Batcheller the wife of Mr. Steven Bacheller minister for adultery";

George Rogers was to have forty strokes, and Mary Bachiler

"for her adultery shall receive 40 strokes save one at

the first town meeting held at Kittery six weeks after the

delivery & be branded with the letter A.

" This child born late in 1651 or early in 1652 was apparently t

he Mary Bachiler who later married William Richards,

and even though the Dover Court on 26 March 1673

awarded him administration of the estate of Stephen Bachiler,

she would not have been his daughter.

Stephen Bachiler returned to England after these events,

and most secondary sources claim that he made that trip in 1654

when his grandson Stephen Samborne returned to England.

On 2 October 1650 "Steven Bachiler" witnessed a deed between

Christopher Hussey (grantor) and Steven Sanborn and Samuel Fogg (grantees);

this is the last certain record of Bachiler in New England

(unless the "Mr. Batchelder" who was presented at court on 28 June 1652

for being illegally at the house of John Webster is our man.

Family links:

Spouse:

Stephen Bachiler (1561 - 1656)
Burial:

Unknown

Created by: Linda Mac

Record added: Apr 17, 2009

Find A Grave Memorial# 35979126



GEDCOM Note

Biography

<b>1642BEADLE, Robert & Mary ( __?__), </b> m. /2 Stephen <b> BATCHELDER</b> (div.), m./3 Thomas <b>TURNER</b>; b. 1642 Wethersfield, CT/New London, CT/Newbury.<ref>[https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/3824/gpc_newenglandmarriages-0...] U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700</ref>
Robert Charles Anderson in <I>The Great Migration Begins</I> (p 62) identifies her as Mary (____) Beedle, widow of Robert Beedle, citing Kittery History, pp 95-96. She married Stephen Bachiler by 14 February 1648, but soon left him, and cohabited with George Rogers in Kittery. <b>1648-1650</b> The exact date of Bachiler-22 | Stephen's marriage to Mary is unknown, because he performed the ceremony and failed to publish it, an omission for which he was fined ten pounds, later lowered to five pounds.<ref>[http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/biog/bachilerschoen.htm] Schoen, Eleanor Campbell. "Our Fascinating Ancestor: Stephen Bachiler," Hampton, NH library website</ref> She was already having trouble in her marriage to Stephen on 9 April 1650 when the court indicated that they should live together as they publicly agreed to do and if either deserted the other, the marshall take them to Boston to consider a divorce. On 15 Oct 1650 George Rodgers and Mrs. Batcheller were accused of "living in one house together and lying in one room." On 16 Oct 1651, George and Mary were charged with adultery. He received 40 lashes; her lashes were withheld until the birth of her child (she being pregnant). That child is most likely the "Mary Bachiler" who married William Richards. Despite gaining some of Stephen Bachiler's estate, she could not have been his biological daughter, and was most likely biological daughter of George Rogers.

1656 Divorce Petition

The following was filed October 1656: To the Honored Governor, Deputy Governor, with the Magistrates and Deputies at the General Court at Boston: The humble petition of Mary Bachelor sheweth--Whereas your petitioner,having formerly lived with Mr. Stephen Bachelor, a minister of this Collany, as his lawfull wife, and not unknown to divers of you, as I conceive, and the said Mr. Bachelor, upon some pretended ends of his owne, hath transported himself unto ould England, for many yeares since, and betaken himself to another wife, as your petitioner hath often been credibly informed, and there continueth, whereby your petitioner is left destitute, not only of a guide to her and her children, but also made uncapable thereby of disposing herselfe in the way of marriage toany other, without a lawful permission; and having now two children upon her hands, that are chargeable unto her, in regard to a disease God hath been pleased to lay upon them both, which is not easily curable, and so weakening her estate in prosecuting the means of cure, that she is not able longer to subsist, without utter ruining her estate, orexposing herself to the common charity of others; which your petitioner is loth to put herself upon, if it may be lawfully avoided, as is well known to all, or most part of her neighbors. And were she free from her engagement to Mr. Bachelor, might probably soe dispose of herselfe, as that she might obtain a meet helpe to assist her to procure such means for her livelyhood, and the recovery of her children's health,as might keep them from perishing; which your petitioner, to her great grief, is much afraid of, if not timely prevented. Your petitioner'shumble request therefore is, that this Honored Court would be pleasedseriously to consider her condition, for matter of her relief in her freedom from the said Mr. Bachelor, and that she may be at liberty to dispose of herselfe in respect of any engagement to him, as in your wisdomes shall seem most expedient; and your petitioner shall humbly pray. MARY BACHELER.<ref>[http://olddeadrelatives.com/showmedia.php?mediaID=56] olddeadrelatives.com</ref>

<b>1657TURNER, Thomas & Mary ( ?? ) Beedle Batchelder</b> div. wife of Rev. Stephen; Scituate<ref>[https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/3824/gpc_newenglandmarriages-0...] U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700</ref> <I>Old Kittery and her Families</I>(1903; 1985 ed) by Everett S. Stackpole, p96, states; Peter Staple had a grant in 1661 (Note: I have not found this land grant in the Kittery Town Meeting records started in 1648 and transcribed in 1852. Early records are reported to be incomplete. Stackpole in his book <I>Old Kittery and Her Families</I>, page 96, "Mary Batchelder married Thomas Turner and 4 July 1674, they sold their lot to Peter Staple."


. "Joseph Hill, who married Susannah, dau of Christopher Beedle, Sen., relinquished all claim to this ten acre grant in favor of Peter Staples 20 March 1703-4."
"Peter Staple had a grant in 1661. He married a widow named Elizabeth , and died about 1719, leaving three sons." Page752 " Peter Staple -- had a grantof land in 1671 ---".<ref>[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dearbornboutwell/fam8539.html] Rootsweb</ref>

Research Notes

: Note N2279: "Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire" by Noyes, Libby, and Davis.): Notes for MARY BAILEY: GDME&NH, under Stephen Batchelder, he m. 4th unhappily the widow, Mary Beedle of Kittery, with whom in 1650 he was ordered to live. The same yr. he was charged with marrying without bans. Oct. 16, 1651, she and George Rogers were convicted; 14 Oct. 1652 she was presented for entertaining idle prople on the Sabbath. She asked for a divorce 18 Oct 1656, alleg. he had gone to England many years since and mar. again, herself and two invalid ch. destitute on her hands. : : "Second marriage to the Reverend Stephen Bachiler, 60 yrs her senior. While married to him she had a fling with the neighbor and for adultery was sentenced to be flogged and branded with the letter A. She eventually got a divorce from him and married a third time to Thomas Turmer in 1657. : : ""Staples Family History Association" Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 2, Jan 1980:: Mary Batchelder (California 1620 - 1685) of Old Kittery, Maine, created in the community shock waves that still reverberate twelve generations later. As the third wife of the Rev. Stephen Batchelder, 87 yearsold, Oxford graduate, weary veteran of a lifetime of losing contests with both Church of England and Puritan hierarchies, she vaulted into the history books by adultery with next-door neighbor George Rogers and a subsequent sentence by the Georgiana (York) court to be flogged and branded with the letter "A" ("Old York", "Romance of the Maine Coast," Sylvester, Vol. II, 559-363). Not so well known is her remarkable recovery from public humiliation to a position of stature and respect in the community. Mary's triump over adversity, and her growth in character rivaled that of Hawthorne's heroine in <I>The Scarlet Letter</I>,Hester Prynne. : : "A Disastrous Second Marriage and Decade of Recovery. Mary was married three times: first about 1641 to Robert Beedle, fisherman-farmer, by whom she had daughter Elizabeth, wife of Peter Staples, and son Christopher; second to the Reverend Stephen Batchelder, sixty years her senior, who was the founder in 1638 of Hampton, New Hampshire, and its Congregational Church from which he was ousted after a feud with his assistant minister and the solicitation of his neighbor's wife while he was still married; third in 1657 to Thomas Turner who sold the Beedle homestead to Peter Staples in 1674. The first and third marriages werequiet, so prosaic that Mary would have died an obscure woman had she been limited to their experiences. : : "Documented events of the decade between 1647 and 1657 tell the story of Mary's tempestous second marriage. In 1646-1647, the Rev. Batchelder, barred from preaching in the Massachusetts Bay Colony because of repeated dissention in former parishes, moved in with his grandson andgodchild, Stephen Sanborn, two farmsteads below Mary Beedle on the Piscataqua River in Kittery. Mary soon became his housekeeper, an arrangement that disconcerted the neighbors, as Batchelder later reported toGov. Winthrop. The situation was rectified by the two joining in marriage, exact date unknown because Batchelder, who performed the ceremony, failed to publish it, an omission for which he was fined 10 pounds,reduced later to five. On Feb. 14, 1648 the farmstead of her late husband Robert Beedle was confirmed to Mary by the Town of Kittery. On Oct. 15, 1650, at Georgeana (York) court, widower (and next-door neighbor) George Rogers and Mary Batchelder were presented for "incontinency for living in one house together and lieing in one room". A year lateron Oct. 15, 1651 in the same court they were presented for adultry and were sentenced to receive 40 stripes save one, she to receive hers at the first Kittery town meeting 6 weeks after delivery of her child, and she also was to be branded with the letter "A" (worn on the garment). The court also ordered the Batchelders to live together as man andwife. Instead, the Rev. Batchelder took refuge with his grandson in Hampton. In 1651 Mary's daughter, named Mary, was born. The latter eventually married William Richards, a currier from Portsmouth, N. H., andlived a solid churchgoing life in that community. : : "On Oct. 14, 1652, Mrs. Batchelder was presented at the district court for entertaining idle people on the Sabbath (possibly harassed Quakers). On Nov. 16, 1652, Mary signed the Certificate of Submission, theonly woman signer along with 40 leading male citizens. That document,which was endorsed under threats by the stronger Puritan government of Mass. to use its militia unless Maine succumbed peacefully, turned Maine over to the jurisdiction of the Mass. Bay Colony. Maine was not to regain its independence until 1820. That Mary was chosen to inscribethe treaty is some indication of her stature in the community. She penned her own signature, an act only half the subscribers could do. : : "Mary, husbandless in fact if not in law, in a frontier settlement with two children, acquired land by grant in 1653, and by lawsuit in 1654. Then in June 1654 the York court ordered Thomas Hanscom, age 31, "not to live with" Mary Batchelder. Further investigation reveals Mary's plight. At the Oct. 1651 adultery trial both she and the Rev. Batchelder sought divorce but were denied it. By the time Hanscom was livingwith Mary, her legal husband was in England where he remained until his death at age 99. : : "Mary had found an attractive man from the Hanscom shipbuilding family, but was barred legally from marrying him. Finally, in 1656 Mary solved her dilemma. In this year she appealed to the Mass. General Courtto obtain a divorce and remarry. She apparently obtained it, for she married Turner a year later. The substance and eloquence of her plea is moving. She tells the court that she does not want to live on the "common charity of others", that her husband is in England married to a fourth wife, that she needs her freedom to remarry for assistance in rearing two ailing children and preserving her estate. She is saying give Maine liberty and I will not be a welfare case. She achieved her goals, gained a husband more her age, saw two daughters married well, and conserved her estate which she passed on to her son-in-law, Peter Staples. Connection of Mary Batchelder with Hester Prynne. For his services as a Mass. Bay Colony commissioner, Capt. William Hawthorne, immigrant ancestor of distinguished novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, was rewarded with 870 acres of prime land on the Piscataqua River three farms north of Mary Batchelders. Years later, Nathaniel Hawthorne, noted as an avid scholar of colonial history, soaked up local history during extended visits to the Kittery area. His journal does not mention the name of Batchelder, but does note a young woman doomed to wear the letter"A" on the breast of her gown under an old colony law as punishment for adultery. A book (1) published at the time of the Eliot centenniel in 1910 states<b> that Mary Beedle Batchelder was the woman upon whom Hawthorne patterened the heroine of <I>The Scarlet Letter</I>.</b> Thedescription of Hester Prynnes's cottage closely parallels that of Mary on what was to become the Staple property. The evidence is strong that Hester Prynne was a character derived from Hawthorn's extensive knowledge of the history of Kittery in Colonial times. Hester was a victim of Puritan intolerance in Boston, Mary of Cavalier justice at old York. : : "Hester and Mary were both strong, self-reliant, and iron-willed butwith different styles. Mary was an outspoken battler, active in community affairs, aggressive in managing her estate and seeking a new husband. Hester was quiet, reserved, accepting her penance of loneliness gracefully apart from the village in an isolated cottage, graciously defiant with her aristocratic bearing, calmness of speech, and pride in self-support by needlework. Both won community respect but by different means. : : "Literary and social critics have assessed Hester's conduct for almost 130 years. The orthodox Puritans among them have said the stain of sin persists, its permanent effect warping. Others, notably Mark Van Doren, have hailed Hawthorne as the Homer of ancient New England, and Hester as its most heroic creature, almost a goddess. In between these extremes some have said Hester expiated her sin, gained wisdom, self-knowledge, spiritual power, and hence greatness. Others have said that society sinned more than Hester by overpunishment of one who respondedto a natural urge. Others say that sin is relative, it depends on what the sinner thinks is sinful and what it does to the personality and psychic balance. Virtually all attest to Hester's heroicism in her self-reliance and calm steadfatsness. Mary likewise exhibited self-reliance and steadfastness; she, too, was of heroic proportions.

: Note N3073 : http://tomclough.com/p484.htm : : That her maiden name was Bailey is by no means certain. If the name is correct, could she have been a sister of Richard Bailey who was theservant of Stephen Bachiler's step-son-in-law Richard Dummer?

Sources

<references />

  • Space:Documents Relating to Towns in NewHampshire|Documents Relating to Towns in New Hampshire (1867) Vol. 1, Page 146: "he went back to England, leaving his third wife, Mary, here, who prayed for a divorce in 1656, because he had gone to England and had taken a new wife."* Selected Biographies of Early Settlers in Northern New England http://tinyurl.com/mrwaq2h*Anderson, Robert Charles. Space:The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England|The Great Migration Begins (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1995)

1656 Divorce Petitio

(Mary Bachiler was out-of-wedlock daughter of George Rogers and Mary, wife of Stephen Bachiler)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Baily-163

Mary Magdalene Turner formerly Baily aka Bailey, Bayly, Beadle, Bachiler, Turner

Born about 1622 in England

Daughter of Robert Bailey and Cecily (Clermont) Bailey

[sibling%28s%29 unknown]

Wife of George Rogers — married [date unknown] [location unknown]

Wife of Robert Beedle — married 1640 in Kittery, York, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Wife of Stephen Bachiler — married 1648 [location unknown]

Wife of Thomas Turner — married 1657 in Scituate, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Mother of Elizabeth (Beedle) Staples, Christopher Beedle, Elizabeth (Beedle) Staples, Elizabeth Beedle and Mary (Bachiler) Richards

Died 1685 in Kittery, York, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Profile last modified 17 Sep 2019 | Created 22 Sep 2014

Biography

1642 BEADLE, Robert & Mary ( __?__), m. /2 Stephen BATCHELDER (div.), m./3 Thomas TURNER; b. 1642 Wethersfield, CT/New London, CT/Newbury.[1]

Robert Charles Anderson in The Great Migration Begins (p 62) identifies her as Mary (____) Beedle, widow of Robert Beedle, citing Kittery History, pp 95-96. She married Stephen Bachiler by 14 February 1648, but soon left him, and cohabited with George Rogers in Kittery.

1648-1650 The exact date of Stephen's marriage to Mary is unknown, because he performed the ceremony and failed to publish it, an omission for which he was fined ten pounds, later lowered to five pounds.[2]

She was already having trouble in her marriage to Stephen on 9 April 1650 when the court indicated that they should live together as they publicly agreed to do and if either deserted the other, the marshall take them to Boston to consider a divorce.

On 15 Oct 1650 George Rodgers and Mrs. Batcheller were accused of "living in one house together and lying in one room."

On 16 Oct 1651, George and Mary were charged with adultery. He received 40 lashes; her lashes were withheld until the birth of her child (she being pregnant). That child is most likely the "Mary Bachiler" who married William Richards. Despite gaining some of Stephen Bachiler's estate, she could not have been his biological daughter, and was most likely biological daughter of George Rogers.

1656 Divorce Petition

The following was filed October 1656:

To the Honored Governor, Deputy Governor, with the Magistrates and Deputies at the General Court at Boston:

The humble petition of Mary Bachelor sheweth--Whereas your petitioner, having formerly lived with Mr. Stephen Bachelor, a minister of this Collany, as his lawfull wife, and not unknown to divers of you, as I conceive, and the said Mr. Bachelor, upon some pretended ends of his owne, hath transported himself unto ould England, for many yeares since, and betaken himself to another wife, as your petitioner hath often been credibly informed, and there continueth, whereby your petitioner is left destitute, not only of a guide to her and her children, but also made uncapable thereby of disposing herselfe in the way of marriage to any other, without a lawful permission; and having now two children upon her hands, that are chargeable unto her, in regard to a disease God hath been pleased to lay upon them both, which is not easily curable, and so weakening her estate in prosecuting the means of cure, that she is not able longer to subsist, without utter ruining her estate, or exposing herself to the common charity of others; which your petitioner is loth to put herself upon, if it may be lawfully avoided, as is well known to all, or most part of her neighbors. And were she free from her engagement to Mr. Bachelor, might probably soe dispose of herselfe, as that she might obtain a meet helpe to assist her to procure such means for her livelyhood, and the recovery of her children's health, as might keep them from perishing; which your petitioner, to her great grief, is much afraid of, if not timely prevented. Your petitioner's humble request therefore is, that this Honored Court would be pleased seriously to consider her condition, for matter of her relief in her freedom from the said Mr. Bachelor, and that she may be at liberty to dispose of herselfe in respect of any engagement to him, as in your wisdomes shall seem most expedient; and your petitioner shall humbly pray.

MARY BACHELER.[3]

1657 TURNER, Thomas & Mary ( ?? ) Beedle Batchelder div. wife of Rev. Stephen; Scituate[4]

Old Kittery and her Families(1903; 1985 ed) by Everett S. Stackpole, p96, states; Peter Staple had a grant in 1661 (Note: I have not found this land grant in the Kittery Town Meeting records started in 1648 and transcribed in 1852. Early records are reported to be incomplete. Stackpole in his book Old Kittery and Her Families, page 96, "Mary Batchelder married Thomas Turner and 4 July 1674, they sold their lot to Peter Staple."


. "Joseph Hill, who married Susannah, dau of Christopher Beedle, Sen., relinquished all claim to this ten acre grant in favor of Peter Staples 20 March 1703-4."
"Peter Staple had a grant in 1661. He married a widow named Elizabeth , and died about 1719, leaving three sons." Page752 " Peter Staple -- had a grant of land in 1671 ---".[5]

Research Notes

Note N2279 "Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire" by Noyes, Libby, and Davis.) Notes for MARY BAILEY: GDME&NH, under Stephen Batchelder, he m. 4th unhappily the widow, Mary Beedle of Kittery, with whom in 1650 he was ordered to live. The same yr. he was charged with marrying without bans. Oct. 16, 1651, she and George Rogers were convicted; 14 Oct. 1652 she was presented for entertaining idle prople on the Sabbath. She asked for a divorce 18 Oct 1656, alleg. he had gone to England many years since and mar. again, herself and two invalid ch. destitute on her hands. "Second marriage to the Reverend Stephen Bachiler, 60 yrs her senior. While married to him she had a fling with the neighbor and for adultery was sentenced to be flogged and branded with the letter A. She eventually got a divorce from him and married a third time to Thomas Turmer in 1657. ""Staples Family History Association" Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 2, Jan 1980: Mary Batchelder (California 1620 - 1685) of Old Kittery, Maine, created in the community shock waves that still reverberate twelve generations later. As the third wife of the Rev. Stephen Batchelder, 87 years old, Oxford graduate, weary veteran of a lifetime of losing contests with both Church of England and Puritan hierarchies, she vaulted into the history books by adultery with next-door neighbor George Rogers and a subsequent sentence by the Georgiana (York) court to be flogged and branded with the letter "A" ("Old York", "Romance of the Maine Coast," Sylvester, Vol. II, 559-363). Not so well known is her remarkable recovery from public humiliation to a position of stature and respect in the community. Mary's triump over adversity, and her growth in character rivaled that of Hawthorne's heroine in The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne. "A Disastrous Second Marriage and Decade of Recovery. Mary was married three times: first about 1641 to Robert Beedle, fisherman-farmer, by whom she had daughter Elizabeth, wife of Peter Staples, and son Christopher; second to the Reverend Stephen Batchelder, sixty years her senior, who was the founder in 1638 of Hampton, New Hampshire, and its Congregational Church from which he was ousted after a feud with his assistant minister and the solicitation of his neighbor's wife while he was still married; third in 1657 to Thomas Turner who sold the Beedle homestead to Peter Staples in 1674. The first and third marriages were quiet, so prosaic that Mary would have died an obscure woman had she been limited to their experiences. "Documented events of the decade between 1647 and 1657 tell the story of Mary's tempestous second marriage. In 1646-1647, the Rev. Batchelder, barred from preaching in the Massachusetts Bay Colony because of repeated dissention in former parishes, moved in with his grandson and godchild, Stephen Sanborn, two farmsteads below Mary Beedle on the Piscataqua River in Kittery. Mary soon became his housekeeper, an arrangement that disconcerted the neighbors, as Batchelder later reported to Gov. Winthrop. The situation was rectified by the two joining in marriage, exact date unknown because Batchelder, who performed the ceremony, failed to publish it, an omission for which he was fined 10 pounds, reduced later to five. On Feb. 14, 1648 the farmstead of her late husband Robert Beedle was confirmed to Mary by the Town of Kittery. On Oct. 15, 1650, at Georgeana (York) court, widower (and next-door neighbor) George Rogers and Mary Batchelder were presented for "incontinency for living in one house together and lieing in one room". A year later on Oct. 15, 1651 in the same court they were presented for adultry and were sentenced to receive 40 stripes save one, she to receive hers at the first Kittery town meeting 6 weeks after delivery of her child, and she also was to be branded with the letter "A" (worn on the garment). The court also ordered the Batchelders to live together as man and wife. Instead, the Rev. Batchelder took refuge with his grandson in Hampton. In 1651 Mary's daughter, named Mary, was born. The latter eventually married William Richards, a currier from Portsmouth, N. H., and lived a solid churchgoing life in that community. "On Oct. 14, 1652, Mrs. Batchelder was presented at the district court for entertaining idle people on the Sabbath (possibly harassed Quakers). On Nov. 16, 1652, Mary signed the Certificate of Submission, the only woman signer along with 40 leading male citizens. That document, which was endorsed under threats by the stronger Puritan government of Mass. to use its militia unless Maine succumbed peacefully, turned Maine over to the jurisdiction of the Mass. Bay Colony. Maine was not to regain its independence until 1820. That Mary was chosen to inscribe the treaty is some indication of her stature in the community. She penned her own signature, an act only half the subscribers could do. "Mary, husbandless in fact if not in law, in a frontier settlement with two children, acquired land by grant in 1653, and by lawsuit in 1654. Then in June 1654 the York court ordered Thomas Hanscom, age 31, "not to live with" Mary Batchelder. Further investigation reveals Mary's plight. At the Oct. 1651 adultery trial both she and the Rev. Batchelder sought divorce but were denied it. By the time Hanscom was living with Mary, her legal husband was in England where he remained until his death at age 99. "Mary had found an attractive man from the Hanscom shipbuilding family, but was barred legally from marrying him. Finally, in 1656 Mary solved her dilemma. In this year she appealed to the Mass. General Court to obtain a divorce and remarry. She apparently obtained it, for she married Turner a year later. The substance and eloquence of her plea is moving. She tells the court that she does not want to live on the "common charity of others", that her husband is in England married to a fourth wife, that she needs her freedom to remarry for assistance in rearing two ailing children and preserving her estate. She is saying give Maine liberty and I will not be a welfare case. She achieved her goals, gained a husband more her age, saw two daughters married well, and conserved her estate which she passed on to her son-in-law, Peter Staples. Connection of Mary Batchelder with Hester Prynne. For his services as a Mass. Bay Colony commissioner, Capt. William Hawthorne, immigrant ancestor of distinguished novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, was rewarded with 870 acres of prime land on the Piscataqua River three farms north of Mary Batchelders. Years later, Nathaniel Hawthorne, noted as an avid scholar of colonial history, soaked up local history during extended visits to the Kittery area. His journal does not mention the name of Batchelder, but does note a young woman doomed to wear the letter "A" on the breast of her gown under an old colony law as punishment for adultery. A book (1) published at the time of the Eliot centenniel in 1910 states that Mary Beedle Batchelder was the woman upon whom Hawthorne patterened the heroine of The Scarlet Letter. The description of Hester Prynnes's cottage closely parallels that of Mary on what was to become the Staple property. The evidence is strong that Hester Prynne was a character derived from Hawthorn's extensive knowledge of the history of Kittery in Colonial times. Hester was a victim of Puritan intolerance in Boston, Mary of Cavalier justice at old York. "Hester and Mary were both strong, self-reliant, and iron-willed but with different styles. Mary was an outspoken battler, active in community affairs, aggressive in managing her estate and seeking a new husband. Hester was quiet, reserved, accepting her penance of loneliness gracefully apart from the village in an isolated cottage, graciously defiant with her aristocratic bearing, calmness of speech, and pride in self-support by needlework. Both won community respect but by different means. "Literary and social critics have assessed Hester's conduct for almost 130 years. The orthodox Puritans among them have said the stain of sin persists, its permanent effect warping. Others, notably Mark Van Doren, have hailed Hawthorne as the Homer of ancient New England, and Hester as its most heroic creature, almost a goddess. In between these extremes some have said Hester expiated her sin, gained wisdom, self-knowledge, spiritual power, and hence greatness. Others have said that society sinned more than Hester by overpunishment of one who responded to a natural urge. Others say that sin is relative, it depends on what the sinner thinks is sinful and what it does to the personality and psychic balance. Virtually all attest to Hester's heroicism in her self-reliance and calm steadfatsness. Mary likewise exhibited self-reliance and steadfastness; she, too, was of heroic proportions. Note N3073 http://tomclough.com/p484.htm That her maiden name was Bailey is by no means certain. If the name is correct, could she have been a sister of Richard Bailey who was the servant of Stephen Bachiler's step-son-in-law Richard Dummer? Sources

↑ [1] U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 ↑ [2] Schoen, Eleanor Campbell. "Our Fascinating Ancestor: Stephen Bachiler," Hampton, NH library website ↑ [3] olddeadrelatives.com ↑ [4] U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 ↑ [5] Rootsweb Documents Relating to Towns in New Hampshire (1867) Vol. 1, Page 146: "he went back to England, leaving his third wife, Mary, here, who prayed for a divorce in 1656, because he had gone to England and had taken a new wife." Selected Biographies of Early Settlers in Northern New England http://tinyurl.com/mrwaq2h Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1995)


https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/9H21-MXY

Mary
Female
1612 – 6 February 1685

Mary
1612–1685

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Name • {number, plural, one {# Source} other {# Sources}}
Mary

Reason:
Warning! The name "Mary Magdalene Bailey" is taken from a Fictional novel. It is not documented as such in any primary sources or accepted by genealogists. We simply know her name was recorded as Mary ____.

Notes:
1) Mary ____ married Robert Beadle (also spelled Beedle) and then Stephen Bachiler according to "A Biographical Register of St. John's College, Oxford, 1555-1660" by Andrew Hegarty (2011). This maiden name is cited as Mary ____ in Anderson's Great Migration.
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R
Roland Henry Baker III

Sex • {number, plural, one {# Source} other {# Sources}}
Female

Last Changed: {date}
B
Brent Blackwell

Birth • {number, plural, one {# Source} other {# Sources}}
1612
England

Last Changed: {date}
R
Roland Henry Baker III
Christening
ADD

Death • {number, plural, one {# Source} other {# Sources}}
6 February 1685
Kittery, York, Maine, United States

Last Changed: {date}
C
CrodyMaryAnn1

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Alternate Names
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Alternate Name • {number, plural, one {# Source} other {# Sources}}
Married Name

Mary Bachiler

Alternate Name • {number, plural, one {# Source} other {# Sources}}
Married Name
Mary Beedle

Baptism
25 Mar 1613
North Petherton, Somerset, England

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Robert Beedle
Male
1615–1647

Mary
Female
1612–1685

Marriage
1640
York, Province of Maine, British Colonial America

Children ({count})

Elizabeth Beadle
Female
1641–1723

L64D-7LN

Christopher Beedle
Male
1643–1708

LVS1-F21

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Rev Stephen Bachiler
Male
1561–1656

9CXG-H68

Mary
Female
1612–1685

9H21-MXY
Marriage
Bef 14 February 1648
Kittery, York, Maine, United States

Children ({count})
ADD CHILD

George Rogers
Male
1620–Deceased

LYNJ-YWX

Mary
Female
1612–1685

9H21-MXY
Lived Together
1651
Kittery, Province of Maine, British Colonial America

Children ({count})

ADD CHILD

Thomas Turner
Male
1620–Deceased

9STQ-GFD

Mary
Female
1612–1685

9H21-MXY
Marriage
1657

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Mary Magdalene Turner, “The Scarlet Letter"'s Timeline

1622
1622
Middlesex, England (United Kingdom)
1640
1640
Kittery, York County, Maine, Colonial America

Family Data Collection - Births
Name: Elizabeth Beadle
Father: Robert Beadle
Mother: Mary Bailey
Birth Date: 1651
City: Kittery
County: York
State: ME
Country: USA
Source Information:
Edmund West, comp.. Family Data Collection - Births [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001.
Description:
The Family Data Collection - Births database was created while gathering genealogical data for use in the study of human genetics and disease.

1641
1641
Kittery, York County, Maine, Colonial America
1642
1642
Kittery, York, Maine
1651
November 1651
Kittery, Massachusetts Bay Colony
1685
February 6, 1685
Age 63
Kittery, York County , Massachusetts Bay Colony, Colonial America