THIRTEENTH GENERATION
5016. Thomas Wheeler, Elder
"WHEELER, ...(5016) THOMAS, Fairfield 1645, was a lieut. in 1653, came from Concord with first sett. bring. w. (5017) Ann, and ch. prob. all adult, or marriagable, exc. one or two and perhaps his eldest s. (2508) Thomas may not have accomp. the f. At least from his will, pro. 23 Aug. 1654, wh. we read imperfect. as part of the rec. in this place is burn. it is clear that the est. in Concord, old homestead, was giv. to Thomas; Fairfield est. to (5017vi) John; with notice of wid. and three ds. of wh. (5017ii) Hannah, the eldest, m. a 1639, (5017ii[1]) James Bennett, had two ch. at Concord, and was now d. leav. four; ano. was (5017ix) Sarah Sherwood; and a third not m. without name. His wid. in her will of 21 Aug. 1659, pro. Oct. foll. names eldest s.(2508) Thomas, and ch."
-- James Savage, "A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692" c/o http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/savage/
"OSBORN, OSBOURN, or OSBURN, ...(5017ii_a[1]) JOHN, Fairfield, s. of Richard, m. (5017ii_a) Sarah, d. of James Bennett, had Samuel, John, David, Joseph, and Elizabeth but dates of either m. or b. are unheard of, and he d. 1709."
-- James Savage, op. cit.
"SEELEY, ...NATHANIEL, New Haven 1646, s. of Robert, m. at Fairfield, 1649, or earlier, Mary, d. of Benjamin Turney, rem. to F. was freem. 1657; m. sec. w. late in 1674, or early next yr. Elizabeth wid. of Obadiah Gilbert, former. wid. of Nehemiah Olmstead, serv. as lieut. in Philip's war, 1675, and was k. at the head of his comp. in the gr. swamp fight, 19 Dec. A gr. was made next yr. to his wid. Nine ch. all, I presume, by first w. were left, (5017ii_b[1]) Nathaniel, Robert, Benjamin, Joseph, John, Mary, Sarag, Phebe, and Rebecca."
-- James Savage, op. cit.
"BENNETT, ...(5017ii[1]) JAMES, Concord, freem. 13 Mar. 1639, by w. (5017ii) Hannah, eldest d. of the first (5016) Thomas Wheeler of C. had Hannah, b. 1 June 1640; Thomas, 16 Oct. 1642; rem. with his f.-in-law to Fairfield, 1644, there had two more ch. and perhaps others, for in 1670 James of Farmington, prob. his s. was 18 yrs. old, and there were three fams. of this name in that town."
-- James Savage, op. cit.
did NOT marry (10032[2]i) John Billington re Harold Henderson http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=hendersonscholes&id=I23805
According to "Fifty Great Migration Colonists," she married him and they had 7 children 1635-49.
Others have her b. on different dates, and/or migrating to America and dying in MA
iv. (2508) Thomas Wheeler
ABT 1660
"WHEELER, ...(5017viii) JOHN, Fairfield, s. of (5016) Thomas of the same, brot. from Concord by his f. wh. rem. with Rev. Mr. Jones and others a. 1644 to Fairfield, there is on the freemen's list, 1669, was had in respect, [[vol. 4, p. 498]] rec. gr. of 100 acres from the Assemb. was rep. 1671, 2, 4, and 7, d. early in 1690, leav. large est. to wid. (5017viii[2]) Elizabeth and thirteen ch. whose names, with the inv. tak. 8 Mar. of L1,566, were, with their ages, Judah, or Judith, 29; John, 26; Elizabeth 23; Thomas, 21; Mary, 19; Rebecca, 18; Joseph, 16; Hannah, 14; Abigail, 10; Obadiah, 8; Ann, 6; Jonathan, 3; and David or Daniel, I. "Perhaps the wid. was a sec. w. and liv. sev. yrs. aft. his d. for distrib. of the est. was made so late as 3 Apr. 1700 to ten ch. being all the bef. ment. exc. first, third, and tenth, wh. no doubt, had dec. It is observa. that no d. had then been m."
-- James Savage, op. cit.
"(5016) Thomas Wheeler, known as Senior, came to Concord, Massachusetts, and from there removed to Fairfield, CT, coming presumably with the party which Rev. John Jones brought from Concord in September, 1644. His brother or half-brother, Lieut. Thomas Wheeler, came from Concord with him. English families at that period sometimes gave the same name to two living children, and this was done occasionally in the early days in New England. Great confusion is found in printed accounts, due to the fact that there were two Thomas Wheelers in Fairfield, another in Milford, and still a fourth in New Haven, all on the coast of Connecticut, and at least three of these men gave the name Thomas to sons.
"The will of Thomas Wheeler, Sr., dated May 5, 1654, and proved August 23, 1654, named his wife (5017) Ann; gave his Concord property to his eldest son, (2508) Thomas, and his Fairfield lands to his son, John; mentioned his daughter, (5017ix) Sarah, wife of (5017ix[1]) Thomas Sherwood and their son Thomas; his daughter, (5017ii) (Anna) Bennett, and his four grandchildren, Mary, James, Thomas, and John Bennett; and appointed his brother (sic), Thomas Wheeler, lieutenant, with Robert Lockwood and Andrew Ward, overseers of his estate. One of the appraisers was (10032[2]j) Ephraim Wheeler, another brother of Thomas, Sr."
-- http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=arciek&id=I20969 c/o RCKarnes arciek@juno.com
-- http://www.sallysfamilyplace.com/Wheeler/wheelert.htm#Thomas Wheeler ca 1591
1Estimated from wife's christening date. Cranfield parish records do not exist prior to 1600.
2 John Winthrop, James Savage, "The History of New England from 1630 to 1649" ( 1853) MA c/o http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?obadiah,cranfield::wheeler::9599.html
"MERIAM, ...(5018) JOSEPH, Concord, [bro.] of (10037vi) George, freem. 14 Mar. 1639, had (5019iv) Joseph, b. prob. in Eng. and (5019viii) John, 9 July 1641, bef. ment. and had d. 1 Jan. bef. He had other ch. as by his will of 29 Dec. 1640, speaking of sons and ds. and leav. care of all to w. (5019) Sarah, appears in Geneal. Reg. II.184."
-- James Savage, op. cit.
= siblings
