170. Moses Wheeler, ancestor, first white man in New England to live 100 years.
One of our ancestors who helped settle New Haven and Stratford, Connecticut.
Moses Wheeler was the first white person to live to be 100 in New England!
MOSES WHEELER, on the Allen/Wilson/Fairchild Line Coat of Arms
Moses Wheeler, immigrant ancestor, was born in England, very likely in the county of Kent, in 1598.The Wheeler family had lived there for over four hundred years. He sailed from London in 1638, when he was 40 years old, and settled in the New Haven colony. He was among the first to receive an allotment in that colony. There he married Miriam Hawley, sister of Joseph Hawley, one of the first settlers in the colony, and a very prominent man. He was expelled from the colony in 1648 because of a slight infringement of one of the Blue Laws, for which the colony was noted. According to tradition he had been away for several months, and returned on a Sunday. Forgetting the "Blue Laws" in his joy at his return, he kissed his wife and children, and was expelled by the authorities when they learned of it.
The Blue Laws of the Colony of Connecticut, as distinct from the generic term "blue laws" that refers to any laws regulating activities on Sunday, were the initial statutes set up by the Gov. Theophilus Eaton with the assistance of the Rev. John Cotton in 1655 for the Colony of New Haven, now part of Connecticut. The laws were meant to keep the "moral code", and are the subject of books -- it included no alcohol, a law which was repealed only in 2012 in Connecticut and among other laws, apparently a man couldn't kiss his wife on Sunday! (from Wikipedia)
He then joined the little settlement of Stratford, and purchased here a home from the Indians on the shore, near what is now known as Sandy Hollow. He afterwards bought a large piece of land in the upper part of the town, extending from the river to some distance above the site of the present New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad. He was a ship carpenter, and kept a farm for himself. He was given permission by the general court to keep a ferry at Stratford, which he already had established. Seventeen years after its establishment, the town leased the ferry to him with thirty or forty acres of upland adjoining it, for twenty-one years, without tax or rate except sixpence per annum. The inhabitants were "to be ferried over for one half penny per person and two pence for horse or beast." The town agreed to pay for any improvements he had made if he should leave it at the expiration of his lease.
His son's will, proved January 23, 1724-25, shows that he received the ferry from his father Moses, and left it to his own son Elnathan, so it remained in the family at least over one hundred years. He disposed of most of his land to his sons ten years before his death. He owned much land, and was one of the most prominent men of the town. He was a strong, powerful man, of whom the Indians are said to have stood in mortal terror. He returned to England in 1665, at the time of the "Great Plague," and so did not remain long, but returned again to Stratford.
He died January 15, 1698, the first white man in New England to have lived one hundred years.
He is buried in the old Congregational church at Stratford. A rough stone, cut from the rocks at his homestead, marks his grave, with the inscription: "Moses Wheeler, Aged 100, Dyed Jan. 15th. 1698." His will was proved February 19, 1698, and after disposing of his real and personal property generally, he says: "I give to my daughter Miriam two pewter dishes, to my son Moses, his wife, ye pewter platter, and to my daughter Mary, a bras kitle houlding ten to twelve gallons, the Abridgement of the Marter Booke, and Mr. Brooks His Devices of Satan, and to Elizabeth ye wife of my son Samuel, ye great kitle, and to Mr. Israel Chauncey twenty shillings in silver." Moses Wheeler is back on our Fairchild line.
(II) Moses (2), son of Moses (1) Wheeler, was born at Stratford, July 5, 1651. He inherited the ferry from his father, together with the homestead. He removed the stone house which his father built, and replaced it with a wooden house, which was standing until May 12, 1891, when it was burned down. He was a farmer, as well as ferryman. He died January 30, 1724, and is buried beside his father, with a similar headstone, evidently from the same place. The inscription says: "Here Lays The Body of Mr. Moses Wheeler Who Departed This Life Jan. The 30th. 1724, in The 74th. Year of His Age." He was one of the wealthy men of Stratford, as his estate is inventoried at one thousand four hundred and sixty-three pounds five shillings six pence. He bequeathed to his wife five pounds above their marriage agreement; to his son James forty pounds; also to his sons Nathan and Robert and his daughter, and to his grandchildren. His son Elnathan was made his executor, and he left to him all his lands, with the ferry, and all movable goods and personal estate. He married Sarah, daughter of Caleb Nicholls, October 20, 1674. Children: Moses, Caleb; Sarah; Nathan or Elnathan; Samuel; James; Robert; Elizabeth.
These were hardy people, carving new settlements out of the forests and unsettled land. I would love to go back there, and try to figure where they lived! We had many ancestors who lived during that time in towns very close. I'll include more of their stories in the future.
Moses Wheeler was the first white person to live to be 100 in New England!
MOSES WHEELER, on the Allen/Wilson/Fairchild Line Coat of Arms
Moses Wheeler, immigrant ancestor, was born in England, very likely in the county of Kent, in 1598.The Wheeler family had lived there for over four hundred years. He sailed from London in 1638, when he was 40 years old, and settled in the New Haven colony. He was among the first to receive an allotment in that colony. There he married Miriam Hawley, sister of Joseph Hawley, one of the first settlers in the colony, and a very prominent man. He was expelled from the colony in 1648 because of a slight infringement of one of the Blue Laws, for which the colony was noted. According to tradition he had been away for several months, and returned on a Sunday. Forgetting the "Blue Laws" in his joy at his return, he kissed his wife and children, and was expelled by the authorities when they learned of it.
The Blue Laws of the Colony of Connecticut, as distinct from the generic term "blue laws" that refers to any laws regulating activities on Sunday, were the initial statutes set up by the Gov. Theophilus Eaton with the assistance of the Rev. John Cotton in 1655 for the Colony of New Haven, now part of Connecticut. The laws were meant to keep the "moral code", and are the subject of books -- it included no alcohol, a law which was repealed only in 2012 in Connecticut and among other laws, apparently a man couldn't kiss his wife on Sunday! (from Wikipedia)
He then joined the little settlement of Stratford, and purchased here a home from the Indians on the shore, near what is now known as Sandy Hollow. He afterwards bought a large piece of land in the upper part of the town, extending from the river to some distance above the site of the present New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad. He was a ship carpenter, and kept a farm for himself. He was given permission by the general court to keep a ferry at Stratford, which he already had established. Seventeen years after its establishment, the town leased the ferry to him with thirty or forty acres of upland adjoining it, for twenty-one years, without tax or rate except sixpence per annum. The inhabitants were "to be ferried over for one half penny per person and two pence for horse or beast." The town agreed to pay for any improvements he had made if he should leave it at the expiration of his lease.
His son's will, proved January 23, 1724-25, shows that he received the ferry from his father Moses, and left it to his own son Elnathan, so it remained in the family at least over one hundred years. He disposed of most of his land to his sons ten years before his death. He owned much land, and was one of the most prominent men of the town. He was a strong, powerful man, of whom the Indians are said to have stood in mortal terror. He returned to England in 1665, at the time of the "Great Plague," and so did not remain long, but returned again to Stratford.
He died January 15, 1698, the first white man in New England to have lived one hundred years.
He is buried in the old Congregational church at Stratford. A rough stone, cut from the rocks at his homestead, marks his grave, with the inscription: "Moses Wheeler, Aged 100, Dyed Jan. 15th. 1698." His will was proved February 19, 1698, and after disposing of his real and personal property generally, he says: "I give to my daughter Miriam two pewter dishes, to my son Moses, his wife, ye pewter platter, and to my daughter Mary, a bras kitle houlding ten to twelve gallons, the Abridgement of the Marter Booke, and Mr. Brooks His Devices of Satan, and to Elizabeth ye wife of my son Samuel, ye great kitle, and to Mr. Israel Chauncey twenty shillings in silver." Moses Wheeler is back on our Fairchild line.
(II) Moses (2), son of Moses (1) Wheeler, was born at Stratford, July 5, 1651. He inherited the ferry from his father, together with the homestead. He removed the stone house which his father built, and replaced it with a wooden house, which was standing until May 12, 1891, when it was burned down. He was a farmer, as well as ferryman. He died January 30, 1724, and is buried beside his father, with a similar headstone, evidently from the same place. The inscription says: "Here Lays The Body of Mr. Moses Wheeler Who Departed This Life Jan. The 30th. 1724, in The 74th. Year of His Age." He was one of the wealthy men of Stratford, as his estate is inventoried at one thousand four hundred and sixty-three pounds five shillings six pence. He bequeathed to his wife five pounds above their marriage agreement; to his son James forty pounds; also to his sons Nathan and Robert and his daughter, and to his grandchildren. His son Elnathan was made his executor, and he left to him all his lands, with the ferry, and all movable goods and personal estate. He married Sarah, daughter of Caleb Nicholls, October 20, 1674. Children: Moses, Caleb; Sarah; Nathan or Elnathan; Samuel; James; Robert; Elizabeth.
These were hardy people, carving new settlements out of the forests and unsettled land. I would love to go back there, and try to figure where they lived! We had many ancestors who lived during that time in towns very close. I'll include more of their stories in the future.
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