Nicholas Wade of Scituate, MA ca 1615
It has been some time since I have seen anything posted on this family, so I will make three posts: 1)Nicholas; 2) John, a possible son; and 3) Thomas.From these posts hopefully some discussion will begin to help us fill-in some needed blanks or get some corrected information.
1.Nicholas2 Wade(Thomas1) was born Abt. 1615 in Denver Parish, County Norfolk, Eng., and died Bet. February 07 - March 11, 1683/84 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.He married Elizabeth Hanford Abt. 1642 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA, daughter of Jeffery Hanford and Eglin Hatherly.She was born Abt. 1621 in Fremington, County Devon, Eng, and died October 09, 1711 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.
Notes for Nicholas Wade:
The Original Lists of Persons of Quality; Emigrants; Religious Exiles; Political Rebels; Serving Men sold for a Term of Years; Apprentices; Children Stolen; Maidens Pressed; And Others Who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700, by John Camden Hotten states:"xiiijo Aprilis 1635, Theis vnder-written names are to be transported to the Barbadoes imbarques in the Faulcon de London, THO: IRISH Mr p Certificate from the Minister of the pish of their conformity to the orders of the Church of England, The Men have taken the oaths of Allegeance & Supremacie" (p. 63).The 17th name on the list is Nicho Wade ... 19.Nicholas settled at Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.According to the Plymouth Colony Records, he took the Oath of Allegiance at Scituate on February 1, 1638/39 (1:110).No records have surfaced to date that show him joining Lothrop's Church; however, from his will it would appear he was God-fearing.On October 6, 1657, he was licensed to keep an ordinary (a tavern-inn) at Scituate (Plymouth Colony Records, 3:123).In 1662, he was among those former servants and ancient freemen given land at Saconett Neck (Plymouth Colony Records, 4:18).Inclusion for this land grant was based either on his own contributions to the Scituate colony or his connection to a family that had made early contributions to the colony.Wade's marriage to the niece of Timothy Hatherly, Elizabeth Hanford, would classify him in this latter category.The will of Timothy Hatherly, dated October 30, 1666, shows clearly that Nicholas was married to Elizabeth Hanford and not to Elizabeth Ensign.
Nicholas' will is as follows:
The Last Will and Testament of Nicholas Wade of Sittuate mad this seventh day of February in ye yeare of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty & three, 1683.I, ye said Waed, being weake of body and yet in perfect memory and understanding, and not knowing ye time of my departing, make this my Last Will.Imprimis, I committ my soule to God that gave it me and my body to ye dust from whence it was taken.And after all my debts are satisfied and paid and my buriall expences discharged, then as for all my worldly estate I dispose of it as in manner as followeth:
Item, I give to my eldest son, John Wade, ye grant of fifty acres of land tht was given to me by ye Ancient Freemen of Sittuate and a five pound debt which was due to me upon bill, all which said land and debts [he is] to have and to hold, injoy and possess, to him and his heirs or asignes for ever.Item, I give to my son, Thomas Waed, all my land that lyeth on ye westerly side of ye Country Road that goeth over ye Brushe Hill, except that land that I formerly gave to my daughter, Susannah Wilcom, and her Husband [William] Wilcome, to have and to hold, possess and injoy, to him and his heirs or asignes for ever.Item, I give to my son, Nicholas Waed, all ye rest of my upland and medow and housing, excepting five acres of upland that lyeth next to ye Cuntry Road that goether over Brush Hill, two acres of meadow that lyeth next to Old Goodman [William?] Willis' meadow, to him and to his heirs lawfully begotten of his body, to have and to hold, to injoy and possess for ever.Item, I give to my son, Nathaniel Waed, five acres of upland lying on ye westerly side of my house and next to ye Cuntry Road that goeth over Brush Hill and two ackers of meadow lying next to old Goodman Wills' meadow, to him and to his heirs lawfully begotten of his body, to have and to hold, posess and injoy for ever after my wife's decease.
And as for my daughter, Susannah White, I have given her her portion in land already in her former husband's dayes.And as for all ye rest of my estate, excepting one cow and eight sheep and my wife's buriall expences discharged, I give it all to my sonn's children, namely Nicholas, Nathaniel, Elizabeth and Hannah, to be equally devided among them.I give to my daughter, Elyzabeth, one cow and eight sheep after my wife's decease.
And further I doe by these presents ordaine, constitute, and appoint my beloved wife [Elizabeth] to be my lawfull Executrix who is to have ye whole use and benefitt of my estate during her life as may appear by an Agreement made with my son Nicholas Wade.And further I doe ordaine, constitute, and appoint my well beloved friend Samuell Clapp, to be my Overseer of this my Last Will and Testament.
My will is that my son, Nicholas, shall have a hy way through my son Nathaniell's land in ye most convenient place and my son, Nicholas, allowing as much land for it.In witness hear of I have her unto sett my hand and seal (Plymouth Colony Records, Book 14, p. 14).
Nicholas' will was probated in 1712 after the death of his wife, Elizabeth.Son, Nicholas, was appointed administrator of his father's estate, and the settlement states that his son, Nathaniel, had died without issue before his mother, and that the estate was divided between the four living children (Speculation:John, Thomas, Nicholas, and one of the daughters; see Plymouth Colony:Its History & People 1620-1691, Eugene Aubrey Stratton).That the youngest son was appointed administrator may suggest that sons John and Thomas were no longer in the area.It has been maintained that Thomas had moved to Bridgewater by 1680, but most certainly by 1694 (on this matter see notes under Thomas), and son John would have been in Brookhaven, Long Island when the will was written and in Lyme, New London Co., CT when it was probated.I have yet to figure out to whom the reference "all to my sonn's children, namely Nicholas, Nathaniel, Elizabeth and Hannah" refers.Neither John nor Thomas had children by those names.That leaves only Joseph, and there are no records to indicate that he had children.Neither Nathaniel nor Nicholas were yet married, and as before stated, Nathaniel died without issue.Should it read:"all to my sonns and children, ..."?
Inventory of Nicholas Wade 1684
An Inventory of ye estate lands good Chattles of Nicolas Wade deceased taken ye 11 day of march 1683 by vs whose names ar vnderwritten£sd
Imprmis one dwelling house & barne vpland and meadow lands 60 00 00
purse & aparrel 04 00 00
the best bed & bedsteed & furniture 06 00 00
Two flock beds & bedsteed & furniture 06 00 00
A peice of woollen Cloth 02 10 00
Two Ioyne Chests 01 00 00
In sheets & other linnen 03 00 00
linnen & Cotton yarne 01 00 00
In pewter & Tin 03 13 00
In Brass 03 10 00
In Iron potts Kettles 01 00 00
Trammell tongs & other Iron things 00 12 00
Armes & amunition 01 00 00
Books 00 08 00
one long Table formes ioynt stools 01 10 00
In sett worke Tubbs & pailes 00 06 00
In beefe & porke 01 00 00
ffower Cowes one bull Two young cattell 13 15 00
In sheep 02 10 00
Two mares 03 10 00
two young swine 00 10 00
lumber belonging to ye house 01 00 00
one bridle & saddle Collar & Traces 00 12 00
In Rye & Indian Corne 00 16 00
a saw chaine & Crow & other Iron tooles 01 00 00
one Hatchell 00 06 00
spinning wheeles & cards & earthe ware 00 08 00
one looking glass & a box Iron 00 03 00
debts due to ye estate 04 00 00
Totall is 120 19 00
Isaack Buck senior
Samuel Clap
debts due from ye estate are
It to mr Iohn Wing of Boston 11 00 00
It to Margrett Collman 02 00 00
It to Ensigne Allin 01 10 00
It to Ephraim little 01 06 00
more in smale debts 04 10 00
[total] 20 06 00
This 24 of Iune 1684 apeared Elyzabeth Wade ye Relict of Nicolas Wade deceased & gaue oath to this Inuentory yt it is a true Inuentory of all ye estate of her late husband deceased & as far as she knows & yt if after ward ther due Come more to light she will make discouery of it Taken before me Iohn Cushing by order of Court (Plymouth Colony Wills, Vol. IV, part II, folio 137).
It is from Savage that we get the names of Joseph and Jacob as children of Nicholas and Elizabeth (1860).There was a Joseph Wade among those killed in the war on March 26, 1676 (Bowen, Early Rehoboth 3:14-15), as was John Ensign.The Ensign family seems closely connected with the Wades.Thomas Wade married Hannah Ensign, John's sister.The suggestion by some, however, that John Ensign was married to Elizabeth Wade must be ruled out since John's wife was dead when he wrote his will in 1676, while Elizabeth Wade was still alive in 1683.It is also maintained that Joseph married John's sister Sarah who later married Thomas Mann (Stratton, TAG 61:46-49).The other son Jacob, listed as b. 1661 and d. bef. 1683, was possibly confused with the son of Thomas Wade (see Guilford, p. 799).
The only primary dates we have in regard to Nicholas' children for establishing births are baptism records for Hannah and Nicholas.From the will, we also know that John was his eldest son.The marriage of Nicholas and Elizabeth is variously stated from 1638-1642.If we use Briggs' date, who states that Elizabeth was 21 at the time of the marriage, it would occur in ca 1642.Assuming the first child was born the next year and using two-year spacing increments, I have put together a proposed birth date for all his children.The dates assigned and the proposed order of births are mere speculation and should be treated as such.If will order was followed, Nathaniel would be the youngest son, not Nicholas.It is also possible that Joseph was older than Thomas since Joseph married the older of the two Ensign sisters.
References to Nicholas Wade include the following:
1)Peirce's Colonial Lists, p. 59 - Nicholas Wade, Inn Keeper, Oct. 6, 1657
2)Peirce's Colonial Lists, p. 74 - Nicholas Wade, Scituate Company, Non-commissioned officers and privates
3)Records of the Descendants of James Ensign and His Wife Sarah Elson, p. 502.
4)The Wade Genealogy, p. 61 mentions wealthy yeoman of the English county of Norfolk, Jonathan, Nathaniel, and Nicholas Wade that settled around the present site of Boston, MA.
5)Scituate Town Records, pp. 162, 326, 379, 380, 417, 441 (these last two may be to his son, Nicholas).Throughout the land records of Scituate in which Nicholas, Elizabeth, or his son Thomas is mentioned, the last name is variously spelled:Wade, Waed, Wead, and Weade.
6)Unrecorded deed dated 1672, William Holmes to Nicholas Wade, presented to MA Society of Mayflower Descendants by Mrs. Jetson Wade.
Since Joseph Savage's work (1860), a mistake in the identity of Nicholas' wife has been perpetuated.A number of Wade researchers set out to correct this error, and Holman (1948) offered what has been determined the correct solution.For a comprehensive discussion on the issue, see the two-volume work, Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and His Wife Frances Helen Miller, by Mary Lovering Holman and Winifred Lovering Holman, published 1948-1952, especially volume I, pages 485-487.One can also check out The Ancestry of Dr. J. P. Guilford, by Joan S. Guilford (1990).As well, Robert E. Bowman, "Ensigns Revisited," TAG 292 (1998), 241-255; Eugene A. Stratton, "Mann-Ensign Notes," TAG 61 (1985), 46-49.These works demonstrate that Nicholas was married to Elizabeth Hanford and not Elizabeth Ensign.
A researcher of the John Wade family that moved to Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia, Paul Wade, wrote a book entitled, Exodus of the Wades, which can be seen in the archives at Scituate.In it he postulates that Nicholas was from Fremington, county Devon, England.He offers no proof for this position, but rather, mere speculation based on the maritime nature of some of Nicholas' descendants and the environment of Scituate.A casual look at the vital records of Fremington, county Devon, England has turned up no Wades at all in that time period.For the time being, then, nothing beyond the voyage record has been discovered that gives us proof of where Nicholas originated from in England.
More About Nicholas Wade:
Birth Record: Compendium of American Genealogy, Virkus
Burial: 1684
Will: February 07, 1683/84, Inventory on March 11, 1683/84; approved June 24, 1684
Notes for Elizabeth Hanford:
Came from England with her mother and sister at age 14 on April 10, 1635 from London to Boston on the Planter - Master Traice, Captain.
More About Elizabeth Hanford:
Burial: October 1711
Death record: Scituate Vital Records
Probate: 1712, Number 21715 Plymouth Colony Probate Court
Marriage Notes for Nicholas Wade and Elizabeth Hanford:
They were married when Elizabeth was 21 (see L. Vernon Briggs, History and Genealogy of the Briggs Family, 1254-1937, 1938, Three volumes).
More About Nicholas Wade and Elizabeth Hanford:
Marriage: Abt. 1642, Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA
Marriage Record: Briggs, History and Genealogy of the Briggs Family
Children of Nicholas Wade and Elizabeth Hanford are:
+ 2 i. John3 Wade, born Abt. 1643 in possibly Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died March 24, 1727/28 in Lyme, New London Co., CT. (see posting on John for more information)
3 ii. Elizabeth Wade, born Abt. 1645 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.She married Thomas Marmaduke Stevens 1665 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.
Notes for Elizabeth Wade:
Bigamy, too, was found in Plymouth Colony.Nicholas Wade of Scituate in 1680 complained his daughter Elizabeth had married Thomas Stevens not knowing of his earlier marriages.It appeared that at the time Stevens married her, he already had a wife at Boston, a wife and children in England, and another wife in Barbados.The court agreed that this was sufficient reason to dismiss Elizabeth from the aforesaid marriage bond, and it dissolved the covenant of marriage between them.Elizabeth was granted the liberty of marrying again, while Stevens received the sentence of severe whipping at the post (Plymouth Colony, Stratton).
Briggs places her birth as ca. 1650 (L. Vernon Briggs, History and Genealogy of the Briggs Family, 1254-1937, 1938).Severalresearchers list her as the firstborn child.
More About Elizabeth Wade:
Birth Record: IGI Record - LDS Film number 2034507
Notes for Thomas Marmaduke Stevens:
This marriage was annulled because of bigamy.
More About Thomas Stevens and Elizabeth Wade:
Annulment: 1680, Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA
Marriage: 1665, Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA
Marriage Record: IGI Record - LDS Film number 2034651
+ 4 iii. Thomas Wade, born Abt. 1647 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died Bet. March 14, 1725/26 - November 24, 1726 in Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., MA. (see posting on Thomas for more information)
5 iv. Joseph Wade, born Abt. 1649 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died March 26, 1676 in Rehoboth, Bristol Co., MA - King Philip's War.He married Sarah Ensign 1670 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; born Abt. 1650 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.
More About Joseph Wade:
Burial: March 1675/76
Notes for Sarah Ensign:
On Oct. 3, 1665 Sarah Ensigne, who was probably no older than 15 at the time, was convicted of 'whoredom aggreuated with diuerse cercomstances' and sentenced to be whipped (Plymouth Colony Records, 4:106).On the same date Elizabeth Ensigne, widow, complained against Thomas Summers for £500 damage for "inticing and drawing away her daughter vnseasonably, and by vnlawfull meanes, against her will, and abusing her daughter."The jury awarded her only 50s and the cost of the suit (Plymouth Colony Records, 7:126).
More About Joseph Wade and Sarah Ensign:
Marriage: 1670, Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA
Marriage Record: IGI Record - LDS Film number 2034651
6 v. Nathaniel Wade, born Abt. 1651 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died Bef. October 10, 1711.
Notes for Nathaniel Wade:
Based on the execution of Nicholas Wade's will in 1712, Nathaniel preceded his mother, Elizabeth, in death and had no issue.
7 vi. Susanna Wade, born Abt. 1653 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died Abt. 1698 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.She married (1) William Wilcomb Bef. 1676 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died March 26, 1676 in King Philip's War.She married (2) Joseph White Abt. 1678 in Plymouth Co., MA.
More About William Wilcomb:
Burial: Aft. March 26, 1676
More About William Wilcomb and Susanna Wade:
Marriage: Bef. 1676, Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA
More About Joseph White and Susanna Wade:
Marriage: Abt. 1678, Plymouth Co., MA
8 vii. Hannah Wade, born Bef. August 03, 1656 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.
Notes for Hannah Wade:
Hannah Wade's absence from the will of Nicholas Wade, February 7, 1683/84, is curious.Was she dead?There is a Vital Record that lists just Nicholas Wade as father that gives her a baptism date as August 3, 1656.None of Nicholas Wade's children would be old enough to have a legitimate child at this point, so it is postulated she belongs to Nicholas and Elizabeth.If a "correction" is made to Nicholas' will in regard to "all my sonn's children," as was queried in the notes under Nicholas, then this dilemma goes away since Hannah would be mentioned.
More About Hannah Wade:
Baptism: August 03, 1656, Second Church of Scituate, . Vital Records of Scituate, Massachusetts to the Year 1850
+ 9 viii. Nicholas Wade II, born Bef. July 01, 1660 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died March 16, 1723/24 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.
More Replies:
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Re: Nicholas Wade of Scituate, MA ca 1615
F.R.Wade 8/06/06
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Re: Nicholas Wade of Scituate, MA ca 1615
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Re: Nicholas Wade of Scituate, MA ca 1615