Joseph Bramhall

Notes:

Sometimes shown as born in Dover, New Hampshire or Casco, Massachusetts.

Ron Romano notes that a Joseph Bramhall was indexed as being buried a the "Old Burial Hill" in Plymounth, Mass.

Notes:

Frank J. Bramhall writes that Cornelius, William and George Bramhall are said to have come over from England about 1680, landing at Casco, Maine. They and two others, Joseph and Mary, were the children of James Bramhall, R. N. and Lady Florence Temple. James was the only child of Cornelius Bramhall, a native of Canterbury.
The same author writes that George died of wounds received in action with Indians on the day before, at Casco (now Portland), ME.

The Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England before 1692, James Savage, notes that George Bramhall was at Dover 1670, Casco 1678. Killed by the Indians 1689, left widow Martha, children Joseph, George, Hanna and Joshua, all removed to Plymouth. George was at Hingham 1733. Hannah married Jonathan Hall of Harwich and Joshua ret. to Falmouth 1729 there lived some years but went again to Plymouth.

Ron Romano, a volunteer for the organization called Spirits Alive at Eastern Cemetery in Portland, emailed in May 2013 that "the late 1600s was a very challenging time up here for the settlers with respect to their conflicts with the natives. The Indians were understandably angered that the settlers just came in and claimed ownership of the land, and the threat of attack on the settlement was ever-present. George Bramhall (Cornelius & Capt. Joseph's grandfather) was a victim of probably the most brutal attack in 1689, where the entire settlement was burned to the ground, and any of the settlers who could not escape to the boats were slaughtered. I've read that the dead were simply left where they fell, and that 25 years later when the area was re-settled, the new wave of white people found bones of the settlers of the 1689 attack scattered all over the settlement (after all, there was nobody there to properly bury the dead). So we know George died here, but there is no surviving gravesite for him."

Ron later emailed that he looked at a book owned by the Maine Historical Society titled the "History of Cumberland County, Maine," which was written in 1880. The battle with the Indians of September 21, 1689 is quite well documented, naming names of those injured and killed. George Bramhall was among those listed, with the author saying he was wounded in the September 21, 1689 battle and died of those wounds after the battle.

Ron Romano also found a map of "Portland" produced by Greater Portland Landmarks with a map of the area from 1690. At the time it was called Falmouth. Originally Falmouth was the larger area and Portland separated out to become its own community later on. Falmouth still exists, just smaller in size and immediately north of portland on the coats, and it shows plotted homes of a few of the settlers, with number 12 being George Bramhall. Even though George had been killed a year previously, it appears that his estate still owned that plat of land. Perhaps this is why some of his family later moved back to the area.

George married Martha Beard about 1675 in Dover, Strafford County, New Hampshire. Martha was born between 1644 and 1652 in Hingham, Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

On the Cape Cod History website, she was shown as Martha BEARD, whereas Frank J. Bramhall does not list a maiden name. She is said to have married second Rev. Gershom HALL, and died 22 July 1724 in Yarmouth, Mass. Shown as born in either Hingham, Massuchussets or Dover, NH.