John Wheat

Ben M. Angel (9th great grandson) notes:

Some question has been raised about John Wheat's participation in the campaign to conquer Acadia in 1710-1711. The basis of the questioning is the fact that the force sent to conquer the French-held territory was composed of British Marines (professional fighters from England) and New England militia. This John Wheat, coming from the Province of Maryland at least as early as 1698, and supposed as having been born in the proprietary province held under the Calverts, would have to have some reason for being in New England during recruitment in 1710. Further, there is apparently a large Wheat family located in New England, and John Marc Wheat supposes that the John Wheat who died in the late winter months of 1711 was a mistakenly misidentified New England family member, instead of a wayward Marylander. For now I'll keep the death as having been in Nova Scotia, but with this caveat.

1698: John Wheat first appears in Prince George's County, Maryland on 5 November 1698, witnessing the will of William Selby with Jeremiah Perdue, Hugh Tracy, Joshua Cicill ([Cecil] - later attorney for John Wheat). Maryland Calendar of Wills, Volume 2, p169. Cited in Arliss Shaffer Monk, "Undocumented Genealogies: To Trust or Not to Trust? Lessons from Several Strains of Wheat," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, March 1998, p42 as "Will of William Selby, Prince George's County, Will Book 1:5, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis."

Notes from Mel Wheat:

enlisted in her Majesty's Service, 10 October 1710, and served in Major Gilbert Abbot's company at Annapolis Royal. Died, 17 March 1711, after 158 days service.

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http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/4555/John1711.htm

The first account of our ancestor, John Wheat, is in "Court Records of Prince George's County, MD 1696-1699". John was the defendant in a lawsuit brought by John Gallahah, who claimed that on March 28, 1697 at Charles Towne, MD, John Wheat incurred a debt to him of 1,780 pounds of tobacco. Wheat had been renting half of Gallahah's plantation since 1693. Not only did Wheat win the lawsuit, but he was awarded 305 pounds of tobacco as damages. (Nobody said life in the new world would be easy.)

John died about 1711, apparently a young man, leaving a widow, Sarah, and four young sons. The following year Sara married Jeremiah Perdue, an agent for the creditors of her husband's estate. Apparently the sons of John and Sarah were close to Perdue as Francis, William and John, Jr. witnessed his will in 1758. Perdue left his entire estate to Sarah and appointed her executrix.

From Ancestry's WHEAT-L Archives:

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/WHEAT/1997-04/0860342413

• Subject: John Wheat (1674 - 1711)
• Date: Sun, 6 Apr 1997 12:00:13 -0400 (EDT)

Dear Ms. Katherine Cullen King, .

The information that I have on John Wheat is as follows:

He was born in 1674 in Prince Georges County, Maryland (Piscattaway Parish) . . . he married Sarah Perdue in 1699, and records in the Maryland archives indicate that she was also born in Pr. Georges County, Maryland (1678 - 1766). They had four sons that I have been able to document:

• 1. John Wheat, born 1702;
• 2. Francis Wheat, born 1700;
• 3. Joseph Wheat, born 1707 and
• 4. my 6th great grandfather, William Wheat, born 1705 . . .

John enlisted in her majesty's service, October 10, 1710, and served in Major Gilbert Abbot's Company at Annapolis Royal. While still encamped in Canada, he died March 17, 1711, after 158 days of service.

This is involved, but would be glad to mail you everything that I have on the involvement of the colonies in the attack on Annapolis Royal.

It involved a Colonel Francis Nicholson, who had been governor of Virginia, and Maryland . . . he was the planner of the operation . . . and they raised troops from all the colonies. To encourage enlistment in the operation . . . they offered a coat worth thirty shillings, one month's advance wages, and freedom from impressment for three years to volunteers . . . firearms were also presented to these soldiers as royal gifts . . .

When John died in 1711, he left his wife Sarah (Sara) and four young sons, according to court records in Pr. Georges County (Ref: Pr. Georges County, Maryland, Administrative Accounts, December 22, 1722). His relation (through his wife) Jeremiah Perdue, took responsibility for the boys . . . Jeremiah's will of June 5, 1758, was witnessed by Francis Wheat, William Wheat and John Wheat, Jr.

Maryland Colonial Abstracts, Magruder . . Pr. Georges County, Book 30, page 22.

John Wheat, my 7th great grandfather's death was recorded August 8, 1711. He left 40 lbs. to his wife, Sarah (spelling is both Sara and Sarah).

On June 12, 1712, Jeremiah Perdue assumed the accounts of John Wheat (Maryland Archives).

Court Records of Prince Georges County, Maryland, 1696 - 1699 lists a court case involving John Wheat . . .

My ancestors are as follows:

• John Wheat (1674-1711) Sarah Perdue
• William Wheat (1705-1767) Amy Walls
• William Wheat (1733-1782) Martha (Polly)
• Thomas Wheat* (1758-1804) Marie Merriman *American Revolution
• John Jackson Wheat (1797-1861) Grace Millsaps* Descendants of the Alamo
• Thomas Jefferson Wheat* (1815-1903) Avoline Beacham * CSA
• James Madison Wheat* (1838-1909) Sara Amanda Sample *CSA
• Michael C. Wheat (1874-1961) Lucy Love Pace
• Melvin C. Wheat (1910-1965) Lilliam Mae Spencer
• Melvin C. Wheat (1937- ) Mary Elizabeth Coughlin

I would love to purchase any articles that you have written about the Wheats . . . and if you provide your mailing address, I will send you everything that I have on the Wheat's in Maryland .

Warmest personal regards,

Mel Wheat, 2201 Promontory Point, Plano, Texas 75075

From Descendants of John Wheat Sr., by John Marc Wheat:

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/h/e/John-M-Wheat/BOOK-...

1. JOHN1 WHEAT, SR. died Bef. 20 August 1711 in Prince George's County, Maryland.

• He married SARAH [WHEAT] in Probably Prince George's County, Maryland. She was born 1678, and died 24 December 1766 in Prince George's County, Maryland.

Notes for JOHN WHEAT, SR.:

1698: John Wheat first appears in Prince George's County, Maryland on 5 November 1698, witnessing the will of William Selby with Jeremiah Perdue, Hugh Tracy, Joshua Cicill ([Cecil] - later attorney for John Wheat). Maryland Calendar of Wills, Volume 2, p169. Cited in Arliss Shaffer Monk, "Undocumented Genealogies: To Trust or Not to Trust? Lessons from Several Strains of Wheat," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, March 1998, p42 as "Will of William Selby, Prince George's County, Will Book 1:5, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis."

1699: John Wheat was sued for tobacco he owed as rent, winning the suit. (Joseph H. Smith and Philip A. Crowe, eds., Court Records of Prince George's County, Maryland, 1696-1699, American Legal Records, vol. 9 (Washington: American Historical Assn., 1964), 486, 499, 529.)

1711: DEATH:

• Index to the Probate Records of Prince George's County, Maryland 1696-1900, Compiled by the Records Committee of the Prince George's County Genealogical Society, Inc., 1988.
• DAR Library. p197. "Deceased: Wheate, John." Jeremiah Perdue, executor. Accounts book, 1 Aug 1712, Book JB 1, page 80.
• Also, Accounts book, 22 Dec 1712, Book JB 1, page 90. See also Original Bonds, Box 2, folder 85; Inventories and Accounts, 32C: 150, 33A: 215, 33B: 177, Maryland State Archives.
• When John died in 1711, he left his wife, Sarah and four young sons, according to court records in Prince George's County (Ref: Prince George's County, Maryland, Administrative Accounts, 22 December, 1722).
• Sarah and Jeremiah Perdue took over responsibility for the four boys. Jeremiah's will (5 June 1758) was witnessed by Francis, William, Sr. and John Wheat, Jr. Maryland Colonial Abstracts, Magruder. Pr. George's County, Book 30, p. 22.

MILITARY: According to the late Mel Wheat (letter dated 3 Mar 1997, P.O. Box 866065, Plano, TX 75086, 972-867-4900), our "John enlisted in her majesty's service, 10 October, 1710, and served in Major Gilbert Abbot's Company at Annapolis Royal (Nova Scotia). While still encamped in Canada, he died 17 March, 1711, after 158 days." The Nova Scotia John Wheat is almost certainly not the Prince George's County John Wheat. All of the colonials were recruited from New England for the action in Nova Scotia -- where there is a large Wheat family whose relationship to the Wheat family of Prince George's County, Maryland is still undetermined. (Source: Katherine Cullen King)

Notes for SARAH [WHEAT]:

1712 MARRIAGE: 22 Dec 1712 -- Jeremiah Perdue and Sarah his wife have security for four orphans. Prince George's County, Maryland Administrative Accounts, Book 33B, p.177. These orphans were the sons of Sarah and her first husband John Wheat.

1766 DEATH: Sarah Wheat Perdue died 24 DEC 1766. This according to her son William Wheat (source: Ann Wheat Hunter).

!SOURCE: Mel Wheat, P.O. Box 866065, Plano, TX 75086, 972-867-4900 3 Mar 1997

!SOURCE: Katherine King

!SOURCE: Ann Wheat Hunter, 7046 Wardell St., Annandale, VA 22003 (703) 354-0463

More About JOHN WHEAT and SARAH [WHEAT]:

• Marriage: Probably Prince George's County, Maryland

Children of JOHN WHEAT and SARAH [WHEAT] are:

• 1. FRANCIS2 WHEAT, SR.,
  • b. Abt. 1700, St John's, Piscataway Parish, Prince George's Co., Maryland;
  • d. Bef. 1774.
• 2. JOHN WHEAT, JR.,
  • b. 1702, Prince George's, Maryland;
  • d. 1774.
• 3. WILLIAM WHEAT,
  • b. Abt. 1705, Prince George's County, Maryland;
  • d. 1767, Frederick County, Maryland.
• 4. JOSEPH WHEAT,
  • b. 1709, Prince George's, Maryland;
  • d. Unknown.

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From the English Wikipedia page on the 1711 Battle of Bloody Creek, covering the period before the battle that summer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bloody_Creek_(1711)

In the 1710 Siege of Port Royal an expedition of New England militia and British marines under Francis Nicholson again captured Port Royal. The town was renamed Annapolis Royal, with Samuel Vetch as the British Governor of Nova Scotia, and the fort was renamed Fort Anne.

This expedition left a garrison numbering about 450 men, that was composed of a combination of British marines and New England provincial militia.[7] The garrison was reinforced with regular troops in the following months, however the British only had effective control of the fort and the nearby town.[8]

The terms of capitulation had included a provision in which the French residents within 3 miles (4.8 km) of the fort were to be protected, provided they took an appropriate oath to the British crown. A total of 481 Acadians were covered by this provision,[9] but by mid-January 1711 only 57 had actually taken an oath.[10]

When word of Port Royal's fall reached France, the marine minister Pontchartrain ordered Antoine Gaulin, the French Catholic missionary priest to the loosely allied Indian tribes of present-day Maine and New Brunswick, to harass the British at Annapolis Royal so that they could not establish a firm foothold in the territory.[11] Bernard-Anselme d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin, the mixed-blood son of a French father and a Penobscot mother, was given military command of Acadia, and received similar orders.[12]

Prelude

The first winter was a particularly difficult one for the British garrison, which was reduced by early 1711 to about 240 "effective men Officers included" due to death, disease, and desertion.[2] They had ongoing difficulty getting provisions and materials needed to repair the fort because of the reluctance of the Acadians to help. This reluctance was fueled in part by the activities of Saint-Castin and Gaulin — the Acadians in Annapolis Royal refused to do the necessary logging, citing the danger of Indian attacks.

To counter this, the British began sending out armed parties to protect the loggers.[13] These logging parties were sent into the woodlands up the Annapolis River, and the cut wood was floated down the river.

In May 1711 Governor Vetch received reports that these work crews and others who supported the British were being harassed by Mi'kmaq and Abenakis opposed to British rule.[1] In his reports he noted that the fort was "every day more and more Infested with skulking Indians", and that villagers within the banlieu (the three-mile protection area) were being harassed.[13]

References:

• 1.^ Faragher, John Mack (2005). A Great and Noble Scheme. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0393051358, p. 134
• 2.^ Griffiths, Naomi Elizabeth Saundaus (2005). From Migrant to Acadian: a North American Border People, 1604–1755. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 9780773526990. OCLC 180773040, p. 246
• 7.^ MacVicar, William (1897). A Short History of Annapolis Royal: the Port Royal of the French, From its Settlement in 1604 to the Withdrawal of the British Troops in 1854. Toronto: Copp, Clark. OCLC 6408962, p. 65
• 8.^ Faragher, pp. 119–122
• 9.^ Drake, Samuel Adams (1910) [1897]. The Border Wars of New England. New York: C. Scribner's Sons. OCLC 2358736, p. 261
• 10.^ Griffiths, p. 244
• 11.^ Lee, David. "Biography of Antoine Gaulin". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
• 12.^ Salagnac, Georges. "Biography of Saint-Castin". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
• 13.^ Griffiths, p. 245

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http://www.barlowgenealogy.com/MsKinfolk/Wheat/wheat.html

Sources:

https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/john-wheat_20596013