William Wise

Other Events:

• Immigration: Massachusetts

Notes:

Biography:
From Anderson:
Joseph Wise first appears in New England records in the will of Dr. George Alcock of Roxbury. This document, gives the curious date of "22 day 11th (month), called December, Anno Domini 1640," includes bequests to the testator's servants Joseph Wise and John Plimpton (NEHGR 2:104). One of the witnesses to the will was Thomas Weld, whose brother Joseph had married a daughter of the Widow Wise (TAG 55: 148-50).
Joseph is next seen marrying in Roxbury on 3 Dec. 1641 "Mary Tompsonn." There is good reason to believe that this is the Mary Tompson baptized at Preston Capes, Northants, 14 Nov. 1619, to John and Alice (Freeman) Tompson (TAG 13: 1-8; 14:145 f.). Arguments for this identification of Joseph's wife are given by Mary Holman (Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his wife Frances Helen Miller, pp. 422 f.), with support from Donald Lines Jacobus (TAG 32:128). Further supporting circumstantial evidence lies la the Rhode Island land records, where we find that on 7 June 1671 Joseph Wise of Roxbury sells to Deacon William Parke of Roxbury half of a 600 acre tract in Providence. After the document was drawn up, it was discovered that an error in the bounds had to be corrected. This correction was made and signed by Joseph Wise Senior and by Samuel Williams "for his father Deacon William Park." William Parke was son of Robert Parke of Roxbury by his first wife, and was therefore stepbrother of Mary Tompson, daughter of John and Alice (Freeman) Tompson. Samuel Williams, who had married Theoda Parke, daughter of William, was brother of Stephen Williams who had married Sarah, daughter of Joseph Wise. Two years later Joseph Wise sold the other half of this tract to Caleb Lamb and Stephen Williams (Rhode Island Land Evidences vol. 1 (1648-1696), pp. 40 f., 81.
On the assumption that Joseph Wise was of the usual marrying age for colonial males in 1641, he would have been born about 1615. Soon after obtaining his freedom and marrying, Joseph must have taken up the trade of butcher, for by 1648 he is referred to by the elder John Winthrop as "the Roxbury butcher." In the published Winthrop Papers we can trace the course of an early (and somewhat comical) cattle drive which took place in 1648, starting at the "ranch' of John Winthrop Junior at Pequot (later New London), moving through Rhode Island and on to Roxbury. The correspondence includes two letters penned by Joseph Wise which show that he was literate, although not university educated. Before the cattle could be delivered to Wise for slaughter and sale, John Winthrop Senior, John Winthrop Junior and Roger Wllliams were all involved (Winthrop Papers 5:240, 242, 264 f., ;270, 280, 341 f., 375; three unpublished letters from Joseph Hise to John Winthrop Junior, dated 19 March 1650/1, 12 Aug. 1654 and 1 Nov. 1654, are in the Winthrop Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston). Joseph Wise was clearly an important participant in the developing New England economy. For a broader picture of the cattle industry in southeastern New England in these early years, see Carl Bridenbaugh, Fat Mutton and Liberty of Conscience: Society in Rhode Island, 1636-1690, pp. 84-92, and Darret B. Hutman, "Governor Winthrop's Garden Crop: The Significance of Agriculture in the Early Commerce of Massachusetts Bay" (William and Mary Quarterly, ser. 3, 20 [1963] 396-415).
Joseph Wise died at Roxbury 12 Sept. 1684, and on 15 September administration of the estate of "Joseph Wise of Roxbury, butcher, dying intestate," was granted to widow Mary and son John (Suffolk Probate Case #1366). We have seen evidence above that Joseph Wise had interests in Providence, so the inclusion in the August 1688 tax list of Providence of "The Estate of ye deceased Joseph Wise" most likely refers to the Roxbury butcher (Richard LeBaron Bowen, Early Rehoboth 1:94).

Joseph married Mary Thompson on 3 Dec 1641 in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Mary (daughter of John Thompson and Alice Freeman) was born about 1619; died on 4 Aug 1693 in Roxbury, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Immigration: Massachusetts
• Name: Mary Wise
• Baptism: 14 Nov 1619, Preston Capes, Northamptonshire, England

Notes:

Biography:
His will was dated 6 November 1626 and proved 11 April 1627.

John married Alice Freeman before 1 Apr 1616 in Little Preston, Preston Capes, Northamptonshire, England. Alice (daughter of Henry Freeman and Margaret Edwards) was born between 1595 and 1600 in England; died on 11 Feb 1664/65 in New London, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Alice Parke
• Name: Alice Thompson

Henry married Margaret Edwards before 25 Dec 1588 in Cranford, Irchester, Northamptonshire, England. Margaret (daughter of Edward Edwards and Ursula Coles) was born in 1564 in near, Alwalton, Northamptonshire, England; died after 1605. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Margaret Freeman