Genealogy Report: Ancestors of Stanley Elmer Allen
Ancestors of Stanley Elmer Allen
666.John Wildes, born Abt. 1619 in England; died 14 May 1705 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts.He was the son of 1332. William Wildes and 1333. Alice Unknown.He married 667. Priscilla Gould 1645.
667.Priscilla Gould, born Abt. 1625 in Great Missenden, England; died 16 Apr 1663 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts.She was the daughter of 1334. Zaccheus Gould and 1335. Phebe Deacon.
Notes for John Wildes:
JOHN2 WILDES (WILLIAM1) was born Abt. 1619 in England, and died May 14, 1705 in Topsfield, Essex Co., MA2.He married (1) PRISCILLA GOULD Nov 23, 1642 in Topsfield, Essex Co., MA, daughter of ZACCHEUS GOULD and PHEBE DEACON.She was born Abt. Sep 1620 in Great Missenden, Bucks., England, and died Apr 16, 1663 in Topsfield, Essex Co., MA3.He married (2) SARAH AVERILL Nov 23, 1663 in Topsfield, Essex Co., MA4,5.She was born Unknown, and died 1692.He married (3) MARY JACOBS Jun 26, 1693 in Topsfield, Essex Co., MA6.She was born Unknown, and died Aft. 1692.
Notes for JOHN WILDES:
Per SAVAGE'S Genealogical Dictionary of New England Settlers, v. 4
WILDES, JOHN, Topsfield 1660, then aged 40, perhaps son of William, married Priscilla, daughter of the first Zacheus Gould; may be that youth of 17 years coming from London, 1635, in the Elizabeth. From Coffin's gatherings in Geneal. Reg. VIII. 167, it may be inferred that he had a son JOHN, who in his will of October 1676, after mention of his grandfather Gould, names brothers Jonathan, Ephraim, and sisters Sarah, Elizabeth, Phebe, Priscilla, and Martha. His second wife Sarah was old enough in 1692 to be condemned and executed as a witch, but not young enough to falsely accuse herself or others during the execra. delusion.
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John Wilds and his brother William emmigrated from England on the Elizabeth and settled in Rowley, MA before moving to Ipswich. John gave his age as seventeen when he registered with the authorities of the port of London for the voyage to New England on 11 Apr. 1635. Also on the Elizabeth was William Whitredd, his wife, son, and three other young men. Whitredd was a carpenter as were the Wildes brothers. Perhaps John was Whitredd's apprentice. In 1646 William Whitredd sued Michael Cartrick and the verdict was that the plaintiff should pay John Wild 30/, the defendant 30/, and that John Wild was to pay the other 20/ to himself.
About 1645 he moved to Topsfield probably due to the influence of his wealthy father-in-law Zaccheus Gould. His house stood on Perkins St. at the fork in the road coming from Mile Brook Bridge at a pear orchard. The house was demolished in 1835. In 1660 he bought a 100 acre lot adjoining his land from Richard and Jane Swaine of Hampton. Jane's first husband had been John Bunker of Topsfield.
In 1698/9 John testified that he had sold a parcel of land to Francis Bates fifty years before (1649). He granted 20 acres of land to Robert Andrews in 1654. In 1663 John sold to William Acie of Rowley 32 acres at Bushy Hill and 8 acres of meadow, formerly Thomas Dorman's, at Snookes Hole in Topsfield for £35. John French purchased 30 acres from him in 1672, Thomas Perkins 20 acres "in the first division of lots" in 1674, and William Perkins Sr., 4 acres in 1685/6. given the above and the lack of many deeds to John, he must have had grants from the town, but, the earliest book of town records was destroyed by fire in 1658. However, on 7 Mar. 1664 the town ordered that 500 acres of common land "on the other side of the river which is to remaine common to perpetuity" be divided "by John Wiles Willi Averill Thomas Baker & Edmond Towne or either three of them" into three equal proportions.
In 1637, before the move to Topsfield, John was involved in the Pequot war and received 3/ for his service from the town of Ipswich. In 1639 he received 12/ per day for his service during the war. John was one of twenty soldiers from Ipswich who in Sept. 1642 were involved in an expedition to disarm Passaconway, Sachem of the Merrimac.
In 1659 and 1686 John was one of a committee to settle the boundary between Salem and Topsfield, and in later years he was often employed to decide town boundaries and lay out lots. He was constable in 1661 and 1662, juryman in 1679-80 and tythingman in 1682/3. In 1669 the town owed its largest debt to John, £14/16, probably for carpentry. Given John's carpentry skills it is very possible that he was involved in the construction of the Parson Capen House which is one of the oldest surviving examples of 17th century English architecture in the United States having been built in 1683.
John was on committees to negotiate with Mr. Danforth to act as minister in 1680/1, "to discourse" with Mr. Capen in 1681, to lay out land for Mr. Capen and to seat the people in the meetinghouse in 1682. In 1689/0 "father John Wilds" was collecting the arrears in Mr. Capen's salary. John's second wife Sarah is on Mr. Capen's list of those who were already members of the church when he began his ministry. John, however, was not admitted to full communion in the church until 1697. John testified against Thomas Baker for "laughing in meeting" in 1678. In 1679 parson Jeremiah Hubbard sued Judith Dorman for slander and Sarah Wildes testified for the minister.
Salem Witch Trials Notes from the "Topsfield Historical Collection":
The marriage of John Wild and Sarah Averill within a year of the death of Priscilla (Gould) Wild, seems to have caused trouble between Wild and two relatives of his first wife, Lieut. John Gould, her brother, and Mary, wife of John Reddington, her sister, who lived on an adjoining farm. The first intimation of this state of affarirs, appears in the statement John Wild, Jr., made in his will, regarding his Gould inheritance, in order that his father might not be troubled by any claims of his uncle Gould. In 1686 the breach was widened by the testimony of John Wild against John Gould on the charge of treason. Shortly after this episode, Mary Reddington began to spread witchcraft stories about Sarah Wild through the town and it is to her authority that most of the evidence against Sarah Wild may be traced. When John Wild threatened to sue her husband for slander, she denied her previous statements, but evil had already been wrought. Now the Goulds were related to the Putnam family of Salem Village, in whose home the delusion originated and who were the chief accusers in the trials to come and it is probable that the accusations brought against Sarah Wild by their Topsfield connections, were brought to the willing ears of the afflicted girls of the Putnam family and proved the immediate cause of her arrest. On April 21, 1692, the following warrant was issued, casting terrible affliction upon several Topsfield homes, none more so than that of John Wild, for the warrant named not only his wife but his daughter and son-in-law, Edward and Sarah Bishop of Salem Village.
"Salem Aprill the 21th 1692.
"There being Complaint this day made (before vs) by Thomas Putnam and John Buxton of Salem Village Yeomen, in behalfe of theire Majests, for themselves and also for severall of theire neighbours Against William Hobs husbandman Delive his wife, Nehemiah Abot junior weaver, Mary Easty, the wife of Isaac Easty and Sarah Wilds the wife of John Wilds, all of the Towne of Topsfield or Ipswitch and Edward Bishop husbandman and Sarah his wife of Salem Village and Mary Black A negro of Leut. Nath Putnams of Salem Village also. And Mary English the wife of Philip English Merchant in Salem for high Suspition of Sundry acts of witchcraft donne or Committed by them Lately vpon the Bodys of Anna putnam and Marcy Lewis belonging to the famyly of ye abouesd Thomas Putnam complaint and Mary Walcot ye daughter of Capt Jonathn Walcot of sd Salem Village and others, whereby great hurt and dammage hath beene donne to ye bodys of said persons abouenamed therefore craued Justice.
"You are therefore in theire Majestis names here by Comrequired [sic] to Apprehend and bring before vs William Hobs husbandman and (???) his wife Nehemian A bot Junr weaver Mary Easty and all the rest abouenamed tomorrow aboute ten of the clocke in the forenoon at the house of Lieut Nathll Ingersalls in Salem Village in order to theire examination Relaiting to the premises abouesayd and here of you are not to faile.
Dated Salem Aprill 21th 1692
John Hatorne
Jonathan Corwin
Assists.
"To George Herrick Marshall of Essex: and or all of ye Constables in Salem or Topsfield or any other Towne."
On the next morning marshal Herrick arrived at the Wild home in Topsfield. By the irony of fate, Ephraim Wild, the only son of John and Sarah, was the constable of Topsfield that year, and the marshal brought the warrant to him. What a tragedy is laid bare in these old and musty records--the young man finding his mother's name upon the warrant, witnessing her arrest and sad departure from her home and family, never to return and then slowly turning to his duty--the arrest of the remaining victims. His first petition for the release of his mother gives some details of the scene at the house of William Hobbs:--"the woman did show a ueriey bad spirit when I sezed: on might almost se revenge in har face she looked so malishosly on mee." At her examination, which apparently occurred before that of Sarah Wild, Deliverance Hobbs confessed herself a witch, and "to be revenged of mee" as Ephraim Wild says, accused his mother of tormenting her. She declared that the shape of Mrs. Wild tore her nearly to pieces, and passed her the Devil's book to sign, bribing her with promises of new clothes. The account of the examination of Sarah Wild is still preserved:
The examination of Sarah Wilds at a Court held at Salem village 1692. by the wop = John Hathorn & Jonathan Corwin
The Suffers were seized with sou [fits as soon as] the accused came into the Court
Hath this woman hurt you
Oh she is vpon the beam
Goody Bibber that never saw her before says she saw her now vppon the beam & then said Bibber fell into a fit
What say you to this are you guilty or not?
I am not guilty. Sir.
Is this ye woman? speaking to the afflicted.
They all or most said yes, and then fell into fits.
What do you say are you guilty
I thank God, I am free.
Here is clear evidence that you have been not only a Tormenter but that you have caused done (some) to signe the book the night before last. What you say to this?
I never saw the book in my life and I never saw these persons before.
Some of the afflicted fell into fits.
Do you deny this thing that is?
All fell into fits and confirmed that the accused hurt them.
Did you never consent that these should be hurt?
Never in my life
She was charged by some with hurting John Herrick's mother.
The accused denied it.
Capt. How gave in a relation and conformation of the charge made.
She was ordered to be taken away and they all cryed out that she was on the beam and fell into fits.
The evidence of the witnesses that appeared against her has been lost, but from other papers the names of some of them may be learned. "John Herrick's mother," mentioned in the examination, was probably Mary Reddington, whose daughter Mary had married John Herrick. This same Mary Reddington, whose hatred seems to have been insatiable, was responsible for the testimony of the wife of Samuel Simonds of Topsfield, with whose daughter Ephraim Wild had made a marriage engagement which had been broken when the girl's mother believed the gossip circulated by Mary Redington. "And now she will reward me" the heart-broken son says in a petition. The only other witness, of whom there is any record, is the little daughter of Martha Carrier, one of the accused. She tells the story of a witches' meeting, held at night in Mr. Parris's field, at which Sarah Wild and many others were present, pledging the Devil in wine cups filled with blood, a story which received full credit from the most learned and serious men of the time.
Mrs. Wild was taken to Boston gaol on May 13. In the interval of over two months which elapsed before her execution, her husband and son did everything in their power to prove the evidence against her false and save her from death. Three of their petitions are preserved and are as follows:
"John Wiells testifieth that he did hear yt Mary the wife of Jno Reddington did raise a report yt my wife had bewitched her and I went to ye saide Jno Reddington and told him I would arest him for his wife: defaming of my wife but ye said Reddington desired me not to do it for it would but waste his estate and yt his wife would a done wth it in tyme and yt he knew nothing she had against mye wife--after this I gotmy brother Averill to goe to ye said Sarah Reddington and my sd Bror told me yt he told ye said Sarah Reddington yt if she had anything agst my wife yt he would be a means and would help her to bring my wife out: and yt ye said Sarah Reddington replyed yt she new no harm mye wife had done her.
"The testimony of Ephraim Willdes aged about 27 or therabouts testifieth and saith that about fouer yers agoe there was som likly hode of my hauing one of Goody Simonds dafter and as the maid towld me hur mother and father were ueriey willing I should haue her but after some time I had a hint that Goodeey Simonds had formerly said she beleud my mother had done her wrong and I went to hare and toch Marke how that is now dead who dyed at the Eastward: along with me and before both of us she denied that euer she had eneey grounds to think any halme of my mother only from what Goodiey Redington had saide and afterwards I left the house and went no more and euer since she (has) bene ueriey angriey with me and now she will reward mee.
Ephraim Willdes"
"This may inform this Honered Court That I Ephraim Wildes being constabell for topsfield this yere and the Marshall of Sallem coming to fetch away my mother he then showed me a warrant from authority directed to the constabel of topsfelld wherein was William Hobbs and Deliverence his wife with many others and the Marshall did then require me forthwith to gow and aprehend the bodyes of William hobs and his wife which acordingly I did and I have had sereous thoughts many times sence whether my sezing of them might not be some case of here thus a cusing my mother thereby in some mesure to be revenged of me the woman did show a ueriey bad spirit when I sezed: on might allmost se revenge in har face she looked so malishosly on me as fore my mother I neuer saw any harm by har upon aniey such acout neither in word nor action as she is now acused for she hath awlwais instructed me well in the christian religon and the wais of God euer since I was abell to take instructions and so I leve at all to this honored Cort to consider of it
Ephraim Willdes"
All the efforts of the family were in vain, however, and Sarah Wildes was executed on July 19, with Sarah Good, Rebecca (Towne) Nurse, Elizabeth How and Susannah (North) Martin. Edward and Sarah Bishop managed to make their escape from prison, and Phoebe (Wild) Day, the other daughter of John Wild, who was imprisoned on the same charge at Ipswich, was apparently never tried.
Children of John Wildes and Priscilla Gould are:
| i. | Pheobe Wilds, born 1653; died 08 Apr 1723; married Timothy Day 24 Jul 1679; born in Of Gloucester. |
| Notes for Pheobe Wilds: Phoebe was accused of witchcraft in 1692, but, was released on bond and never tried. |
| ii. | John Wilds, born Abt. 1643. |
| Notes for John Wilds: Notes for JOHN WILDES: Per SAVAGE, VOL 4 DICT. FIRST SETTLERS OF New England WILDES, JOHN, who in his will of October 1676, after mention of his grandfather Gould, names brothers Jonathan, Ephraim, and sisters Sarah, Elizabeth Phebe, Priscilla, and Martha. |
| iii. | Jonathan Wilds | |||
| iv. | Elizabeth Wildes, born 23 Jan 1655/56 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 25 Jun 1718 in Enfield, Connecticut; married Benjamin Jones 22 Jan 1677/78 in Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts; born 31 Jul 1651 in Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 25 Jun 1718 in Enfield, Connecticut. | |||
| v. | Priscilla Wilds, born 06 Apr 1658 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 23 Mar 1687/88 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts; married Henry Lake 09 May 1681; born in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 22 May 1733 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts. | |||
| vi. | Martha Wilds | |||
| vii. | Nathan Wilds, born Abt. 16 Apr 1663; died 17 Mar 1662/63 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts. | |||
| 333 | viii. | Sarah Wildes, born Abt. 1651; married Edward Bishop Abt. 1675. |