| Thomas Wait migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 354) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
Sources from Great Migration Directory: PoTR 6 (Early Records of the Town of Portsmouth); RICR (Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) 1:111; WP (Winthrop Papers) 4:135; NEHGR 69:188 and 73:291-92; TAG 20:230-232 and 67:193-200; Austin (The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island) 404-407.
Note: A previous, pre-merged version of this profile gave the name of the wife of Thomas Wait as "Eleanor Wardwell" citing Edmund West, Yates Publishing both of which are compilations of information from several unsources Ancestry.com profiles. Also cited for "Wardwell" surname was Clarence Torry's "New England Marriages Prior to 1700."
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Thomas Waite of Portsmouth, RI was born in England about 1615. On July 7, 1630 he was granted land in Portsmouth. On the 14th of December 1640 his estate was divided between his wife Elinor ? and six children.
The English ancestry of this Waite family was discussed in the article "Judith at the Island"[1].
This article goes on to show that the baptism of Richard Wait's children occurred at Rigsby, co. Lincoln. Among them were: Richard, bpt. 10 April 1604; Gamaliel, bpt. 12 Jan 1605[06]; and Thomas, bpt. 13 June 1612.
NOTE: This birth dates and place (Wales) in this next quote are incorrect.
Direct Line of ancestors to come to the colonies were three brothers, Richard, born 1596, Gamaliel, born 1598, and Thomas, born 1601. We are told they were farmers and herdsmen of Wales and "that on one occasion they were driving a herd of cattle to some market place and were beset by a so-called press gang. By their daring and skill they managed to get away, sold their cattle and went on board a vessel bound to Plymouth, N.E., America," where they arrived in 1634. Richard and Gamaliel lived in Boston, while thomas, our ancestor, went to Rhode Island in 1683. (Burroughs)
Two famous figures in American History are Roger Williams, born about 1606 in Wales, who came to Boston in 1631 and was banished in 1635, fleeing to and founding Providence in 1636; and Ann Hutchinson, who, in 1637, with a small band, visitied Williams and, upon his invitation, founded a new settlement, later name Portsmouth. The next spring, 1638, another company went from Boston to Portsmouth and Thomas Wait is supposed to be one of their number.
There is evidence that one son, Benjamin, lived in Massachusetts and not mentioned (in Thomas's will).
Thomas Wait (1601-1669[?]), almost immediately after his arrival at Rhode Island, applied for a lot on which to build (the land being held in common), and at the first meeting of the Council thereafter the record of its proceedings reads: "July 1, 1639, Granted to Thomas Wait a house lot next Mr. Wick's>" (Wait)
March 16,1641, he was made a Freeman at Newport, R.I., a privilege then only granted to church members, and May 6, 1649, he was witness to the will of Anthony Paine; in 1655 he is again described as a Freeman; April 30, 1661, he bought lands in Acushnet and Cohasset, Mass., and is described as a husbandman.
Thomas Waite was also a Freeman at Boston, Oct. 8, 1640. He died some time before Apr., 1677, interstate, and the Town Council divided his property among his children: Samuel, Joseph, Jeremiah, Thomas, Mary and Reuben. His wife's name is not on record that we can find; she must have died previous to the division of his property.
Birth Probably 1612. Baptized on 13 Jun 1612 in Rigsby with Ailby[2]. Father Richi (probably Richard?) Wait
THOMAS1 WAITE1 was born 1601 in Rigsby-With-Ailby, Lincolnshire, England, and died September 13, 1677 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island. He married ELEANOR ?. Immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in 1633.
Thomas Waite was born in 1601 in England, and in 1640 in Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island, married Eleanor (?) who was born in 1605 in England. Thomas died on 13 Sep 1665 in Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island. Thomas may have been the son of Samuel Waite and Mary Ward of Essex, England.
(Another Historical document records: THOMAS WAIT. Born bef 13 Jun 1612 in Rigsby-With-Ailby, Lincolnshire, England. Thomas was baptized in Rigsby-With-Ailby, Lincolnshire, England on 13 Jun 1612. Thomas died in Portsmouth, Newport, RI bef 14 Dec 1669; he was 57. Occupation: Husbandman. Thomas married Eleanor ? Born in England. Eleanor died bef 13 Jun 1671 in RI. )
Children of THOMAS WAITE and ELEANOR ? are:
WAITE, Thomas 898
Born: 1601, Alford Lines, Lincolnshire, England 898
Marriage: [--?--], Eleanore
Died: 13 Sep 1665, Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island 898
Noted events in his life were: • Notes: from Douglas Steward Aldrich. 898 Event: Public service 7 Jun 1658 and in 1663 Portsmouth, Newport Co., Rhode Island - Constable
Note: "Thomas Waite was granted land in Portsmouth on 1 Jul 1639... Some rather significant inferences can be made regarding the religious orientation of the Waits by the fact that Thomas at least, became a part of Roger Williams' settlement on Delaware Bay which was organizedin 1637 only two years previous to Thomas Waite's arrival. Roger Williams was exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 for his belief in freedom of conscience in religion. He was warmly received by two Indian chiefs, Massosoit and Canonicus, who gave him tracts of land on the Seekonk river. Williams reserved no political power to himself, but seemed to be actuated solely by the desire to make happy all those around him. He was strenuous in asserting his own views, but he and his associates resolutely refrained from interfering with the rights of others. Thomas Waite was made a Freeman 16 Mar 1641 and given further grants in 1644 and 1646. Chosen Constable 7 Jun 1658 and in 1663 all in Portsmouth RI. 8 Jul 1650 he was a Juryman. In Apr 1661 he purchased of William Earle 1/2 share of the Acushnet and Coxetlands in what is now Dartmouth MA. He was one of the purchasers of Conanicut and Dutch Islands in 1636. He was also a large owner of lands at Narragansett and Misquamicut (Westerley RI). Aquidneck, now Rhode Island had been settled in 1637 by Ann Hutchison and her followers. In May 1638 another Boston group joined them and it is thought that Thomas Waite was of this group. On 4 Dec 1669 the estate of Thomas Waite was divided by the Portsmouth Town Council among his wife Eleanor and children; Samuel, Thomas, Benjamin, Reuben and Jeremiah and Mary. Joseph had died previously and so was not named. Thomas and Jeremiah were under 21 years of age. For years Historians had disagreed as to whether or not Benjamin was a son of Thomas. In the winter of 1913/4 the document was found in the basement of the Town House. This gave a division of the estate. See article by Moriarty on this family in the Vol. 73 page 291-304 NEHGS and also The Genealogist for April 1944 and Rhode Island Historical Collections Vol. 21 page 131." (EWT) "Eleanor Waite was made administrix of her husband's estate, as 'Elen' Waite. She married Ralph COWLAND shortly after this date. On 13 Jun 1671 'Elen COWLAND' and Thomas Waite Jr. were taxed on the estate (Portsmouth Tax List). She d. before 21 Jun1676, when Samuel Waite was made Administrator in her place.(Portsmouth Scrapbook)" (NEHGR)
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mcmanigle/17108.htm
thence to Northern Wales, the land from which our progenitors came to the New World, and very often in the responses to our inquiries of those of the same name have we received the same reply, showing that tradition, which investigation proves to be a fact, has handed down well that portion of our own history. " We descended from three brothers who came from Wales." Richard, the eldest of those brothers, was born in 1596, Gamaliel in 1598, and Thomas in 1601, and they came to Boston in 1634, the same year the ballot box was first used in the colony, and Richard was at one time marshal there.
The different branches of the Wait family contribute approximately the same traditions of the early life of their ancestors. In each there are some essential and prominent features, from which it may be deduced, and with reasonable certainty, that our ancestor, Thomas Wait, of Rhode Island, came originally from Wales and that there were three brothers, who were farmers and herdsmen by occupation.
That on one particular occasion they were driving a herd of cattle to some market place in Wales and were beset by a so-called press-gang. By their daring and skill they managed to get away, sold their cattle and immediately went on board a vessel named the "Abigail," bound to Plymouth, N. E., America, at which port they safely arrived. Two settled in Plymouth colony and the third settled in Rhode Island. The above is doubtless true in most particulars. It was Thomas who went to Portsmouth, R. I., probably in 1638....
The earliest settlers of New England, of the name, were: Richard, born 1596, of Boston, 1634, Marshal of the colony; Gamaliel, his brother, born 1598, of Boston; Thomas, born 1601, of Portsmouth, R.I.. 1639...(and others)....
In 1635 Roger Williams was sentenced to banishment, but through the efforts of his friends the sentence was not carried out. In the following winter Williams fled into exile....in the summer of 1636 went down the river and up the Providence river and began a settlement which they named Providence.
The freedom of conscience enjoyed at Providence drew many people thither from Boston and other towns in Massachusetts...In the autumn of 1637, under the leadership of William Coddington, John Clarke, Ann Hutchinson and fifteen others, left Boston with the intention of settling on Delaware Bay. They called on Roger Williams during the journey and were treated with such winning hospitality that they accepted his invitation to settle in the land of the Narragansetts, from whose chief, Miantonomah, they purchased the island of Aquidneck (Peaceable Island), now Rhode Island, and in March, 1638, they laid the foundation of ...Portsmouth...
...Absolute liberty of conscience prevailed, and the persecuted nocked thither from the other colonies. These people were so-called non-conformists and were Quakers...Another settlement at Newport was formed in the southern part of the island. ...The next year, in early May, 1638, another company went from Boston and joined them, and it is supposed that among that number was Thomas Wait, who was born in 1601, and who landed in America in 1634.
I. THOMAS1 WAIT (1601-1677), almost immediately after his arrival at Rhode Island, applied for a lot on which to build (the land being held in common), and at the first meeting of the Council thereafter the record of its proceedings reads: "July 1, 1639, Granted to Thomas1 Wait a house lot next Mr. Wick's." Mar. 16, 1641, he was made a Freeman at Newport, R. I., a privilege then only granted to church members, and May 6, 1649, he was witness to the will of Anthony Paine; in 1655 He is again described as a Freeman; Apr. 30, 1661, he bought lands in Acushnet and Cohasset, Mass., and is described as a husbandman. Thomas1 Wait was also a Freeman at Boston, Oct. 8, 1640. He died in Portsmouth some time before Apr., 1677, intestate, and the Town Council divided his property among his children; Samuel2, Joseph2, Jeremiah2, Thomas2, Mary2 and Reuben2. His wife's name is not on record that we can find; she must have died previous to the division of his property. These are the only children mentioned in the division, but there is some evidence that Thomas1 had another son, Benjamin2, who is supposed to have been the third child of Thomas, and to have been born about 1644, and who is believed to be the same Benjamin2 who was one of the petitioners of Hadley, Mass., Apr. 25, 1665; of Hatfield, Hampshire Co., Mass., 1668, and who was slain by Indians at Deerfield, Mass., 1704. These facts seem to be verified by Hampshire Co. deeds, at Springfield, Mass., Vol. C, pp. 72-3, whereby Thomas1 Wait, of Seacourt, R. I., and Benjamin2 Wait, of Hatfield, Mass., Feb. 3, 1700, bought property in Brookfield, Mass., of John Ayers, etc. Brookfield is about half way between Hatfield and Portsmouth, R. I., near Worcester, Mass. Seacourt, R, I., is not given on the modern maps. In Vol. C, p. 439, a deed is recorded whereby John3, Jeremiah3 and Joseph3, sons of Benjamin, of Hatfield, Mass., and John Belding, Joseph Smith and Ebenezer Wells, who married daughters of Benjamin2, deceased, sold, May 24, 1717, the land in Brookfield, formerly the estate of John Ayers, deceased, and they warranted the same against Thomas Wait, our uncle, brother of the aforesaid Benjamin Wait, deceased. Henry E. Waite, who has made the records of the Wait family the' subject of much study and investigation, says: " There is no doubt in my mind about Benjamin being the son of the first Thomas Wait, of Rhode Island. He was in Hatfield in 1665. (Petition Mass. Archives, State House, Boston, pp. 106, 107.)"
Thomas1 invariably wrote his name Wait, and his descendants also, with very few exceptions, down almost to the present, while his cousin, Richard, born in 1608, and who settled in Watertown, Mass., in 1637, wrote his name Waite, and also did all the descendants of Thomas, the regicide, who settled in Connecticut. The use of the letter e at the end of the words was very common at one time, after the early spelling of many words, as thinke, spcake, finde, etc.
...(Thomas had six children)...
VI. REUBEN* (Thomas^), d. Oct. 7, 1707 and Tabitha
had eight children.
1. THOMAS1 WAITE1 was born 1601 in Rigsby-With-Ailby, Lincolnshire, England, and died September 13, 1677 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island. He married ELEANOR ?.
Notes for THOMAS WAITE: Immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in 1633.
Thomas Waite was born in 1601 in England, and in 1640 in Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island, married Eleanor (?) who was born in 1605 in England. Thomas died on 13 Sep 1665 in Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island. Thomas may have been the son of Samuel Waite and Mary Ward of Essex, England.
(Another Historical document records: THOMAS WAIT. Born bef 13 Jun 1612 in Rigsby-With-Ailby, Lincolnshire, England. Thomas was baptized in Rigsby-With-Ailby, Lincolnshire, England on 13 Jun 1612. Thomas died in Portsmouth, Newport, RI bef 14 Dec 1669; he was 57. Occupation: Husbandman. Thomas married Eleanor ? Born in England. Eleanor died bef 13 Jun 1671 in RI. )
Some rather significant inferences can be made regarding the religious orientation of the Waites by the fact that Thomas at least, became a part of Roger Williams' settlement on Delaware Bay which was organized in 1637 only two years previous to Thomas Waite's arrival. Roger Williams was exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 for his belief in freedom of conscience in religion. He was warmly received by two Indian chiefs, Massosoit and Canonicus, who gave him tracts of land on the Seekonk River. Williams reserved no political power for himself, but seemed to be actuated solely by the desire to make happy all those around him. He was a strenuous in asserting his own views, but he and his associates resolutely refrained from interfering with the rights of others. Thomas Waite was made a Freeman March 16, 1641 and given further grants in 1644 and 1646. Chosen Constable June 7, 1658 and in 1663 in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, July 8, 1650 he was a Juryman. In April 1661, he purchased of William Earle 1/2 share of the Acushnet and Coxet lands in what is now Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He was also a large owner of lands at Narragansett and Misquamicut (Westerly Rhode Island). Aquidneck, now Rhode Island had been settled in 1637 by Ann Hutchison and her followers. In May 1638 another Boston group joined them and it is thought that Thomas Waite was of this group.
Thomas and Ellen lived in Portsmouth, R.I most of their lives. Thomas lived in Boston about 4 years after he landed in Boston in 1634 before going to R.I. Was freeman at Boston
On July 1, 1639 Thomas was granted land in Portsmouth, R.I. In 1669 he obtained permission to build a house (house being held in common).
On March 16, 1641 he was made a freeman at New Port, R.I., a privilege then only granted, to church members.
Upon his death, the town council divided hls property among the children. After Thomas died Ellen married Ralph Cowland "Portsmouth, R.I. about 1669;
Thomas invariably wrote his name Wait and his decendants also with very few exceptions down almost to present time.
His estate was administered in Feb. 1669
In searching prior to completing the merge, I found NO SOURCE that gave a surname for Thomas Wait's wife.
I believe she should be "Unknown."
At the top I added the sources found in Great Migration Directory.
http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/188955/what-correct-lnab-for-thomas-wait-waite-england-1601-ri-1665
Thanks.
http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/188955/what-correct-lnab-for-thomas-wait-waite-england-1601-ri-1665
Thanks.
Any other decendants of Thomas Wait out there that have been DNA tested? Please contact me...
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