Noah Vilas (1733 - 1799)

Born 2 Nov 1733 in Hopkinton, Middlesex, Province of Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Abigail (Baker) Vilas — married 24 Jul 1760 in Grafton, Worcester, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 17 Sep 1799 at age 65 in Alstead, Cheshire, New Hampshire, United States

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Biography

Noah Vilas was only known child of Peter Vilas and Mercy (Gay) Vilas. In his will, made on 19 Dec 1753, John Gay of Dedham, Massachusetts, names, among others, his daughter Marcy Vialas and his grandson Noah Vialas.^[1] Noah Vilas was born on 2 Nov 1733 in Massachusetts, probably at Hopkinton.^[2]

Noah Vilas of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and Abigail Baker of Grafton, Massachusetts, married at Grafton on 24 Jul 1760.^[3] She was the daughter of Gideon and Priscilla Baker.^[2]

"Early in life, he moved to Alstead, New Hampshire, where, in common with those sturdy pioneers about him, he began to open up the then wild country. He was a devout Christian, and the diary left by him recounts the many struggles he had in maintaining his strong faith."^[2]

Noah Vilas came to Alstead from Grafton, Massachusetts, and in 1770 founded at Alstead Center a farm that was to remain in his family for generations.^[4]

The gravestone of Noah Vilas at the Alstead Center Cemetery says that he died on 17 Sep 1799.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Suffolk County Probate records Vol. 53:461-5, Will of John Gay
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} C. H. Vilas, Genealogy of the descendants of Peter Vilas (Madison, Wis., 1875), page 53
3. ↑ Marriage record of Noah Vilas and Abigail Baker, in Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, database with images, FamilySearch > Worcester > Grafton > Births, marriages, deaths 1716-1851 > image 186 of 215; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston.
4. ↑ Helen H. Frink, Alstead Through the Years: 1763-1990 (Alstead, N. H., 1990), page 5 for coming from Grafton, page 307 for the year the farm was founded
5. ↑ Photo of gravestone of Noah Vilas (Find A Grave: Memorial #78469721)

See also:

• Charles N. Vilas, The Vilas Family in Alstead, New Hampshire (Alstead, N. H., 1924), pages 9 and 14. This volume says (on page 14) he arrived in Alstead in 1799, which is contradicted by other sources, and is probably a simple typo.