Holbrook line: Samuel Wight 1639-1716

 Somehow, I ended up writing two blog posts about Samuel's father, Thomas Wight, one in 2018 and one in 2020.  I hope they are mostly in agreement with each other, that Samuel's mother was most likely Alice Roundy Wight, but I am not finding proof of that now, just as I did not find it in the previous two posts.

However, we do know a little more about Samuel, thanks almost entirely to the book "The Wights: A record of Thomas Wight of Dedham and Medfield", by William Ward Wight, which was first published in 1890.  According to this book, Samuel was born February 5, 1639, although I often see a non-specific date of 1640.  Likely this is because of the dual dating which should actually read February 5, 1639/1640.  He was baptized "ye 15th of ye 7th month 1640" in Dedham.  

Samuel made the move from Dedham to Medfield, a distance of about 10 miles, with his parents in 1650, and there he stayed for the rest of his life.  Medfield was formed from Dedham, and the Wights were original settlers, along with another of our ancestors, Ralph Wheelock.  Medfield was formed partly as a potential barrier to protect Dedham and settlements further east from potential attacks from native Americans, and was very much a frontier town.  Samuel, along with his seven brothers and sisters, likely had an interesting childhood, to say the least.  He also probably worked very hard, as even young children did in those times.

In 1662, when Samuel was in his early twenties, he was one of three men chosen to burn the woods on land they lived on, in order to clear brush away and make it easier to see if the village was coming under attack.  The next year, on March 25th, 1663, Samuel married Hannah Albee of Medfield, the daughter of Benjamin and Hannah (possibly Miller) Albee.  The couple had nine children together.  At least two and possibly three died young, but the rest contributed to their community for generations to come. Samuel became a freeman of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1672 and was the town constable in 1673.

Samuel and Hannah may have lived on North Street, as descendants of theirs lived there later.  If so, they may have either had a garrison house or lived near a garrison house, as the book "King Philip's War" by Eric B. Schultz and Michael J. Tougias state that it appears there was a garrison house on North Street, although no more information than that was available to them.   And yes, Samuel would certainly have been involved in one way or another in King Philip's War.  His home was one of the 32 that were burned in the February 21, 1676 attack on the town.  Hannah and the children were either in the garrison house, or had fled elsewhere for safety.  I've not found Samuel's name on any lists of soldiers during the war so it is likely that he was one of the townsmen assigned to a garrison to protect the women, children, and older people of the village.  

It took the town, and Samuel, about two years to begin rebuilding the settlement.  It's possible that they grew crops during this time, and traveled back and forth from wherever they were.  Or they may have stayed with some of those in the town whose homes were intact, until they could rebuild.  But rebuild they did.  There were of course financial repercussions besides the loss of their home and belongings.  Samuel had pledged a bushel of corn to the "college at Cambridge" and asked that the debt be forgiven, which request was granted.  He also, along with many others in the town, asked for forgiveness of taxes he owed in 1678, saying that if he could be forgiven those taxes, which he thought were three or four pounds, he could see his way clear to paying on time from that time forward.  The General Court agreed, as they did to other similar requests.  Even then, one could not squeeze blood from a turnip.  

We know that Samuel was a member of the Medfield parish church in 1697, which was about the time a new pastor came to the church.  This was a Puritan church and again, is believed to have been located on North Street.  Since the family was Puritan, and since we know that Ralph Wheelock and founded the first school in the town, it is more than likely that at least the sons had some education.  Hannah would likely have been responsible for educating the girls in the family.

Samuel is noted as being a proprietor of the "black swamp" of Medway in 1702, but there is no indication that he ever lived there.  

He wrote his will May 19, 1710 and died December 21, 1716. He left everything to his wife, even specifying that she was to receive five pounds in moveable estate (personal property) to be disposed of as she wished at her death, although he maintained control of all the real estate.  Unfortunately, the part that tells what our ancestor, Hannah, was to receive is taped over, but it was some amount of money.  I did not locate an inventory, which would of course have told us more about Samuel's life.  

I don't know his occupation if it was other than farming.  But I do know what I've stated above and I think we can be proud of this ancestor.  He raised his family, toughed it out to rebuild his home, and contributed to the life of his community.  

The line of descent is:

Samuel Wight-Hannah Albee

Hannah Wight-John Thompson

Joseph Thompson-Mary Holbrook

Alice Thompson-Joseph Rockwood

Levi Rockwood-Deborah Lazell

Susannah Rockwood-Nahum Holbrook

Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants