Aylice Wightman

Aylice married Samuel Waite Abt 1696. Samuel was born Abt 1660; died Abt Apr 1752, Exeter, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

George came to America sometime between 1653 and 1663. His older brother, Valentine, was already here in Providence, where his first child was born in 1653. Their grandfather Edward had been burned at the stake in England for his faith, so they came here for religious freedom, as many RI families did.

The area called Quidnessett was defined in 1659 by agreement with Indian sachem Kachanaquant; its boundaries were the Potomomut River (now Hunt's River) on the north, the Indian road or Pequot Path (now Post Road) on the west, Richard Smith's land (Wickford area) on the south, and Narragansett Bay on the east, totalling about 6x3 miles.

In 1660 the Atherton Company, a group of land speculators from MA Bay Colony and CT, was ordered by the Assembly to open up the Quidnessett tract to purchase by private individuals. Valentine Wightman, George's brother, procured an area of 100-plus acres bordering the bay. This land soon became the property of his brother George, and was handed down intact through 6 generations and known for over 200 years as the Wightman homestead in Quidnessett. George later acquired more land, totalling about 2000 acres.

For a fascinating history of the Wightman family, see: http://www.concentric.net/~Ssbray/wightman.htm

George married Elizabeth Updyke Abt 1663, Cocumscussuc, Kingstowne, RI. Elizabeth (daughter of Gysbert Updyke and Catherine Smith) was born Abt 27 Jul 1644, New Amsterdam, America; died Between 25 Dec 1712 and 26 Apr 1716, Quidnessett, North Kingstown, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Sieur Gysbert Updyke was an officer of the Dutch West India Company. He probably came to Long Island from Amsterdam about 1630. In time he owned extensive land areas in and around present-day New York City; Hempstead, Long Island; Cow's Neck; and Coney Island. He held several positions of leadership at Long Island and New Amsterdam, and was also an innkeeper. He made frequent trips to the "Block House" in Narragansett Country, RI. This was Richard Smith's trading post (now known as "Smith's Castle" on Post Road near Wickford).

He died after 10 April 1662. Very possibly he came to RI after the surrender of New Amsterdam to the English in 1664, and eventually died here.

Gysbert married Catherine Smith 24 Sep 1643, Old Dutch Church, New Amsterdam, Manhattan Island, America. Catherine (daughter of Richard Smith and Joan Unknown) was born Abt 1620. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

She was also known as Catharina or Katrina. Catherine was the daughter of Richard Smith (of Smith's Castle, Wickford), who also owned land on Long Island under sovereignty of the Dutch West India Company. Smith established trading posts near the Pequot Path (Post Road) in Kingstowne, and also in New Amsterdam (New York). He frequently traveled back and forth between the two locations, and established strong personal and business relationships with individuals at New Amsterdam. Undoubtedly that explains how his daughter met and married Gysbert Updyke, an officer of the Dutch West India Company.

Notes:

Edward was publicly burned at the stake for his faith.

Notes:

Richard Smith was the first Englishman to settle in the South County area, probably around 1637. John "Quidnessett" Greene lived with him in the early days of the outpost, later testifying that there were no other English people within 20 miles of their place. Part of his land is the present location of "Smith's Castle" on Post Rd. in North Kingstown, althought the present homestead was built at a later time.

Richard Smith (of "Smith's Castle" on Post Road, just north of Wickford village in North Kingstown), also owned land on Long Island under sovereignty of the Dutch West India Company. Smith established trading posts near the Pequot Path (Post Road) in Kingstowne, and also in New Amsterdam (New York). He frequently traveled back and forth between the two locations, and established strong personal and business relationships with individuals at New Amsterdam.

Smith's trading post at Wickford was also the site where Roger Williams preached to the Narragansett Indians. A stone marker and plaque next to a picnic area on Post Road memorializes Williams's ministry among the Native Americans.

St. Paul's Church in Wickford, RI, has a memorial tablet to Richard Smith. It mentions his daughter "Katharine" and her husband Gysbert op Dyck.

The following is from "The Rhode Island Atlas" by Marion I. Wright and Robert J. Sullivan, Providence: RI Publications Society, 1982, p. 148: "Richard Smith (c. 1596 - 1666) came to Cocumscussoc from Taunton in 1637, and settling on land 'about a mile in length' purchased from the Indians, he built the first English-style house in the southern wilderness of the colony. He joined Roger Williams as a local trader and later bought out Williams and a trader named Wilcox. An energetic man, Smith maintained three homes: a house in Taunton; the house at Cocumscussoc, built with timbers carried across the Bay from Taunton; and a house on Long Island on land purchased from the Dutch. Smith bought Dutch trade goods. His daughter married a Dutchman named Updike whom she met during a family stay on Long Island; Smith's son Richard, Jr., died childless, and consequently the plantation passed through four generations of Updikes until 1812, when Wilkins Updike was forced to sell in order to honor the financial backing promised a brother.
"Richard Smith, Sr., started one of the colony's first dairy herds, and for 300 years the dairy tradition continued on the estate. Joan Smith, his wife, used a recipe from her home in Cheshire, England, for making the famous Rhode Island cheeses of the Narragansett Country.
"When Major Richard Smith, Jr., (c. 1630 - 1692) died, his estate included an inventory of 3 horses, 30 sheep, 20 hogs, and 135 cattle. No goats were listed on the inventory, but Smith had claimed payment for 100 goats slaughtered to feed the militia which gathered at Cocumscussoc and returned there after the Great Swamp Fight during King Philip's War. Smith granted freedom to three adult slaves in his will and directed that a slave couple's five children be freed after 30 years of service.
"Lodowick Updike I lived on the plantation between 1692 and 1736. The name Wickford had been applied to the general area since 1664, but when Updike laid out the first house lots in the present-day village of Wickford, for a while the village was known as Updike's Newtown. His son Daniel (died 1757) was in charge of the plantation between 1736 and 1757. Trained as a lawyer, he served as attorney general from 1722 to 1728; the fine furniture and clocks which can be seen at Smith's Castle date from his period of prosperity. Daniel Updike maintained contacts with Newport, and he was the first signer of the "Laws and Orders" of the cultural society which was the parent organization of the Redwood Library there."

Richard — Joan Unknown. Joan was born Abt 1598, Cheshire, England; died , RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

My source for the name of Richard's wife is "The Rhode Island Atlas" by Marion I. Wright and Robert J. Sullivan, Providence: RI Publications Society, 1982, p. 148. Other sources do not have her name, so I am not sure how certain this is.

I have roughly estimated her birth year.