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Stephen Hale: ‘The Old Sage of Newbury,’ Part I

Melissa Berry
Photo: Stephen Pettingell Hale. Credit: Danielle Kovacs, Curator of Collections, Special Collections & University Archives, UMass Amherst Libraries.

Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about an interesting fellow from Newbury, Massachusetts: Stephen Pettingell Hale, the “Old Sage of Newbury.” Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

Stephen Pettingell Hale gained a following in the newspapers as a noted authority on Newbury, Massachusetts, history and genealogy – and as a weather prognosticator and predictor of crops. He published under the name S. P. Hale, but more often he was coined “The Old Sage of Newbury” due to his accurate predictions on weather, crops and all things in nature.

Photo: Stephen P. Hale. Credit: Susan York Gagnon of Newbury, Massachusetts, private collection.

Stephen, born to sailmaker Daniel Knight Hale and Elizabeth Colley Pettingell, descended from the settlers of Old Newbury, Massachusetts. He was a farmer, milk dealer, horseman, and prolific writer. He resided at the historic Jackmen-Willett house in Newbury, built in 1683 by James Jackman – which he inherited from his sister Lucy Kimball Hale Danforth.

In an article published in the Newburyport News in 1900, Stephen worked from genealogy notes written by his relative Joshua Adams, uncle to his mother, as well as other tidbits he picked up from relatives.

Newburyport News (Newburyport, Massachusetts), 4 June 1900, page 3. Credit: Gate Way Media Group.

Here is a transcription of part of this article:

“The family of Jaques was originally from the county of York in England. Sir Roger was Lord Mayor of York, in 1503-04. Sir Richard was knighted by King Charles the First. The family derived its origin from St. Jaques in Normandy. Sir Roland de Jaques attended King William the Conqueror, at the Battle of Hastings, and for his great courage on that occasion was given… land in County Suffolk.

“…This is all I have about the Jaques excepting Robert Adams, who was my great great grandfather on my father’s side, married Anna Jaques, and their son Israel Adams married Deborah Jaques. Also Robert Adams, who was my great great grandfather on my mother’s side, married Love Jaques… The Robert Adams who married Anna Jaques was called ‘Long Barn Robert’ from his having a very long barn, and the Robert who married Love Jaques was called ‘Bellus Robert’ from the fact that he made bellows.”

In 1923 Stephen wrote a letter to the editor of the Newburyport News and served up some warm memories of how Old Newbury kept out of the cold.

Newburyport News (Newburyport, Massachusetts), 25 March 1923, page 1. Credit: Gate Way Media Group.

Here is a transcription of part of this article:

“…As to the first using of coal for fuel in this region, I have heard it stated that William Bartlett brought the first coal to Newburyport. Some bought it, but few were satisfied with it.

“Capt. Daniel Lunt, grandfather of Charles A. Lunt, the Parker street carpenter… bought a half ton of the coal, tried it, but did not like it, and my father, Daniel K. Hale, bought it of him, and father and mother liked it and used coal ever afterwards. But what did not sell of this cargo (I don’t know how much was left) was buried in the lot on Water street back of where George W. Manning had his blacksmith shop. Afterwards Jere Allen had the building for a carpenter’s shop. Manning used to go out and dig up the coal and burned it in a salamander stove to heat his shop.

“…There was so little wood in this part of the country, when the early settlers came into possession, that they, knowing nothing about coal, were worried for fear of freezing to death, as they felt wood would give out, so some of them used to carry acorns around in their pockets and plant them ‘here and there’ upon their farms.

“I have heard it said, that Silas Little’s great grandfather planted a good many acorns on his farm, and a few years ago, the last tree that came from his acorn seed was cut down by his great grandson David Little.”

Other newspaper articles reveal that Stephen’s family members also treasured the history of Old Newbury. One sister, Sarah Curtis Hale Little, who lived on the Joseph Little homestead, was an authority often consulted on the genealogies of old families and early land grants.

His niece Mary Adams Rolfe, daughter of Abbie Frances Hale and Moses Henry Rolfe, compiled the Rolfe Papers, a collection on Old Newbury, Massachusetts, founding families’ history and genealogies, housed at the Museum of Old Newbury. You can see a photo of Mary diligently working on the Newbury settler research in a 1943 article in Life magazine. (P. 129. “Life Visits a Town library, Newburyport, Massachusetts.” Oct. 25, 1943. Vol. 15, No. 17. Time Inc.)

Stephen had a kindred spirit in the southland – another farmer who also published under the name S. P. Hale. His full name was Stephen Porter Hale and he lived in Tennessee, but is not directly connected to the Newbury Hale’s. Every Thanksgiving a Kentucky turkey arrived at Stephen Pettingell’s doorstep from the Dixie Hale folks. Many gifts and letters were exchanged through the years. Stephen Porter wanted Stephen Pettingell to marry his sister Sarah Alice Hale, a well-known scholar and missionary, but the two never hitched up.

Check back tomorrow for more on the Old Sage of Newbury, whose tragic death is linked to his weather predictions.

Thanks to the Newburyport Library Archival Center and Susan York Gagnon for digital clips, photos, and genealogy.

Further Research:

Genealogy:

Elizabeth Colley Pettingell and Daniel Knight Hale had the following children:

Others:

The Southward Hale Family Genealogy:

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