EDWARD EVERETT HALE (April 3, 1822 – June 10, 1909) was an American author, historian and Unitarian minister, best known for his writings such as The Man Without A Country, published in Atlantic Monthly, in support of the Union during the Civil War. He was grand-nephew of Nathan Hale, the American spy who was captured by the British and executed during the Revolutionary WAr

Offering a 21 pp, 8 1/2 x 11, genealogical compilation of the Hale family entitled, The Ancestors and Descendants of the Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale of Boston, Mass, compiled by his grandson, Nathan Hale IV, in 1965.  Nathan Hale wrote in his introduction that after retirement he began searching for a book about his family. He was unable to find one so he created his own.  Neatly typed and organized, this record provides significant, though somewhat short details about the Hale family, where individual members came from and how they arrived in America. Hale provides a detailed list of family members, acknowledges his use of other published works and designates where information can be found regarding individual family members.

Hale lists names of descendants, those with and without the last name of Hale, and in the case of some of the modern family members, includes their addresses. In the final pages, he elaborates on the first Hales to arrive in America, taking the reader back as far as 1609.  He mentions that Robert Hale arrived in Boston, MA, about the year of 1632 “and immediately began to establish the church in nearby Charlestown, where he was soon a deacon, the blacksmith and the town surveyor.  We think his wife was Jane...”

The most significant entry involves that of Rev. John Hale, his experiences with prosecuting -- many would say persecuting –- those accused of witchcraft and his participation in the Phips expedition of 1690, the first attempt to capture Canada.

“The Rev. John Hale, b. June 3, 1632, graduated from Harvard in 1657. “First minister to the church in Beverly, Mass. He was one of three chaplains captured in the unfortunate expedition to Canada in 1690; he was one of a group who sentenced people for witchcraft but when someone called his wife a witch he was convinced there was an error somewhere and publicly denounced the persecution of persons who were called witches. Thus, he was one of those who helped put down the injustice that was being done. In 1697, he published an important inquiry about witchcraft, which can be read in the Harvard Library...

“Richard Hale...was called Deacon Hale. He was the father of the Patriot, Nathan Hale, whose last words were, before he was hanged as an American spy by the English, ‘I regret that I have but one life to give to my country...’

Of Edward Everett Hale, he wrote, “...His forceful personality, organizing genius, and liberal practical theology, together with his deep interest in the antislavery movement, popular education, and the working man’s home were influential for half a century in raising the tone of American life...”

Light toning, but overall in excellent condition.

Nice genealogical compilation in excellent condition.

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