Grace Wightman

Other Events and Attributes:

• Emigration: Bef 1648, England
• Immigration: Bef 1648, Rhode Island
• Other-Begin: 8 Oct 1662, Providence, Providence Co, Rhode Island

Notes:

Wightman Heritage: "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 Narragett country (now town North and South Kingstone, RI). This will in no doubt, explain why the father, John, and his other sons arrived in Newport and immediately went to the Wickford area of Rhode Island."
Probably came to America in 1648, since he had been employed for six years at Richard Smith's trading post at Wickford in the Narragansett country when his father and four of his brothers joined him.

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Of Valentine Whitman, Savage says ?he was much employed as an Indian interpreter.? The first mention I find of him upon the records is a sale by him to Henry Fowler, April 28, 1654, of a 5 acre lot near Waybasett north of the highway. Jan. 28, 1655, he bought a parcel of meadow and 25 acres of upland of Robert Coles at Mashapaug; and, Aug. 27,1656, of John Greene, Sen., a house lot lying between the lot of William Harris on the north and Edward Manton on the south, which was confirmed by Philip Greene, widow of John, May 13, 1659. He was admitted a freeman of Providence, May 18, 1658. His name is also attached to an agreement, dated October 18, 1654, between the United Colonies and Ninegret, and upon the list of those who stayed in Providence through Phillip?s war. His death is thus recorded : ? Valentine Whittman Senior, of this Towne of Providence died the 26?11 day of January 1701 about the breakeing of ye day or a little before, as his Son Valentine Whittman Gives an account.? His wife Mary d. May 31, 1718.
The Narragansett Historical Register, Vol 2


Other-Begin:
Prouidence this 8th of the 8 mo: 1662. , m?r John Sailes being ingaaged witneseth, that he was p'sent when Quoianiquond signed and deliuered this deede, for the vse of those p sons specified in the said deede, and he saith that all the Contentes in the said deede was fully opened to the said Quoianiquond, and made very plaine to his vnderstanding, and after it was made knowne vnto him and that he had signed it, he the said Quoianiquand made it also knowne to the rest of the Indians there present and told them what he had done, and in p ticular to Antiénet.

Taken before me

Mme-.3 OK" 07 9.7 ?Irvthe day and yeare abouesaid

Valentine Whitman being ingaaged doth fully witnes in all pointes, and to euery p ticular as m' John Sailes doth aboue, being there p?sent at this deede signing and deliuering. this he testifieth this 8 day of october 1662

Before me THOMAs OLNEY deputye

Valentine* married Mary* (..) Wightman about 1650 in Providence Co, Rhode Island. Mary* was born about 1625; died on 31 May 1718 in Providence Co, Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Emigration: 1654, England
• Immigration: 1654, Newport Co, Rhode Island

Notes:

John with four of his five sons, his wife probably having died in England, reached Newport in Rhode Island in 1654 and made their way to Richard Smith's trading post at Wickford in the Narragansett country, where Valentine Whiteman, eldest son of John, had been employed for six years as an interpreter to the Indians. In the Quidnesset section, shortly North of Wickford, he, along with his youngest son George, purchased land from Richard Smith and setted on a farm tract there.

John* married (..)* Wightman, Mrs about 1619 in England. (..)* was born about 1599; died before 1654 in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was a minister of the Six-Principle Baptist Church, which later became the faith of the first church founded in Rhode Island and the first Baptist church organized in America, the oldest First Baptist Church of Providence, 1638. Being a no-conformist of the radical wing, the separatists, he was pesecuted, and twice burned for his religious views, 9 March 1612 and 11 April 1612. On the last date, he was by order of James I, burned to death in Manchuet Place, Lichfield, in Staffordshire, being the last of the religious martyrs in England to be so destroyed.
_______________________________________
TWICE-BAKED
© 1997, Sam Behling
http://www.genweb.net/~samcasey/edw.html

My 10g grandfather, Edward Wightman, has the rather unenvied distinction of being the last of the religious martyrs in England to be burned at the stake. He was a Separatist (the same religion as the Mayflower passengers followed), which did not go over well with the Church of England, the ONLY accepted religion of England back in the early 1600's.

Preaching his "heresies" quickly got the attention of the authorities, including King James I himself, who issued the order for his execution. On the appointed date, Edward was taken to the stake, tied up, and set on fire. Immediately he started screaming (can't imagine WHY) and shouting out unintelligible words. For some strange reason, the townsfolk and the sheriffs got it into their heads that he was recanting his religious beliefs, so they quickly doused out the flames, untied him and cooled him off.

Once released, he continued to preach his heresies even more strongly than before, so a few days later they tied him back to the stake, and THIS time burned him to ashes. [One of my friends upon hearing this story dubbed him my "twice-baked" ancestor.]

The following is a copy of the written order issued by the King for the death of Edward Wightman. The language alone is worth a giggle.

"The King to the sheriff of our city of Litchfield, Greeting. Whereas, the reverend father in Christ, Richard, by divine providence, of Coventry and Litchfield, Bishop, hath signified unto us, that he judicially proceeding, according to the exigence of ecclesiastical canons and of the laws and customs of this kingdon of Burton-upon-Trent, in the diocese of Coventry and Litchfield, of and upon the wicked heresies of Ebion, Cirinthus, Valintian, Arrius, Macedonius, Simon, Magnus, of Manes, Manichees, Photinus, and of the Anabaptists, and other arch-heriticks; and moreover of other cursed opinions, belched by the instance of Satan, excogitated and here to forunheard of; the aforesaid Edward Wightman appearing before the aforesaid reverend father, and other divines and learned in the law, assisting him in judgment, the aforesaid wicked crimes, heresies and other detestable blasphemies and errors, stubbornly and perniciously, knowingly and maliciously, and with a hardened heart, published, defended and dispersed, by definite sentence of the said divine father, with the consent of divines, learned in the law aforesaid, justly, lawfully and canonically, against the said Edward Wightman in that part brought, stands adjudged and pronounced a heretick, and therefore as a diseased sheep out of the flock of the Lord, lest our subjects he do infect by his contagion, he hath decreed to be cast out, and cut off. Whereas, the holy mother church hath not further in this part what it ought more to do and prosecute, the same reverend father hath left to our secular power the same Edward Wightman as a blasphemous and condemned heritick to be punished with the condign punishment as by the letters patent of the aforesaid reverend father, the bishop of Coventry and Litchfield, in this behalf thereupon made, as certified unto us in our Chancery. We, therefore, as the zealot of justice and the defender of the Catholick faith, and williing the holy church, and the rights and liberties of the same, and the Catholick faith to maintain and defend, and such like heresies and errors everywhere, so convict and condemn to punish with consign punishment, holding that such a heritick in the aforesaid form convicted and condemned, according to the customs and laws of this our Kingdom of England in this part accustomed, out to be burned with fire. We command thee that thou cause the said Edward Wightman, being in thy custody, to be committed to fire in some publick and open place below the city aforesaid, for the cause aforesaid before people; and the same Edward Wightman in the same fire cause really to be burned in destation of said crime, and for the manifest example of other Christians, that they may not fall into the same crime. And this no ways omit, under the peril that shall follow thereon."
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http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~legends/wightman.html

(2) Edward Wightman, born on 20 December 1566 in Burbage, Leicestershire, England, died 9 March 1612 in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. He married Francis Darbye.
Edward was a minister of the Six-Principle Baptist Church, which later became the faith of the first church founded in Rhode Island and the first Baptist church organized in America, the old First Baptist Church of Providence, founded 16hich Roger Williams was founder.
Being a non-conformist of the radical wing, the Separatists, he was destined to be persecuted. In the Spring of 1611 he was condemned to burn at the stake in the following Spring on the 9th March 1612, this through awarrant issued by Ki. The drawing at right is an artist's rendering of Edward's burning in the Market Square.
Edward was reportedly the last person punished in such a manor in England.


Doctrines & Beliefs of Edward Wightman
as drawn from the Commission & Warrant for his execution
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That there is not the trinity of persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, in the unity of the Deity.
That Jesus Christ is not the true natural Son of God, perfect God, and of the same substance, eternity and majesty with the Father in respect of his Godhead.
That Jesus Christ is only man and a mere creature, and not both God and man in one person.
That Christ, our Savior, took not human flesh of the substance of the Virgin Mary his Mother; and that, that Promise, 'The Seed of the Woman shall break the serpent's head,' was not fulfilled in Christ.
That the person of the Holy Ghost is not God coequal, coeternal, and coessential with the Father and the Son.
That the three creeds, The Apostles Creed, The Nicene Creed, and Athanasius's Creed, are the heresies of the Nicolaitanes.
That he the said Edward Wightman is that prophet spoken of in the eighteenth of Deuteronomy in these words, 'I will raise them up a prophet,' &c. And that, that place of Isaiah, 'I alone, have trodden the winepress;' and that place, 'Whose fan is in his hand,' are proper and personal to him, the said Edward Wightman.
And that he the said Wightman is that person of the Holy Ghost spoken of in the Scriptures; and the Comforter spoken of in the 16th of St. John's Gospel.
And that those words of our Savior Christ of the Sin of Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, are meant of his person.
And that, that place, the fourth of Malachi, of Elias to come, is likewise meant of his person.
That the soul doth sleep in the sleep of the first death, as well as the body, and is mortal as touching the sleep of the first death, as the body is; and that the soul of our Savior Jesus Christ did sleep in that sleep of death as well as his body.
That the souls of the elect saints departed, are not members possessed of the triumphant Church in Heaven.
That the baptizing of infants is an abominable custom.
That there ought not to be in the church the use of the Lord's Supper to be celebrated in the Elements of breath and Wine; and the use of Baptism to be celebrated in the Element of Water; as they are now practiced in the Church of England; but that the use of Baptism is to be administered in water, only to converts of sufficient age of understanding, converted from infidelity to the faith.
That God hath ordained and sent him, the said Edward Wightman, to perform his part in the work of the Salvation of the world, to deliver it by his teaching, or admonition, from the heresy of the Nicolaitanes; as Christ was ordained and sent to save the world, and by his death to deliver it from sin, and to reconcile it to God.
And that Christianity is not wholly professed and preached in the Church of England, but only in part.



(more -- see wife's notes)

Edward* married Frances* Darbye on 15 Sep 1593 in Burton-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. Frances* was born in 1569 in England; died after 1612 in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

http://www.rootcellar.us/wightman.htm

Wightman
The WIGHTMAN name is said to have come from Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, who was nicknamed "WYGHTMAINS." Accounts differ as to where this nickname came from; one says it was because "he had the most beautifully shaped white hands," but another says that he contracted leprosy in the crusades which turned his hands white. He died in Duras, Greece in 1190 while in the crusades. His descendant, Thomas Whiteman de Beaumont (b. abt. 1297 in Leicestershire, England) had a son named William Wightman (b. abt. 1330), who married Agnes ???

One of their descendants (several generations later) was Edward Wightman (1566-1612), who was known as a "notorious heretic" to the established Church of the time, but to the Protestants (Baptists, Puritans, Separatists, etc.) he was a heroic "martyr." He had presented a manuscript to King James in 1611 stating his beliefs. (His "heresy" was saying that baptism should be for accountable persons instead of infants, as practiced by the church, and that the doctrine of the trinity as taught by the church was untrue, among other things.) Edward Wightman was put on trial, officially found guilty of "blasphemies against the Trinity", and then (when he refused to recant or renounce them) publicly burned at the stake for heresy in 1612. There is a large monument in the marketplace of the town of Litchfield, Staffordshire, England commemorating the spot of his martyrdom, and the plaque reads,




"EDWARD WIGHTMAN of BURTON-ON-TRENT
was burnt at the stake in this Market Place
for heresy 11th April 1612,
being the last person in England so to die."
(Others after this date were killed in this way by mobs, etc., but in England, he was the last to be executed by due process of law by being burnt at the stake.)

He had been arrested and thoroughly questioned about his beliefs. After a public trial from 19 Nov. to 5 Dec. 1611, conducted by Bishop Neile of Litchfield, the sentence was publicly pronounced in the cathedral, following a sermon. He was excommunicated and sentenced to death at the stake the following spring, 9 March 1612. On that date, after he was chained to the stake and the fires lit, in pain he cried out what was taken to be a promise to recant, and was taken down from the stake, "the crowd assisting" (some scorching themselves in the process), and taken back to prison. But in prison he refused to recant formally in a signed statement, and "reiterated his heresies" (in the words of Bishop Neile, he "blasphemed more audaciously than before." There is evidence indicating that he said he believed that men could become like God). So after a month, the sentence against him was renewed. On the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter, Edward Wightman was once more taken to the marketplace below the cathedral, chained to the stake, and the flames lit. It is said that "by this time so much public sentiment had been aroused, and so heroic was his death, that another who was to have suffered a like fate was released."

Edward Wightman's family moved to London after his death. His son John and grandson George Wightman, along with George's brothers (Valentine, Daniel, and John) later moved to the New World in search of freedom of worship, and settled in Rhode Island. They undoubtedly knew Roger Williams (1605-1683), the founder of Rhode Island colony and a "Seeker" for truth. He may have even personally invited them to settle there. Roger Williams' only sister Katherine was married to Ralph Wightman, a citizen and merchant tailor of London, so they were kinsmen.

Roger Williams was a minister, a friend of the Indians and scholar of their languages, advocate of fair treatment for the Indians, and of religious freedom and tolerance for all. He founded the colony of Rhode Island after the colony of Massachusetts sentenced him to be forcibly sent back to England for his beliefs and teachings; he fled in the middle of winter and was helped by the Indians. He was also the founder of the first Baptist church in America (realizing that baptism by immersion was necessary for salvation, from his study of the scriptures, he and a few of his associates who had come to believe similarly, drew lots to see which one of them would do the baptizing). Williams baptized the others, but within a few months he withdrew from the church he had helped to found. Stating that all organized churches on earth at that time were lacking the proper authority to administer the saving ordinances, he said he was "waiting for the Lord to send new apostles" to restore the true church. He was truly a man ahead of his time. Largely because of his efforts and publications, the other colonies gradually came to accept many of his ideas such as tolerance and freedom of conscience in religious matters, and the separation of church and state. These became an important part of our American heritage, and were necessary in paving the way for the restoration of the gospel.

Most of our ancestors who lived in Rhode Island had gone there because they were dissenters from the established churches of the day; and many left or were driven out of Massachusetts because of the inflexible Puritan beliefs. Another ancestor, (Rev.) Obadiah Holmes, was publicly whipped in Boston because of holding worship contrary to the established church of that state (see HOLMES biography). He was also one of the very earliest Baptists in America, and was for many years pastor of the Baptist Church in Newport, Rhode Island.

Another early American ancestor was Elizabeth Updike. Her father, Gysbert (Gilbert) "Opdycke" or "Op den Dyke" had helped settle New Amsterdam (now New York City). He was an officer in the Dutch West India Company, and owned all of Coney Island and several other islands. He lived in New Amsterdam, the Dutch Colony, before it became New York City. Gysbert Op den Dyck's daughter Elizabeth Updike married George Wightman in 1663, and they were among the earliest settlers of Rhode Island.

Elizabeth Updike's maternal grandfather, Richard Smith, once owned a large portion of Long Island, and also a trading house called "Smith's Castle" in what was then the wilderness south of Massachusetts. Later this area became part of Rhode Island. He leased a very large tract of land from the Indians for the period of 1000 years, payment to be "one red honeysuckle flower every midsummer's day, when lawfully demanded."

Roger Williams later wrote that Richard Smith "broke the ice, and put up in the thickest of ye barbarians the first English house amongst them. He kept possession coming and going, he, his children, and servants," on his sloop "Welcome," in which he traveled back and forth between Long Island, his trading house in the wilderness, and the Massachusetts colonies. Smith's Castle was situated on the wilderness road down the coast, known as the "Pequot Path," which had been used by the Indians for centuries and later by the whites. It eventually became U.S. Highway 1. Richard Smith gave hospitality to many famous persons who stopped with him on their travels.

Reverand Valentine Wightman (1681-1747), as a young man was asked to come over to Connecticut from Rhode Island, to become the minister of a congregation of Baptists. As dissenters from the established Puritan Church they were subject to much persecution. Rev. Valentine Wightman introduced singing as a part of public worship, and wrote a book or pamphlet defending this practice. (It is interesting that the name Valentine was passed down in the Wightman family from the 16th century; Edward "The Martyr" Wightman had a brother and also an uncle named Valentine, and the name has occurred in almost every generation since then, down to the Valentine C. Wightman who is buried in the Payson Cemetery, son of William Charles Wightman). Many of the Wightmans in America were ministers, most of them Baptist, and were very prominent in Christian leadership, especially in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York.

The son of Rev. Valentine Wightman of Connecticut, Daniel Wightman, was a prosperous farmer in Connecticut for most of his life. Daniel's son Valentine Wightman (1731-1814), who became a Deacon in the Baptist Church, also lived in Connecticut his entire life. Many of the Wightmans began moving to upper New York State before the Revolutionary War. Valentine also bought land there, and left it to his sons in his will. Although he never moved there himself, several of his brothers did. All but one of Deacon Valentine Wightman's children moved to the area of German Flats, Herkimer County, New York.


The youngest son of Deacon Valentine Wightman was Joseph Wightman (1773-1843), who married Amy Sholes (1776-1861). Grandfather Joseph Wightman moved with the rest of his family to Kirtland, Ohio, where he died 21 September 1843, at age 69. Grandmother Amy Sholes Wightman died in Kirtland in December 1861, at age 85. They are buried there, near the old Kirtland temple.





Charles Billings Wightman (1815-1895) was the seventh of eight children of Joseph and Amy Sholes Wightman. The autobiography of William Charles Wightman, Sr. (a nephew of Charles Billings Wightman) says:

"Grandmother, Uncle Erastus, Father and Mother, Uncle Charles, and Aunt Jane Wightman Dixon ... were baptized in the Mormon Church at Rushford, Allegany Co., New York, in January 1834. (Allegany County is about 50 miles southwest of Palmyra, New York, and the Wightmans had moved here just before 1830). Grandfather never joined the Church."