The Dale Family
William Dale, the father to the previous William, was born April 2, 1715. William and his family lived in Richmond Co., VA until he died in 1758. Then his widow packed up her family and moved to Bedford Co., VA where her relatives resided. When Frances (Phillips) died in 1777, she left a will which was dated May 10, 1777 and was proven July 28, 1777, and recorded in the Co., Will Book No 1 on pages 257 and 256. There was no executor named and Nathaniel Tate, William Terry and John Daniel were listed as witnesses. Among the bequests was one to a son Richard Dale for a stock of horses, cattle and hogs, and all the household furniture. To son William one pound 5 shillings for his part and to daughter Elizabeth Mason, one pound 5 shillings.
Abraham Delaware Dale fathered William. His wife, Winifred Southern was the mother to his 8 children. Abraham was born in Virginia in 1693 to Reuben and Rebecca (Simmonds) Dale. He never ventured out of Richmond Co., where he was born.
Abraham was one of only 4 children born to Reuben and Rebecca Dale. Reuben died shortly after his 3rd child, Elizabeth was born. Reuben was the son of Thomas Delaware and Judith Dale. The middle name "Delaware" began with Thomas, and has carried on for several generations in the Dale family.
Our immigrant ancestor is Nicholas Dale, father to Thomas Delaware. Nicholas came to America on the Jacob in 1624, which landed in Virginia. He amassed quite a deal of land on the Charles River. His wife, Sarah (Keyes) was the mother to at least 3 of the children. It appears that daughter, Mary, may have been Nicholas' daughter by a previous marriage. In her will, Sarah lists the bequethes to each of the children, stating Joane, Thomas and Sarah as her "naturall" children and listing Mary as her "daughter in law". By the time this will was written, Sarah had remarried a man named Richard Parrott. We do know that Mary was the oldest, per Nicholas' will, which was dated February 18th, 1647. It says that Mary, at that time, was 20 years old, so apparently Mary was born in America. No marriage for Nicholas or Sarah has ever surfaced, but it must have undoubtedly been after 1627. It is unknown when Sarah came to America or who her parents were. Again, per Nicholas' will, Sarah had a brother named Richard. Virtually nothing is known about him, except for his name.
Each generation of Dale's had numerous children so it is no surprise that the surname Dale ranks 957th of all names in the US today.
