| Notes |
- George Wightman was born November 4, 1632 in England (possibly London) and died 7 Jan 1721/2 in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. He married Elizabeth Updike, daughter of Gilbert and Katherine (Smith) Updike. Upon arrival to Rhode Island in 1654, they settled on a farm located on a tract that was purchased from Richard Smith in the Quidnesset section, north of Wickford near North Kingstown where they reared a family of five sons and three daughters. The land they purchased was handed down intact through six generations and was known for more than two hundred years as the Wightman Homestead.
During this time as Rhode Island was being settled, there were some land disputes among the various Companys, much confusion over property titles, and much difficulty for all settlers in Kings Province regarding their political allegiance. In 1669 George Wightman and others were arrested and taken to Hartford, CT because of their allegiance to the government of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. They were kept in jail some time.
On 25 July 1670 George Wightman appears assisting a neighbor, Samuel Dyer, witnessing an agreement on the part of Samuel Dyer and Henry Dyer "sons of William Dyer" to pay to their sister, Mary Dyer, "eldest daughter of William Dyer" ?100 within three years. In 1671 an Oath of Allegiance was taken by those adhering to the jurisdiction of Rhode Island. George Wightman was among the number. On 6 May 1673 the Assembly elected George Wightman (together with others) freeman of Kings Province.
On 29 July 1679 George Wightman and forty-one others of Narragansett petitioned the King praying he "would put an end to these differences about the government thereof which has been so fatal to the prosperity of the place, animosities still arising in people's minds as they stand affected to this or that government." In 1686 George was elected Constable.
On 6 March 1687/8, Court met at Rochester "upon complaint to this court made by Robert Spink and others of the town of Rochester that several highways in said town are stopped up - it is ordered that the highway which leads from George Wightman's to the country road and comes out to the said road between the land of James Reynolds and John Briggs be forthwith laid open." On 14 September 1687 Court sitting at Rochester, members of the Grand Jury were sworn, George Wightman being one of the number.
The land records from Kingston (Town Hall at Wickford) do not begin until 1686. That George Wightman had acquired several parcels of land before that date is evident from later conveyances in his name as grantor and from his will. The deed to the Quidnessett homestead bears the date of May 1682 and the deed itself is kept in the town book. He possessed lands totalling some 2,000 acres. His "Great Bible", printed in 1587 in London is now owned by a direct descendant of his oldest grandson, George Wightman, to whom he himself bequeathed it.
Inventory of the goods, chattels, rights and credits of George Wightman, deceased, appraised in Kingston, in the Colony of Rhode Island and by the subscribers hereof, the 1st day of February A.D. 1721/2. A scant record is extant in Probate Book vi, pp. 46-47, at the town hall in Wickfor
L.s.d.
Imprimis, To silver money and wearing apparel 195.12.5
Bills of Credit 24.0.0
Bonds and Bills 122.11.6
Wrought plate, money, scales, and weights 4.5.0
In the hall
It. 6 books, bed and bedding, cord, and bedstead 8.16.0
It. One table chest, box chairs, and wooden lumber 1.1.0
It. Andirons, spit, tongs, steel years, box, iron and frame 2.7.0
In the lean-to chamber
It. Leather, bedding, lumber, woolen, wheel, and some old iron 28.5.6
In the hall chamber
It. One bed and furniture and linen, one case of drawers, four chests and one china dish 4.3.6
It. One looking glass, six dozen silver gimp buttons, one silver hat band and some old ribbon 2.0.0
In the garret
It. One set of cart boxes and some old iron 2.1.6
In the cellar
It. One iron bar, and old cask 2.16.0
It. One taylor's goose, flesh fork and old bedsteads 8.0.0
It. One fowling piece, 2 old swords 2.10.0
It. 4 old axes, 1 spade, pickaxe, 1 hoe, all old 0.10.0
It. 1 old cart and wheels and utensils belonging 3.0.0
It. One old shear and colter, 1 apple mill, and grindstone 2.6.0
It. One yoke of oxen, 8 cows, 1 bull, 19 young cattle of divers sorts and ages 36.5.0
It. Several horse kind 43.0.0
It. 30 bushes oats 3.0.0
It. Two scythes and tackling and one Murrain skin 12.0.0
It. Ten shoats, 57 sheep, bettle-rings and two wedges 36.5.0
It. Debts outstanding 29.17.6
Errors excepted -0-
Sum Total 621.6.6
Apprisers: Jaremiah Gintel, Edward Miner
Attested before Francis Willett, Clerk of the Council
(Sam Behling, Wightman Family Page)
GEORGE WIGHTMAN (1632-1722)
George Wightman, the immigrant, was born 4 Nov 1632 in England and died 7 January 1721/2. He married Elizabeth Updike, and they settled on their farm near North Kingstown and reared a family of five sons and three daughters that were born between 26 July 1664 and 16 April 1681. They both died early in the year of 1721/2 after fifty nine years of wedded lif
Nothing has been found about the early life of George Wightman. After his grandfather Edward was burned at the stake, it is thought that the rest of the family moved to London. The children (George's father, John, and his brothers and sisters) probably grew to maturity there, married, and had children of their own.
George was born on June 4, 1632. This date is recorded in his family Bible, which is still in existence, and is owned by a descendant. He lived during a turbulent time in English history. Besides the religious persecution, there was a civil war that didn't end until about the time the family left for the New World. Oliver Cromwell and the parliament were supported by "middle sort of men", in which category the Wightmans were included. The nobility, gentry, and the "poorest of the people" backed Charles I, who was then the king. Charles I lost, and the surrender of his army in June 1646 ended the first phase of the Civil War.
The conquering army was determined to show that kings had to be responsible to their subjects. He was put on trial and found guilty, and was executed Jan 30, 1649 at Whitehall. It is not known whether it was for religious reasons or the unsettled political situation that caused our ancestors to emigrate to the New World. Perhaps it was Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, who invited them. Williams' sister, Katherine was married to a Ralph Wightman, citizen and merchant tailor of London.
Even his Bible gives no clue to his exact birthplace. In his will he bequeathed to his eldest grandson, George Wightman, "my chest also which I brought out of England and my great bible"; and he bequeathed to his son Valentine Wightman "my silver drinking cup and my chest which I brought out of England".
It is assumed that he came more or less directly to Newport with his father and brothers; but no ship's list or other record giving the port of his departure from England, or fixing the place or date of his arrival in America has been found. It seems probable, considering the above recorded equipment which he brought with him, that he was no stripling when he came. Besides, he was a tailor, and one would suppose that his apprenticeship was served in England prior to his departure for a new land. Every indication is that he arrived in 1654, at the age of 20.
George Wightman's older brother, Valentine Whitman (Wightman), had been in the colony long enough in 1648 to master the Indian language, for in that year, he is recorded as an interpreter at the Indian trading post of Richard Smith at Wickford in the Narragansett country (now town North and South Kingstone, RI). This will, no doubt, explain why the father, John, and his other sons arrived in Newport and immediately went to the Wickford area of Rhode Island.
It is likely that like most of the early colonists in Rhode Island, our young English settler soon became interested in acquiring land, although no record of land transactions in this early period has been found; and the Narragansett Country on the mainland to the west across from Newport offered opportunities.
This region, about twenty five miles in extent from north to south, comprised all of the country lying south of the present towns of Warwick and Coventry, and extended westward to Connecticut. The Narragansetts were a friendly tribe of 8,000 to 10,000 people (some estimate the number to be as high as 30,000), with 1,500 to 2,000 fighting men. The main road south from the settlements of Providence and Warwick passed through this Indian country, keeping a line not far inland by way of the Indian village of Cawcamsqussick (Cocumscussuc), southerly to the present town of Westerly, and so on into Connecticut. In the early records it is called "the country road" and the Pequid (Pequot) path.
The first white men to settle permanently in this region were Roger Williams in 1636, and Richard Smith in 1640 or 1641. (Read more about these ancestors of ours in the Smith and Williams sections.)
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"THE WIGHTMAN HERITAGE" -- 1990
"THE WIGHTMAN ANCESTRY" -- 1994
by Wade C. Wightman
INTERNET Adaptation
by Sandra Shuler Bray
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1632 - 1721 (88 years)
