Thomas WIGHT

Notes:

Name:
I know nothing of Thomas Wight's arrival in New England, or his history there previous to the winter of 1635/6, at which time he seems to have been in Watertown. Over a year later he appears tangibly in Dedham. "the 18th of ye 5th month, comonly called July 1637" Thomas Wight with eleven other persons, having been duly certified by the magistrates, and having subscribed unto the covenant, was admitted an inhabitant of Dedham. At tis time his family consisted of his wife Alice or Elsie, and his children Henry, John, Thomas and doubtless Mary. In the distribution of lands for homesteads, Thomas Wight received from the town the portion, twelve acres, allotted to each married man....

The life, then, which our ancestor had abandoned in England, he begins anew in quiet and seclusion in the New England wilds. Far from the excitement of the contests between Charles I and his embittered subjects, the career of Thomas Wight was, as I believe, most congenial and adapted to his character. He and his wife, were received into the church "ye 6th of ye 7 mo. 1640." On October 8, 1640, he became a freeman. For six years, beginning in 1641, he was a selectman of Dedham. His name frequently occurs in the earl records. He took an active part in the concerns of the town and was repeatedly selected for the performance of various public services. The earliest mention of his name in the Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths ,occurs in 16389, in the following style: "Samuel, the son of Thomas & Alice Wight, was borne the 5 of the 12 mo."...

Of his first wife I know but very little. The Dedham records state that Alice, wife of Thomas Wight, was received into the church the 6th day of the 7th month of 1640. The Medfield records give her death July 15, 1665. It is with sincere regret that I am compelled to leave our great mother so meagerly chronicled. On December 7, 1665, Thomas Wight married for this second wife Lydia, widow of James Penniman of Boston, and sister of John Eliot the apostle to the Indians. Lydia Elliot was probably, baptized at Nasing, England, July 1, 1640, her father being Bennett Eliot....

Family/Spouse: Alice/Elsie ?. Alice/Elsie was born in England; died on 15 Jul 1665. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Henry WIGHT died on 27 Feb 1680.
2. John WIGHT died on 28 Sep 1653.
3. Samuel WIGHT was born on 5 Feb 1639; died on 21 Dec 1716.

Thomas married Lydia ELIOT on 07 Dec 1665 in Medfield, Massachusetts. Lydia (daughter of Bennet ELIOT and Lettice ALGER) was christened on 1 Jul 1610 in Nasing, England; died before 19 Jul 1676. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]