Elizabeth (Thurber) Wheaton (abt. 1658 - aft. 1742)

Born about 20 Apr 1658 in Littleham cum Exmouth, Devon, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died after Dec 1742 after about age 84 in Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bob Hall [send private message]

Biography

Elizabeth's birth was recorded as "Elizabeth the daughter of Jn^o. Thurber borne April 20h [1658]".^[1] Her family migrated to the new town of Swansea in Plymouth Colony in the late 1660s.

Elizabeth married John Wheaton by 1679, when their son Samuel was born.^[2]

Children:

• Samuel (twin) b. 10 January 1679^[3]
• John (twin) b. 10 January 1679
• Nathaniel b. 25 July 1681
• James b. 23 July 1683 d. 6 September 1683
• Mary b. 25 July 1685
• Joseph b. 16 November 1686
• Precila b. 9 June 1689(?)
• Israel b. 23 August 1692
• Isaack b. 5 March 1694/5
• Patience b. 6 October 1698

Elizabeth was still living 25 May 1736 when her husband John wrote his will.^[4]

The last known record of Elizabeth, created 17 December 1742, shows Elizabeth Wheaton of Swansey, then residing in Newport, widow, granting power of attorney to her son-in-law John Ingraham of Newport, cooper.^[5]

Research Notes

No marriage record with John Wheaton is known. However, the probate records of Elizabeth's father John Thurber include a document from 1706 that names John Wheaton as John Thurber's son-in-law.^[6] There is only one reasonable candidate at this time for a John Wheaton about the right age and living in this place at that time to be a son-in-law. Since John's wife is known to be Elizabeth, we infer that Elizabeth Thurber was that wife.

Several sources give the spouse of John Wheaton instead as "Elizabeth Carpenter". Perhaps this originated with Hill.^[4] No primary evidence has ever been presented to support this marriage. Considering that Converse makes no mention of Elizabeth Thurber, it seems safer to assume this is an error rather than that John Wheaton had two wives named Elizabeth.

The Elizabeth Thurber hypothesis is further supported by naming: daughter Pricilia Wheaton was presumably named for Elizabeth's mother Priscilla Thurber, while Charity Wheaton was probably named for her sister Charity (Thurber) Millard.

This profile once listed "after 1 August 1737" as her death date. This is the date that John's will was probated, but an examination of the proving record and inventory does not show any indication of whether she was still alive.

Sources

1. ↑ Littleham parish register, Devon Archives & Local Studies, DHC 2932A/PR/1/1; images accessed at FindMyPast.com. Also on FamilySearch.org [DGS 7,120,649]
2. ↑ Florence Thurber Gargaro, Kathryn Davitt Peters, and Barry R. Smith, "The English Origins of John¹ Thurber of Swansea in Plymouth Colony, and His Descendants," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 177 no. 1 (2023) pages 5–25 and no. 2 (2023) pages 160–178; Elizabeth is profiled in part 2, pages 161–164.
3. ↑ Rounds: Page 409
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Hill, page 57
5. ↑ Bristol Co., Mass., deeds vol. 31 page 206.
6. ↑ Bristol County, MA, Probate file papers, 25719:2; digital image online at American Ancestors (subscription required) -- "KNOW All Men by these Presents, That We Priscilla Thurber widow & relict of John Thurber, late of Swanzey deceased, and John Thurber son & John Wheaton son in law all of Swanzey in the county of Bristoll..."

• Hill, William G. Family record of Deacons James W. Converse and Elisha S. Converse, including some of the descendants of Roger de Coigneriès, of England, 1066; etc., A. Mudge & son, printers, Boston, Mass., 1887.

• Martin, Joanne E.. Thurber collection (Joanne E. Martin, 2006)

• Rounds, H. L. Peter. Vital Records of Swansea, Massachusetts to 1850 (New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1992)

• Bristol County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1686-1880. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized mages provided by FamilySearch.org)

• Wheaton One Name Web-Site

• Online post by Florence Gargaro

Metadata

• This person was created through the import of Geer.ged on 25 September 2010.

• Discrepancies (all minor) in the dates between merged profiles Thurber-200 and Thurber-194 are resolved in favor of best sources and/or most logical dates/locations. Dellinger-332