johnjr

John Wing was the oldest son of the Rev. John Wing and Deborah Bachiler Wing. It is believed that he was born about 1614 in Yarmouth, England. Yarmouth is a seacoast city from which many of the ships bound for New England departed. John, along with his older sister, Deborah Wing, were both mentioned in their grandfather, Matthew Wing's will.

John Wing, being the oldest son, was likely the most influenced by his father, Rev. John Wing and by his grandfather, Rev. Stephen Bachiler. At the approximate age of 19, John Wing accompanied his mother and brothers on the William and Francis to New England. This venture was due to a partnership that involved his grandfather, Rev. Stephen Bachiler. There is no proof that Rev. Wing was ever involved in this venture, but it seems likely that Rev. John Wing had planned to go to New England with his family. Death would keep the Rev. Wing on English soil, but his wife and sons would travel with Rev. Bachiler and other family members to the settlement on the Massachusetts Bay.

Although 19 years old seems young to us, many 19 year old boys were already making their own way in the world when John came to New England with his family. In fact, some as young as 14 had already gone out on their own, apprenticed to a certain craft, or adrift, making their living the best way they could. John Wing was probably considered a gentleman...of gentle birth and had probably already received a great deal of education.

It is hard to know exactly what role John would play after the death of his father. There is no question that the Rev. Stephen Bachiler exerted a certain amount of influence on his daughter, Deborah Bachiler Wing and therefore on her sons. It seems evident that for a number of years after Rev. John Wing's death, Rev. Bachiler became the token head of the Wing family. When Deborah and her sons finally set up housekeeping at Sandwich is probably when John became the primary head of the family.

John probably grew up fast in the Massachusetts settlement of Lynn, where they first settled. At Lynn, the Wing family would not have the comfortable home and surroundings they were probably used to. While not wealthy, there is every indication that the Wing's were comfortably well off, at least before they left England. John was surrounded by family in Lynn, Massachusetts. There was his grandfather, Rev. Stephen Bachiler and his wife, Helena. There was his mother's sister, Theodate, who had married Christopher Hussey and had arrived at Lynn prior to the Wing family. There were the 3 cousins, the Sanborn boys, the son's of his Aunt Anne Sanborn, who was widowed and had recently remarried and did not accompany the family to New England...and of course, there was his own mother, Deborah, and his 3 brothers.

What an adventure this must have seemed to a 19 year old young man. John probably developed skills that he might never have developed had they remained in England. John remained single for a number of years. That could not have been easy when the settlement almost demanded that young men get married as soon as possible. In fact, some settlements fined young men that were not married...and often asked them to leave.

We know that the Dillingham family was closely associated with the Wing family at least from the time they sailed on the William and Francis for New England. The Dillingham family and the Wing family would become family members when Stephen Wing married Oseah Dillingham in 1646. It has long been believed by many Wing family historians that John Wing's first wife was Elizabeth Dillingham. There is no proof that Elizabeth was ever in New England, much less married to John Wing. Because we are interested in the facts and proof, we cannot state that John was married to Elizabeth Dillingham, but there are so many persuasive reasons for believing it is so.

For one thing, John Wing and John Dillingham, Elizabeth Dillingham's youngest brother were very close. There was a 16 year age difference between these 2 men. Their relationship would have started on the William and Francis when John was a 19 year old young man and John Dillingham was a toddler. In fact, it would seem to make more sense if young Matthew Wing and young John Dillingham would have forged a bond because they were probably about the same age. Instead, it is clear that John Wing and John Dillingham were as close as any two brothers would be.

I have addressed this issue in other webpages on this site, but the other significant detail I discovered is that none of John Wing's own children married any Dillingham children...neither did Stephen Wing's children marry any Dillingham's. Yet, Daniel Wing had 2 sons that both married daughters of Henry Dillingham, John Dillingham's brother. It would seem that as close as John Wing and John Dillingham were...and the fact that their land bordered each others in Yarmouth, Massachusetts that their children would have become romantically involved. Perhaps it was as simple as an age difference, or perhaps it was that the family relationship was too close.

John Wing Jr., whose first wife will remain Unknown preceded him in death. It has been also believed by another faction of Wing family members that John Wing's first wife was Elizabeth Davis. Read the letter sent to the Wing Family Forum by Raymond Wing, another noted Wing researcher:

Note...December 11, 1999:

A number of Wing researchers have on their records that the first wife of John Wing (1613-1699) of Sautucket was Elizabeth Davis. I have found evidence that fully disproves this connection.

The Owl, DEC 1929, p. 2771 spoke of Elizabeth as the daughter of John & Joanna Davis of Boston. Also the probate record of John Davis of Boston mentioned a son-in-law, John Wing. However, Savage's Genealogical Dictionary II:17 lists Josebeth Davis, daughter of John & Joanna, born 20 AUG 1642, married John Wing of Boston.

It is known that there was another Wing family in Boston in the 17th Century. This Wing family included John, the husband of Josebeth Davis. As John & Elizabeth Wing (later) of Sautucket had children born at least as early as 1648 (if not even earlier) it is not possible that Elizabeth was born in Boston in 1642.

Raymond Wing

John Wing Jr. lived near or in the same house as his mother, Deborah, in Sandwich, Mass...at least until he married and eventually moved his young family to Yarmouth. While it has been recorded that John Wing moved his family to Yarmouth in 1656, there is proof that they were there as early as 1648. It was recorded in the records of Sandwich, Massachusetts that John Wing's son, Ephraim was born there. It is believed by Wing family historians that this Ephraim Wing was the infant that died by drowning in the snow. There is a book that I picked up at the Library about places to see in Massachusetts (I have forgotten the title of the book). This book lists the John Wing Trail...and that John Wing was driven out of Sandwich, Massachusetts because of his Quaker beliefs. The John Wing Trail is supposedly the trail he took to arrive at his settlement in Yarmouth.

There is plenty of proof that John's brothers, Daniel and Stephen were Quakers, but there does not seem to be much evidence to indicate that John Wing became a Quaker also. There is no doubt that he had probably had Quaker sympathies...if for no other reason that because two of his brothers were Quakers. It also seems evident that John Wing, along with the rest of his family, had a higher tolerance than most of their contemporaries for those who practiced a different religion. John, more than any of his other brothers, probably understood better the trials that his own father had faced...not to mention the bitter treatment his grandfather, Rev. Stephen Bachiler had received at the hands of the General Court in the Massachusetts Bay. John may have left Sandwich to get away from the intolerance that pervaded the whole area.

We know that John Wing took the Oath of Fidelities at Yarmouth in 1657. There was some question about whether or not Satucket, (Indian name - Sawkatuket) the place where John Wing was building his home, was within the limits of the Yarmouth Township. In 1659 there is this entry found in the court records:

"The Court, taking notice that John Wing is erecting a building in a place that is out of bounds of the township, and conceiving that such practices if permitted may prove prejudicial to the whole, do order that the said John Wing, and others that have done, or shall do so, be prohibited to persist therein until it be further cleared to what townships such lands belong on which they build."

This order refers to a requirement of that period, that no persons could settle upon lands which were not included within the chartered limits of towns, and under permission of the Court. It was eventually proven that John Wing was building within the limits of the Yarmouth Township and John proceeded to build his home and establish his settlement there. I think it is safe to agree with other family researchers who claim that John Wing was the first white settler in the limits of the present towns of Harwich and Brewster. In 1694, Harwich was set off from the limits of Yarmouth.

It is true that what happened in history is basically dependent on who is writing the history. Like his grandfather, Rev. Bachiler and even his own father, Rev. Wing...it seems as though John Wing sort of fell through the pages of the history books, while those who wrote the history failed to mention his contribution to the territory on the Cape beyond the confines of Yarmouth.

John Wing lived his life in and around Sautucket...he was frequently at Sandwich, Massachusetts because he often had to serve as a juror there or because of the lawsuits he himself was involved in. He helped his brother Daniel when Daniel was faced with the probability of losing his home and land because of his Quaker beliefs. John Wing managed to get Daniel's property put into Daniel's childrens' names so that the property would not be lost.

In other family histories you will read that John Wing's home at Sautucket was on the shores of Cape Cod Bay. The exact spot upon which he first settled there is supposed to have been a high piece of ground surrounded by a swamp or meadow lands subsequently called "Wings Island"...which is about a mile north-east of the present town of Brewster. Unfortunately there is nothing to mark the old homestead, unless it is the faint outline of an old cellar and that has probably faded away by this time. At one time there was an old deserted house that stood "just up the road a little way"...in the rear of that old deserted house was an old orchard. The old men of the neighborhood (which was many, many years ago) who had lived their lives in that area, claimed that the old orchard was always known as "Wing's Orchard" The impression was given that Miriam Deane Wing's (John's 2nd wife) "sweeting" grew close to this old place.

History does record however, that John Wing had his share of problems with the Mattacheese Indians who were quite numerous in the vicinity of his settlement. Both John Wing and John Dillingham settled on lands that supposedly belonged to individual families of the tribe of the Mattacheese. Eighteen years after the original settlement, the children of Nopoitan, the Mattacheese sachem, complained of the aggressions to the Plymouth Court and brought an action against John Wing for damages. This development started around the time that King Philip was inciting the Indian tribes in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to rise up against the whites. The court record reads:

"March 2, 1674/75: Robin of Mattachesett and Sampson of Nobscussett, Indians, in the right of their wives, the daughters of Nopoitan, Indian sachem, deceased, complaineth of much wronge done unto them by reason of sundry Englishmen, unjust detaining of sundry lands belonging to the said complaintants, which were the lands of Nopoitan, aforesaid, and not by him sold unto them, the said land lying between bound Brooke and Stony Brooke in the constablewicks of Yarmouth and in the pticlar complaineth against John Winge, in an action on the case to the damage of fifty pounds for his possession and detaining unlawfully from them the piece of the said lands, whereupon hee hath built, fenced and otherwise improved."

This action was nonsuited by the Court, and although John Wing was successful in the litigation, John immediately attempted to make peace with his Indian neighbors and he did pay them for their claims. On March 1, 1676/77, John Wing and John Dillingham, in their own behalf, as well as in behalf of certain other Sautucket settlers, purchased of the daughters of Nopoitan and their husbands their claims to the lands upon which the Englishmen had built and improved.

On April 16, 1677, John Wing and John Dillingham made over to Thomas Clarke, Kenelm Winslow, Paul Sears, Ananais Wing and Joseph Wing, certain interests in this property. In this purchase, John Wing was to have a third part of four shares, Dillingham two shares, Clarke one share, Winslow two shares, and Ananias and Joseph Wing each one-third of four shares. This deed is recorded in the Plymouth county Registry of Deeds, Vol. 5, page 103.

John Wing had 6 children by his first wife...and those would be the only children that he would have. It is not known when John's first wife died, but it is believed that the notice, "Jan. 31, 1692 -- The last of January Old Goody Wing died." refers to John Wing's wife. Many family historians have thought this to be a reference to Deborah Bachiler Wing...and while it could be...it would mean that Deborah lived to the ripe old age of 100 years.

John Wing would remarry for a second time. His second wife would be Miriam Deane. There is no surviving document that tells us when John married Miriam but it appears that he probably married her sometime in 1693. Miriam was born in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony about 1632.(7068) Miriam was the daughter of Stephen Dean(e) and Elizabeth Ring (Cooke). His widow Miriam survived him two or three years. She made a will which was dated May 24, 1701, and was probated in January, 1702-03. It gives the principal part of her property, inherited from her parents, to Deane Smith of Chatham, whose mother was "her sister Bethia Smith of Monomoith." The inventory of her personal property was taken in January, 1702-03, and its value was assessed at seventy-eight pounds, twelve shillings and two pence." Kenelm Winslow was her administrator.

John Wing died between February and August of 1698/99, he was probably around 86 years old at the time of his death. He had survived his first wife, two brothers and three of his own children. Dr. Conway Wing was the first to describe John as "a bold, practical man of affairs, peculiarly free from the narrow, religious bigotry which prevailed among many of his contemporaries." I bow to Dr. Wing's description of the man. John had spent a lifetime as witness to how religious persecution had affected his family and the choices they made. At the end of his life I think John Wing could be proud of the man he had become and I hope that he was satisfied that he had lived a life of honor, a life that his ancestors and his descendants could admire. John Wing does not indicate in his will where he desires to be buried, but he was buried in the Dillingham Burying Ground at Harwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts. Therefore, even to the end of his life, John Wing's close ties to the Dillingham family include his final resting place...perhaps one more clue as to who John Wing's first wife really was.

John Wing and his first wife, Unknown had 6 known children:

1. Susannah Wing, born 1647

2. Ephraim Wing, born May 30, 1648

3. Joseph Wing, born September 2, 1650

4. Ananias Wing, date of birth unknown.

There is no record of Ananias's birth but it is believed that he was younger than Joseph, born in 1650 and older than John, born in 1655

5. Oseah Wing, born September 12, 1652

6. John Wing, born November 16, 1655

The Will of John Wing of the Town of Harwich in the County of Barnstable was dated 13 April, 1696, at the beginning, but signed on May 2, 1696 and a codicil was added February 6, 1698/99. The will was probated August 10, 1699:

"All that my parcel of marsh lying on the North Side of the Island called Bangs his Island form the middle of the Mill river to the River or Creek that parts betwixt me and John Dillingham Shall belong to my lands at Satucket Eastward from the Mill River and So to be Reputed and used forever only provided that if the heirs of my Son Joseph be discontented in Regard of his interest therin So that they will not allow therof then my will is that the heirs of my sd Son Joseph shall have their third part of the sd marsh...at the westt end of the sd parcel of marsh next the sd John Dillinghams and the Remainder to ly and belong to my other lands as abovesd."

"To my son Annanias Wing all my lands and meadows lying on the easter Side of Satucket River or the Mill River both divided and undivided together with the meadow on the North side of Banges his Island as abovesd...excepting a piece of land of about ten acres lying nere Williame Miricks and my will is that for as much as I vallue the sd Lands and meadows above sd given to Annanias at sixty pounds I do hereby will that my sd son shall give one third part of that vallue to my Grand Children by my Natural sons and daughters in Equal portion and if I do Improve any of the sd lands or meadows by sale in my life time then to abate So much of the sd Sum of Sixty pounds as I do so Improve and further I do give my Silver Boul to my sd Son Annanias Wing "also" all my wearing cloths all Redy made and all the Cloth I have bought to make me cloths though not made up if any be."

"To "my Grand Son John Wing my dwelling house out housings, orchards, yards, lands, meadows that is to say all the third part where I now live (beside Annanias and Josephs) both divided and undivided...only Reserving and my will is that if it so happen that my sd Grandson John Wing die not having an heir lawfully begotten...then all my sd house, lands, meadows and premised Shal be my Grand Son Elnathan Wings and his heirs and assigns."

"To "my loving wife Meriam (during her being my widow) liberty to live or dwell in my now dwelling house untill my Grand Son John Wing comes to the age of twenty and one years but if it so happen that he dies before that age then she may live in it So long as She lives as my widow...during which time She shall have one third part of my lands, meadows and Priveledges of commons unto which thrid part she shall have one third part of my old orchard but so as she shall not farme out or Lett the Same to any person without the good liking or approbation of him that is in the present Improvement of the other two thirds of the sd lands and premises he takig it at a Reasonable and Just value or price . Also I do give to her...one third part of my moveable Estate (Excepting my Neat Cattel and Hors Kind) only one cow which she shall have to the halves So long as sd cow Shall live and she shall have the use of the old mare to Ride on as she shall have ocation and my son Annanias can conveniently spare her And that what so ever estate she hath brought with her and is left at my decease she shall take to herself and she shall have the use of the Garden wholly to her own use as part of her thirds of the land and the one third of the pears and beside her third of the old orchard I do give her the fruit of two appel trees, one a sweeting, the northermost of the seetings in the lower yard and the westermost tree by the highway."

"To "my Grand Daughter Elisabeth Turner one cow...when she attaines the age of fifteen years."

"I do give my other two thirds of moveable Estate Neat Cattel and horse kind to be equally divided to my three Children Annanias Wing and Susanna Parslow and Oseah Turner."

"Concerning my Grand Son John Wing my will further is that my executor here after Named shall take care and manage the house and Lands above given to him for his best advantage till he coms of age and shall Reserve the one half of the proffits arising therefrom for the boy when he coms to age and that the sd John Wing shall in case he farme out or left or sell the sd lands and premises he shall give the Refusing or farming the same to his Uncle Annanias Wing or his heirs and upon the Refusing it Shall be tendred to the heirs or possessers of his Uncle Josephs land and if they all Refuse he may do with it as he pleases."

"To "my son Annanias Wing...that eight acres of land I formerly gave to him nere about where his house stands."

"my son Annanias Wing sole exector to this my last will."

The witnesses were; John Thacher, John Dillingham, William Griffeth Jr. (by a mark) and William Parslow.

"Further more my will is that whereas on a contract of marriage with my now wife I did Ingage her a Room to built att the end of the house where I now dwell but to prevent further strife my will now is she being so content that if she shall live longer than while my afore Named Grand Child John Wing arrives at the age of twenty years that then my now wife Miriam Wing shall have twelve pounds paid her out of my estate....to build her a comfortable Room to dwell in at the end of this house wherein I now Dwell. Futher my will is that if my sd Grand Child John Wing should die before he arrive to the age of twenty years yett my wife shall have that above sd twelve pounds paid her...for the use aforesd."

"Further more my will is that after my decease my Son Annanias Wing shall have...my ten acres of land which lyies near William Mirickes in Harwich."

This codicil was signed by a mark and witnessed by Jonathan Sparrow, William Parslow and John Dillingham.

On August 10, 1699, "John Thacher and John Dillingham" made oath to the first part of the will and "Jona Sparrow and John Dillingham Jur" made oath to the codicil; and administration was granted to "Annanias Wing the son of sd deceased."

The inventory was taken at Harwich, May 8, 1699 by Kenelm Winslow, Sr. and Kenelm Winslow, Jr. The real estate was "the lands and meadows willed to Annanias Wing" valued at 80 pounds, the lands and meadows willed to John Wing at 100 pounds, and one parcel of meadow lying by the Swan Pond River, 9 pounds. "One Silver Cupp" was valued at 2 pounds, 6 shillings.

"Annanias Wing made oath to this Inventory and so did Meriam Wing, wid relict of said deceased John Wing." on August 10, 1699, "excepting only a little flax unbraked out and the money received by sd Annanias for land sold belonging to the sd estate."

"August the 5th, 1699, Serjant William Gray and Daniel Baker both of Yarmouth having praised a praced of meadow that was John Wings deceased that lyes on the easter side of the easter Swan Pond River, praised at nine pounds and they say...nine pounds is the full value of sd meadow."