John Wheeler
Barber from Salisbury, Wiltshire, where he probably married Agnes Yeoman in 1611. He was of Hampton soon after its settlement, received land at Salisbury, Massachusetts, in 1641, and moved to Newbury before 1650; three of his sons were still in England in 1668. Probably the father of Henry Wheeler, who married Abigail Allen.
Life
- by 1591Bornbp. by 4 Nov 1591, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England
Davis, as reported by Randy Seaver. Mollie Pfeiffer's 1618 is impossible; his son David was born about 1625.
compiledprobable - 1611Married Agnes Yeoman11 Dec 1611, Salisbury, Wiltshire, Englandcompiledprobable
- 1670DiedNewbury, Massachusetts
Davis gives 29 Aug 1670. Will March 28, 1668, proved Oct. 11, 1670 (Hoyt).
Family
- Father
- Dominick Wheeler
Of Salisbury, Wiltshire. Davis, as reported by Seaver; Davis's evidence was not seen.
compiledprobable - Mother
- Mercy Jelly
Davis, as reported by Seaver.
compiledprobable - Spouse
- Agnes Yeoman
Hoyt has "Anne [surname blank]"; Mollie Pfeiffer has "Ann Salisbury, sister of William".
1 child
- Children
Pedigree
Notes
Hoyt (I:353-354): “John Wheeler, ‘barber,’ from Salisbury, Eng., was of Hampton soon after the settlement of the town; rec’d land in Salisbury, Mass., in 1641; rem. to Newbury bef. 1650.” His sons Adam, Edward and William were still in England in 1668 (three, not Mollie Pfeiffer’s four). Other sons: David (c. 1625) and Henry. Davis, as reported by Randy Seaver, makes him a “son of Dominick Wheeler and Mercy Jelly” of Salisbury, Wiltshire, and lists twelve children; one of them, Ann, married Aquila Chase of Newbury. Davis’s own evidence has not been seen.
He signed a Newbury petition (about 1653) asking the General Court to restore “our loving friend Lt. Robert Pike of Salsbury”, who had been censured for words against the Court. The Court said it “cannot but deeply resent” the petition and had commissioners question every signer; “Jno. Wheler” was among those who “acknowledged that they were sorry” (EQC 1:366-367).
His will. Made 28 Mar 1668, “considering my old age & my owne weaknes”, it asks burial “in the burying place of Newbury”. It left his son Edward “of the Citty of Salisbury in the Realme of England” £10, out of which Edward was “to pay three pounds and ten shillings to the chamber of the Citty”, and 40 shillings to his son William “in case he shall come ouer into this country”. It also gave 40 shillings each to sons Adam (of Salisbury, England) and Thomas, £4 each to daughters Elizabeth Button and Anne Chase, and sums to grandchildren. Each child’s share included “twenty shillings apiece … of this estate was giuen them by their mother”. His son Henry was sole executor and took the residue. It was proved 11 Oct 1670 (Essex Probate Records 2:200-201).
That he came on the Mary and John in 1634 is not verified. Savage thought he “came, I think, in the Mary and John, 1634”, where the list prints the name “Whelyer” (4:497). His son David, aged 11, crossed separately in the Confidence from Southampton in April 1638, listed as a servant (record); Savage supposed he was “betrust. to some friend wh. should pass him as a serv.”
Mollie’s Wheeler arms (Martin Hussingtree, Worcestershire; Sir Edmund Wheeler) have no connection to a barber.
Open questions
- Read Davis, Annis Spear III:604-606, directly, for the Wheeler and Yeoman evidence.
- Did he come on the Mary and John in 1634?
Mollie's typescript
Mollie says he was a native of Salisbury, Wiltshire, came in the Mary and John in 1634, was at Hampton and then an original proprietor of Salisbury, Massachusetts, which he probably named, and married "Ann Salisbury" (the records name his wife Agnes Yeoman).
John Wheeler was a native of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, and he sailed from Southampton in 1634 in the Mary and John. ... became an original proprietor of Salisbury Massachuseets in 1641, and probably gave the name to the town.
p. 175 →He brought six children over, leaving sons in England, spent his first year at Ipswich, and died at Newbury in 1670, aged 52 by Mollie's reckoning (he was baptized in 1591).
John Wheeler(1) brought six children with him from England leaving four sons in England. He and his family spent their first year in Ipswich ... where he died Aug.. 29, 1670, aged 52.
p. 178 →
Checked against the records
- DisprovenJohn Wheeler was born at Salisbury, England, in 1618
Impossible: he married in 1611 and his son David was born about 1625. Davis's Ancestry of Annis Spear (1996) has him baptized at Salisbury, Wiltshire, by 4 Nov 1591, son of Dominick Wheeler and Mercy Jelly. He died in 1670.
Read it in the book, p. 174 → - DisprovenJohn Wheeler's wife was Ann Salisbury, sister of William
She was Agnes Yeoman, married at Salisbury, Wiltshire, on 11 Dec 1611 (Davis, as reported by Randy Seaver). Hoyt's Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury calls her "Anne", surname blank, and has her death on 15 Aug 1662, not 5 Aug.
Read it in the book, p. 174 → - UnlikelyThe Wheelers came from the landowning, armigerous class
Not shown for this family. John Wheeler, the emigrant, was a "barber" from Salisbury, Wiltshire (Hoyt), son of Dominick Wheeler and Mercy Jelly (Davis). Nothing connects him to the Wheelers of Martin Hussingtree, Worcestershire, whose arms Mollie quotes, or to Sir Edmund Wheeler.
Read it in the book, p. 176 →