Thomas Wiswall (bef. 1601 - 1683)

Born before 20 Sep 1601 in Warrington, Lancashire, England

Husband of Elizabeth (Burbage) Wiswall — married 1632 (to Sep 1664) in Great Packington, Warwickshire, England

Husband of Isabel (Barbage) Wiswall — married 1670 in Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 6 Dec 1683 after age 82 in Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Thomas Wiswall migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 381) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Thomas Wiswall's baptism took place on 20 September 1601 in Warrington, Lancashire, England, on the same day as his brother John.^[1] The Wiswall Genealogy gives the date as 30 September, with father as Robert, and names no other siblings.^[2] Thomas and John, along with Thomas' wife and son Enoch, came from England in 1635, reportedly leaving brothers Adam, Abiel, and Jonathan in England. Both became prominent men and among the early settlers of Dorchester.^[3]

Thomas' first wife, the mother of his children, was Elizabeth.^[4] See her profile for discussion of her maiden name.

Thomas was a selectman of Dorchester in 1642, but removed to Cambridge Village [now Newton], about 1654. He was ordained a Ruling Elder of the church there in 1664. He was appointed to catechize youth at the new Church in 1668. A pond in Newton near his residence bore his name^[5] for 150 years, but is now called Crystal Lake.^[6] His last wife, widow Isabella Farmer, survived him and died at Billerica, 21 May 1686.^[5]

Thomas' second wife was said by Savage to have been the widow Isabel (Barbage) Farmer of Great Packington in Warwickshire.^[5] Threlfall, however, says Thomas' second wife was Isabell (Muston) Farmer, sister of the Rev. Thomas Muston of Wykin and afterwards of Brinkow in England. She was the widow of John Farmer of Anseley, Warwickshire.^[7] He died in Newton on December 6, 1683. Thomas' estate included at the time of his death, 207 acres of meadow and upland, 6 wooded acres, a small orchard, house and barn. His personal estate was valued at £340, part of which included four Holy Bibles.^[2]

In his 1982 TAG article, "The English Origin of John & Thomas Wiswall," John Threlfall does not say that these men were twins, only that they were brothers. He lays out a convincing argument that their father, Ralph, was a son of a John Wiswall, had a brother Thomas who married Alice Picket on 20 October 1592 at Ormskirk where Alice died in April 1618, and where Thomas was buried on 11 April 1619.^[8]

Elder Thomas Wiswall was brother to Elder John Wiswall, both prominent men and among the early settlers of Dorchester. They came from England in 1635, leaving brothers Adam, Abiel, and Jonathan in England. John was a few years earlier in office than Thomas, and is supposed to have been the oldest of the two. Thomas removed to Cambridge Village (now called Newton) about 1654. His farm in the Village contained about 400 acres, including the pond which bore his name for 150 years,^[3] and is now called Crystal Lake.^[6] His house stood on the south bank of the pond.^[3]

He died 06 December 1683, aged about 80, intestate. The inventory of his estate included £340, 207 acres of land, and four bibles.^[9] No stone marks his grave.^[3]

Children

Children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Berbage) Wiswall:^[4]

1. Enoch Wiswall, b. ca 1633 in England; d. 28 Nov 1706 Dorchester, age 73; mar. Elizabeth Oliver 25 Nov 1657.
2. (H)esther Wiswall, b. ca. 1635, England? Dorchester, Mass. Bay Colony?; d. 26 Nov 1706 Woburn; mar. William Johnson 16 May 1655. [Savage says she was bapt. "here" (New England) in 1635, but I find no record.]
3. Ichabod Wiswall, b. ca. 1637, Dorchester, Mass. Bay Colony; d. 23 Jul 1700 Duxbury, age 63; mar. (1) Remember ____, by 1670, (2) Priscilla Pabodie 92 Nov 1673.
4. Noah Wiswall, bp. 30 Dec 1638, Dorchester, Mass. Bay Colony
5. Ebenezer Wiswall, b. ca. 1646, Dorchester, Mass. Bay Colony; d. 21 Jun 1691 Newton, age 45; mar. Sarah (Payson) Foster 26 Mar 1685, widow of ppFoster-2348|Elisha]] and dau. of Giles Payson. She d. in 1714.
6. Eliza Wiswall, b. 15 Apr 1649, Dorchester, Mass. Bay Colony.
7. Sarah Wiswall, bp. 19 Mar 1653, Dorchester, Mass. Bay Colony; mar. Nathaniel Holmes.^[10]

Also possibly:

• Mary Wiswall, b.?; mar. Samuel Payson.^[11][5] Savage questions the link due to the age on her gravestone, but places her with Thomas' children.

Probate

This is an Inventory of the Estate of Elder Thomas Wiswall of Cambr village who decead. 6 December 1683 Apprized by us the subscribers.

His wearing cloaths both linnen & woollen 006 07 00
In the lower Lodging Room
A featherbed, a feather bolster, 2 feather pillows a straw bed 005 00 00
& Rug, a blankett & bedstead with curtains altogether
4 pr of old sheets, 4 pillowbeers 001 15 00
2 Table cloaths, 11 napkins, 4 Towells 001 00 00
a Table, a form, 6 joynd stools, a little Table 001 05 00
A great chair, 2 small chairs, 6 cushions 000 08 00
A chest, 2 Thinks, a warming pan 000 15 00
A small cupboard, 4 bibles, 4 Psalm books, 6 other small 001 08 00
books
2 old brushes a little looking glass 000 02 00
2 old hogsheads, a tub, 2 trays, 2 milk bowls 2 small bear barrells 000 08 00
An old bridle & saddle, a pannell 000 10 00
A churns, 2 sacks, a grid Iron 000 05 00
A dwelling house & barn with a small orchard to It & about two hundred & seven acres of upland & meadow wX of yr is 220 00 00
about six acres of ye land yE is broak up Abt a yeer & half service in a man servant 008 00 00
A pcceii of stone fence abt ye aforesd land 007 00 00
The Irons to the pump 000 05 00

Apprised the 14. Decemb 1683 by us
Thomas Prentice
James Trowbridge
William Bond

Decemb' 18. 83
Sworne in Court of Noah Wiswall & Ebenezar Wiswall Adams^[12][13]

Research Notes

Possible relationship:
Margery Lauer of Dorchester made her last will the 4. of the 6:[16]64, in which she mentioned no relatives, but made various bequests to "John Wiswall, the youngest of three," the children of Daniel Preston, Jane Gurnet, John Wiswalls wife, Enoch Wiswall's wife & daughter, Goodwife Preston, Thomas Wiswall in Cambridge, and John Wiswall. After legacies & debts, etc., were paid, the residue to be given equally to John, Thomas, and Enoch Wiswall, and Daniel Preston. Executors Daniel Preston & Enoch Wiswall. Witnesses were Wm. & Mary Chaplen. Proved 10 (9) 64. Estate apprised by John & Thomas Wiswall 30 Aug 1664.^[14]

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J3ZP-23N : 11 February 2018, Raphe Wyswall in entry for John Wyswall, 20 Sep 1601); citing WARRINGTON,LANCASHIRE,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 0844815 IT 1-2.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Wiswall, Joseph Michael, compiler, The Wiswall Family Genealogical Handbook (Jericho, Vermont: Brown's River Bindery, 1987)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Jackson, Francis,A history of the early settlement of Newton, county of Middlesex, Massachusetts : from 1639 to 1800, (Boston:1854) pp. 451-452
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Titus, Rev. Anson, "The Wiswall Family of America," NEHGR, Vol. 40(1886):59. Link on Archive.org.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} James Savage, compiler, A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register Vol. 4:617 (Link on Archive.org).
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Newton Centre Improvement Assoc., Historical Sketch of Crystal Lake (Stetson Press, Boston: 1911), Chapter II.
7. ↑ Threlfall, John Brooks, Fifty great migration colonists to New England & their origins (Madison, Wisconsin : J.B. Threlfall, 1990) p. 519-528. Link on FamilySearch.org.
8. ↑ Threlfall, John Brooks, "The English Origin of John & Thomas Wiswall", TAG Vol. 58(1982):110-115. Link by $ubscription.
9. ↑ Middlesex County, Massachusetts Probate Records, Vol. 6:179
10. ↑ Linzee, John William, The history of Peter Parker and Sarah Ruggles of Roxbury, Mass. (Boston, Mass. : J.W. Linzee, 1913) p. 262- (Link on Archive.org)
11. ↑ Titus, Wiswall Family," NEHGR Vol. 40:59, cites Jackson and Savage.
12. ↑ Middlesex County, MA: Index to Probate Records, 1648-1871, Probate file #25371.
13. ↑ Middlesex County, Massachusetts Probate Records, Vol. 6:179
14. ↑ Trask, William B., "Abstracts from the Earliest Wills on Record in the County of Suffolk, Mass.," NEHGR Vol. 13(1859):13. .

See also:

• Charles Robert Anderson, Great Migration Directory, (NEHGS, 2015) p. 381.

Wiswall, Thomas: [origins] Winwick, Lancashire; 1636; Dorchester, Cambridge. Cites DChR 3; DTR 28; TAG 58:110-15; Parker-Ruggles 262-69, 396-99; NEHGR 40:58-59

• Manuscript [Hugh Darrell Miller, comp.] Genealogy: Ethel Peters Miller/Hugh Darrell Miller, 1985, copy in possession of author (?).
• Supplement to Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Ancestry.com, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data - Sanborn, Melinde Lutz. Third Supplement to Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003. Original data: Sanborn, Me.
• Jackson, Francis, A history of the early settlement of Newton, county of Middlesex, Massachusetts : from 1639 to 1800, (Boston:1854) pp. 451-452.
• Clapp, David, The ancient proprietors of Jones's Hill, Dorchester including brief sketches... (Boston:1883) pp. 46-52
• Wiswall, Clarence Augustus, A Wiswall line : ten generations in descent from Elder Thomas (Boston:1925) pp. 5-11