John Wing

John Wing took the oath of fidelity at Sandwich and was admitted a townsman in 1681. His marriage to a daughter of the house of Spooner occurred soon after, and we imagine that he made his settlement at Sippican about the year 1682.[CI:1182:?4:CI]

The first migration of the children of Deborah Wing from Sandwich was probably that of her son John when he removed to what afterward became Harwich some twenty years after the settlement at Sandwich in 1637. The second, and the first to the Westward, was that of John, son of Daniel, who became one of the very earliest settlers on the western shores of Buzzard Bay, probably as early as 1680. This settlement was first known as Sippican, afterward, Rochester, and from Rochester were carved the towns of Wareham, Marion, etc. The earliest settlements were made at and around the mouth of the Sippican River where it empties its dark waters into Buzzard Bay, and the neck of land extending into the bay was for many years known as "Wing's Neck." It is thought by some that John's original settlement was made on this peninsula, but we were unable to find any traces or record of it. Wing's Neck extends a great distance into Buzzard Bay and nearly meets the "Wing's Neck" which projects out from the east side of the bay at the end of which is "Wing's Neck Lighthouse." It is almost directly opposite the home of Ex-President Cleveland at Gray Gables. The principal settlement near at hand is the village of Marion, with a population of possibly one thousand, the principal occupation of which is the entertainment of summer visitors. Richard Harding Davis makes his home there. Rochester Center, where the town hall is located, is some six miles to the northwest. It is along and in the vicinity of this pleasant, fine Macadam road, that the principal points of interest to the Wing family lie. For more than 220 years the Wings have figured more or less prominently in the affairs of Rochester and ancient Sippican, and here are to this day to be found numerous descendants of John Wing. It is one of the historical localities of peculiar interest to the family and is well worthy of a visit from all readers of The OWL.[CI:246:?4:CI]

After the close of the King Philip war in 1677, new impetus was given to the settlement of the lands on the west shore of Buzzard's Bay. Sippican originally extended from Sandwich on the northwest coast of Buzzard's Bay to Dartmouth. In 1679, Joseph and Barnabas Lothrop of Barnstable acted as agents for its settlement. Freeman in his "History of Cape Cod" says that between the years 1684 and 1689 rev. Samuel Arnold, John and Samuel Hammond, Peter Blackman, Moses and Aaron Barlow, Samuel White, John Wing, Joseph Doty, Jacob Bumpas, Joseph Burgess, John Haskell, Abraham Holmes, Jobe Winslow and _____ Sprague became actual settlers. We have it on record however, that John Wing owned land at Mettapoisett which he sold to William Randall as early as April 17, 1683. In this deed (book 4, folio 47, Plymouth Records) he is styled "John Wing of Sippican, cooper... His home was at Great Hill upon the extreme point of a neck of land extending far out into Buzzard's Bay from the west shore, known for many years as "Wing's Neck." Directly across the bay a few miles, his cousin, Nathaniel Wing, had made a settlement about the same time as his own. Nothing but the ever lasting sands on Cape Cod could ever have induced young John Wing to establish himself at Great Hill. The soil is stony, sandy, and poor. The settlement at Sippican was first made along the Sippican River, and it was not until 1686 that it was incorporated under the title of "Rochester in the County of Barnstable,: but it was soon set off to Plymouth County and has since been divided into several towns...

The site of the home of John Wing at Great Hill is now an extensive park enclosed in a high stone wall, handsomely laid out and with buildings, erected by a New York merchant named Searles, who planned here a magnificent estate. The place was probably selected by Mr. Wing because of its proximity to the water, which then must have been the principal highway for travel. John Wing participated prominently in the early political affairs of Rochester, and was at different times, sealer of weights and measures, overseer of highways and selectman of the town. In a deed made in 1716-17, in which he conveyed forty acres of land to Savory Clifton, lying on the "easterly side of the Sippican River, which adjoins the Clifton homestead," he is styled "John Wing, agent." He was a selectman of Rochester in 1700, 1702, 1703, 1704, and a sealer in 1706, 1708, 1709 and 1710.

Mentions wife Martha Eldest son Stephen Wing, Samuel Wing (not yet 21), Heirs of my son, Joseph Wing Deceased, son John Wing, daughters Hannah Boweman, Desire Wing, Deborah (deceased) John Wing of Rochester; will proved Sept. 18, 1717;... The inventory of his entire estate amounted to £1126.

His sons, Stephen and Samuel were named as executors In thus giving to his son Samuel the homestead and making him his residuary legatee he had not failed in remembrance of his other children from his large landed estate he gave to each one what was equal to Samuel's share Thus he passed away having lived an honorable and industrious life leaving to each of his children an equal share of the estate.

U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current: John Wing

Gender: Male
Birth Date: 14 Nov 1656
Birth Place: Sandwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States of America
Death Date: 1 Aug 1717
Death Place: Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States of America
Cemetery: Friends Burial Ground, Marion, Plymouth, Massachusetts
Bio? "John Wing, son of Daniel Wing and Hannah Swift. Married to Martha Spooner"
Father: Daniel Wing
Mother: Hannah Wing
Children: Samuel Wing; John Wing; Joseph Wing

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• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: May 13 2021, 1:56:54 UTC
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wing-37