William Wormall (also Wormwood and Wormwall; 1666-04-01 – ⊥ 1713-03-16) and Sarah Ballard⟮1⟯Her birth record has the spelling Sara, but all later records say Sarah. (1669-07-01 – 1721) were my 7th-great-grandparents, being the parents of Mary Hill. They were born in Lynn, Massachusetts⟮2⟯FamilySearch⟮3⟯FamilySearch⟮4⟯Both of these records say the birth was at the “beginning” of the month; others say “last of” a month. The former seems to simply be a convention for the first and not meant to imply uncertainty about the day, which there would be no reason for. and married there on 1690-03-25⟮5⟯FamilySearch. They moved to Boston around 1702, where they lived the rest of their lives.
William was the son of Henry Wormwood and Mary Knight. Sarah was the daughter of John and Rebecca Ballard. John Ballard migrated aboard the James in 1635 when he was 1 year old.⟮6⟯ Rebecca’s origin and maiden name are not known.
William and Sarah were half-cousins due to sharing one grandmother.
In Lynn records, the surname is consistently written Wormwood, while in Boston it is Wormall or Wormwall, except the burial record says Wormwood. William’s father, not found outside of Lynn, has only been named as Wormwood. This probably does not represent a change of surname, since spelling was often variable in earlier times, even though this would represent not a small difference in pronunciation. As a theory, there have been surnames such as Wormwald, which might be spelled in any of the above ways.
Conventionally, I use Wormall throughout, since that seems to be the spelling that stabilized in this family.
There is a sequence of children born in Lynn to William and Sarah Wormwood which is chronologically contiguous with the further births in Boston to William and Sarah Wormall, but we also have direct evidence connecting them.
Perhaps most helpful is the inventory of Sarah’s estate taken 1725-04-18.⟮7⟯FamilySearch Sarah is executor, consistent with her being the eldest child, and her sisters Mary and Mehitable Wormall are named as present and consenting to the inventory. Jacob is mentioned as a son of Sarah and having been sick at Lynn and apparently died. Payment is noted to Hannah Wormall for “nursing”; this must be the wife of William’s brother Daniel.
John Ballard shipwright, Sarah’s brother⟮8⟯, was party to the estate bond for William.⟮9⟯FamilySearch
Six children are found in records. The first four are recorded at Lynn (as Wormwood)⟮5⟯FamilySearch, and the last two at Boston (as Wormwall):
On 1713-03-26, Sarah widow of William Wormall died intestate was made administrator of his estate.⟮14⟯FamilySearch On 1722-01-08, Sarah daughter of Sarah Wormall widow died intestate was made administrator of her estate.⟮15⟯FamilySearch Thus, I conclude that each died not long before those dates. The burial of Mr. William Wormwood in Boston is dated 1713-03-16⟮16⟯Ancestry$/Lib thus must be this William, which means the date must refer to 1712/3 rather than 1713/4.
Sarah’s inventory mentions that she had died of smallpox, and that her daughters Sarah, Mehitable, and Mary had also been sick with it.⟮7⟯FamilySearch
