General Notes

[raywing.ged]

We are fortunate in knowing the age of Stephen and that he was three
years old in 1624 when his mother embarked from England with him and
his older sister Deborah for Holland.  Stephen, like his brothers,
spent the first years of his life at Flushing and at The Hague, and
came to New England with his mother when nine years old.
[CI:109:?4:CI]
It is generally believed that immediately following the marriage of
Stephen and Osheah they located in the "Old Fort House" near Spring
Hill.  Deborah and her son John, (and possibly Matthew) were living
upon their first homestead; Daniel had purchased the Hallett farm, and
it was left to Stephen to establish himself with his young family. In
the days of the first settlements upon the Cape, the pioneers had at
various points built substantial stone and brick enclosures as
defences from possible Indian forays. They soon came to know the Cape
Indians were inclined to be peaceable and friendly and that these
block houses or forts were unnecessary.  It seems probable that, thru
the influence of his father-in-law and brothers, the town of Sandwich
sold or assigned the old fort and its surrounding acres to Stephen.
Anyway, he seems to have lived there from the very
first.[CI:130:?4:CI]
Swift in his "History of Barnstable Families," says of the "Old Fort
House:" "All the old houses at Spring Hill have undergone similar
transformations. The Wing House, probably the oldest house in
Massachusetts built before 1643 as a fortification, has been altered
so often that little of the original remains." The writer first
visited the "Old Fort House" in the summer of 1901, and since that
time has carefully examined it many times.  Its walls, like those of
the majority of the old Cape houses, are shingled.  The fort itself
now constitutes the parlor of Mr. Wing's home, a room 15x18 feet in
dimension.  Deep embrasures for the windows show the thickness of the
stone walls encased, and old oaken rafters overhead indicate the size
of the original building.  A great fireplace almost occupies one end
of the room, leading to an immense chimney around which the several
parts of the building seem to have been gathered.  A quaint, narrow
stairway leads to the second floor, and the entire ensemble impresses
one with its self-evident antiquity... The building nestles at the
foot of a hill, just across the old road leading up to Spring Hill
Meeting House, a half mile away.  At the rear of the house are salt
marshes stretching away to the waters of Cape Cod Bay, partially
covered at high tide.  A full panoramic sweep of the bay is presented,
and a five minute walk brings one to the beach itself.  We have the
satisfaction of knowing that the home of Stephen and Osheah was most
pleasantly situated.[CI:129:?4:CI]
The story of the Wing house in brief is told upon a tablet erected by
the Wing Family of America, which once or twice has held reunions at
this original source of the various branches of the family.  It reads:
"Stephen Wing, son of the Rev. John and Deborah Wing, settled in
Sandwich in 1637. He lived on this land and built this house in 1641.
He was a member of the first Friends Meeting in America, established
at Spring Hill in 1658, and suffered a great persecution at the hands
of the Plymouth Government in the cause of Religious Liberty.  He died
in 1710 and is buried at Spring Hill." There is, it seems, another
version that the house was built in 1637:  ...When the house was
completed it was believed that Mrs. Deborah Wing lived there, and
there is a tradition that the name of Sandwich was given to the town
through the Widow Wing in fond memory of Sandwich, England, where her
husband had received signal honors. [CI:127:?4:CI]
Stephen Wing was appointed Constable of Sandwich by the Plymouth
Court, January 8, 1655....
  Notwithstanding the fact that Stephen Wing had been an official of
Sandwich the previous year, in October, 1658, he was, with eight
others, denied the "Privileges of towns men" and it was declared that
"they had no power to act in town meeting until better evidence
appeared of their legal admittance."[CI:132:?4:CI]
We are informed, that the meeting at Sandwich arose in the year 1657.
By the year following quite a proportion of the hitherto Puritan
community had identified itself with "Friends."  The meeting was
gathered through the instrumentality of John Copeland and Christopher
Holder, who were the first gospel messengers to visit the town.
Report went out shortly, that nearly the entire town was adhering to
the Quakers, and thus the foundation was laid for a large and
flourishing Monthly Meeting of Friends...  We are not informed as to
the exact time when the Monthly Meeting was organized, or when the
first meeting house was built.  The written records appear soon after
1670 and the number of members is conjectural.  Bowden, the historian,
speaks of 18 families as identified with Friends in 1658, and we may
assume a steady increase in years following at the present spot and at
Falmouth and Yarmouth, which were included in the Monthly Meeting.
Yet, in its best days, it never attained to the size of the Monthly
Meetings at the westward, as Dartmouth and Rhode Island.  There was
the difference between the chilling influence of the Plymouth colony
and the hospitable atmosphere of the Rhode Island colony, whose
activities at Newport.[CI:134:?4:CI]
For the subsequent thirty years of Stephen's live there is little to
be found concerning his public life.  He was probably one of the last,
if not the very last, of the original settlers of Sandwich to survive.
He lived 63 years in Sandwich after the date of the first settlement
in 1637.[CI:212:?4:CI]
We are fortunate in the possession of an ancient deed executed by
Stephen Wing on the 2nd day of December, 1700, the original of which
is owned by a member of the Sandwich family, which throws considerable
light upon the history of his family.  This deed was executed when
Stephen was a widower and upward of eighty years of age, and conveys
the "Old Fort House" and all its landed possessions in the Town of
Sandwich to his sons Ebenezer and Matthew.  Matthew was living at that
time in Dartmouth and in possession there of an estate of his own, and
just why  he was selected by his father as a grantee in this deed of
the old homestead is not quite clear.  The consideration named is two
hundred and fifty pounds.  The deed was witnessed by Jeremiah Gifford
and William Bassett and acknowledged by Stephen Skiffe, Justice of the
Peace, and is of record in Barnstable County. It conveys "All that my
messuage or Tennement both Dwelling House barn and out Housing
together with all my Upland marsh meadow ground Orchards Garden
feeding pastures closes yards and all other lands whatsoever situate
lying and being within the Town of Sabdwich." It is presumed from this
deed that Stephen in his old age made his home with his son Ebenezer
who is known to have lived in the "Old Fort House" and it is more than
likely that the aged pioneer died there.[CI:208:?4:CI]
When but three years of age, young Stephen seems to have been a
favorite with his grandfather Stephen, who by a deed of gift, May 19,
1705, in consideration of "that Good will and natural affection I have
and bare unto my grandson Stephen Wing the son of my son Ebenezer,"
gave to the lad, "all the lands he then owned in the town of
Sandwich."[CI:207:?4:CI]
Stephen Wing Deceased ye 24 day of ye 2 mo   1710[CI:651:?4:CI]
April 25 [1710]  "Stephen Wing died aged 88"[CI:714:?4:CI]
It will be noted that Stephen committed, "my body to Decent Buruall
at our friends Burieng place att Spring Hill until when God shall
please to call me Hence."  Unquestionably he lies there among the
unmarked graves.[CI:179:?4:CI]
Will dated Dec. 2, 1700, proved July 13, 1710.  Sons Ebenezer and
Matthew executors; mentions sons Nathaniel, Elisha, John, Ebenzer,
Matthew, daughters Sarah Gifford, Abigail and grandson Jeremiah
Gifford.  Inventory shows personal estate, Ð27, 3s. Stephen Wing "dyed
the 24th day of Aprile, 1710." [CI:209:?4:CI]
The three brothers have been characterized thusly:  "John was the
fearless practical pioneer; Daniel, the idealist and religionist; and
Stephen, the scholar and man of affairs." The two latter helped to
establish the first Friends' (otherwise Quakers') Meeting in America
and it is claimed that this occurred on the farm of
Daniel."[CI:211:?4:CI]