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Baker-Rouse Genealogy
Colonel John Wheelwright [Parents] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 was born 6, 7 about 1664 in Wells, Me. He died 8, 9 on 13 Aug 1725/1745 in Wells, Me. He married 10, 11 Mary Snell on 28 Jan 1688/1689.
Ancestry.com. Maine Will Abstracts, 1640-1760 [database online]. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2000. Original data: Sargent, William M. Maine Wills, 1640-1760. Portland, ME: Maine Historical Society, 1887
Source Page: Probate Office, 6, 206. Name: Iohn Wheelwright Will Text: In the Name of God Amen. I Iohn Wheelwright of Wells in the County of York within the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay in New England Esqr being advanced in years and by Gods Providence often visited with Sickness and Indisposition of Body but of good and perfect Memory and of a Sound and disposing Mind considering the Uncertainty of this Life and not knowing how soon it may please almighty God to remove me out of this World do make constitute ordain & declare this my last Will and Testament in Manner and Form following hereby revoking and adnulling all former Wills & Testaments by me made either by Word or Writing, and First I commend my Soul to God my Creator hoping for Pardon of all my Sins and everlasting Salvation thr the alone Merits of Iesus Christ and after my Decease my Body to be decently buried according to the Discretion of my Executrix hereafter named and as to my worldly Estate Shall be bestowed as followeth and by this my Will is expressed, vizt1ly That my funeral Charge and just Debts be paid by my Executrix out of my personal Estate.2ly That the Love and Affection I have and bear unto my beloved Wife Mary Wheelwright I give and bequeath unto her all my personal Estate as Household Goods Stock of Cattle and Creatures of all Kinds Negro or Molatto Servants Money or Bonds for Money or of what kind or Quality soever within Doors or without except what is or Shall be otherwise disposed of in this my last Will and to be disposed of by her as She may think fit And that She pay to my Daughter Hannah Plaisted Thirty one pounds Eighteen Shillings and 2d which makes up with what She hath already had of me Two Hundred pounds besides what I have laid out for her Apparel and fitting out for Marriage And to our Daughter Elizabeth Newmarch Seven pounds Twelve shillings which makes up with what I have given her already Two Hundred pounds besides what I laid out for her Apparell and fitting out for Marriage And to our Daughter Mary Moody Four pounds Sixteen Shillings and ten pence which makes up with what I have given her Two Hundred pounds besides what I laid out for her Apparell and fitting out for Marriage Our Daughter Sarah Jefferds having been paid by me Two Hundred pounds already besides what I laid out for her Apparell and fitting out for Marriage so Nothing for my Wife to pay to her; And if it Should please God to lengthen my Life so that I Should pay any or all of our Daughters the whole or part of what I have ordered my Wife to pay that then and in that Case so much Shall be abated of what my Wife was to pay out to our Daughters.3ly I give and bequeath unto my Son John Wheelwright his Heirs and Assigns forever Two Hundred and Fiteen Acres of Land and Meadow lying at Epeford, so called in the Township of Wells joining to that Two Hundred & Fifteen Acres I lately gave to my Son Ieremiah by Deed of Gift. I also giue unto my Son Iohn One Hundred Acres of Land which was confirmed to me by the Proprietors of ye comon and undivided Lands in Wells lying on the Northerly Side of the little River adjoining to Land belonging to ye owners of a Mill Some time past burnt down which was on Said River the Bounds whereof will more fully appear by the Grant and Confirmation I also give unto my Son Iohn Wheelwright all my Common Rights of Comon & Commonages within the Township of Wells; as also Five Hundred Acres of Land lying and being within that Traet of Land of Eight Miles Square heretofore granted to William Phillips on the Inland Head of Wells Township I also further giue him the Said Iohn Wheelwright the one half of my Quarter part of Land Mill and Priviledge inthe Stream at Mousom great Falls with the Appurtenances thereunto belonging I having already given him Hundred pounds: reserving to my Wife her Right of Dower or Thirds during her natural Life in all the abovesaid Lands and Mill.4ly I give and bequeath unto my Son Samuel Wheelwright his Heirs and Assigns forever Four Hundred Acres of Land lying and being within that Tract of Land of Eight Miles Square heretofore granted to William Phillips on the Inland Head of Wells Township I having heretofore given him by Deed of Gift the one half of a large Farm with the Use of half the Buildings thereon as express'd therein it being where I lately dwelt all which with the Stock of Cattle &c I gave him in his Settlement I account to be his full Portion, and to make him an Allowance for the Time and Labour he Spent with me after he came to be of years, reserving to my Wife her Right of Dower or Thirds during her Natural Life in the abovesd premises.5ly I give and bequeath to my Son Ieremiah Wheelwright his Heirs and Assigns forever Three Hundred Acres of Land lying and being within that Tract of Land of Eight Miles Square heretofore granted to William Phillips on the Inland Head of Wells Township I having heretofore given him Two Hundred and Fifteen Acres of Land & Meadow by Deed of Gift lying in Wells at a place called Epiford and One Hundred and Sixty fiue pounds ten Shillings given him at Sundry times.6ly I give and bequeath to my Son Nathaniel Wheelwright his Heirs and Assigns for ever Three Hundred Acres of Land lying and being within that Tract of Land of Eight Miles Square formerly granted to William Phillips on the Inland head of Wells Township Also one half of that Quarter part of Land Mill and Priviledge of the Stream at Mousom great Falls I having heretofore given him by Deed of Gift the one Half of a large Farm with half the Buildings thereon as express'd in Said Deed, it being where I lately dwelt which with the Stock of Cattle &c. I gave him in his Settlement I account to be his full Portion, and to make him an allowance for the Time he dwelt with me after he came to age reserving to my Wife the whole Profit and Income of the Premisses now given during her Natural Life as also her Right of Dower in the aforementioned Premisses.7ly I giue and bequeath to my Daughter Esther Wheelwright if living in Canada whom I have not heard of for this many Years and hath been absent for more than Thirty Years if it Should please God that She return to this Country & Settle here then my Will is that my Four Sons vizt Iohn Samuel Ieremiah and Nathaniel each of them pay her Twenty five pounds it being in the whole One Hundred pounds within Six Months after her Return and Settlement.8ly I further give and bequeath to my beloved Wife Mary Wheelwright her Heirs and Assigns forever all that piece of Land containing about Four or Five Acres be it more of less at the little River with the Saw Mill and Stream as the Said Mill and Stream is in partnership between me and Mr Iohn Wells also the Iron Work of the little Mill where my Sons Samuel and Nathaniel dwells/ and by these presents make constitute and appoint my beloved Wife Mary Wheelwright to be my Sole Executrix of this my last Will and Testament, desiring her to abide by this my Will.In Witness that this is my last Will and Testament I have hereunto Set my Hand and Seal the Eleventh Day of April in the twelfth Year of His Majestys Reign Annoque Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty Nine 1739.Signed Sealed published pronounced and declared by the Said Iohn Wheelwright as his last Will and Testament in the presence of us the Subscribers.Pelatiah LittlefieldNehemiah LittlefieldMehetabel LittlefieldIohn Wheelwright (a Seal)Probated 8 April 1746.captured by Indians at wedding
of Wells, MEAncestry.com. New England Captives' Stories [database online]. Orem, Utah: Ancestry, Inc., 1997. Original data: Baker, C. Alice. True Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada during the Old French and Indian Wars. Greenfield, MA: E.A. Hall & Co., 1897.
...The following extract from a letter of John Wheelwright to the Governor, dated Aug. 4, 1702, shows that the former had no faith in the words of the savages.
"Sir,I understand that the Indians at the Eastward vearey redily Professed Great fidelity to yourself, and the English nation, with Great Promis of Peace and friendship, which Promises so long as it may stand with theire own Interest, I believe they may keep, and no longer, their teachers Instructing them that there is no faith to be kept with Hereticks, such as they account us to be, themselves allso being naturaley deseatful . I having Experienced so mutch of their horable deseatfulness in the Last war, upon many treaties of [p.44] Peace, so that I cannot but apprehend ourselves that live in these remote parts of the countrey, and being frontires, to be in Great Danger, and considering that war was Proclaimed with the French who may send out an army against us this town being the nearest to the Enemy, our Inhabitants doth therefore Pray. that your Excelency would assist us with sum men twenty or thirtie, or so many as your Excellency in Wisdom may think fit."
Wheelwright goes on to ask for the "Liberty of a Garrison [house] Informing your Excellency that if I must remove into the middle of the town, I must leave that Little Estate I have to maintain my Family with, and Carey a large Family where I have but little to maintain them withall."
Six or seven of their eleven children had already been born to John Wheelwright and Mary Snell, and the little one story house at the Town's End, being in an exposed and isolated situation, and now too small for his increasing family, Wheelwright asked the consent and help of the government to build a substantial garrison house, not only for the safety of his own family, but as a refuge in case of attack, for his nearest neighbors. Keels and bowls," old English for nine-pins and balls.
Storer and Wheelwright, being the leading men of the town, were licensed as retailers of beer and strong liquors, and their houses served as ordinaries or taverns for the public. "In those days," sighs the historian of Wells, "public houses were not always nurseries of virtue." It is a hint of the morals of the times, that both Storer and Wheelwright were "indicted for keeping Keeles and bowls at their houses contrary to law." Perhaps the ordinary was not an unmixed evil. Ministers and judges put up here, in their journeys from place to place, bringing the latest news from other parts. Courts were held here. Here the town officers met to deliberate, and the men of the village gathered here for social chat and pastime. Commissioners, referees and executors [p.45] met in the "foreroom" of the ordinary, to lay out roads, decide disputes, and settle estates. Rum was a necessity of life in those days, and the flip and toddy, mixed by John Wheelwright on such occasions, was scored against the town, the man, or the estate, whose business was there transacted. To the boys, who had neither books, nor games, nor school, the ordinary was amusing, and I have not a doubt, that little Esther Wheelwright stole away now and then from her busy mother, to look on at the games. We may fancy her with her closely cropped head, her Puritan cap and homespun frock, clapping her baby hands and shouting in glee at a ten strike with the bowls and keels, made by some gaunt frontiersman.
...
Wells, having successfully resisted the assault of 1692, became the special object of savage fury. Anticipating victory at that time, Cotton Mather says: "They fell to dividing persons and plunder . Such a gentleman should serve such an one, and his wife be maid of honor to such a squaw, and Mr. Wheelwright, instead of being the worthy Counsellor he now is, was to be the servant of such a netop." The capture of Wheelwright was a much coveted prize. The tragedy which began at Wells at nine o'clock on the morning of Aug. 10, 1703, ended in the capture or death of [p.48] thirty-nine of the inhabitants. Wheelwright's house being at the eastern end of the village, was probably one of the first attacked. His little daughter Esther, then seven years old, was captured. The intrepid Storer was also bereft. His daughter Mary, aged eighteen, was among the captives. One longs to know what followed. Was there pursuit ? Whither were the captives hurried, and how did it fare with them on the retreat? Alas! no echo from the past replies. We may assume that Mary Storer and Esther Wheelwright were kindly treated by their savage captors, who knew the value of their prize, and doubtless expected a large sum for the ransom of the two girls.
...
For nearly two years they had mourned their loved ones as dead, when the glad tidings comes that "Cousin Fletcher and Mary Sayer and brother Joseph's daughterand Mary Storerand other friends and neighbors as if named, are well." All was joy in Storer's garrison. In Wheelwright's, not joy, but hope revived, and yearning more intense, and resolve strengthened, to find and rescue Esther if alive. But where was Esther? Clearly the Hills and James Adams were ignorant of her fate,but how did this child elude the sharp eyes of John Sheldon, and the vigilance of De Vaudreuil? [p.50] Far away in the depths of the forest, to the head waters of the Kennebec, the Abenaki wolf had swiftly fled with the bleating lamb thus snatched from the fold. There, in one of the Abenaki villages of Father Bigot's mission, Esther lived in the wigwam of her tawny master, an object of wonder to his children, of jealousy, perhaps, to his fierce squaw, Esther Wheelwright was six years with the savages. The days lengthen into weeks,the weeks to months, and these to years,when one day as he is making his arduous round from village to village, baptizing, catechizing, confessing his converts, Father Bigot sees a little girl, whose pale face, shrinking manners and tattered garments, show her to be of different race from the bold, dusky, naked rabble around her. He calls her to him. He speaks to her, perhaps, an English word. She does not answer. She has lost her childhood's speech. He sends for her savage master, and learns that she is Wheelwright's child. "The English rose is drooping," says the priest, "the forest life is too hard for her." He will "transplant her to Canada, where she will thrive better under the nurture of the gentle nuns." "The little white flower must not be plucked up," says the Indian, "let her grow up among the pine trees, to deck by and by, the wigwam of some young brave." On each return of the priest to the village, this discussion is renewed, but neither promise nor threat can move the sullen savage. The lot of the little captive is easier from that day. The Indian knows it is in the power of his Great Father the French Governor, to take the child from him, and he tries by kindness to win her to stay. The priest spares no pains to teach her, and the intelligent child quickly responds to his efforts. Soon she can say her credo and her catechism in French, as well as in Abenaki. Only she finds it hard that even Father Bigot does not seem to understand her when she talks about her mother, and her brothers and sisters. And if [p.51] she asks when her father will come for her, her master is angry and the priest frowns. Meantime De Vaudreuil is informed by Father Bigot of the hiding place of the child, and in some way or other, the news reaches Boston, that Esther Wheelwright, long since given up by her parents as dead, is alive. On the 23rd of April, 1708, Lieut. Josiah Littlefield of Wells, while on his way to York, was captured and carried captive to Canada, arriving at Montreal on the 3rd of June. Soon after, he writes as follows: Bourne, History of Wells, p. 267. Governor Dudley.
"Dear and loving children, my kind love to you all, and to my brother and sister and to all my friends att Wells . I have liberty granted to me to rite to my friends, and to the governor, and for my redemtion and for Wheelrite's child to be redeemed, by two lndens prisoners with the English and I have been with the Governor this morning, and hee have promised, that if our governor will send them, that wee shall be redeemed, for the governor have sent a man to redeem Wheilerites child, and do looke for him in now every day with the child to Moriel where I am, and I would pray Whilrite to be very brief in the matter, that we may come home before winter, for we must come by Albany, and I have allso acquainted our gofnear Dedly with the same."> In a postscript to another letter, written at the same time, Littlefield writes: "Mary Storar is well and Rachel Storer is well, and Storar is well and Mr. Austin of York is well. I pray you charge Wheelright to be mindful consearning our redemption."> We need no assurance, that a demand was at once made by Dudley, upon the French Governor, for the release of Esther [p.52] Wheelwright. After much trouble, Father Bigot succeeds in buying the English rose from the Abenaqui sachem. In the autumn of 1708, he transplants her to Quebec, where she is kindly welcomed by the Governor and his wife, who received her into their own household. From the squalor and rags of the wigwam on the Kennebec, to the luxury of the Chateau Saint Louis, what a contrast!What are the thoughts of the twelve years old girl? Have the five years of forest life blotted out her remembrance of the little house at the town's end at Wells? She has learned to love Père Bigot as her kindest friend and father. To priest and child alike, the parting must have been painful. Does she console herself with the belief that she is now to be restored to home and friends, or is she dazzled and pleased by her surroundings? No effort seems to have been made by De Vaudreuil to restore Esther to her parents. Madame la Marquise, his wife, having received an appointment as assistant-governess to the royal children at the French Court, decides to place her eldest daughter, Louise, with Esther in the boarding school of the Ursuline Convent. About $40 of our money. "The 18th of January,1709, says the Register of the Convent, "Madame la Marquise brought us a little English girl, as a pupil. She is to pay 40 écus."
Esther was thirteen in 1709, when she entered the pension, remaining there till 1711.
The names of Louise de Vaudreuil and Esther Wheelwright stand side by side on the list of pupils at the pension of the Ursulines at Quebec. Thanks to Father Bigot, shortly after entering the school, Esther took her first communion "with angelic fervor." Beloved by the sisters, and happy in her convent home, Esther expressed a strong desire to become a nun. "But," says the annalist of the Ursulines, "the Marquis who considered himself pledged to restore her to her family, would not hear a word to this, and took her home [p.53] with his daughter to the château.</cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=Necapt&f2=45>" A political prisoner of such importance, could not be permitted to immure herself in a convent. Graceful, amiable, modest, Esther won all hearts at the chateau, as before at the convent,but her life for the next two years must have been restless and unhappy. It was a time of much negotiation between the two governments, concerning a general exchange of prisoners. During this business, Esther accompanied De Vaudreuil to Three Rivers and Montreal. At Three Rivers she stayed with the Ursulines, and at Montreal, in the cloisters of the Hôtel-Dieu. On Saturday, Oct. 3, 1711, while at Montreal, she was godmother at the baptism of Dorothée de Noyon, infant daughter of Abigail Stebbins, a Deerfield captive, and signed her name in a handsome handwriting in the parish register, with Father Meriel, and the son of the Baron of Longueil.
The absence of Madame de Vaudreuil in Europe, making it inconvenient for the Governor to keep Esther with him at the the chateau, he yielded at last to her entreaties to be allowed to go back to her Ursuline mothers. Fostered by the atmosphere of the convent, a religious exaltation took possession of her soul."One thought alone," says the annalist, "occupied her mind,the preservation of her faith and the salvation of [p.54] her soul." On the second of October, 1712, on the festival of Saint Ursula, she began her novitiate as an Ursuline nun. On the third of January, 1713, she took the white veil. The joy of Father Bigot in seeing his protégée arrayed as the "bride of Jesus" knew no bounds. He insisted on defraying the expenses of the occasion, and preached to the multitude assembled to witness the ceremony, a sermon glowing with feeling and eloquence. From the text, "Thy hand shall lead me and thy right hand shall hold me," the priest shows Esther the hand of Providence in every event of her life. "Dear sister," he says, "in these words the Psalmist seems to me to have expressed as in a picture the story of your life . Hell! Profane world!in vain do you array your strongest batteries against God's elect . His right hand shall hold them . By what marvels of God's goodness do you find yourself to-day, my sister, happily transplanted from a sterile and ingrate land, where you would have been the slave of the demon of heresy, to a land of blessing and promise, where you are about to enjoy the sweet freedom of the children of God." The priest admonishes the nuns, that they should be inspired with the more tenderness for this young stranger, from the fact that their Immortal Bridegroom went so far to seek her. Turning again to Esther he cries, "Are you not, my dear Sister another little Esther to whom a harsh captivity is about to open the door to the throne, not of a powerful Ahasuerus,but of the Master of Ahasuerusthe Lord of Lords and King of Kings. To Him and for Him, she is led in triumph, and if this triumph seems to you to have nothing of the magnificence of a marriage festival,if instead of joyful acclamations and the harmony of musical instruments, nothing is heard but the confused and fierce yells of savage warriors, none the less is it a triumph for her the last scene [p.55] of which is represented to-day, when she stands about to be clad in the livery of the Divine Bridegroom." He depicts with pathos the sorrow of Esther's childhood, "snatched from all that was dearest to you, following your savage masters with unequal footsteps, by paths difficult beyond the conception of all who have not experienced them as you and I have my dear Sister." He repeats to her the sorrowful circumstances in which he found her, in order to prove to her that in all her perils, privations and sufferings, she had been uplifted and led by the hand of God. Alluding to her reluctance to leave the convent at the Governor's command, and to the year of absence so full of doubt, suspense, anxiety and grief to her, he bursts into this invocation: "Oh my God! to whom nothing is unknown, that transpires in this vast universe, wilt Thou be insensible only to the sorrowful adventures of a young stranger, so worthy of Thy care and who seems destined for such great things?Didst Thou seek her in the very midst of heresy, and stir up so great a tumult to carry her away from her native land, only to see her snatched from Thee now? Hast Thou led her into this country, only to let her taste a happiness she may never attain? Hast Thou shown her the inestimable prize, only to make her regret its loss more bitterly? No! no! dear sister,You cannot escape from the hand of your God. All obstacles are removed. Nothing stands in the way of your happiness. So long as you were not of an age to dispose of yourself, Providence suspended the natural tenderness of your father and mother, and abated the eagerness of their first pursuit of their child. Now that the law makes you mistress of yourself, they can no longer oppose the choice you have made of a holy religion, and a condition of life which they disapprove, only because they know not its excellence or its sanctity." In April following the Treaty of Utrecht, Captain John [p.56] Schuyler arrived in Canada as ambassador for a general exchange of prisoners. Later in the year, Reverend John Williams and Captain John Stoddard were in Canada on a similar errand. By all these envoys, a special demand was made for the release of Eunice Williams, and doubtless for Wheelwright's daughter; and Esther received pressing letters from her family urging her return. This is the first record of letters to Esther from her family, but her resolution to become a nun was unshaken by them. However, lest stronger temptation should assail the young novice, and at her most urgent entreaties, it was thought best to shorten her term of probation, the circumstances being considered by all, sufficiently extraordinary to warrant this exception to their rules,the only one of the kind ever made by the Ursulines of Quebec. Whether the Governor wholly approved of this proceeding, or whether in this instance, the state succumbed to the church, we have no means of knowing. On the morning of the 12th of April, 1714, the Marquis de Vaudreuil with his brilliant suite,the Bishop of Canada and the dignitaries of the church, in all the splendor of their priestly vestments,with all the beauty and fashion of Quebec, assembled in the church of the Ursulines, which was decorated as if for the grandest festival. There Esther Wheelwright was invested with the black robe and veil of their order, by the Sisters of Saint Ursula, and the young New England captive, known thereafter as Mother Esther Marie Joseph of the Infant Jesus, serenely turned her face away forever from her childhood's home and friends. A quarter of a century passes before the curtain rises again on Esther Wheelwright. Parkman, Jesuits in N. A., p. 182. The ship anchored at Tadoussac. Thence the nuns proceeded ina small boat to Quebec. Marie de l'Incarnation, aged 39. Mdlle. de la Peltrie, 30. Mère St. Croix, 3o. Marie de St. Joseph, 22. Mdlle. Charlotte Barré, 18. Indians ran along the shore. It is just one hundred years since the Ursuline, Marie de l'Incarnation, and her sister nuns landing at Quebec from a little boat "deeply laden with salted codfish, on which[p.57] uncooked, they had subsisted for a fortnight fell prostrate, and kissed the sacred soil of Canada." Monday, June 5, 1639. Just a hundred years, too, since the Puritan exile, John Wheelwright formed with his companions at Exeter, that remarkable Combination for self government. Among those pious virgins are three New England captives, Esther Wheelwright, Mary Anne Davis, and Dorothée Jeryan, whom I believe to be Jordan. It is the year of our Lord, 1739. For a year by prayer and penance extraordinary, the Ursulines of Quebec, have been preparing themselves with rapturous devotion to celebrate worthily the centennial anniversary of their foundation.
At midnight the cathedral bells, echoed by a gayer peal from the convent, announce to the city of Quebec, that a festival day is at hand. The altars of the Ursuline church are magnificently decked. The freshly gilded altar screen reflects the light from hundreds of wax tapers blazing in silver candlesticks. From four in the morning till noon, mass is celebrated uninterruptedly. Processions of priests, in vestments stiff with gold, and lace from the looms of Europe, come and go chanting the Te Deum. As the day declines, the plaintive voices of the nuns, singing their vesper hymns, steal softly from behind the grille. In the little house at the town's end in Wells, in the dim candle light, an old man, and his old wife sit alone together. The click of her knitting needles is in sweet accord with the scratch of his quill, while he writes as follows: "I commend my soul to God my Creator, hoping for Pardon of all my Sins, and everlasting salvation through the alone merits of Jesus Christ."> [p.58] He makes his wife, Mary, sole Executrix of his will, and bequeaths to her lands, mills, his household goods, his cattle of all kinds, his negro and mulatto servants, and a share of his money. Then his thoughts dwell on the little child, long ago so cruelly torn from him: "I give and bequeath to my daughter Esther Wheelwright, if living in Canada, whom I have not heard of for this many years, and hath been absent for more than 30 yeares, if it should please God that She return to this country and settle here, then my will is that my four sons viz: John, Samuel, Jeremiah and Nathaniel each of them pay her Twenty Five pounds, it being in the Whole One Hundred Pounds, within six months after her Return and Settlement."> Captain John Wheelwright died Aug. 13, 1745. On the 16th of November, 1750, his widow who survived him ten years, disposed by will of her temporal estate. She bequeaths to her four sons, "each 5£ in old tenor bills, or the value thereof in lawful money." To her daughters Mary Moody and Sarah Jefferds, all her "wearing Apparell," including her "Gold Necklace, Rings and Buttons to be equally divided between them," and to Sarah Jefferds in addition, a "negro boy named Asher." Of her "Real and Personal Estate, within Doors or without," one fourth is bequeathed to each of her two daughters aforesaid, one fourth to her "three beloved Granddaughters," children of her "deceased daughter Hannah Plaisted," and one fourth to her "four beloved Granddaughters," children of her "deceased Daughter Elizabeth Newmarch." "Maine Wills." Library of the Hist. and Gen. Soc. Boston. In the division of her property, her "Negro servant Woman named Pegg, shall be Divided to such of my Aforesaid Daughters or Granddaughters which she shall choose to live with after my Decease" and "furthermore Provided my Beloved Daughter Esther Wheelwright, who has been many years in Canada, is yet living and should by the wonder working Providence of God be Returned to her Native Land, and [p.59] tarry and dwell in it, I give and bequeath unto her, one Fifth part of my Estate which I have already by this Instrument willed should be divided to and among my aforesd Daughters and Granddaughters, to be paid by them in Proportion to their Respective Share in the above mentioned Division unto her my Said Daughter Esther Wheelwright, within one year after my Decease Anything above written in this Instrument to the Contrary notwithstanding."
It would seem from the wills of Captain John Wheelwright and his wife, that the testators did not know that their daughter had bound herself by irrevocable vows to a monastic life. The History of the town of Wells, published in 1875, confirms this opinion. Its author, alluding to the refusal of some New England captives to return from their captivity, says, "Esther Wheelwright was one of the number . Whether she acquired any more intimate than the natural relationships of life, does not appear from any tradition or written relics of the day . She wrote to her father from her captivity. He lived in the hope that she would come back, and provided for her in his will, in the event she should return from her wandering after his death the fate of all humanity may have overtaken her before that time." . On the contrary, the annalist of the Ursulines states, that "Immediately after Esther's profession as a nun, word was sent to her family, who far from being offended with this step of the young girl, sent her a messenger from Boston, charged with letters and gifts." These statements, both made by respectable authority, are irreconcilable. Careful study forces me to the conclusion, that the annalist of the convent records actual events, of which at the date of the publication of the history of Wells, not even a tradition remained to Wheelwright's descendants in New England. The attendant at the revolving grille at which all visitors to the convent apply for admission. Imagine the stir at the convent, when in January, 1754, a [p.60] young gentleman from Boston presented himself at the door, announcing himself as the nephew of Mother Esther of the Infant Jesus, and demanding an interview with his beloved aunt. The flutter of the Tourière, the hesitation of the Mother Superior, the hurried consultation of all in authority,may be better imagined than described. After some delay, the Bishop kindly granted entrance to Major Wheelwright, "hoping that it might result in his conversion." How one longs to know what this aunt and nephew, meeting then for the first time, had to say to each other,in what language they talked,what questions were asked by the captive of fifty years. This account of Major Wheelwright's visit may be found in Histoire des Ursulinesde Quebec, p. 327, Vol. II. Our own Archives record at least three journeys of Major Nathaniel Wheelwright to Canada as ambassador from our Government for the exchange of captives. See Appendix: especially Wheelwright's letter to Gov. Shirley, dated Nov. 3o, 1750, in which he refers to his embassy of the year before. From this it would seem as if he must have seen Esther, previous to 1754. All we know is, that at his departure, the young man gave to his aunt a miniature portrait of her mother, and presented the Community with some "fine linen, a beautiful silver flagon, and a knife, fork and spoon, of the same material." This was Fort Le Boeuf, on a branch of the Alleghany near Erie and within the English province of Virginia....
Mary Snell [Parents] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 was born 6, 7, 8 in 1668 in Portsmouth, Nh. She died 9 in 1755 in Wells, Me. She married 10, 11 Colonel John Wheelwright on 28 Jan 1688/1689.
They had the following children:
F i Hannah Wheelwright
Robert Preble [Parents] 1, 2, 3 was born 4, 5 about 1560 in Denton, Kent Co, England. He died 6 on 7 Mar 1633/1634 in Denton, Kent Co, England. He was buried 7, 8 on 7 Mar 1634/1635 in Denton, Kent, England. He married 9 Joan in 1585 in Denton, Kent Co, England.
NEHGS Register. 1896. Vol. 50 Page 118.
"Robert Preble of Denton, the elder, carpenter. Will dated 2 March, 1694; proved 7 July, 1635. Son Robert Preble, L20. Son Abraham Preble, L20. Daughter Elenor Benjamin, L6. Daughter Frances Jacob, L8. Daughter Margaret Preble, L4. Brother Richard Preble and son Robert Preble to be executors and they are authorized to sell house and lands to meet the legacies.
Wit. by Mary Bushell, Lawrence Carington.
Arch kent., 69-85.
Joan 1, 2, 3 was born 4 in 1562 in Denton, Kent Co, England. She died . She married 5 Robert Preble in 1585 in Denton, Kent Co, England.
They had the following children:
M i Robert Preble M ii John Preble 1, 2 was born 3, 4 about 1590 in Denton, Kent, England. He was christened 5, 6, 7 on 5 Apr 1590 in Denton, Kent, England. He died 8 as a child. M iii John Preble was christened 1 on 10 Jun 1589. He died 2 as a child. F iv Eleanor Preble F v Frances Preble F vi Margaret Preble 1, 2 was born 3 about 1599 in Denton, Kent, England. She was christened 4, 5 on 1 Apr 1599 in Denton, Kent, England. She died . M vii George Preble 1 was born 2 about 1601. He died . F viii Eleanor Preble M ix Abraham Preble F x Nancy Preble 1 was born 2 about 1605. She died .
John Swett [Parents] 1, 2 died . He married Hannah Sayward.
Other marriages:Frost, Sally
Hannah Sayward [Parents] 1 was born 2 on 20 Jun 1687. She died . She married John Swett.
John Sayward [Parents] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 was born 6 on 2 Jan 1690 in York, York, Maine. He died on 11 Mar 1743 in , York, Maine. He was buried in Mar 1743 in , York, Maine. He married Mary Bane on 13 Dec 1703 in York, York, Maine.
Ancestry.com. Maine Will Abstracts, 1640-1760 [database online]. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2000. Original data: Sargent, William M. Maine Wills, 1640-1760. Portland, ME: Maine Historical Society, 1887.
Source Page: Probate Office, 6, 60. Name: John Sayward Will Text: In the Name of God Amen, I John Sayward of York in the County of York Gent being at this time under weakness of Body but of perfect mind memory & understanding for which praised be almighty God and considering the certainty of Death & ye uncertainty of the time of the time when Do in the fear of God whose I am & whom I endeavour to serve make this my Last Will & Testament. And principally & first of all I resign my Soul unto my Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ who I trust has redeemed it by his Blood & in & through whom alone & his glorious merit & Redemption I humbly hope for Eternal happiness & Salvation. And my Bod I Comitt to the Earth to be buried in a Christian like Grave & Decent manner at the Discretion of my Executors hereafter Named nothing doubting but at the general Resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty Power of God & in hope of a joyfull Resurrection to everlasting felicity & happiness. and as for such Worldly Estate as God in his infinite mercy has bestowed upon me in this Life I give bequeathe & dispose of the same in the following manner.Imprimis, I Do Will that all my Debts & Funeral Expences shall be Justly paid.Item, I Do give and bequeath to Mary my Dearly beloved Wife the Use and improvement of the one half of my Homestead includeing Buildings Tillage Orchard mowing Salt & fresh with the fenceing now upon it and the one half of ye Liveing Stock of Cattle & Sheep, the one half also of a piece of Pasturing Land adjoyning on the South Westerly upon upon Land belonging to Joseph Plaisted Esqr on ye North West on Capt Cames Land on ye North East on Abel Moultons Land & on ye South East on a Road leading into ye Woods. also a third part of a Wood Lott for Cutting of ye wood or for feeding bounded as follows begining about three Rods North East from Joseph Moultons at an Oak stump and runing West north West according to the return about one hundred & thirty Poles containing about twenty Acres as may appear by ye Original Grant. also about one third part of a Tract of Pasture Land adjoyning partly on John Banes Land & partly on the Widow Prebles Land on the South West side begining at the Southern Corner a few Rods from Ellwife Brook so called & runing about fourteen Rods as ye Road goes, from thence on a straight Course about half a Rood to the Northern side of a Spring in a Valley or Brook known by the Name of Teagles Brook continueing said Course about two Rods further then near about a square over to the upland then Bounded by the edge of the upland down to the Mouth of the Brook then to shute of to the Main Creek & Bounded by ye Creek to the said Prebles Land or opposite against it. The Western end of my Dwelling House Lower Room Chamber & Garret half the Kitchen & ye innermost part of the Cellar so long as She shall Remain my Widow. moreover I Do give & bequeath to the sd Mary my Wife the Sole property of one half my Books two Beds with their furniture ye bigest Brass Kittle a warming Pan a Case of Drawers an Ovel Table half ye Pewter & Household furniture. also a Horse & Chair & furniture for ye Chair I Do also give & bequeath to Mary my beloved Wife the use & Improvement of a third part of a Saw Mill also the use & benefit of Half my Husbandry Tackling & furniture so long as She shall Remain my Widow.Item, I Do give & bequeath to my well beloved Son John the Remainder of the aforesd Tract of Land Joyning upon John Banes Land & ye Widow Prebles Land & bounded by the Fence & the strait Line with all ye Marsh & Thatch Beds thereto adjoyning and the whole of it I Do Will to him at the Death of my well beloved Wife or at her Marriage as also a piece of upland containing about 20 Acres & a Piece of fresh Marsh & Swamp Land thereto adjoyning containing nine or ten Acres lying near Cape Natick Pond I Do also give & bequeath to him the sd John my Son a parcle of Land containing about 30 Acres with a piece of Meadow Adjoyning containing about five Acres & half lying in the Crotch of Josias's River so called laid out with the Grant of Capt Jonathan Bane as appears by a Return on Record also a Piece of Land Containing about 60 or 70 Acres lying near George Jacobs Mill as appears by the Returns with half my Common Rights by him freely to be possessed & Enjoyed he paying such Legacies as shall be hereafter Named and none of the aforesd Articles to be Disposed of till the Legacies be well and truly paid.Item I Do Give & bequeath to my well beloved Son Ebenezer the other half my Homestead includeing Buildings Tillage Orchard mowing Salt & fresh with the fenceing also the other half of ye aforesd Pasture Joyneing upon Capt Cames Land & the two thirds of the aforesd Wood Lot with a Grant of ten Acres that is yet to be Laid out near sd wood Lott also two thirds of the Saw Mills & & Iron work & furniture with ye privilidge of ye Stream & Timber belonging to sd Privildge also the other half of ye Living Stock of Cattle & Sheep he running ye Hazzard of all Casualties with Respect to his half and ye whole of Each of these sd articles the Homestead Pasture wood Lot &c I Do Will & bequeath to my Son Ebenezer after the Death or Marriage of my well beloved Wife. I Do also give & bequeath to ye sd Ebenezer the other half of my Husbandry Tackling & Furniture and Will the whole of it to him after ye Death or Marriage of my sd Wife I Do also give him the one half all my Comon Rights he paying such Legacies as shall hereafter be Named & none of ye aforesd Articles to be Disposed of till ye Legacies be well & truly paid.Item, I Do Will that my sd Son John shall pay to my well beloved Son James when he is at the full age of twenty one Years the sum of one Hundred pounds old tenor & at ye end of one Year after fifty pounds more old tenor & at ye end of two Years after he is of age fifty pounds more old tenor to paid in Money or Land as they shall agree.Item, I Do Will that my Son Ebenezer aforesd shall when he comes to the Age of twenty one Years pay to Esther my well beloved Daughter the sum of ten pounds old tenor Yearly till it amount to seventy pounds old tenor. And I Do Will that he shall pay to Hannah my well beloved Daughter, when he comes of age the sum of ten pounds old tenor Yearly till it amount to sixty pounds old tenor & that he Do pay to my well beloved Daughter Marah ten pounds old tenor till it amount to fifty pounds old tenor.I Do likewise Will that a piece of Marsh begining at ye Bridge over the over the New Mill Creek & bounded on James Grants Land includeing all the Marsh Thatch Beds & Coves be for the use & benefit of my three Daughters Equally to be Divided untill my Son Ebenezer comes of age they leaveing as good a Fence upon it as at this present & I Do Will that if my Son Ebenezer come to be of the Age of 21 Years then the upper part from a small Creek that empties into the Main Creek & upward to fall to fall to my sd Son John & the Lower part to my Son Ebenezer and all the Marsh on the opposite side of the Creek I Do Will to my Son John.Item, I Do Will that if Either of my Sons should Die without Lawfull Issue then his part & Portion by this Will bequeathed to him be Divided amongst the surviveing Children a Double Portion to the Son or Sons & a single Portion to the Daughters.Item, I Do Will that all my wearing apparill be Disposed among my three Sons as my Wife shall se fit.Item I Do Will that the Bond against James Grant be Divided amongst my Eldest Son & three Daughters the Son haveing a Double Portion the Daughters Each a single one & to be prosecuted as they think fitt. and upon ye Reception of ye Bond my Son John to give up a promisary note to my Wife of fifteen pounds old tenor.Item, I Do Will & bequeath the Sole Property of ye one half of my Living Stock of Cattle & Sheep notwithstanding what is fore mentioned with Respect to the Use & Improvement of them heretofore to Mary my well beloved Wife.Item, Whatsoever moneys Debts or Quick Stock or whatsoever Estate within Doors or without to me belonging & not herein mentioned I give & bequeath to my well beloved Wife Mary to dispose of as She shall think fit. And I Do hereby Constitute appoint & Ordain my well beloved Wife Mary Sayward & my trusty Frind John Bradbury to be Executors of this my last Will & Testament and I Do hereby utterly Revoak & Disannull all & every other Wills & Testaments Legacies bequests & Executors by me in any way before this time named Willed or bequeathed Ratifying & Confirming this & no other to be my last Will & Testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand & Seal the Eighth Day of February 1742.Signed Sealed Published Pronounced & Declared by ye sd John Sayward as his last Will & Testament in ye presence of us the Subscribers.Thos BragdonPaul NowellSamll Chandler.John Sayward (Seal)Probated 31 March 1743. Inventory returned at 865: 3: 0, by Benja Stone, Abiel Goodwin and Thos. Bragdon, appraisers, 16 April 1743.
Mary Bane [Parents] 1, 2 was born on 17 Jun 1695 in York, York, Maine. She died . She married John Sayward on 13 Dec 1703 in York, York, Maine.
They had the following children:
F i Esther Sayword 1 was born on 14 Jan 1715 in York, York, Maine. F ii Hannah Sayward 1 was born on 31 May 1716 in York, York, Maine. She died on 3 Dec 1757. F iii Mary Sayward 1 was born on 23 Apr 1718 in York, York, Maine. She died on 16 Sep 1781 in , York, Maine. She was buried in 1781 in , York, Maine. M iv John Sayward 1 was born on 21 May 1721 in York, York, Maine. He died on 11 Mar 1743.
Ancestry.com. Maine Will Abstracts, 1640-1760 [database online]. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2000. Original data: Sargent, William M. Maine Wills, 1640-1760. Portland, ME: Maine Historical Society, 1887.
Source Page: Probate Office, 6, 60. Name: John Sayward Will Text: In the Name of God Amen, I John Sayward of York in the County of York Gent being at this time under weakness of Body but of perfect mind memory & understanding for which praised be almighty God and considering the certainty of Death & ye uncertainty of the time of the time when Do in the fear of God whose I am & whom I endeavour to serve make this my Last Will & Testament. And principally & first of all I resign my Soul unto my Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ who I trust has redeemed it by his Blood & in & through whom alone & his glorious merit & Redemption I humbly hope for Eternal happiness & Salvation. And my Bod I Comitt to the Earth to be buried in a Christian like Grave & Decent manner at the Discretion of my Executors hereafter Named nothing doubting but at the general Resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty Power of God & in hope of a joyfull Resurrection to everlasting felicity & happiness. and as for such Worldly Estate as God in his infinite mercy has bestowed upon me in this Life I give bequeathe & dispose of the same in the following manner.Imprimis, I Do Will that all my Debts & Funeral Expences shall be Justly paid.Item, I Do give and bequeath to Mary my Dearly beloved Wife the Use and improvement of the one half of my Homestead includeing Buildings Tillage Orchard mowing Salt & fresh with the fenceing now upon it and the one half of ye Liveing Stock of Cattle & Sheep, the one half also of a piece of Pasturing Land adjoyning on the South Westerly upon upon Land belonging to Joseph Plaisted Esqr on ye North West on Capt Cames Land on ye North East on Abel Moultons Land & on ye South East on a Road leading into ye Woods. also a third part of a Wood Lott for Cutting of ye wood or for feeding bounded as follows begining about three Rods North East from Joseph Moultons at an Oak stump and runing West north West according to the return about one hundred & thirty Poles containing about twenty Acres as may appear by ye Original Grant. also about one third part of a Tract of Pasture Land adjoyning partly on John Banes Land & partly on the Widow Prebles Land on the South West side begining at the Southern Corner a few Rods from Ellwife Brook so called & runing about fourteen Rods as ye Road goes, from thence on a straight Course about half a Rood to the Northern side of a Spring in a Valley or Brook known by the Name of Teagles Brook continueing said Course about two Rods further then near about a square over to the upland then Bounded by the edge of the upland down to the Mouth of the Brook then to shute of to the Main Creek & Bounded by ye Creek to the said Prebles Land or opposite against it. The Western end of my Dwelling House Lower Room Chamber & Garret half the Kitchen & ye innermost part of the Cellar so long as She shall Remain my Widow. moreover I Do give & bequeath to the sd Mary my Wife the Sole property of one half my Books two Beds with their furniture ye bigest Brass Kittle a warming Pan a Case of Drawers an Ovel Table half ye Pewter & Household furniture. also a Horse & Chair & furniture for ye Chair I Do also give & bequeath to Mary my beloved Wife the use & Improvement of a third part of a Saw Mill also the use & benefit of Half my Husbandry Tackling & furniture so long as She shall Remain my Widow.Item, I Do give & bequeath to my well beloved Son John the Remainder of the aforesd Tract of Land Joyning upon John Banes Land & ye Widow Prebles Land & bounded by the Fence & the strait Line with all ye Marsh & Thatch Beds thereto adjoyning and the whole of it I Do Will to him at the Death of my well beloved Wife or at her Marriage as also a piece of upland containing about 20 Acres & a Piece of fresh Marsh & Swamp Land thereto adjoyning containing nine or ten Acres lying near Cape Natick Pond I Do also give & bequeath to him the sd John my Son a parcle of Land containing about 30 Acres with a piece of Meadow Adjoyning containing about five Acres & half lying in the Crotch of Josias's River so called laid out with the Grant of Capt Jonathan Bane as appears by a Return on Record also a Piece of Land Containing about 60 or 70 Acres lying near George Jacobs Mill as appears by the Returns with half my Common Rights by him freely to be possessed & Enjoyed he paying such Legacies as shall be hereafter Named and none of the aforesd Articles to be Disposed of till the Legacies be well and truly paid.Item I Do Give & bequeath to my well beloved Son Ebenezer the other half my Homestead includeing Buildings Tillage Orchard mowing Salt & fresh with the fenceing also the other half of ye aforesd Pasture Joyneing upon Capt Cames Land & the two thirds of the aforesd Wood Lot with a Grant of ten Acres that is yet to be Laid out near sd wood Lott also two thirds of the Saw Mills & & Iron work & furniture with ye privilidge of ye Stream & Timber belonging to sd Privildge also the other half of ye Living Stock of Cattle & Sheep he running ye Hazzard of all Casualties with Respect to his half and ye whole of Each of these sd articles the Homestead Pasture wood Lot &c I Do Will & bequeath to my Son Ebenezer after the Death or Marriage of my well beloved Wife. I Do also give & bequeath to ye sd Ebenezer the other half of my Husbandry Tackling & Furniture and Will the whole of it to him after ye Death or Marriage of my sd Wife I Do also give him the one half all my Comon Rights he paying such Legacies as shall hereafter be Named & none of ye aforesd Articles to be Disposed of till ye Legacies be well & truly paid.Item, I Do Will that my sd Son John shall pay to my well beloved Son James when he is at the full age of twenty one Years the sum of one Hundred pounds old tenor & at ye end of one Year after fifty pounds more old tenor & at ye end of two Years after he is of age fifty pounds more old tenor to paid in Money or Land as they shall agree.Item, I Do Will that my Son Ebenezer aforesd shall when he comes to the Age of twenty one Years pay to Esther my well beloved Daughter the sum of ten pounds old tenor Yearly till it amount to seventy pounds old tenor. And I Do Will that he shall pay to Hannah my well beloved Daughter, when he comes of age the sum of ten pounds old tenor Yearly till it amount to sixty pounds old tenor & that he Do pay to my well beloved Daughter Marah ten pounds old tenor till it amount to fifty pounds old tenor.I Do likewise Will that a piece of Marsh begining at ye Bridge over the over the New Mill Creek & bounded on James Grants Land includeing all the Marsh Thatch Beds & Coves be for the use & benefit of my three Daughters Equally to be Divided untill my Son Ebenezer comes of age they leaveing as good a Fence upon it as at this present & I Do Will that if my Son Ebenezer come to be of the Age of 21 Years then the upper part from a small Creek that empties into the Main Creek & upward to fall to fall to my sd Son John & the Lower part to my Son Ebenezer and all the Marsh on the opposite side of the Creek I Do Will to my Son John.Item, I Do Will that if Either of my Sons should Die without Lawfull Issue then his part & Portion by this Will bequeathed to him be Divided amongst the surviveing Children a Double Portion to the Son or Sons & a single Portion to the Daughters.Item, I Do Will that all my wearing apparill be Disposed among my three Sons as my Wife shall se fit.Item I Do Will that the Bond against James Grant be Divided amongst my Eldest Son & three Daughters the Son haveing a Double Portion the Daughters Each a single one & to be prosecuted as they think fitt. and upon ye Reception of ye Bond my Son John to give up a promisary note to my Wife of fifteen pounds old tenor.Item, I Do Will & bequeath the Sole Property of ye one half of my Living Stock of Cattle & Sheep notwithstanding what is fore mentioned with Respect to the Use & Improvement of them heretofore to Mary my well beloved Wife.Item, Whatsoever moneys Debts or Quick Stock or whatsoever Estate within Doors or without to me belonging & not herein mentioned I give & bequeath to my well beloved Wife Mary to dispose of as She shall think fit. And I Do hereby Constitute appoint & Ordain my well beloved Wife Mary Sayward & my trusty Frind John Bradbury to be Executors of this my last Will & Testament and I Do hereby utterly Revoak & Disannull all & every other Wills & Testaments Legacies bequests & Executors by me in any way before this time named Willed or bequeathed Ratifying & Confirming this & no other to be my last Will & Testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand & Seal the Eighth Day of February 1742.Signed Sealed Published Pronounced & Declared by ye sd John Sayward as his last Will & Testament in ye presence of us the Subscribers.Thos BragdonPaul NowellSamll Chandler.John Sayward (Seal)Probated 31 March 1743. Inventory returned at 865: 3: 0, by Benja Stone, Abiel Goodwin and Thos. Bragdon, appraisers, 16 April 1743.M v James Sayward 1 was born on 24 Jan 1724 in York, York, Maine. He died on 6 Aug 1775. M vi Ebenezer Sayward 1 was born on 10 Sep 1727 in York, York, Maine. He died in Apr 1783 in , York, Maine. He was buried in , York, Maine. F vii Susanna Sayward 1 was born on 29 Mar 1730 in York, York, Maine.
Samuel Wheelwright Esq. [Parents] 1, 2, 3, 4 was born 5, 6, 7 on 2 May 1635/1638 in Lincoln, St Peters / Exeter, Strafford, New Hampshire/ Laceby, Lincolnshire, England. He died 8, 9, 10 on 13 May 1700 in Wells, York CO, Maine. He married Esther Houchin.
sailed from Plymouth, England inthe ship Huntress with John Winter and landed in America 22 Mar 1632/33. He was a member of the Assembly of Lygonia in 1648.
(from Judith Shanley Petrie, 3505 36th Ave, NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418)Ancestry.com. Maine Will Abstracts, 1640-1760 [database online]. Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2000. Original data: Sargent, William M. Maine Wills, 1640-1760. Portland, ME: Maine Historical Society, 1887.
Source Page: Probate Office, I, 69. Name: Samuel Whellwright Will Text: In the Name of God Amen, I Samuel Whellwright of Wells in the County of Yorke in his Majties Province of the Massathusets Bay in New England being weak and Infirm of body but of Perfect Memory & of Sound understanding do make Constitute and appoint this my last Will and Testament.I Commit my Soul into the hands of Almighty god my faithfull Creator & mercifull Redeemer & my body to the Earth from whence it was taken to be decently buried by my Executors hereafter Named In hopes of a Joyful & glorious Resurrection through Jesus Christ Amen.And as for my Worldly goods and Estate I do will and bestow as Followeth.Impris My Will and Intent is that my funerall Charges and all my lawfull and Just Debts shall be discharged and paid by my Executrs out of my Moueable Estate.Item. I do give and bequeath unto my Daughter Mary one quarter part of my farm where I do now dwell, after she is Marryed & to the Children that shall be borne of her body, forever, and for want of such Heirs, to the Heirs of my son John Whelwright forever. I do except twenty Acres of land out of the whole Farme, where my dwelling house and barne stands, which I have Already excepted in a Deed of Gift to my son Joseph.Item I give and bequeath to my son Joseph Whelwright one quarter part of my sd Farme together with that twenty Acres of land before excepted, with the housing and building that are upon it, after my decease and The Decease of Hester my Wife, she having the vse and Income thereof During her Natural life, Onely Joseph shall have the libarty to make vse of one halfe of the dwelling hovse and barne if he hath occasion before my Wives decease, Also I bequeath to my Son Joseph halfe that land which I bought of Augustine Legendra, and all that land and meadow which I have at Merryland, Except that part which I have already disposed of, Also I give to my son Joseph all that Towne grant of land and priviledge for a saw mill at another place near Merryland all to be to him and his Heirs lawfully begotten of his body, and for want of such Heirs to my son John Whelwright and to his Heirs forever, a double part thereof, & the other part to my Daughters and to their Heirs forever.Item, I do give and bequeath unto Hesther my beloued Wife, all my Cattell of all sorts, with one Negro Servant named Titus, with all my Mouable estate of all sorts which is not hereafter excepted, Also one acre of Marsh which I bought of Moses Littlefield, all this to be at her dispose to all or any of her Children at her decease, I do also give to her all the rent which was dew to me from my lands at Crofts in the County of Lincoln in England, untill the time it was sold by Mr Edw Loyde, if the sd Loyde hath made sale thereof, and if the land be not sold, my Will is that Hester my beloved wife shall have all the rent of Sd land, during her naturall life, to be at her sole dispose and in case the Sd land be sold, then My will is that shee shall have one Hundred pounds out of the Money. or principall the land was sold for, Out of which Hundred pounds she shall pay to my Daughter Mary Fourty pounds & to my son Joseph Thirty pounds & to my Daughter Hannah Parsons Thirty pounds, all to be paid at such time or times as my wife shall see most fitt & Convenient, And the Remainder of the said Estate I do give to my son John Whellwright to dispose of and Improve for the Vse and benefit of my wife during her naturall life & at her decease I giue the Sd Estate to him and to his Heires forever, I also give to Hester my wife the vse & income of the one halfe of another Farme in Wells, during her naturall Life, which farme I have by Deed of gift given to my son John, Also provided my land aforesd in England be not Sold, Then I give to my wife the use of the Sd land during her naturall life, and after her decease I give and bequeath to my son Iohn Whellwright all the above mentioned lands in Crofts in England with all the vse and Interest and benefit thereof to him and to his Heirs forever, out of which he shall pay forty pounds in money to my Daughter Mary, to be paid twenty pounds thereof. within one year after the Sd Estate comes into his hands, and the other twenty pounds to be paid within two years after, and also to pay thirty pounds to my son Joseph half money and the other halfe Equivalent to money; And thirty pounds to my Daughter Hannah, one halfe in money & the other halfe Equivalent to money, all to be paid within two years after the Estate comes into his hands to them & to their Heirs forever, And in Case Any of them have no Children, then to the Heirs of my son John Whellwright forever.Item. I doe give to my son John Whellwright all my Books now in the Custady of Mr Eliakin Huchinson in Boston, and I give also to my son John one suit, Cloke & hatt and staffe I also give to him all my Estate which is in the hands of Captn Bozen Allen of Boston dew for my wiues portion, One quarter part of what he shall recover, I doe will to my wife.And I doe Constitute & appoint my dear & loving wife Hesther together with my loving sons John Whellwright and Joseph Whelwright to be Executors of this my last will and Testament And I doe appoint my trusty and wellbeloved freinds Captn Job Alcock of Portsmouth & Mr Samuel Emery & Mr Jonathan Hammond of Wells to be the overseers of this my last Will.In Witness whereof I have hereto set my hand and Seall this Thirtyeth day of Janury One Thousand Six Hundred, Ninety Nine; Seaven Hundred, 1699/700Signed & Sealed in presents of vsSamll EmeryJonathan HamondJames AddamsSamll Wheelwright (his Seal)Recorded 22 Janry, 1700-1. Inventory returned 11 Oct., 1700 at 917:00:00 by Jonan Hamond and Jonathan Littlefield appraisers who state said Weelwright "deceased 13 May 1700"; and 29 Oct., 1700 at 23: 00: 00 by Jos: Hamond and William Balkwell appraisers.
Esther Houchin [Parents] 1, 2, 3 was born 4 about 1636 in Ma. She died . She married Samuel Wheelwright Esq..
They had the following children:
M i Colonel John Wheelwright F ii Hannah Wheelwright
Samuel Black [Parents] 1, 2 was born 3, 4 on 11 Aug 1733 in York, York Co, Maine. He died . He married Isabella Bragdon.
Isabella Bragdon 1 died . She married Samuel Black.
They had the following children:
F i Dorcas Bragdon Black F ii Black
Thomas Goodwin 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 was born 6 before 1690. He died . He married Mehetable Plaisted in 1685.
ancestor of the Governor of Maine and Governor of New Hampshire
Mehetable Plaisted [Parents] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 was born 7, 8, 9, 10 on 30 Apr 1670 in Berwick, Maine. She died 11 after 1740 in South Berwick, York Co., Maine. The cause of death was after 1740. She was buried 12 in Old Fields Cem., Maine. She married Thomas Goodwin in 1685.
"Other captives were Thomas Goodwin and his wife who was Mehitable, daughter of Liet. Roger Plaisted. The husband and wife were assigned to different bands of Indians and so remained apart. After his escape, he is said to have returned to Canada for the ransom of his wife. An account of her sufferings was written by Rev. Cotton Mather in his Magnalia and has been often republished. Her son, about five months old, was barbarously murdered before her eyes and hanged by the neck in a forked bough of a tree. After terrible sufferings of grief, cold and hunger, she arrived at Montreal. The record of her baptism written in French, has been kindly furnished to me by Miss C. Alice Baker, who has published much about the captives taken in the French and Indian Wats. The translation is as follows:
"Monday, 11 May 1693, there was solemnly baptized an English woman called in her own country Mehetabel, and by the French who captured her in war, 18 March 1690, Esther, who was born at Barvic, in New England 30 April (old style or 19 May, new style) 1670, of the marriage of Roger Pleisted, protestant, and Olive Colman of the same religion, and was married to Thomas Gouden [Goodwin] also Protestant. She has lived for about three years inthe service of Mademoiselle de Nauguiere [written also de la Naudiere]. She was named Marie Esther. Her godfaher was Messire Hector de Catlieres, Chevalier. Governor for the King in the Isle of Montreal and its vicinity. Her godmother was Damoiselle marguerite Renee Denis, widow of Monsieur le COnte de Frontenac, Governor of New France. The baptism was performed by M. Francois Dolie de Casson, Grand Vicar of the most Illustrious and most Reverent Monseigneur Bishop of Quebec"
(Signed)
Chevalier de Catlieres
Marguerite renee denis
Fran Doelier
E. Guyoth, Cure
(from Old Kittery and her Families, by Everett S. Stackpole, New England History Press, Somersworth, 1981)"Mehetable Plaisted was finally ransomed in October, 1695" (from "Simon and Thompson....", p 269)
"Mehetable Goodwin*, being a captive among the Indians, had with her a child about five months old which through hunger and hardship, she being unable to nourish it, often made most grievous ejaculations. Her Indian master told her that if the child were not quiet he would soon dispose of it, which caused her to use all possible means that his Netop-ship might not be offended and sometimes carry it from the fire out of his hearing, where she sat up to the waist in snow and frost for several hours until it was lulled to sleep. She thus for several days preserved the life of her babe until he saw cause to travel with his cubs further afield. And then lest he should be retarded in his travel, he violently snatched the babe out of its mother's arms and before her face knocked out its brains and stripped it of the few rages it had hitherto enjoyed and ordered her the task to go wash the bloody clothes. Returning from this melancholy task, she found the infant hanging by the neck in a forked bough of a tree. She desired leave to lay it in the earth, but he said it was better as it was, for now the wild beasts would not come at it (I am sure they had been at it!), and she might have the comfort of seeing it again if ever they came that way.
The journey now before them was like to be very long, even as far as Canada, where his purpose was to make merchandise of his captive, and glad was the captive of such happy tidings. But the desperate length of the way and want of food and grief of mind wherewith she now encountered caused her within a few days to faint under her difficulties. When at length she sat down for some repose with many prayers and tears unto God for the salvation of her soul, she found herself unable to rise until she espied her furious executioner coming towards her with fire in his eyes, the devil in his heart, and his hatchet in his hand ready to bestow a mercy-stroke of death upon her. But then this miserable creature got on her knees and, with weeping and wailing and all expressions of agony and entreaty, prevailied upon him to spare her life a little, and she did not question but God would enable her to walk a little faster. The merciless tyrant was prevailed withal to spare her this time. Nevertheless, her former weakness quickly returning upon her, he was just going to murder her, but a couple of Indians just at that instant coming in, suddenly called upon him to hold his hand whereat such a horror surprised his guilty soul that he ran away. but hearing them call his name, he returned and then permited these his friends to ransom his prisoner from him.
After this, being seated by a riverside, they heard several guns go off on the other side, which they concluded was from a party of Albany Indians who were enemies unto these, whereupon this bold blade would needs go in a canoe to discover what they were. They fired upon him and shot through him and several of his friends before the discovery could be made unto satisfaction. But some days after this, divers of his friends gathered a party to revenge his death on their supposed enemies, with whom they joined battle and fought several hours until their supposed enemies did really put them to the rout.
Among the captives which they left in their fight was this poor Goodwin who was overjoyed in seeing herself thus at liberty. But the joy did not last long, for these Indians were of the same sort with the other and had been by their own friends thus through a strange mistake set upon. However, this crew proved more favorable to her than the former and went away silently with theur booty being loath to have any noise made of their foul mistake. And yet a few days after such another mistake happened, for meeting with another party of Indians which they imagined in teh English interests, they furiously engaged each other, and many were killed and wounded on either side. But they proved a party of the French Indians who took this poor Goodwin and presented her to the French captain by whom she was carried unto Canada where she continued five years and then was brought safe back into New England.*
*Mehitable, or Hetty, Goodwin, wife of Thomas Goodwin and daughter of Lt. Roger plaisted and Olive Coleman Plaisted. Her father had been killed in King Phillip's War.
*Mehitable Goodwin was baptized a Catholic at Quebec in 1693 and renamed Marie Esther; at the time she was a servant of Mademoiselle de Naugiere (or de la Naudiere), widow of Frontenac's Captain of the guard. The conversion apparently was feigned or temporary, for Goodwin was redeemed in 1695, reunited with her family, and lived the rest of her life in Maine"
from "New Assaults from the Indians" and "The Condition of the Captives" by Cotton Mather in Puritans Among the Indians:Accounts of Captivity and Redemption, 1676 - 1724, edited Alden T. Vaughan and Edward W. Clark (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1981), pp. 140 - 142
They had the following children:
M i Thomas Goodwin M ii Ichabod Goodwin M iii James Goodwin
Thomas Goodwin [Parents] 1, 2 was born 3, 4 on 29 May 1697. He died . He married Hannah Wells.
Other marriages:Butler, Elizabeth
Post-em from
D. B. Robinson
2004-05-12 17:30:30
The Thomas Goodwin who married Hannah Wells and had children in Wells and the Thomas Goodwin, son of Thomas Goodwin and Mehitable Plaisted, husband of Elizabeth Butler are not the same man. Thomas and Hannah were having childen in Wells while Thomas and Elizabeth were having children in Berwick. Please look at Stackpole's Old Kittery and Her Families (page 457) for short sketch of Thomas and Elizabeth and their 11 children.
Hannah Wells 1 died . She married Thomas Goodwin.
Captain John Brown 1 died before 1724. He married 2 Mary Jose in 1717 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Other marriages:Unknown
Mary Jose [Parents] 1, 2, 3 was born 4 on 10 Oct 1666. She died . She married 5 Captain John Brown in 1717 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Other marriages:Plaisted, Ichabod
Christopher Jose 1, 2 died . He married Jane on 5 Jan 1693.
Jane 1 died . She married Christopher Jose on 5 Jan 1693.
They had the following children:
F i Mary Jose
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