Reverend George W. Wightman

Birth

George Wightman, male, was born on November 4, 1632 in England to John Wightman. An alternative date of birth is April 4, 1632 in Burton-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England - research needed)

Marriage

George Wightman and Elizabeth Updike married around 1663 probably in Quidnessett, Kings, Rhode Island.

Children

1. Elizabeth Wightman
2. Aylice Wightman
3. Daniel Wightman
4. Sarah Wightman
5. George Wightman
6. John Wightman
7. Samuel Wightman
8. Valentine Wightman

Death

George Wightman passed away on January 25, 1721 in Quidnessett, Kings, Rhode Island. He was buried in John Wightman Lot, North Kingstown Washington Rhode Island, USA.

Notes

George Wightman

• Gender: Male
• Age: 88
• Birth Date: 4 Nov 1632
• Birth Place: England
• First Marriage Date: 1663
• First Marriage Place: Probably In Kings
• Death Date: 25 Jan 1721
• Death Place: Quidnessett
• Spouse: Elizabeth Updyke Child:

1. Elizabeth Wightman
2. Aylice Wightman
3. Daniel Wightman
4. Sarah Wightman
5. George Wightman
6. John Wightman
7. Samuel Wightman
8. Valentine Wightman

Source Citation Book Title: George Wightman of Quidnessett, R I , 1632-1721/2, and descendants : Waitman, Weightman, Whiteman, link

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Facebook group for descendants and relatives of George: //www.facebook.com/groups/305678526232940/

https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE96700 - Mary Ross Whitman https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE60043 - M R Whitman + Wade C. Wightman

http://www.wightmanfamily.com/wgtgeorge.html

George Wightman immigrated to Rhode Island around 1655. As it was the time of Cromwell, and George was a Baptist, it seemed like a pretty good idea at the time. (Rev. Ray Wightman)

The English Civil War 1642-1649 was fought between the royalist forces loyal to King Charles I and the parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell. The Royalist were defeated at the Battle of Naseby in 1645 and following attempts to organise a Scottish invasion, Charles was caught and executed on January 30, 1649. It was the first time a British monarch had ever been publicly executed in recorded history. After the execution of the King, a republic was declared known as the Commonwealth of England 1649-1653 and then the Protectorate 1653-1658 with rule by parliament under Cromwell. Following his death in 1658 Cromwell was succeeded briefly by his son Richard before the monarchy was restored and Charles II became king in 1660.

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GEORGE7 WIGHTMAN (John6, Edward5, John4, William3, Richard2, Thomas1), son of (13) John6 WIGHTMAN, was born on 4 Nov. 1632 in England[3], and died in Jan. 1722 in Kingstowne[3]. He married prob. Kingstowne, about 1663, (ADA-12) ELIZABETH UPDIKE[3], daughter of (ADA-11) Gysbert and (AIR-9) Catherine (SMITH) OP DEN DYCK, who was christened on 27 July 1644 in New Amsterdam[4, 27], and died between 1712 and 1716 in Kingstowne[3]. [3, 27, 33] A tradition regarding George's parentage, which has been traced back through several generations of the family and in various branches, is first found recorded in "Materials for a History of the Baptists in Rhode Island" by Rev. Morgan Edwards of Providence (R.I. Hist. Soc. Lib., MS. dated 1771); but it is recorded there as tradition only. In later years this tradition, although still unsupported by any documentary proof, has been accepted by some as established fact. This tradition represents George Wightman as the son of John and grandson of Edward Wightman of Burton-on-Trent, co. Stafford, Eng. Whitman's material, which appears to have bearing upon the question of George Wightman's English forebears, is not presented as based upon the above-mentioned tradition, but it does lead to it. [14] http://www.wightmanfamily.com/wgtgeorge.html Children: + 22 i. ELIZABETH8 WIGHTMAN, b. on 26 July 1664 in North Kingstown, Washington Co.; d. in Jan. 1756 in North Kingstown; m. about 1689 (TQ-2) ALEXANDER HULING, b. in Newport, Newport Co., Rhode Island about 1665[9], d. in North Kingstown on 29 July 1725[9], son of (TQ-1) James and Margaret HULING. + 23 ii. AYLICE WIGHTMAN, b. on 29 Dec. 1666 in Kingstowne; d. after 1747; m. about 1696 (ANW-3) SAMUEL WAIT, JR., b. prob. Portsmouth, Newport Co. about 1660[11], d. in Exeter, Washington Co. in April 1752[11], son of (ANW-2) Samuel and Hannah (WHITMAN) WAIT. + 24 iii. REV. VALENTINE WIGHTMAN, b. on 16 April 1681 in Kingstowne; d. on 7 June 1747 in Groton, New London Co., Connecticut, United States; m. on 10 Feb. 1702/3 (TR-22) SUSANNAH HOLMES, b. prob. Newport about 1682[12], d. in Groton on 7 April 1726[12], daughter of (TR-18) John and (AHJ-3) Mary (SAYLES) HOLMES.

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In 1686, George was elected Constable of Kingstown. About this time trouble again brewed in the New England colonies. The King decided to attempt the consolidation of the New England colonies and sent the despised Sir Edmund Andros to take control of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The founding charters were subverted, and Andros assumed absolute and arrogant control over the business and life of the colonies. However, in England, the "glorious revolution" occurred in 1688, which resulted in the exile of King James II and the adoption of a Bill of Rights in England. Upon hearing the news of the King's exile, Bostonians rose up and overthrew Andros, imprisoning him in 1689. Rhode Island's charter was again restored, and the colonies entered a period of relative stability (although Rhode Island would not finally settle her borders with Connecticut until well into the 18th century).

At the height of George's land acquisition he owned over 2000 acres of some of the best land in the township of Kingstown. On May 17, 1710, he was listed among several men who were granted 7000 acres on the Squamicut jurisdiction. By 1718, George had sold off many of the parcels of land he had originally owned. A February 1717/18 map showing the ownership plots of Quidnessett does not have George's plot explicitly labeled, but some of the land was owned by other families associated with the Wightman line, including John Greene Sr. and Jr. (151 acres), John Sayles (151 acres) and Robert Westcott (unlabeled, but similar acreage). A portion of a farm house that was still standing in the year 1990 is believed to be part of the original structure of George's homestead. This land was passed down to Wightman descendents until nearly 1900. The land remained committed to agricultural use (a testament to George's choice) until it was sold to housing developers in 1986. I am not sure what stands on George's farm today, but the best bet is that it has finally succumbed to sprawl.

At his death, George's material possessions were inventoried, and this list has been recovered. He owned oxen, cattle, sheep, horses, and goats, and bequeathed his gun and Bible (which may have originally been purchased in England by Edward the Heretic) to his grandson George.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wightman/Edward15...

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wightman/index.htm

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George was born in England. He emigrated to America probably between 1648-1657

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George Wightman was born June 4, 1632 in London, England1, and died January 7, 1721/22 in Quidnessett, Washington Co., RI colony1. He was the son of John Wightman. He married Elizabeth Updyke 1663 in Kingstown, RI colony1, daughter of Gysbert Opdycke and Catherine Smith. She was born July 27, 1644 in New Amsterdam, New Netherlands colony1, and died April 26, 1716 in Quidnessett, Washington Co., RI colony1.

There exists some confusion over George's birth month. I have chosen June, instead of November, 1632, since that is the month claimed in George's bible. George grew up, probably in London, England, during the chaotic reign of Charles I, which ended with the King's beheading on January 30, 1649 and the establishment of Cromwell's republic. In England, George was apparently apprenticed as a tailor, and thus gained some skills that were common in the English Wightman family. Although there is no record of George's immigration, he almost certainly arrived at Richard Smith's trading post in Wickford (via Boston and Newport) in 1654 with his father (whose immigration is noted for that year) and brothers at the age of about 22. I have given some speculation on the Wightman's motivations for immigrating under the entry for George's father, John. George and his family arrived with considerable means; they were not fleeing poverty in England. When George arrived on the western shore of the Narragansett Bay, he came to an area that mostly undeveloped wilderness, lightly inhabited by the Narragansett tribe, with which his brother Valentine was already on good terms. Upon his arrival at Wickford, he almost certainly had dealings with Richard Smith, Jr., who was running the Smith Trading Post at that time. He may even have met Richard's ten year-old niece, Elizabeth Updyke, a sometime visitor to Wickford, who would later become George's bride.

George himself was already a fairly successful young man and quickly went about the business of buying land-- a process for which he appears to have had a good eye. Presumably, his brother Valentine aided in transactions with the Narragansetts. Very little is known about George's early time in Rhode Island. He acquired some plots of land and began the hard work of farming, probably in Wickford. By this time, some sense of the difficulties of frontier life in the colonies had reached England, so George might have had some clue as to what was in store for him: long hours of hard work, inadequate shelter, the threat of starvation, hostile Natives, and brutally cold winters (in comparison to relatively mild England). Moreover, like most other settlers, George probably had no experience farming. He was trained as a tailor, not in agriculture. Like most settlers, he learned the hard way; the first years must have been quite a test of physical and emotional strength.

In 1659, the Humphrey Atherton Land Company was organized, which consisted of land speculators from Massachusetts including Major Atherton and John Winthrop, Jr., as well as Richard Smith, Sr. and Jr. In the summer of 1659, the Atherton Company purchased a huge tract of land north of Wickford and laid out the community of Quidnessett, and area of about six miles north-south by three miles east-west. The northernmost portion of the tract was bounded by the Potowomut River, and it is this area that was purchased by George's brother, Valentine, in 1660. In 1662, however, Connecticut's John Winthrop, Jr. obtained a royal charter for the land all the way east to the "Narragansett River", which Connecticut interpreted to mean the Bay. In 1665, a royal commission visited the disputed territory and ruled in favor of Rhode Island, in large part due to the efforts of Dr. John Clarke, the Baptist minister of Newport, nominally settling the border at the Pawcatuck River.

Elizabeth Updyke of New Amsterdam met George Wightman, a relatively recent arrival from England, during her family's visits from their home in New Amsterdam and her maternal grandfather's property in Wickford, RI colony, which was run mostly by Elizabeth's uncle, Richard Smith, Jr. Their property, originally the early trading post opened by their grandfather, Richard Smith, Sr., was located a few miles from George's property in Quidnessett. Elizabeth's father, Gysbert Opdyck, came from Wesel, Duchy of Cleves (now Germany). The Opdyck ancestry in Wesel is known back to about 1300.

In 1663, George married the 18 year-old Elizabeth and they began raising a family. There are no land records that establish exactly where George was at any given time. Mary Ross Whitman takes the view that all George's children were born at Quidnessett, which would suggest that he had settled there by 1664. This is certainly possible; however the deed conveying the major Quidnessett tract from Valentine to George is dated May 1682. Documentary evidence from early Narragansett court records do show George Wightman among 21 individuals listed as living in Quidnessett in May 1671. Among the others are George R. Wightman's ancestor Robert Westcott, and this George's brothers-in-law Lodowick and Richard Updike.

About this time, the new King in England (Charles II) sealed the Rhode Island charter in favor of Roger Williams, finally resolving conflicting charters for Newport and (in principle) Connecticut. This should have resolved the issue; however, in 1669 George Wightman and many other residents of Warwick were arrested and taken to Hartford, CT because they had signed an oath of allegiance to Rhode Island. George and others were jailed in Hartford for "some time." In 1671, George signed another "oath of allegiance" to Rhode Island-- there can be no doubt on where he stood on the issue. Certainly, his devotion to the Baptist faith was no small factor.

On May 6, 1673, George was elected freeman of Kingstown (the township that included both Wickford and Quidnessett from 1673-1723) by the RI assembly in Newport. From 1723 on, the town would be known as North Kingstown, which was incorporated into Washington Co. in 1781. After its founding, George and Elizabeth were members of the Quidnessett Baptist Church, which is interesting given her Anglican background.

George and Elizabeth lived during King Philip's War (1675) between the formerly peaceful Narragansett tribe and the European settlers. Narragansett warriors burned Warwick, to the north of their home, and Wickford, just south of their home, and killed colonists elsewhere. There is no record of what transpired in Quidnessett, but it was certainly a terrifying time to be a settler in this part of New England.

In 1679, George and other Kingstown settlers petitioned the King to end the political squabbling between Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. John Greene and Randall Holden of Warwick were sent to England and succeeded in obtaining the King's final resolution to the dispute.

In 1686, George was elected Constable of Kingstown. About this time trouble again brewed in the New England colonies. The King decided to attempt the consolidation of the New England colonies and sent the despised Sir Edmund Andros to take control of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The founding charters were subverted, and Andros assumed absolute and arrogant control over the business and life of the colonies. However, in England, the "glorious revolution" occurred in 1688, which resulted in the exile of King James II and the adoption of a Bill of Rights in England. Upon hearing the news of the King's exile, Bostonians rose up and overthrew Andros, imprisoning him in 1689. Rhode Island's charter was again restored, and the colonies entered a period of relative stability (although Rhode Island would not finally settle her borders with Connecticut until well into the 18th century).

At the height of George's land acquisition he owned over 2000 acres of some of the best land in the township of Kingstown. On May 17, 1710, he was listed among several men who were granted 7000 acres on the Squamicut jurisdiction. By 1718, George had sold off many of the parcels of land he had originally owned. A February 1717/18 map showing the ownership plots of Quidnessett does not have George's plot explicitly labeled, but some of the land was owned by other families associated with the Wightman line, including John Greene Sr. and Jr. (151 acres), John Sayles (151 acres) and Robert Westcott (unlabeled, but similar acreage). A portion of a farm house that was still standing in the year 1990 is believed to be part of the original structure of George's homestead. This land was passed down to Wightman descendents until nearly 1900. The land remained committed to agricultural use (a testament to George's choice) until it was sold to housing developers in 1986. I am not sure what stands on George's farm today, but the best bet is that it has finally succumbed to sprawl.

At his death, George's material possessions were inventoried, and this list has been recovered. He owned oxen, cattle, sheep, horses, and goats, and bequeathed his gun and Bible (which may have originally been purchased in England by Edward the Heretic) to his grandson George.

Children of George Wightman and Elizabeth Updyke are:

Elizabeth2 Wightman, born July 26, 1664 in Quidnessett, Washington Co., RI colony. Aylice Wightman, born December 9, 1666 in Quidnessett, Washington Co., RI colony. She married Samuel J. Wait 1696 in RI colony2; born 16602. Rev Daniel Wightman, born January 2, 1667/68 in Quidnessett, Washington Co., RI colony; died August 31, 1750 in Newport, RI colony. He married (1) Catherine Holmes 1696 in Newport, RI2; born 1672 in Middletown, NJ colony2; died September 8, 1699 in Newport, RI colony. He married (2) Mary _____ ca. 1704; born 1669; died November 4, 1736 in Newport, RI colony. He married (3) Catherine Holmes 1736 in RI Colony; born 1673 in Newport, RI colony; died October 28, 1758 in Newport, RI colony. Daniel had three wives. The first was Catherine Holmes, the daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Borden) Holmes. The second was to Mary of unknown surname. The third was to Catherine (Holmes) Gardiner, daughter of John and Frances (Holden) Holmes, and widow of Deacon Joseph Gardiner. Sarah Wightman, born February 25, 1670/71 in Quidnessett, Washington Co., RI colony. Dea. George Wightman, born January 8, 1672/73 in Quidnessett, Washington Co., RI colony. John Wightman, born April 16, 1674 in Quidnessett, Washington Co., RI colony; died April 1750 in Exeter, RI Colony. Samuel Wightman, born January 9, 1675/76 in Quidnessett, Washington Co., RI colony. Rev. Valentine Wightman, born April 16, 1681 in Quidnessett, Washington Co., RI colony1; died June 7, 1747 in Groton, New London Co., CT colony1. He married (1) Susannah Holmes February 10, 1702/03 in N. Kingstown, Washington Co., RI1; born ca. 1682 in Newport, RI colony3; died ca. 1727 in Groton, New London Co., CT colony4. He married (2) Joanna Avery ca. 1728 in Groton, CT; born November 21, 17004; died Aft. 1754.