Mary Wheeler

Other Events and Attributes:

• Married: 25 Jun 1668, Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts; Captain Thomas Wilder, the son of Thomas and Anna Wilder. He was born on 4 September 1644 in Charlestown, Massachusetts. His birth date was recorded as 4 (7) 1644. In 1704, he was made a commander of a garrison in Lancaster. He died on Friday 7 August 1716 in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Thomas' gravestone inscription in Old Common Burial Ground, Lancaster, Massachusetts reads: Here Lyes Buried y^e Body of Cap^t. THOMAS WILDER who dec^d Augu^st. 7^th, 1716, about y^e 70^th Year of His Age 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)
• Complier's Note: 1878; 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." 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 changes the year of the wedding to make it more acceptable. Bullard (1930) proves that the Mary, Thomas married was Mary Wheeler, not Houghton.

Notes:

Birth:
Her birth date was recorded as 5 (8) 1646.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Immigration: Aug 1635; He arrived in New England on board the Thomas, Henry Tavener, Master, bound for "Virginia". He and 57 others were examined for matters touching their conformity in our religion by a minister at Gravesend before embankment.
• Proprietor: 1644, Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
• Land/House: 1 Jan 1646/47, Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; He received land again on 26 February 1652.
• Proprietor: 1651, Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; While one of the original proprietors, it is doubtful he ever lived there.
• Offices Held: 17 May 1652, Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; He was appointed one of three Commissioners to lay out the road between Dedham and Braintree.
• Offices Held: 1659, Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; He was a Fence Viewer.
• Offices Held: 22 Jun 1660, Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; He was appointed a member of a committee to "to view the Lande both vpland & meadow near about the pondes by Georges Indians wigwam and make report of what they find to the selectman in the first opportunity they can take."
• Land/House: 2 Feb 1668/69, Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts
• Freeman: 19 May 1669, Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts
• Inventory: 21 Aug 1676

Notes:

Name:


Died:
He was killed by Indians who had climbed on top of a barn and shot down over the palisades during the attack on Lancaster.

Richard married Elizabeth Turner on 4 May 1644 in Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Elizabeth died on 25 Dec 1656 in Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Both she and two of her children died the same day.

Notes:

Married:
(1) Richard Wheeler
(1) Elizabeth Turner

Their marriage date was recorded as 4 (3) 1644.