Barbara’s family · 9th great-grandmother
Rachel Ruggles
15 FEB 1642 – MAR 1682Rachel Ruggles was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, on 15 February 1642/3. By 1665 she had married Philip Squire of Boston, described in contemporary land records as a distiller. Her father, George Ruggles, conveyed land to Rachel and Philip in 1668; her mother, Elizabeth Ruggles, completed a related conveyance in 1669. Rachel is reported to have died in March 1682.
Rachel Ruggles was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, on 15 February 1642/3. She was a daughter of George Ruggles and his wife Elizabeth. George Ruggles had migrated to New England by 1633, lived first in Boston, removed to Braintree in 1639, and had returned to Boston by 1662.By 1665, Rachel had married Philip Squire. The date is inferred from the birth of their eldest known child at Boston on 5 January 1665. Philip was identified as a distiller in a Boston land record.
On 11 April 1668, Rachel’s father conveyed to “Rachel, the wife of Phillip Squier of Boston,” a parcel of land adjoining the land on which Philip had built his house. Elizabeth Ruggles acknowledged that deed and, on 30 August 1669, made a conveyance of the land to Rachel and Philip.
Rachel is reported to have died in March 1682.
Historical context
Rachel was born in Braintree during the period when her parents’ family was established there. Her father, George Ruggles, had arrived in New England by 1633 and was a weaver. Later family land transactions place Rachel and her husband Philip Squire in Boston, where Philip was described as a distiller.
Sources & research
The Great Migration Begins, sketch for George Ruggles and Philip Squire.
New England Historical and Genealogical Register 3:247 [NEHGR 3:247], for Rachel Ruggles’s Braintree birth.
Boston Vital Records 97 [BVR 97], for the 5 January 1665 Boston birth of the eldest known child of Philip Squire and Rachel.
Suffolk County Land Records 7:78-79 [SLR 7:78-79], deed of 11 April 1668 from George Ruggalls to Rachel, wife of Phillip Squier.
Suffolk County Land Records 7:80-81 [SLR 7:80-81], Elizabeth Ruggles’s acknowledgement and conveyance of 30 August 1669.
Boston Church Records 17 [BChR 17], for the admission of George and Elizabeth Ruggles to the Boston church.
Massachusetts Bay Colony Records 1:368 [MBCR 1:368], for George Ruggles’s freeman status.
Boston Town Records 1:19, 37, 58, 59, 71, 82 [BTR 1:19, 37, 58, 59, 71, 82], for George Ruggles’s Boston and Braintree land transactions.
Suffolk County Land Records 1:62; 3:526; 5:485; 6:253-54; 8:45; 8:219-20; 11:120; 13:184; 13:223-24 [SLR 1:62; 3:526; 5:485; 6:253-54; 8:45; 8:219-20; 11:120; 13:184; 13:223-24].
Suffolk Probate Records 5:161-62; 7:132; new series 3:279 [SPR 5:161-62; SPR 7:132; SPR NS 3:279].
New England Historical and Genealogical Register 31:321 [NEHGR 31:321], citing Suffolk Probate Records Case 194.
Braintree Vital Records 717, 628, 631 [BrVR 717, 628, 631].
Boston Church Records 278, 280, 282 [BChR 278, 280, 282].
The Ancestry of Katharine Choate Paul (Milwaukee, 1914), pages 185-86.