Captain Thomas Wilder

Other Events and Attributes:

• Married: 25 Jun 1668, Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts; Mary Wheeler, the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Turner) Wheeler. She was born on 5 October 1646 and was christened on 18 October 1646 both in Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. She died on Tuesday 25 October 1650. Issue: 1. Mary Wilder (c1675-1718) 2. James Wilder (1680-1739) 3. Joseph Wilder (1683-1757) 4. Sarah Wilder (1685-____) 5. Elizabeth Wilder (1687-____) 6. Anna Wilder (1689-1746)
• Military: 1704; In 1704, he was made a commander of a garrison in Lancaster.

Notes:

Birth:
His birth date was recorded as 4 (7) 1644.

Name:


Married:
Nourse (1890) lists Mary Houghton as the wife of Thomas Wilder. This is not supported by the evidence. MacKenzie (1966) uses the Nourse annotation to come to the same incorrect conclusion, but he changes the year of the wedding to make it more acceptable. Bullard (1930) proves that the Mary, Thomas married was Mary Wheeler, not Houghton.

According to Bullard (1878) "Proof of the surname of Mary, wife of Thomas Wilder, is shown in a petition sent to the General court of Massachusetts in 1738, in behalf of those who went into the Canadian Expedition of 1690 under Capt. John Withington. Among the signers was Joseph Wilder, son of Thomas and Mary, who applied "in the right of his uncle, Samuel Wheeler, his mother's brother, who served under Major Wade." A copy of this petition was published in Marvin's "History of Lancaster," p. 125. There are many erroneous records of the name of Mary, wife of Thomas Wilder, due to the loss of the early Vital Records of Lancaster, and the imperfections in the later copies, but evidence supplied in the petition of Joseph Wilder is conclusive proof that she was Mary Wheeler, daughter of Richard and sister of Samuel Wheeler of the Canadian Expedition of 1690. "


Buried:
Here Lyes Buried
y^e Body of Cap^t.
THOMAS WILDER
who dec^d August. 7^th,
1716, about y^e 70^th
Year of His Age

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1639, Charlestown, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
• Religion: 30 Mar 1640, Charlestown, Suffolk County, Massachusetts; Thomas was admitted to the Charlestown Church.
• Freeman: 2 Jun 1641, Charlestown, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
• Moved To: 1654, Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts
• Legal: 1 Jul 1659, Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts; He signed the Town Orders.
• Will: 22 Jan 1666/67, Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts
• Offices Held: 3 Feb 1667, Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts; He was elected a Selectman.
• Inventory: 29 Nov 1667, Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts
• Probate/Proved: 04 Mar 1667/68, Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts

Notes:

Name:
For many years Thomas has been thought of as the son of Martha Wilder who came to New England on board the Confidence. DNA testing has proved this false.

Moved To:
Wyman (1877) gives the year as 1659.

Buried:
to the Memory of
THOMAS WILDER,
from Lancaster in England,
who first settled at Hingham
in 1641, and came to this Town
July 1, 1659, and died Oct 23,
1667, leaving three sons - viz
THOMAS, JOHN and NATHANIEL,
from whom are derived all
of the name WILDER in
this Town and vicinity

Thomas married Anna. Anna died on 10 Jun 1692 in Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: 7 May 1650, Charlestown, Suffolk County, Massachusetts; Anna was admitted to the Charlestown Church.