John Wheeler 1591-1670

It is claimed John and his wife, Ann Yeoman Wheeler, set sail for the colonies in March 1633/34 on the “Mary and John”.  They are my 8x gt. grandparents. FamilySearch says he was b. in St. Edmunds, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, and that his father’s name was Domincke and his mother was Mercy (nee Jellye). Six of his children came with them but they left four sons in England. They settled in Aggawam, now known as Ipswich, in Massachusetts Colony. The following year they moved to the north side of the Merrimac River to an area which is now called Salisbury. By 1650 he was living in Newbury, MA where he died in 1670 at the age or 78. His wife, Ann, had died there Aug 15 1662. A transcription of John’s will appears in The Genealogical and Historical History of the Wheeler Family. 

John and Ann Wheeler had 12 known children:

(Wheeler)

Edward         b. 1612         remained in England

John             b. 1614         remained in England

Adam           b. 1616         remained in England

Elizabeth       b.1618          m. Matthias Button

William          b. 1622         remained in England

David            b. 1625         m. Sarah Wise

Mercy           b. 1627

Ann              b. c.1629      m. Aquila Chase

Thomas        b. 1629

Roger           b. 1631

*Henry          b.1634-1696 m. *Abigail Allen

George         b. 1637-?      m. Suzanne

*Henry d. 1696. His wife, *Abigail, was listed as a widow of Boston for that year, but I’ve found no death date for her. They also had 12 children:

(Wheeler)

Henry           1659-1684    m. Rachel Squires

Abigail 1661-?

William          1663-1704    m. Ann Phippen

Moses                    1665-?

*James         1667-1753 twin m. *Grizzell Squire (sis/o Rachel)

Ann              1667-1723 twin m. Thomas Riggs

Josiah           1669-1734

Ruth             1671-?

Nathaniel      1675-?          m. Mary Bridges

Jeremiah      1677-?

Benjamin      1682-?

Mary             1685-1777    m. Thomas Harris

*James Wheeler and his brother Henry married two sisters. Henry married Rachel Squires and James married her sister, Grizzell. James and Grizzell had 8 children:

(Wheeler)

*Abigail         1690-1733    m. *Ebenezer Martin

William          1691-?          m. Elizabeth Cole

Mary             1694-?          m. John Read

**James        1697-1740    m. Elizabeth West

Philip            1698-1774    m. Martha Salisbury

Rachel          1701-1755    m. Samuel Thurber

Squire           1703-?          m. Sarah Bowen

Ann              1705-?          m. Azariakim Peirce

A side bar on the Squires, to give a little background on them. Philip Squire was a brewer/distiller and a proprietor of Rehoboth, MA, although he didn’t live there. In King Philip’s War he was a Cpl. in Capt. William Turner’s Co. in Medfield. Although he continued to live in Boston, he did own lands in Rehoboth. Philip was b. 1642 in Escrick, Yorkshire, England and d. 1693 in Boston MA. He’s buried in King’s Chapel Cemetery in Boston. He married Rachel Ruggles, the d/o George and Elizabeth Ruggles. George was a weaver who migrated in 1633 from England. There are several versions of where he was born, none of which are proven. So for now, just England will have to do. By 1640, he had relocated to Braintree MA. George bought considerable acreage of land in Braintree over the course of time. He also deeded land to Rachel Squire, his daughter, adjoining land that she and Philip already owned. Later, after his death, his wife, Elizabeth, also deeded land in Boston to Philip and Rachel.

James and Grizzell relocated to Rehoboth MA where most of their children were born. They are my 6x gt. grandparents. Grizzell died sometime before 1738 and James remarried Elizabeth Brintnal from Norton MA. There was no issue from this 2^nd marriage.

It is important to note that James and Grizzell Wheeler were also the 4x gt. grandparents of President James A. Garfield. Their son, James, m. Elizabeth West in 1716. This couple had a daughter, Elizabeth Wheeler, b. 1717, who m. Ebenezer Ingalls. Elizabeth and Ebenezer had a son, Henry Ingalls, who m. Sybil Carpenter. Their daughter, Mehitable Ingalls married James Ballou. Mehitable and James’ daughter, Eliza Ballou m. Abram Garfield. Eliza and Abram were the parents of James A. Garfield, President of the United States. This makes me a 5^th cousin, twice removed of President Garfield.  

Back to James and Grizzell, their first born was Abigail, b. c. 1690 in Swansea.

She m.1, Ebenezer Martin in 1716, Barrington RI. 

{A short note on this location. Barrington was once part of Swansea but was eventually divided off when the state lines were created. Anyone doing research for this area would find it helpful to look at the history of both towns to see what might have happened before the state lines were              drawn.}                                                                         King's Chapel Burying Ground                                                                                                                    Boston MA

Abigail m.2, John West, brother of Elizabeth West. So, again, we have siblings married to siblings. Abigail m. John West and her brother, James Wheeler, m. Elizabeth West, sister of John. Whew!!!

*Abigail (Wheeler) and Ebenezer Martin had 4 children:

(Martin)

Jemimah       1717-?          m. Valentine Bowen

John             1718-?          m. Mary Reed

Ebenezer      1721-1769    m. Mary Bowen

Nathaniel      1722-1893    m. Susanna Kent

*Abigail         1725-c.1814  m.1 William Estabrooks; m.2 *Jonathan Cole

Ebenezer Martin d. 1727 and Abigail m. John West.

Abigail (Wheeler) and John West had 2 children:

(West)

Grizzel          1729-

Elizabeth       1733-1755    m. *Jonathan Cole

*Abigail Martin 1725-c. 1814 and William Estabrooks had:

(Estabrooks)

Elizabeth       1748-?          Believed to have died young

Grizell           1751-?          m. Jeremiah Alverson - relocated to Poughkeepsie                                                                                     NY

William          1752-1838    m. Miriam Thornton - they settled in Sackville, NB                                                                                       Canada

The elder William Estabrooks died in 1753, leaving Abigail with 2, if not 3, small children. Her half sister, Elizabeth West married Jonathan Cole in 1750, had two sons James and Edward, but then she died in 1755. Jonathan then married his sister-in-law, Abigail Martin Estabrooks in 1756.  This became a version of his, hers and theirs. Since we don’t know when Abigail’s first child died, this new marriage started out with either 4 or 5 children. They then proceeded to have 5 more. Another interesting connection is that Abigail’s older sister, who married Valentine Bowen, now became a cousin to her sister through marriage. Jonathan and Valentine were 1^st cousins, once removed, through Jonathan’s mother, Elizabeth Bowen Cole. Oh, what a tangled web we weave…….

Jonathan and Abigail Cole were the progenitors of the New Brunswick Coles. There are former blogs on them so I will only list the descent lines.

Jonathan and Abigail Martin Estabrooks Cole:

          Ebenezer and Margaret Wade Cole (his 2^nd marriage)

                    Edward and Catherine Buck Cole

                              Rebecca Cole and Alexander Chambers

                                        Alvina Chambers and Patrick John Broderick – my                                                                                      grandparents.

         

The reason it’s taking me so long to get blogs out is that I’m re-researching as I go. So much of what I have was done so long ago that I have found it necessary to go back and re-check that information. Fortunately, much of what I had was verified, but I did pick up new dates, additional siblings, burial information, etc., so although it was tedious at times, I do believe it was worth it. With so many searchable places on-line, I found an abundance of new additions, new research and new connections.

I hope you are able to find something to add to your research. 

The Genealogical and Encyclopedic History of the Wheeler Family

New England Families Genealogical and Memorials vol. 3

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~jac/cmc/at01/at01_013.htm

Barrington, Bristol Co., RI, Biographies, Part 2