George Wightman, (immigrant)

Other Events and Attributes:

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

Notes:

He married Elizabeth Updike in Quidnessett, Kings Co, Rhode Island about 1663.
Family Bible: George Wightman bible, printed in London by John Wolfe in 1587 is now owned by Mr. George W. Wightman of Brookline, Massachusetts. Soon after reaching Rhode Island, he, with his father, settled on a farm tract in the Quidnesset ction, purchasing the land from Richard Smith. After 59 years of wedded life, he and his wife died early in the year 1722. There are numerous records of his activities in the colony, and the town, where he was member of the council for many years, and in the old family burial ground on his farm, he and his wife and many of their posterity are buried, a huge boulder, suitably inscribed having been placed there since 1919 by their descendants.
________________
Sam Behling
http://www.genweb.net/~samcasey/gwightman.html
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.

The will of George Wightman of Quidnessett, dated 26 April 1716, was presented for probate on 2 February 1722. The record of the will and codicil is now only partly legible. On 16 December 1870 an attempt to rob the bank at Wickford in which the town records for North Kingstown were kept, resulted in an explosion and fire in which the books were badly damaged. Not only were the margins of the pages charred and broken, but some pages were scorched entirely clean, and many pages are gone. Fortunately, George Wightman's will was transcribed from the town book by a Wightman descendant before the robbery.

To all Christian people before whom these presents shall come, I, George Wightman of Kingston, in the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England...

Know ye that the aforesaid George Wightman being aged and grown very weak in body yet through the mercy of God at present I have my perfect understanding Praised be God for it But not knowing how soon it may please God to call me out of this world, do make, ordaine and declare this Instrument in writing to be my last will and Testament in manner and form following, hereby revoking and making void all other Will or Wills by me heretofore made either by word or Writing.

Imprimis. I commit my soul to Almighty God and to my everblessed Savior, Jesus Christ, through whose merits and precious blood I hope to obtain the foregiveness of all my sins, and to obtain eternal life in the world to come, and my body to be buried in a decent manner by my Executor. And as to my outward and temporal Estate which the Lord has given me, I do hereby order, bequeath and dispose of as is Hereinafter mentioned.

Item. My will is that all my debts be truly and duly paid by my executor or Executors hereinafter mentioned in convenient time after my decease.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Daniel Wightman and the heirs lawfully begotten of his body, forever, all my farm and homestead herein at Quitnessit, with my house and barn and outhouses, orchards, fences, rights and privileges and appurtenances to the farm belonging or in any way appertaining (together) with the land I bought of James Green of Quitnessit also (to) be and remain unto the heirs lawfully begotten of his body Forever.

As for my son George Wightman, I have given him all the money which I had for the farm at Matunuck for to buy the farm where he, my son George Wightman now dwells.

Item. It is my will, although the deed of sale be made in my son George Wightman's name that the said farm and house, outhouses with all privileges and appurtenances to the same belonging or in any way appertaining to be and remain unto my son George Wightman, and the heirs lawfully begotten of his body forever.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son John Wightman three hundred acres of land where he now dwells with the house, outhouses, fences, orchards, rights, privileges and appurtenances to the same belonging or in any way appertaining to be and remain unto my said son John Wightman and the heirs lawfully begotten of his body forever.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son Samuel Wightman, Four Hundred acres of land which I bought of the committee of the colony of Rhode Island with the houses, outhouses, orchards and fences, rights and privilegs and appurtenances to the same belonging or in any ways appertaining to be and remain to my son Samuel Wightman and the heirs lawfully begotten of his body forever.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Valentine Wightman all the land I bought of Joseph Doliver Jun., deceased, the number of acres and bounds of the lands is mentioned in the deed of sale together with the privileges and appurtenances to the same belonging or in any way appertaining to be and remain to my son Valentine Wightman and to the heirs lawfully begotten of his body forever.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Daniel Wightman the remaining part of my land upon the great plain, bounded southerly upon the land of William Browning and Mr. Sewal, westerly upon the land of my son John Wightman, northerly upon the land belonging to the Gardners, easterly to the Hills, with the rights, privileges and appurtenances to the same belonging or in any ways appertaining to be and remain unto my son Daniel, and the heirs lawfully begotten of his body forever. I give also to my son Daniel my log chain, four chain boxes and two pairs of snip bits, one shear and colter cider mill, iron bar and grindestone to remain upon said farm and homestead for the use thereof.

Item. I give unto my son George Wightman 20 shillings in money, and forty shillings to his three sons to be equally divided between them.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son John Wightman 20 pounds in money and the worsted Combs.

Item. It give unto my son John's daughter Aylice my chest of drawers. Item. I give unto my son Samuel Wightman Twenty pounds in money.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Valentine Wightman, Forty pounds in money and Twenty shillings apiece to his three sons Daniel, Valentine and Abraham Wightman.

Item. I give and bequeath to my Grandson George Wightman, the son of my son Daniel Wightman, ten pounds in money, my silver hat band, gun, and all my wearing clothes, both woolen and linen, my chest also which I brought out of England, and my great bible, and to the other two children of my son Daniel Wightman I give fifty shillings apiece, that is Daniel and Elizabeth Wightman.

Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Elizabeth Huling twenty pounds in money.

Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Aylice Weight thirty pounds in money.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my daughter Sarah Peterson twenty pounds in money.

Item. I give unto my three daughters, Elizabeth Huling, Aylice Weight and Sarah Peterson all my beds, bolsters, sheets, pillows, blankets, coverlids, pewter and brass, with all my deceased wife's wearing apparel, both woolen and linen and silks, with my table-cloths and napkins, to be equally divided among them three.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son Valentine Wightman, my silver drinking cup and my (other?) chest which I brought out of England. Item. I give to my son John Wightman's two sons twenty shillings apiece. There is due me from John Moss five pounds in money by bill.

Item. I give forty shillings of it to my friend Richard Sweet, and twenty shillings of it to buy bread and wine for the congregation to celebrate the Lord's Supper, the other forty shillings of it I give to my said friend John Moss.

Item. I give and bequeath to my friend John Fones forty shillings in money to be paid to him by my executors.

Item. It is my desire that all my dear children would endeavor to be contented with what I have given them and take all things according to the true intent and meaning herein and my desire is that you would endeavor to live in the fear of God, and live in peace among yourselves, and the peace of God will be with you. Farewell.

Item. My will is and I do constitute and appoint my two sons Daniel and Valentine Wightman to be my executors to this my last Will and testament and I desire my friend John Fones to aid and assist them as an Overseer to this my will, and the true intent and my will is that my within named executors shall pay all my legacies which I have given to my children so far as my estate shall be found to go, but if there shall not be enough of my estate, then my children shall all of them abate of the legacies according to proportion.

And for the ratification and confirmation of this my last will and testament I set my hand and seal this 26th day of April, A.D. 1716 and in the 2nd year of the reign of George, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland....

George Wightman (seal)

Signed, sealed, and pronounced and delivered in the presence of John Allen, Pardon Tillinghast, Jr., Peter W. Wells.

Cocidil
Be it known by these presents that wherein I, George Wightman of Kingston in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations have made and declared my last will and testament in writing bearing date the Twenty Sixth day of April A.D. 1716: I, the same George Wightman do by this present Codicil confirm and ratify my said will and Testament and do give and bequeath unto my son Daniel Wightman all that parcel of land I bought of Samuel Case with the privilege and appurtenances thereunto belonging during his natural life and then to his two sons George and Daniel Wightman to them and their heirs lawfully begotten of their bodies forever, and my will and meaning is that this codicil and schedule be and be adjudged to be a part and parcel of my said last will and testament and that all things therein mentioned be faithfully and truly performed, and as freely and amply as if the same were so declared and set down in my last will and Testament.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son Daniel Wightman's daughter Elizabeth Wightman my lot of land at Newton to her and her heirs forever.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son George Wightman twenty pounds in money.

In witness whereunto I have set my hand and seal this 25th day of January 1722 and in the eighth year of the reign of King George.

George Wightman (seal)

Witnesses: Zorobabel Westcout Geo. Tibbits Abagail Batty

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 Wickford.

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

George married Elizabeth Updyke about 1663 in Quidnessett, Kings Co, Rhode Island. Elizabeth was born on 27 Jul 1644 in Kingston, Washington Co, Rhode Island; died on 26 Apr 1716 in Kingston, Washington Co, Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Rev. Daniel Wightman was born on 2 Jan 1668 in North Kingstown, Washington Co, Rhode Island; died on 31 Aug 1750 in Newport, Newport Co, Rhode Island; was buried in Common Burying Ground, Newport, Newport Co, Rhode Island.
2. George Wightman was born on 8 Jan 1673 in Kingston, Washington Co, Rhode Island; died on 1 Mar 1760 in Warwick, Kent Co, Rhode Island.
3. John Wightman was born on 16 Apr 1674 in North Kingstown, Washington Co, Rhode Island; died about 1750 in Exeter, Washington Co, Rhode Island.
4. Samuel Wightman was born in 1675 in North Kingstown, Washington Co, Rhode Island; died in 1724 in North Kingstown, Washington Co, Rhode Island.
5. Rev. Valentine Wightman was born on 16 Apr 1681 in Kingston, Washington Co, Rhode Island; died on 7 Jun 1747 in Groton, New London Co, Connecticut; was buried in Wightman Cem, Groton, New London Co, Connecticut.

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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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."

Notes:

In the book "History and Genealogy of Ancestors and some Descendants of Stukely Westcot" by Roscoe L. Whitman, FLH #038364, they have John married to Ann, daughter of Thomas Moreton of Croton in Warwickshire. And listed their children as John, Theodore, Edward, and Elizabeth. He sold the manor of Wykin and removed to Hinckley.

John* married Maudelen* (Mawdelin) Haytor about 1560. Maudelen* (daughter of Thomas* Haytor and Sarah (..) Haytor) was born about 1540; died after 1577. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]