Frances (Watson) Wheeler (abt. 1612 - aft. 1671)

Born about 1612 in Bedfordshire, England [uncertain]

Wife of Isaac Wheeler — married 9 Apr 1635 in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England

Wife of Richard Cook — married about 1648 in Charlestown, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Wife of Thomas Green — married 5 Sep 1659 in Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Wife of Joseph Wheeler — married after Mar 1671 in Middlesex, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died after Mar 1671 after about age 59 in Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts [uncertain]

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Frances (Watson) Wheeler migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Frances Watson was born about 1612 (deposed Middlesex, Massachusetts, 5 October 1652, aged 44).^[1] Her 1652 deposition seems to eliminate the possibility that she was the Frances Watson, daughter of John, baptized 28 Nov 1600 in Cardington, Bedfordshire about 9 miles from Cranfield.^[2]

As Frances Watson, she married at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England, 9 April 1635, Isaac Wheeler.^[3][4] This is presumed her first marriage, thus she is Frances Wheeler. (No primary or useful secondary source for a maiden name of "Moulton" or "Gleason" or for some prior marriage to a Watson has been seen.)

Immigration

Her 5 October 1652 deposition at Middlesex Court includes statement that she came in the same ship as Thomas Blanchard (i.e. the Jonathan, 1639).^[1][5]

Isaac appears in the "Great Migration Directory" on page 277 and there is no reason to suppose that Frances immigrated separately.^[6] See also Research Notes regarding the Jonathan 1639 passenger list.

At Massachusetts Bay

Isaac was admitted to church in Charlestown 20 Nov 1642.^[7] Frances was admitted to the same church 1 July 1645.^[8]

No record of Isaac's death has been found, but it was presumably before 16 : 4 : 1648 [16 May 1648], when Frances Wheeler signed a petition on behalf of the "Inhabitants of Mestick side & other In Charles towne" (landowners in the southern section of acreage), requesting the the town devise a way to settle disputes regarding the placement of highways.^[9] Raymond David Wheeler puts it at "before 1648" but does not state a reason.^[4]

Frances' married (2), perhaps Charlestown, between 16 May 1648 (she was Frances Wheeler in a petition to the court) and before about August 1648 (birth of child, 1649), Richard Cook, who was listed as "of Charlestown" by Savage (see below); he died in Malden.

Savage in Volume 1 pg. 449 for "Richard of Charlestown"^[10] says that Richard Cook and Frances had daughter Mary Cook born May 1649. Just to make things more confusing, Mary married Samuel Green, so all 3 of Frances' daughters married Green men and as noted above, Frances was both mother and mother-in-law to Sarah Wheeler Green. So at least she didn't ever have to fight over who got to spend more time with the grandkids...

Richard Cook died 14 August 1658 in Malden, Middlesex County. ^[11] His will listed his wife Frances and her sons and daughters Isaac, Thomas, Sarah and Elizabeth all by their full names "Wheeler" along with Mary Cook, his daughter by Frances.^[12] Savage (pg. 497, "Isaac of Charlestown")^[13] indicates she and possibly her children were named in Richard Cook's will.

As Frances Cook, "widow of Richard," she married (3), at Malden, Middlesex County, 5 September 1659, Thomas Green Senior^[14]. They were married by Capt. Marshall. Note that this date is written as 5 (7) 1659 so there is a lot of confusion on the date, whether the "5" or the "7" is the month and if so, did counting start with March post Ladies-Day (Feast of the Annunciation) so that the "5th month" is July or the 7th month is September? The American Colonies used this convention until the calendar act of 1751 mandated a change in 1752 so as of 1659, the 5th month was indeed July. Specific to this marriage, the surrounding transcriptions show that the day is written first and the month is written in parenthesis so this marriage occurred the 5th day of the 7th month i.e. September 5th. Frances and Thomas Green did not apparently have any children which is not surprising since Frances was 47 by then.

Thomas Green died Malden, 19 December 1667.^[15][16] According to Wyman's Genealogies & Estates of Charlestown, Thomas' will listed his children but not his wife;^[17] however, William Richard Cutter's "Historic Homes and Places etc..." about Middlesex County, Thomas' will DID name his wife^[18] In fact the will is hard to read but just below the fold mark on the page does reference his "dear wife" but does not seem to actually state her name^[19]

James Savage "Genealogical Dictionary etc..." published 1860-62 Volume 2 page 306 in his entry for Thomas Green of Malden ^[20] seems to be the earliest reference stating this sequence of marriages (Wheeler-Cook-Green) although the combined sources above (Parish record of her marriage to Isaac Wheeler, Richard Cook's will listing Frances and her children by Isaac as "Wheeler"s, France Cook's marriage as "widow of Richard to Thomas Green") prove the sequence well enough.

Her 4th spouse was apparently again a Wheeler, Lieutenant Joseph according to R.D. Wheeler^[4] which may have been sourced from page 508 of "Fifty Great Migration Colonists" by Threlfall, stated without further primary sources. A snippet of this paragraph on Joseph is here on Google Books.^[21] This seems to be the least well documented marriage; it would have been after 12 Mar 1671 when Joseph's then-wife Sarah Goldstone died (Sarah, wife of Lieutenant Joseph Wheeler died 12 Mar 1670/71 in Littleton Vital Records).^[22] This source is a section of the Littleton records titled "Family Records from tablets and Family Bibles in possession of George F. Proctor." The Wheeler entries are listed under the "Powers" family and include a notation just below the death of Sarah: "Frances one of the wives of Joseph Wheeler" seeming to indicate that Frances had died but without a date. The Powers relation seems to be through a Joseph Wheeler who married Mary Powers, daughter of Walter Powers, on 1 Mar 1681 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA^[23] but the Joseph listed as son of Thomas & Sarah in the bible was born 18 Jun 1651; the Joseph who married Mary Powers on FindAGrave^[24] was supposedly born 13 Mar 1656; that memorial is unsourced and lists no parents. More research is needed.

According to The History of the Wheeler Family In America, Descendants of Isaac Wheeler of Charlestown, Massachusetts, pg. 513, Isaac Wheeler is stated to have been the brother of Lieut. Joseph Wheeler and Capt. Timothy Wheeler.

The details of Frances' death are not known. Reports she died at Malden 14 October 1658 are seen, as may be other dates or location--as yet, these are all unsourced. She obviously did not died in 1658, as she married again after that date.

Family

Frances married four times. She married first, Isaac Wheeler; (2) Richard Cook; (3) Thomas Greene, and (4) Joseph Wheeler.

Isaac and Frances were the parents of four children, born Massachusetts Bay,^[13]

1. Elizabeth Wheeler, born 8 July 1641.
2. Sarah Wheeler, born 13 March 1643; married Deacon John Green, son of the Thomas Green whom Frances married as her 3rd husband making Sarah both the daughter and daughter-in-law of Frances Watson
3. Isaac Wheeler, born about 1646 (died in 1712 about age 66).
4. Thomas Wheeler, born about 1647 (no date given by Savage, the 1647 estimate is from his WikiTree profile).

Children of Richard Cook and Frances,

1. Mary Cook, born May 1649.

Research Notes

Research about Cranfield. From 1606 to 1620 the closest match for her baptism in Cranfield parish registers are a 2 Sep 1610 baptism of Francis Whetston, SON of Edward (the parish register is easy to read); this Edward also had a son Henry in 1607 but unless the priest mistakenly wrote son instead of daughter, she does not appear in baptisms for this parish.

Her first known marriage was to Isaac Wheeler is listed in Cranfield parish registers.^[25] The couple did not appear to have any children in Cranfield; at least no children of Isaac appear in the parish registers there.

Immigration. Isaac and Frances Wheeler arrived on the ship Jonathan in 1639 per Frances' deposition (see above). It is not known when this ship departed or arrived, but it is believed to be from the county of Hampshire and that she sailed from Southampton. Isaac was listed as bound for Charlestown. ^[26] Banks, in this cited passenger list, states that the passenger lists are from "local records". The main source of the passenger list appears to be the 6 Apr 1652 lawsuit of Richard Barnes (plaintiff) v. Thomas Blanchard (defendant) regarding a debt owed in which many people testified to events that happened during the voyage of the "Jonathan"^[5] in which Frances "wife of goodman Cooke" (at the time) was deposed.

Deed Research. Landowner of Charlestown and Malden, Mass. "Frances (Wheeler) Cook (Green), as widow of Isaac Wheeler, made deed 1655.^[27]

As wife of Richard Cook, with Thomas Moulton, sold to J. Greenland ten acres description, etc. Bought of Thomas Moulton three acres 1655. To Job Lane ten acres, etc., 1657.^[28]

Thomas Green, Frances' third husband, died 1667 and willed "his wife and children."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Charles Henry Pope, The Pioneers of Massachusetts ... (1900), 116 (Richard Cook); digital images, InternetArchive.
2. ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 ; FamilySearch.
3. ↑ Parish registers for Cranfield, 1600-1972 FHL film 952401 Item 1, FamilySearch.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Wheeler Family History...Including Descent from Henry Wheeler (c1503-1557) of Cranfield, Bedfordshire (Raymond David Wheeler and Gordon Boyce Wheeler), attached to profile
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Henry F. Waters. 1878. "Passengers and Vessels that Have Arrived in America." New England Historical and Genealogical Register 32 (Oct): 407-411, Under the heading, "The Voyage of the Jonathan to New England, 1639"; Vol. 32 p. 409.
6. ↑ The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1640 ... by Robert Charles Anderson, FASG copyright 2015 New England Historic Genealogical Society p. 277 for Isaac Wheeler immigration
7. ↑ Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 Charlestown Records Of The First Church In Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1632-1789; by subscription, Ancestry.com.
8. ↑ Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 Charlestown Records Of The First Church In Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1632-1789; by subscription, Ancestry.com.
9. ↑ Deloraine Pendre Corey, "The History of Malden, Massachusetts, 1633-1785" (Malden, 1899), 95-96; digital images, Hathi Trust.
10. ↑ A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England etc... Vol 1"448; InternetArchive.
11. ↑ Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001; FamilySearch.
12. ↑ Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 Middlesex Probate Papers 4998-5089; digital image by subscription, Ancetry.com.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England etc...Vol 4:496; InternetArchive.
14. ↑ Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch.
15. ↑ Greene, Samuel S. A Genealogical Sketch of the Descendants of Thomas Green of Malden, Mass. (Henry W. Dutton & Son, Boston, 1858) Page 8
16. ↑ Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001; FamilySearch.
17. ↑ Wyman's Charlestown. 1:438; InternetArchive.
18. ↑ Cutter's Middlesex History Vol 3 pg. 1207; InternetArchive
19. ↑ Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 Middlesex Probate Papers 9825-9937; digital images by subscription, Ancestry.com
20. ↑ A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England etc... 2:306; digital images, InternetArchive
21. ↑ GoogleBooks.
22. ↑ Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001; FamilySearch.
23. ↑ Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910; FamilySearch.
24. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #106719772 for Joseph Wheeler in Power Burying Ground.
25. ↑ Bedfordshire Parish Register Transcriptions; InternetArchive.
26. ↑ The planters of the commonwealth; a study of the emigrants and emigration in colonial times: to which are added lists of passengers to Boston and to the Bay Colony; the ships which brought them; their English homes, and the places of their settlement in Massachusetts. 1620-1640 by Banks, Charles Edward, 1854-1931 Publication date 1930 p. 201.
27. ↑ Wyman's Charlestown Genealogies & Estates, Vol. 2, p. 1012; InternetArchive.
28. ↑ Wyman's Charlestown Genealogies & Estates, Vol. 1, p. 234; InternetArchive.

See Also

• Smith, Dean Crawford. The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton, 1878-1908 (NEHGS, Boston, 2000) Part 4, Page 300
• D. A. C.--John Woodward, John Poole and Thomas Green.
• Births, Marriages, and Deaths in the Town of Malden, Massachusetts, 1649-1850 (University Press, Cambridge, 1914) Page 237.