Thomas Wight (abt. 1603 - 1674)

Born about 1603 in England

Husband of Alice (Unknown) Wight — married 1625 in England

Husband of Lydia (Eliot) Wight — married 1665 in Medfield, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 17 Mar 1674 at about age 71 in Medfield, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message] and Elizabeth S [send private message]

Thomas Wight migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 372) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed Parents

This profile was previously attached to as a son of Robert Wight and Elizabeth Fulshaw. Robert Wight and Elizabeth Fulshaw are the known parents of Elizabeth (Wight) Heaton (1606-1671) of Boston, and have been considered as possibly the parents of Thomas Wight of Exeter [NEHGR 68:77], but there is no known connection to this Thomas Wight.

Biography

There is a family tradition that Thomas Wight came from the Isle of Wight in England, but there is no solid evidence to back up that claim. The same tradition holds that he eloped to New England with a rich girl named Alice Roundy, who sold her jewels to pay for her passage. Thomas' wife's name was Alice, but so far, her surname is unknown. It also appears that they had children before emigrating from England.

From The Wights, p. :

In July, 1637, Thomas Wight was admitted an inhabitant of Dedham. At this time his family consisted of his wife Alice or Elsie and his children Henry, John and Thomas and perhaps Mary. Thomas Wight received the portion of land, 12 acres, allotted to each married man.

He and his wife were received into the church 7/6/1640.

He became a freeman on October 8, 1640.

He became a selectman in 1641.

Around 1649 he became interested in the movement for dividing Dedham and creating Medfield. In 1650, he was allotted 12 acres in Medfield and his son, John (who would have to have been at least 21 at the time) was given an abutting 6 acres.

He became a deacon in the Medfield church in 1667.

Thomas was married twice:

1. Alice (d. July 15, 1665).

2. Lydia (Eliot) Penniman, widow of James Penniman of Boston m. 7 Dec. 1665.

Thomas Wight died in Medfield March 17, 1673/4.

Birth

Birth: in England about 1603 (a rough estimate assuming approximately 25 at birth of first child in c1628).

Death

Death: March 17 1673/74, Medfield, Suffolk, Massachusetts.

Marriages

Marriage: about 1625?

Alice Unknown (Roundy?)

Children:

1. Henry Wight
2. Ann Wight
3. John Wight
4. Thomas Wight
5. Samuel Wight, born February 5, 1639, in Dedham.
6. Mary Wight married Thomas Ellis. Had daughter Juda.
7. Ephraim Wight, born January 27, 1645.
8. David Wight

Second marriage to Lydia (Eliot) Penniman.

Will

In the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred seventy-two, the seventh day of the twelfth month, I, Thomas Wight, Senior, of Medfleld, in the county of Suffolk, In New England, being by the good hand of God in some comfortable measure of health ut the present, and sound in my memory and understanding, yet being grown in age and accompanied with the infirmities incident thereunto, and thereby frequently put in mind of my mortality, do, therefore, in the name and fear of God (in preparation to my expected change), make and ordain this my last will and testament for the disposing and settling the things of this life wherewith it hath pleased God to intrust me, in manner and form as followeth: —Wherein, I first give and commit my soul into the hands of Jesus Christ, mv dear Redeemer, and my body to the earth whence it was taken, to be after my decease christianly buried at the discretion of my executors.

Imprimis Whereas Lydia, my present dear and well beloved wife, did before my marriage with her make an agreement with me in all respects concerning her supply from me in case of my departure out of this natural life before herself, which agreement, under my hand and seal, is yet remaining in the keeping of Mr. John Eliot, Pastor of the Church of Christ, in Roxbury, her brother.

Item I do hereby fully settle and confirm unto aud upon my son. Henry Wight, of Dedham, my eldest son, all those my houses and lands lying and being in Dedham, formerly contracted for, with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging, and further I give unto the said Henry, my son. my two bigest books.

Item I give and bequeath unto my son, Thomas Wight, the one half of that parcel! of wood land which I formerly bought of Major Lusher, lying in Dedham bounds, and four acres of my swamp lying by William Cheney's, on the side next the said William Cheney and of the swamp at the end of Month Street lotts, three acres adjoining to his own swamp, and the one half of all wearing clothes, both linen and wollen, boote, shoes and hats.

Item I will and bequeath unto my son, Samuel Wight, and to his heirs forever, all that parcel! of meadow which I formerly bought of John Warfleld of Medfield, and all that parcell of land granted me by the town of Medfield, lying and adjoining to the parcell last above mentioned, and also one other parcell of coarse meadow lying in the swamp called Maple swamp, as also one-half of all my wearing clothes, both Linen and wollen, boots, shoes and hats.

Item I will and bequeath unto my daughter Mary Ellis, the wife of Thomas Ellis, and her heirs forever, that my bed, bedstead, and all the furniture thereunto belonging, fitted in all respects for use, as it now standeth in the parlor chamber in my dwelling house, as also one half of all such brass, pewter and iron pots as I shall leave at the time of my decease.

Item I will and bequeath unto my son, Ephraim Wight, and his heirs forever, all that my dwelling house, barn and outhouses belonging to the same, with all that rnv house lot whereupon they stand and are situated, and all other the appurtenances and accommodations to that my house and lot, as well already laid out as to be laid out whatsoever, both meadow, upland and swamp not formerly given and bequeathed, with all town rights and privileclges any way belonging or anv way appertaining to the same or any part thereof; as also the one half of all that tract of woodland which I formerly bought of Major Lusher, of Dedham, lying in Dedham bounds; as also twelve acres of land which I formerly bought of John Ellis; as also four acres of meadow land lying on the mill brook ; as also all that my parcell of land lying in Dedham bounds, comonly known by the name of the round plain, the ten acres formerlv given to my son, Thomas Wight, excepted.

Item I will and bequeath unto my grandchild, Juda Ellis, the daughter of my daughter, Mary Ellis, five pounds, to be paid to my executors in good and current country pay, within six months after my decease: and as for the residue of my estate, bills, bonds, debts, cattle, household stuff and movewbles of what kind or sort soever, not formerly given and bequeathed (my just debts being paid and my funeral expenses discharged) are hereby willed and bequeathed unto my son, Ephraim Wight.

Item -"l do hereby nominate, appoint, ordain and constitute my wellbeloved son, Henry Wight of Dedham, and my son, Ephraim Wight, of Medfleld, to be my executors to this my last will and testament, to whom I give and commit full power und trust for the full execution and performance of this my last will and testament, in all respects as is above mentioned ; and in witness that this is my last will and testament contained in this sheet of paper, I do hereby renounce all other wills and bequeathments by me at any time formerly made, and have hereunto put my hand and seal, the date and year above written. his mark

Signed, waled and published THOMAS WIGHT, and a seale.

in the presence of GEORGE BARBER

his mark HENRY H LALAND.

George Barber and Henry Laland, the two witnesses to this instrument, personally appeared before John Leverett, Esq., Govr., and Edward Tyng, Assist., April 2d, 1674, and deposed that they were present on the day of the date of this instrument, and then and there did heare and see Thomas Wight, the subscriber, seal and publish the same as his last will and testament; and that when he so did, he was of a sound disposing mind, to their best understanding.—Suffolk County Probate Records, Vol. 7, 444.

INVENTORY OF THE ESTATE OF THOMAS WIGHT.

A true inventory of the estate, both of Lands, Housings and Cattle and moveable goods of Thomas Wight sen., late of Medfield", in the county of Suffolk, in New England, who deceased March the seventeenth, 1678, with all other dues to him belonging, as it was apprized the 24th, 1 mo., 1673-4, by those underwritten :

IN THE PARLOR.

Imprimits—To his books 1 10 00

To his wearing apparel 11

featherbed, bedstead and covering 7

money 4 2 3

a cup board, table and chairs 1 6

IN THE PARLOR CHAMBER.

a bedstead and furniture 4 6

a chest of linen 4 18

several pieces of linen and woolen cloth 6 16

31 Ib. of yerne 2 15

IN THE LITTLE BEDROOM.

a chest, bedstead and bedding 3 10

IN THE HALL.

tables, forms and a chair, 0 16

andirons, firepan, tonges, hakes 1

bellows, combs, hourglass, shears 0 12 6

IN THE BUTTERY.

14 peices of pewter 2 18

iron pots and brass vessels 8 16

frying pan, gridiron, mortar, spittand several vessells and lumber 1 10

IN THE LEANTO CHAMBER.

Flax, old iron, 8 corn sacks and lumber 8 11

IN THE HALL CHAMBER.

a bedstead and bedding and spinning wheel 1 13

IN THE GARRETT.

wheat and rye and Indian corn 4

fann and lumber 0 8

IN THE CELLAR.

a tub of pork, suet, lumber 2 14

IN THE BACK LEANTO.

several iron tools and instruments 2 16

spinning wheel, saddle and horse furniture, stock cards and grindstone 1 7

To a musket and pike 0 10

cart, plough, chains and hooks 2

cart rope and plough irons 0 8

two cows, two oxen, one yearling and one calf. 18

hay in the barn, ladder and pitch forks 1 14

5 sheep and two swine 8 13

the dwelling house and barn and other outhouses, with twelve acres of land on w hich the building stands 160

pasture laud and orchard adjoining to the house and lot 20

16 acres and one rod of swamp land , 8

4 acres of meadow on the mill brook , 20

11 acres of meadow land by Charles River 40

11 acres of upland on tine hill 10

14 acres of land on round plain 17

7 acres and one rod of land 6

16 acres of land by Joseph Morse 8

8 acres of land by London farm 4

10 acres and half of woodland west Charles River 5

7 acres of land and 25 poles 4

16 acres and half of land on long plain 10

166 acres of land on the new grant 10

8 acres of swamp land 3

4 acres of meadow land 12

110 acres of land in Dedhum bounds 15

Debts due to the estate 22 1 04

£463 15 01

Remembered since in land : 1

8 acres of land more 1 10

Debts to be paid out of the estate 2 18

his mark

TIMOTHY DWIGHT,

HENRY ADAMS,

JOHN MEDCALFE.

[There is an error In the footing of the inventory, it should be £464 05 01.]

Henry Wight and Ephraim Wight personally appeared April 2, 1674, before John Leverett, Esq., Govr. and Edward Tyng, Assist., and made oath that this paper contains a just and true inventory of the estate of their late father, Thomas Wight, of Medfleld, to the best of their knowledge, and that when they know more they will discover the same.—Suffolk County Probate Records, Vol. 7, 447.

In the probate records, the date of the death of Thomas Wight, prefixed to the inventory of his estate, is March 17th, 1678 —the year 1674, according to the manner of dating at that time, not commencing till eight days later, March 25. His estate was apprized seven days after his decease, the 24th, 1 mo 1678-4. His death is recorded in the Medfleld records under the year 1674, as it should be. (Wight's Wight Family, 105—110 )

DNA

A descendant of Thomas' son Samuel has tested Y-DNA12 and belongs to haplogroup Q1

See the WIGHT Surname DNA project for further information.

At only Y-DNA12, and only one participant from this line, it would be good to have this dna signature confirmed, preferably at least to Y-DNA37 if you wish to examine relationships within genealogical timeframes.

Research Notes

Charles Henry Pope in "Pioneers of Massachusetts" lists the Henry Wight who was a freeman in Dedham in 1647 as the BROTHER of this Thomas, not the son of Thomas. He listed Henry's wife Jane as last name unknown and the list of children matches what is on the profile of son Henry.^[1]

Pope is almost certainly wrong about the relationship, but freeman status in 1647 would "usually" indicate that Henry was at least 25 and very likely older and owned some property along with belonging to church, which he did. So Henry's birth was probably earlier than 1628.

Sources

1. ↑ The pioneers of Massachusetts, a descriptive list, drawn from records of the colonies, towns and churches and other contemporaneous documents Author Pope, Charles Henry, 1841-1918 https://archive.org/stream/pioneersofmassac00pope#page/496/mode/2up

See also:

• Wight, William Ward. The Wights: A Record of Thomas Wight of Dedham and Medfield. Milwaukee, Swain & Tate, 1890. Digital book from www.Archive.org. Accessed 27 Sep 2016.

• The Wight Family - Memoir of Thomas Wight of Dedham, Mass., by Danforth Phipps Wight, Boston, 1848| Sons of Thomas and Alice Wight

• New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Ancestry.com Online publication. Original data - Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.

• Lincolnshire, England, Extracted Parish Records. Ancestry.com Online Publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001. Original data - Electronic databases created from various publications of parish and probate records.

• The record of baptisms, marriages and deaths and admissions to the church and dismissals therefrom, transcribed from the church records in the town of Dedham, Massachusetts. Note: At head of title: A memorial volume. Includes indexes. Ancestry.com.

• A genealogical history of the Clark and Worth families : and other Puritan settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Johnson, Carol Clark. Cygnet, Ohio: Private printing, 1970. Place of publication from introduction Includes bibliographical references (p. 510-512) and index. Ancestry.com.

• English Origins of New England Families, Vol. III.

• Topographical Dictionary of 2885 English Emigrants to New England, 1620-1650.

• Ancestor Lineages of Members Texas Society/National Society Colonial Dames Seventeenth Century.

• Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, Volume III.

• Find A Grave: Memorial #52613427 NO Burial, NO Stone, No Source