A parentage search for my 3rd great-grandfather, Willard Wheeler (1805-1883) of Whiting, Maine, steered me towards another Willard Wheeler (1804-1888) of Sudbury, Massachusetts. I decided to put my great-grandfather on hold and pursue the alternate Willard, as I found his ancestry compelling.
Willard’s death record lists William Wheeler and Mehitable Lee of Concord, Massachusetts, as his parents.1 Ancestry.com reveals that William was born on February 3, 1766, in Concord, just nine years before the Revolutionary War.2 I followed the lineage chain to Warham Wheeler, who was born on April 30, 1740.3 He enlisted as a Minuteman on April 26, 1775 in Concord and fought under Captain Joseph Butler and Colonel John Nixon.4 On May 17, 1775, Abijah Bond, town treasurer of Concord, paid Warham a sum of fifteen shillings for his service as a Minuteman.5 Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors records Warham’s military career lasting from 1775-1778. During this time, Warham was stationed at Camp Winter Hill, adjacent to Bunker Hill, and Camp Mount Washington. He participated in the Battle of White Plains on October 28, 1776, which resulted in defeat for General Washington and forced his army to retreat from New York. From January 1, 1777, to November 6, 1777, he served as a 2nd Lieutenant in Captain Philip Thomas’s Company of Colonel Thomas Marshall’s regiment. According to Newspapers.com, Warham was listed as a casualty in Marshall’s regiment and discharged November 11, 1777.6
Boston Gazette and Country Journal, Boston, Mass., March 31, 1777, AmericanAncestors.org.
Warham placed advertisements in the February 27, March 31, and April 14, 1777 editions of the Boston Gazette. Nine men, including Samuel Harding, a “Negro,” deserted Thomas’s Company and Warham placed a reward of five dollars for any information.7 He was paid for 11 days’ (220 miles) travel to compensate for his march from Boston to Bennington, Vermont.8 It is worth noting that the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) do not have any record of his patriotic service.
Like many Revolutionary War patriots, Warham Wheeler did not have parents or the loving arms of a wife to come home to. All were deceased at the time of his “agreeable to resolve” (discharge) on April 20, 1778. Despite being born into one of Concord’s pedigree families, it did not spare him heartbreak. His parents, William Wheeler and Mercy Willard, were of New England’s finest. Mercy is a direct descendant of Pilgrim William White and is listed in the Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, Vol 13.9 In The Wheeler Families of Old Concord, Massachusetts, William’s ancestor, George Wheeler, was one of the early settlers first recorded in 1640 and “he was one of the few men who ‘were foremost in the town’s business, by virtue of their large estates as well as their integrity and good judgement.’”10
The Wheeler family continued to own valuable property, as shown in a probate dated April 23, 1770.11 Harvard graduate Samuel Danforth Esq. of Cambridge, judge of the probate of wills, distributed the real estate of William Wheeler, valued at almost 200 pounds. William bequeathed a considerable amount of property to his son Warham. A subsequent May 9, 1770, probate outlines the invoice for Judge Samuel Danforth’s services for the settlement of real estate. It is addressed to Warham and his brothers William and Oliver for 250 pounds.12
Pre-colonial and colonial Concord, Massachusetts has extensive records, perfect for an amateur. I found it very unusual that there was no maiden name, birth, marriage record, or tombstone for Warham’s wife, Mary. The Genealogical and Encyclopedic History of the Wheeler Family13 and The Wheeler Families of Old Concord, Massachusetts14 have Warham listed as married to Mary---. Concord Registers – Book II lists William Wheeler “ye son of Wareham Wheeler & Mary his wife” born February 3, 1766.15 Sadly, five months later, “Mary Wheeler wife of Wareham,” died July 17, 1766.16 Many people remarried to help with the household and the care of the children, but not Warham. He inherited enough money to raise little William himself. A 1779 probate awarded guardianship to James Haynes, as William is “a minor under fourteen years of age, son of Warham Wheeler, late of Concord.” It was signed by James Haynes, James Barrett, Moses Harrington, Nathan Fuller and John Winthrop Esq. on March 2, 1779.17 A subsequent probate dated March 16, 1779, appointed Ephraim Wood and William Parkman of Concord to take inventory and apprise the Wheeler estate.18
An appraisal of 141 pounds sixteen shillings and 8 pence was established, not including any real estate holdings.19 Since there is no death record, it is safe to assume that Warham Wheeler died around March 2, 1779, less than one year after he left the service. William became an orphan at 13 years old and lived with his guardian, James Haynes. A “condition of the obligation” payment of 3,000 pounds to John Winthrop Esq. and a payment of 10,000 pounds to Oliver Prescott Esq. would be considered “void” if the guardianship expectations were fully satisfied.20 William would inherit his father’s estate when he became of age, but money does not solve the loneliness and perceived abandonment.
Four years later, a probate dated May 14, 1783, nominated James Haynes to be guardian for William Wheeler “who has chosen him, a minor above 14 years of age son of Warham Wheeler late of Concord.”21 William’s inheritance from his father would be under Haynes’ management.
I was frustrated that I could not find the identity of Mary (_____) Wheeler and pursued writing to American Ancestors Brick Wall. After no response from the public, I had a consultation with Chief Genealogist David Allen Lambert.22 He theorized that Mary was not Warham’s wife; she became pregnant out of wedlock with their son, William. Mary died shortly after William’s birth, hence the lack of marriage documentation. David proposed that she was Mary Haynes, daughter of James Haynes of Sudbury and eventually guardian of his grandson William.
AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 24000-25999, p 24375:2.
AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 10000-11999, p 10910:3.
AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate Files Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 24000-25999, p 24374:3
James Haynes, born in Sudbury May 25, 1721, was the son of James Haynes and Mary Rugg.23 At this writing he has no definitive death date, only “Post 1777.” He married his first wife, Eleanor Lee of Concord, daughter of Dr. Joseph Lee and Ruth Goodenow, on August 13, 1741.24 Eleanor was 16 at the time of her marriage and gave birth to 9 children: 4 sons and 5 daughters. One of these daughters was Mary, born November 27, 1746.25 Her birth date is also recorded in Sudbury vital records.26 In Walter Haynes of Sutton Maudeville, Wiltshire, England, and Sudbury, Massachusetts and his Descendants, 1583-1928, Mary Haynes is listed under her father James Haynes with the same birthdate.27
A probate dated March 24, 1755 for James Haynes Sr. designates James Jr. as his executor.28 James Haynes Jr.’s signature is clearly from a younger man’s hand and will establish the basis for the proof argument that he is the guardian of William. James’s wife, Eleanor Lee Haynes, died on April 25, 1759, which makes daughter Mary 13 years old. David suggested that Mary may have been a burden on the family as she had many siblings. She was probably married off at a young age, as it would be tradition since her mother married young. James remarried nine months later January 24, 1760, to Abigail Noyes of Sudbury.29 A probate dated December 21, 1761, states that James Haynes petitioned for guardianship of Mary and her two brothers, Joseph and David, as they were minor “children of said James Haynes by his late wife Eleanor Haynes.”30 The signature is almost identical to the one on his father’s 1755 will and the 1779 and 1783 William Wheeler documents. If Mary is William’s mother, she died 6 years later at age 20.
To determine a possible death date, I found James Hains [James Haynes] listed in the 1790 census living in Sudbury, Massachusetts.31 Massachusetts land records has a transfer of “500 hundred dollars and a bond in the sum of a thousand dollars conditioned for the maintenance of me and Abigail my wife” to Moses Maynard Jr. dated April 3, 1798 and filed on September 19, 1807.32 It is reasonable to assume that James lived at least to the age of 80.
At the closing of my consultation with David Allen Lambert, he stated that “It’s a theory, nothing is concrete but James Haynes of Sudbury, taking on William as an older man. In 1779 he is in his 50s and 60 using an old-style script and still alive in 1800.” We agreed it just makes sense that James is the grandfather and guardian. More important is the connection between Warham and James and their involvement in the Revolutionary War. Private James Haynes, Patriot #A053032 in the DAR database, served under Captain Aaron Haynes at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. According to Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, they both fought at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, marched to Cambridge via Concord, both gave a receipt to Paymaster Benjamin Heywood [Haywood] for wages dated September 27/30, 1776, at Camp Mount Washington, and both served in Lt. Colonel Thomas Nixon’s 4th Regiment on November 9, 1776.33 Warham fought alongside his father-in-law.
What happened to young William? There is happiness to this story as he found love and married Mehitable Lee of Concord (1769 –1852). William had the stability of 2 in-laws, a wife, and 8 children, 6 of whom survived into adulthood. Hopefully his family gave William some much needed joy. William died on July 2, 1847, two days before the 71st anniversary of Independence Day, at age 81.
Sources
[1] Willard Wheeler, Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915, Ancestry.
[2] William Wheeler, Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Concord Registers – Book II, p 219.
[3] Warham Wheeler, Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Concord Births, Marriages, and Deaths, p 150.
[4] United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783, Vol 16, pg 995-996, FamilySearch.org.
[5] Town Record Books Collection, Town Book Volume IV, Town of Concord Archives, p 44.
[6] Reade, General P (1911, Oct 9). Col. Thomas Marshall: Sketch of a Famous Bostonian of the Revolution. Boston Evening Transcript, p 14. Newspapers.com.
[7] Boston Gazette and Country Journal, Boston, Mass., March 31, 1777, AmericanAncestors.org.
[8] Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, Volume 16, p 995-996, FamilySearch.org.
[9] Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880, Volume: White, William (Vol. 13) p. 77, AmericanAncestors.org.
[10] https://concordlibrary.org/special-collections/wheeler-genealogy, p 17.
[11] AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 24000-25999, p 24380:6.
[12] AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 24000-25999, p 24380:10.
[13] Albert G. Wheeler Jr, The Genealogical and Encyclopedic History of the Wheeler Family in America (American College of Genealogy, 1917), 1024.
[14] George Tolman, The Wheeler Families of Old Concord, Massachusetts (Concord Antiquarian Society, 1970), 16.
[15] William Wheeler, Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Concord Registers – Book II, p 219.
[16] Mary Wheeler, Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records 1620-1988, Concord Births, Marriages, and Death, Ancestry.
[17] AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 24000-25999, p 24375:2.
[18] AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate Files Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 24000-25999, p 24374:5.
[19] AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate Files Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 24000-25999, p 24374:3.
[20] AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 24000-25999, p 24375:2.
[21] AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 24000-25999, p 24375:4.
[22] David Allen Lambert NEGHS, Ashley Morin (1 hour consult), video 1094431159, April 24, 2024.
[23] https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L2H4-G92/james-haynes-1721-1777.
[24] https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LHM3-S1Q/eleanor-lee-1725-1759.
[25] services.dar.org; #A053032.
[26] Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850, Sudbury Births, pg 67, American Ancestors.
[27] Frances Haynes, ed., Walter Haynes of Sutton Maudeville, Wiltshire, England, and Sudbury, Massachusetts and his Descendants, 1583-1928 (Record Publishing Company, Haverhill, MA, 1929), 81.
[28] AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 10000-11999, p 10910:3.
[29] Massachusetts Vital Records,1620-1850, Sudbury Marriages, American Ancestors.
[30] AmericanAncestors.org: Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871, Volume: Middlesex Cases 10000-11999, p 10911:3.
[31] 1790, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Sudbury, #559, James Hains [James Haynes], Ancestry.
[32] Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986, Middlesex, Deeds, Volume 172 page 408, image 254, FamilySearch.
[33] United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783, Vol 7, p 601, FamilySearch.