William Wise (bef. 1744 - abt. 1816)

Born before 29 Jan 1744 in Maryculter, Kincardineshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 15 May 1816 after about age 72 in Bulloch County, Georgia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Magan Martin [send private message]

Biography

The parents of William Wise were John Wyse and Margaret (Tait) Wyse. John married Margaret Tait in 1740 in Maryculter Parish Church, old Kincardineshire, Scotland. She was a daughter of William Tait and his wife Margaret Colley, probably of Maryculter, Kincardineshire, Scotland. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

There is an indication that William was the 2nd of 3 children. ^[4] As a christening certificate shows William in Maryculter, it seems more likely that John and his wife Margaret immigrated to a British County in Old Bladen County in North Carolina with their 2 small children John Jr., and William sometime after 1744 before settling in the British Colony of Old Craven County South Carolina and having their 3d son Jacob. (AMT per Roger Allen)

Family and Property

"William raised his children at first in the Scottish settlement on the Great Pee Dee River in Old Craven County (now Marion) South Carolina. He and his family moved twice more. At first they moved to the Beaufort District, also in South Carolina.

After a while, William and his family moved for the last time, this time to what he referred to as his “Beaulah Land” in Northeastern Georgia. Once this area was divided up into counties, it fell into the area first known as Effingham County, pieces of which were then divided up further into Scriven (later changed to Screven), [bridging intermarriage between Austrian Groovers from Effingham and Scots from SC) Burke, and then into Bulloch Counties." (AMT per Roger Allen)

Together William and Margaret had 9 children being

1) Henry *

2) Elizabeth Nancy (Wise) Groover * At the time her father died she was a Denmark? But he paid Solomon Groover out of his estate?

3) Zilpha (Wise) Goodman *

4) Susannah (Wise) Denmark *

5) Lavinia

6) Preston *

7) Rebecca (Wise) Jones *

8) John ^[5] *

9) Jane (Wise) Denmark, "Jincy" *

In William's Will he disperses his cattle to all his children except one - Lavinia. The asterisks were an attempt to figure out which child got left out and then maybe ask why.

See Will and Testament ^[6]

Jared was his nephew so I assume William outlived his brother Jacob.

Henry Wise, Nancy Denmark, Susannah Denmark, Preston Wise, Rebecca Jones, Zilpha Goodman, John Wise, Jincey Denmark

What happened to Lavinia?

Military

• According to the book Memoirs of Georgia on page 378, “William Wise was a native of Scotland and emigrated to this country when quite a young man before the Revolutionary War and settled in Screven county, Ga.” The chapter in the book also notes that William Wise was soldier “in the revolution”. ^[7] This source was shared by Kenneth Dixon
  

  Soldier William Wise served with South Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.
  

  William Wise performed Patriotic Service in Georgia in the American Revolution.
  

  William Wise is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A126831.
  

  William Wise was a Prisoner of War during the American Revolution.

• William Wise is listed in Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) records under number A126831 for Georgia/South Carolina. ^[8] You must pay or have a membership to view this info as well as the NSSAR records. This is a record for William Wise from South Carolina that was listed in the South Carolina archives index. ^[9] This source is from the research of Kenneth Dixon^[10] There were 2 other William’s listed that had middle initials that are not this William Wise.

• William served very proudly with the forces under the command of General Elijah Clarke of the new American Continental Army fighting the British regulars at the Battles of Kettle Creek, Augusta, and many more. ^[11] Note: William must have served while being married and raising a family.

Death and Legacy

William died on the family plantation near Belcher, on Mill Creek, on the Old Mill Road in Bulloch County on 15 May1816. probated 1 July 1816^[12] NOTE: Mr Allen's article has inconsistencies, the most glaring is apparent as we have William's christening records in Maryculter. But with that said, there is enough information, especially as it concerns Georgia, therefore, I am changing the death from July, 1816 to May as indicated in the article as a Will is probated later. Moyer-780 16:11, 14 November 2021 (UTC)

Research Notes

The SAR ID P- 61536 is not valid on the website The DAR site for A126831 says that there are problems with the submitted information. The birth shows Virginia, not Scotland

Keep in mind there is no record found at this time linking this John and Margaret in Scotland to this William Wise (This information is from the research of Kenneth Dixon) so we must be ready to edit the information if new and accurate information is found. * Church record of parents, John Wise and Margaret Tait at the Christening of their second son William^[13] Moyer-780 18:06, 5 February 2022 (UTC), placing their family in Maryculter Scotland in 1744.

Wormhold Alert:

This Source Refers to William Wise (Wyse). The last name is important especially in this case because Wyse is Scottish and Wise is English. As there is a voice out there attempting to attribute this family to the Wises of Sydenham, thus Accomack County and British descent, the Wyse name will add to distinguishing our line from them.

To begin: To the extent the article is correct, then the descent goes like this:

John Wise married Margaret Tait

They have 3 sons: 1) John b. 1742 Old Bladen County, NC but probably Mulculter Kincardineshire Scotland; 2) William b. 1744 Mulculter Kincardineshire, but family immigrated to Old Bladen County, NC; and 3) Jacob b. 1753 Old Craven County, SC (Not NC).

1) John Jr. had 2 children: Elizabeth and Lewis.

2) William married Sarah Margaret Denmark ^[14]

3) Jacob had one son Jared (The article had a typo and left out a period after Jared)

Clarifying Identity of Margaret Wise

It is documented in records that his wife’s name was Margaret. No marriage record has been found. At some point in time, family trees started documenting (without sources) that he married a Sarah Margaret Denmark. It is not known that this person actually existed or where the name came from. It must be kept in mind that William’s wife Margaret might have a different last name. Louisa was supposedly a sister of a Sarah Margaret (according to unsourced trees), however, a Sarah Margaret was not listed when Louisa Denmark Rester applied for a Revolutionary Pension based on her husband's service. Sarah Margaret’s birth year is about 1757 and is 6 years older than Stephen Denmark. A family record was submitted by Louisa with the following information

David Rester was born in July the 16th day of our Lord 1786

Stephen Denmark was born November the 14th 1763

Susannah Denmark was born Made the 6 day 1765

Jammima Denmark was born in November the 8th 1767

Luicea Denmark was born October the 17th 1768

Elizabeth Denmark was born the 4th day of August 1771

Reading Denmark was born December the 8th day 1773

Clark Denmark was born October the first day 1775

Matthew Denmark was born in November the 15th 1777"^[15] (Note: Matthew is a typo and should be Martha)

This is where genetic genealogy becomes helpful.

Back to William: William and his wife had three daughters that married three of the sons of William Batchelor and Anna Moye Denmark.

Jane Jincey Wise married Malachi Moye Denmark. 

Susanah Wise married James Denmark.

Lavinia Wise married Redden Moye Denmark.

Last Will and Testament

Please refer to the Last Will and Testament in its Free Space ^[16]. William Wise's family was large, complicated and I understand these profiles are only suppose to be thumbnail sketches. Its all there both with the original document as copied by Kenneth Dixon and Amanda's breakdown.

Questions

1. When did William Wise come to America and where did he arrive?

2. Where did he enlist to serve during the Revolutionary War and how long did he serve?

3. When and where did he marry?

4. Does anyone know when Sarah Margaret Denmark started showing up in family trees?

5. How long did William Wise live in South Carolina since some of his children listed here were born in South Carolina?

6. When did William Wise arrive in Georgia and where? According to the book Memoirs of Georgia on page 378 it notes he went to Screven County, Georgia.

Also see genealogy.com [6]

Sources

1. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XBHJ-QD9
2. ↑ Name: William Wise Gender: Male Christening Date: 05 Feb 1744 Christening Place: MARYCULTER, KINCARDINE, SCOTLAND Birth Date: 29 Jan 1744 Father's Name: John Wise Mother's Name: Margaret Tait Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C11264-2 System Origin: Scotland-ODM GS Film number: 993321. Entered by Amanda Moyer.
3. ↑ https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=catherineburr357&id=I8400&op=GET
4. ↑ Roger Allen. Statesboro Herald [1] Updated 19 May 2007
5. ↑ According to the Will, John became heir to much of William's estate being: "9th - I give and bequeath unto my Son John Wise one negro man named Jack, all my land and improvements lying on Mill Creek where I now live together with One Hundred acres, and two town lotts lying at Bulloch Courthouse also all my stock of sheeps, hogs, horses and poultry of every kind together with all my household and kitchen furniture of every kind." He also inherited a 9th of William's cattle.
6. ↑ Williams Will and Testament [2]
7. ↑ https://archive.org/details/memoirsofgeorgia01unse/page/n417.
8. ↑ https://www.geni.com/people/William-Wise/6000000006452737331
9. ↑ http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/ArchivesImages/S108092/S108092016100483000/images/S108092016100483000.pdf
10. ↑ http://genealogytrails.com/scar/patriots.htm
11. ↑ Roger Allen Statesboro Herald [3]
12. ↑ The Wise Family written by Roger Allen Published: May 4, 2007, 5:04 PM [4]
13. ↑ "Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XBHJ-QDS : 16 September 2021), John Wise in entry for William Wise, 1744.
14. ↑ Roger Allen says William married Second to Elizabeth Cade but this is unconvincing as William's Will indicates Margaret was still living when he died
15. ↑ http://revwarapps.org/r8707.pdf
16. ↑ William Wise's Last Will and Testament [5]

• https://www.statesboroherald.com/life/bulloch-history-with-roger-allen-bulloch-county-affected-by-cross-section-of-rivers/

• Ancestry.com

• https://time.com/4451977/history-of-middle-names/

• https://archive.org/details/coljohnwiseofeng00wise/page/n9

Acknowledgments

• This profile was started by Amanda Moyer and by Magan Harrell on 27 Aug 2013.