Pages

Monday, December 05, 2016

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 48:THOMAS WILDER JR. OF LANCASTER MA.

Eunice(Wilder)White was the daughter of Thomas Wilder Jr., my immigrant ancestor. His father,
Thomas Wilder Senior never made ot to the New World, but his mother Martha (MNU) did.  Ellery Bicknell Crane has entries for both father and son in his book Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts:

(IV) Thomas Wilder, son of John Wilder (3), was born in Sulham, England. He settled in ShIplake, Oxford county, but was proprietor of the Sulham estate. He was born and died in Shiplake, however. He married Martha___ . He died in 1634 and she went to New England where two of her sons, Edward and Thomas, settled. She came on the ship "Confidence" in 1638 with her daughter Mary. She settled near her son Edward in Hingham, where she was a proprietor in 1638. She died April 20, 1652. Some authorities spell the name Shiplake, Shiplock. The children of Thomas and Martha Wilder were: John, heir to his father's estates, died in 1688; Thomas, see forward; Elizabeth, born 1621, married Thomas Ensign; Edward, married Elizabeth Ames, settled in Hingham, Massachusetts, died October 28, 1690; Mary, came to Hingham also. .


(V) Thomas Wilder, son of Thomas Wilder (4) , was born in Shiplock, England, in 1618. He settled in Charlestown, New England, where he was a proprietor as early as 1638. He was admitted a freeman June 2, 1641. He bought land in Charlestown, October 27, 1643. He was selectman in 1660 and 1667 and held other offices. He removed to Lancaster in 1659. He married Ann in 1641.She died June 10, 1692. She was admitted to the church May 7, 1650. He died October 23, 1667. He may have been born later than the date given as he deposed June 17, 1654, that he was thirtythree years of age. His will was dated January 22, 1667-8 and proved March 4, 1667-8. He bequeathed to his wife and six children named below. The children of Thomas and Ann Wilder were: Mary, born June 30, 1642, in Charlestown; Thomas, born September 14, 1644; John, born 1646; Elizabeth, born 1648; Nathaniel, see forward; Ebenezer.

-p202
 
Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 1  Lewis Publishing Company, 1907 - Worcester County (Mass.)

The thought struck me reading this that Martha Wilder's story is more interesting than her husband's or
son's.She could have stayed in England with her oldest son John and lived well, but instead came to
Massachusetts with her youngest daughter and owned her own land in Hingham, Ma. Quite a woman! 

I've found Thomas Wilder Jr.'s probate file over on AmericanAncestors.org and will post a transcription
here sometime in the future

No comments: