596327

[phelps.FTW]

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 1, Ed. 1, Tree #0988, Date of Import: Oct 22, 1998]

George Wightman (1632-1721)
George Wightman was a man of some education. He came to America with
established standards of living; and he did not come empty-handed. He
learned the trade of tailor in England and took advantage of the oppor-
tunity to establish himself more generously as a yeoman, looking to the
future of himself and family.
In Rhode Island, in contrast to conditions in both the Bay Colony
and in CT, most of the early settlers acquired considerable land, many
being large proprietors; and this was reflected in the social life on the
Colony. George Wightman possessed lands totaling some two thousand acres.
It is to be observed here also that he was a good judge of land, his
various holdings in Quidnessett, on the Great Plain in Exeter, and el-
sewhere being then as they are today some of the best land in Rohde Island.
One may believe that George Wightman knew his own mind. He stood firm
in his allegiance to the jurisdiction of Rhode Island, believing in the
fundamental principles which actuated its leaders. His religious convic-
tions were certainly clear and strong, and he was undoubtedly a Baptist.
The fact that he left a bequest to "my friend Richard Sweet" and in the
same connection a sum of money with which "to buy bread and wine for the
congregation" indicates that he was a member of the Six-Principle Baptist
Church in North Kingstown, of which Richard Sweet was at that time the
Pastor, and suggests that he was, himself, a Deacon in that Church. His
wife, Elizabeth, had been baptized and nurtured in a different faith; but
she was the granddaughter of one who had: for his conscience to God
renounced faire possessions in old England" and who was until his death the
friend of Roger Williams in New England. Her brother, Lodowyck Updyck,
later in life, following his wife, favored the Anglican communion; but it
may be believed that there were no religious differences in the house of
George Wightman. It is significant that in a new land in which oppor-
tunities for material advancement might seem the paramount interest, the
eldest and youngest sons of this household stepped out into positions of
active leadership in support of religious principles. His "great bible,"
printed in 1587 in London is now owned by a direct descendant of his
oldest grandson.
It is assumed that he came more or less directly to Newport. In 1686
George Wightman was elected Constable. In 1687 at Rochester George was
sworn as a member of the grand jury. He lived to pass his eight-ninth
birthday. Emigrating from and old and established country, he took part in
the founding of a civilized order in a wild and savage domain; he made a
home in the wilderness; and he founded a family nurtured in principles to
which they held.
Sources:
George Wightman and Descendants by Mary Ross Whitman (1939) FHL 929.273
W639w.