Genealogy, Siblings, Wight Family Tree
Deacon Joseph Wight (4th generation)
(Henry 3, Thomas 2, Robert 1)
From William Ward Wight's "The Wights - A Record of Thomas Wight of Dedham and Medfield and of his Descendants 1635-1890" (© 1890)...
"...born May 11, 1654, became a freeman May 8, 1678. (Register III., 245.) 'Joseph Wite and Deborah Colborne marryed 15:11:1678.' (Hill's Dedham Records I., 17.) Deborah died in Dedham, August 30, 1684, and Joseph married, April 22, 1685, Mary Stearns. He was selectman eighteen years, first in 1690, and town clerk thirteen years, first in 1709. (Mann's Annals, 78, 80.) During the last thirty-five years of his life he was deacon in the First Church, Dedham - in the pastorates of Rev. Joseph Belcher and Rev. Samuel Dexter. Joseph 'was a man of superior judgment and of an excellent understanding; and was eminent for piety and sanctity of life. It is illustrative of the opinions and usages of his time, and proof of the high estimation in which he was held, that in his old age, many parents carried their young children to him that he might implore for them the favor of Heaven. In my youth I was acquainted with a venerable matron of this parish, who well remembered him and had received his blessing. She described with much feeling the impression made upon her mind by the solemnity of the scene, when in her childhood she stood before this good old man who, leaning upon his staff, laid his hand on her head and, in prayer, craved for her he blessing of God. . . .His creed was after the faith of his fathers, and he was of the straitest sect. He was exceedingly tenacious of all the forms and observances of religion practiced by the first settlers of New England, and zealously opposed all innovations in doctrine, and usages of worship. When he became the head of a family he failed not in the daily performance of family devotion; and such was his reverence for the Christian Sabbath that it was his uniform practice on that day to assemble his household together in family prayer, morning, noon and evening. Heaven gave him length of life, and those who knew him said of him that he passed it in the conscientious performance of his duties to God and to man.' (Wight's Wight Family, 61, 62.)"
"Deacon Joseph's will was made January 2, 1724-5, he died June 23, 1729 (Note: his gravestone indicates June 13), and his will was approved November 29, 1731. His widow died in Dedham December 25, 1733. His children were born in Dedham."
"Note 1. The original gravestones of Joseph and Mary Wight were visible in the old Dedham cemetery in 1882 (Note: behind St Paul's Episcopal Church, 59 Court Street, Dedham, Massachusetts). New stones with the former simple inscriptions have since succeeded upon the same site."
| DEACON | MARY WIGHT |
| JOSEPH WIGHT | Widow of |
| Deacon Joseph Wight | |
| died | died |
| June 13, 1729. | Dec. 25, 1733. |
| AEt. 75. | AEt. 73. |
"Note 3. Nathaniel Colburn, one of the early settlers in Dedham, married there July 25, 1639, Priscilla Clark. Their daughter Deborah, born January 28, 1656, married Joseph Wight. Mary Stearns, second wife of Joseph Wight, was daughter of Lieutenant Nathaniel and Mary (Stone) Stearns, and was born in Dedham, August 22, 1661. (Hill's Dedham Records, I, 126, 6, 8; see 55, Note.)"
"Note 4. In the early church services in Dedham, the deacons read and tuned the psalms. Rev. Mr. Dexter records under date, October 24, 1724, 'Voted that Mr. Jabez Pond shall for the future read the psalm and tune it, deacon Wight not being able.' (Worthington's Dedham, 107.) As deacon Wight was then over 70 years of age, his voice had earned a rest."
Genealogy
The Wight family tree begins with Thomas Wight and continues down to my maternal grandmother, Dorothy Ann Wight. Asterisks mark the generations in my direct family line. I am a 13th-generation member of the Wight family, whose line dates back to the mid-1600's. Some family members names are are underlined. These are links to their biographical information (including siblings), and when available, photos.
- Joseph Wight (4th generation) *
- Born: May 11, 1654, location unknown
- Married: November 11, 1679 in Dedham, Massachusetts
- Spouse: Deborath (sic) Colborne
- Born: January 24, 1656, location unknown
- Died: August 30, 1684 in Dedham, Massachusetts
- Child: Joseph * (Born: December 10, 1681, in Dedham, Massachusetts)
- Child: Deborah (Born: August 25, 1684, in Dedham, Massachusetts)
- Spouse: Deborath (sic) Colborne
- Married: April 22, 1685, location unknown
- Spouse: Mary Stearns
- Born: August 22, 1661 in Dedham, Massachusetts
- Died: December 25, 1733 in Dedham, Massachusetts
- Child: Nathaniel (Born: September 13, 1688, in Dedham, Massachusetts)
- Child: Ebenezer (Born: January 22, 1696, in Dedham, Massachusetts)
- Child: Jabez (Born: July 12, 1701, in Dedham, Massachusetts)
- Spouse: Mary Stearns
- Died: June 23, 1729 in Dedham, Massachusetts
Siblings
- Daniel Wight
- Born: November 24, 1656 in Dedham, Massachusetts
- Married: February 17, 1686 to Anne Dewing in Dedham, Massachusetts
- Children: David, Daniel, John
- Died: May 1, 1719 in Dedham, Massachusetts
- Benjamin Wight
- Born: June 18, 1659 in Dedham, Massachusetts
- Married: April 10, 1690 to Elizabeth Newell
- Children: Jane, Sarah, Hannah, Experience
- Died: March 10, 1739 in Sudbury, Massachusetts
- Jonathan Wight
- Born: July 2, 1662 in Dedham, Massachusetts
- Married: August 19, 1687 to Elizabeth Hawes
- Children: Jeane, Elizabeth, Mehetabel, Marah, Jonathan, Sarah
- Died: March 20, 1718-19 in Wrentham, Massachusetts
