A Brief Biography
By Bill Poole
There were three Wellingtons who stood on Lexington Common on April 19, 1775, Enoch, and his two cousins, the brothers, Benjamin III and Timothy. They were all descendants of Roger Wellington, or Willington, the first of this family to immigrate. Roger’s birth date is estimated at 1609 from a document he signed in 1676 in which his age was given as about 67, and also from his death record of March 11, 1697/98, in which his age was given as 90. His parentage and origins are in dispute, but it is certain he was born in England and came to Massachusetts during the Great Migration of the 1630s. He settled first in Boston and then moved to Watertown, MA. He married before 1638, Mary Palgrave, daughter of Dr. Richard and Anna Harris Palgrave of Charlestown, MA.1
Roger was granted a 20 acre homesite on July 25, 1636, which it is said is now part of Mt. Auburn Cemetery.
An Homestedd of Sixteen Acres more or les bounded the East with Edward Goffe the Northeast with John Warrin & the Pond the Northwest with William Gutterig Edmund White & Simon Stone the Southeast & North with his owne Meddow Abram Browne William Bridges & Simon Stone.2
He then purchased seven other lots totaling 145 acres. On April 4, 1659, he bought for £100 a dwelling house and 12 acres of land in Watertown, and on November 29, 1669 he purchased for £50 a house, barn and about 10 acres of land in Cambridge. That town then comprised a much larger area than today, encompassing the towns of Cambridge Village, now Newton, West Cambridge or Menotomy, now Arlington, Cambridge Farms, now Lexington, and Little or South Cambridge, now Brighton. Some of Rogers’ Cambridge lands were in what is now Lexington.
Roger was a plasterer by occupation, and served Watertown in several capacities, including Hog Reeve, Fence Viewer, Surveyor, Constable and Selectman in 1678-79, 1681-84, and 1691. He also was a corporal in the militia, and is almost always referred to as Corporal Willington in the Watertown town records. Despite his standing in the community, Roger occasionally run afoul of the law. He was complained of for having an insufficient fence and fined 10 shillings.3 Not keeping fences in good shape allowed animals to graze on others property and was a continual source of complaint. More seriously, he was charged with not giving a sufficient account of the tax rates “to great dissatisfaction both to pastor and selectmen.” Two individuals were appointed
“to deale with him to bring him to a more tollarable account or else to p[re]sent him to the grandjury.”4
Apparently satisfaction was given since Roger was trusted with assessing the rates in the following years. Another infraction was noted in 1664, but this concerned Roger’s eldest son, John. To wear clothing that was extravagant or considered to be above one’s social status was a fineable offense. The first Massachusetts Bay Colony law limiting excessive dress was passed in 1634, and prohibited citizens from wearing “new fashions or long hair, or any thing or like nature,” such as silver or gold hatbands or belts, cloth woven with gold thread of lace, shirts with short sleeves or sleeves slashed to show undergarments, great boots, and silk hoods or scarves. Apparently, John Wellington, a young man of 26, must have either defied propriety or exceeded his station in life by dressing inappropriately or wearing something considered to be finery.
“At a meetinge of the Select-men att Joseph Tayntors 11(8)1664… Roger willington & John wilington; being warned to the meetinge of the selectmen: Upon Complaynt of sum delinquence about Fashon of John willingtons aparill: & not apearinge: they weare Fined 5s apiece: for non appearance.”5
Sometime before1638, Roger married, Mary Palgrave, daughter of Doctor Richard and Anna (maiden name unknown) Palgrave of Charlestown. Mary was born about 1619 in Norfolk, England. She and Roger had six children: 1. John, born July 25, 1638; 2. Mary, born February 10, 1640/41; 3. Joseph, born October 9, 1643; 4. Benjamin, born about 1646, 5. Oliver, born November 23, 1648; and Palgrave, born about 1653.6
Roger died on March 11, 1697/98 and Mary died on January 21, 1695. They were both buried in Watertown’s Old Burial Ground, now called the Arlington Street Cemetery. Their grave markers apparently have not survived.
Joseph Wellington, son of Roger and the Great Grandfather of Enoch Wellington, the subject of this biography, served as a Tithingman, Hog Reeve Hay Ward, Fence Viewer, and Highway Surveyor in Watertown.7Joseph did have one run-in with the law when he, John Child, Thomas Straight, Timothy Haukens (Hawkins) and George Lorance (Lawrence) were complained against for:
not hearding their catle according to order and not paying according to order of the town . . .”
Straying animals were a hazard to crops, and there were regulations for controlling the problem which were strictly enforced.
Upon hearing of the case we have past our judgement that the said, Child Straight haukens willington and Lorance wear by the order of the Town to keep their catle with the heards man that drive by their housis and therefore they are to pay for the keeping of their catle as the rest due for the year 1670.
Also our Judgement is that Child, Straight haukens willington and Lorance are to heard their catle with the heardsman that come by their hous is according by order of the town for this present yeer 1671.8
He was not in the upper echelon of office holders, and with the single exception above he appears to have been a dependable individual who could be trusted to perform the duties of the variety of offices he held.
On January 10, 1706/07, Joseph contracted with the town for the care of Ephraim Smith, an aged man who “is in present want &; mr. Joseph Wellington; one of sd inhabitants; doth Ingage for thirty shillings; per year; for three years next Coming he will keep the town free from any Charges upon what sd Smith shall want; sickness Excepted. Thereafter, Joseph received periodic payments of £1: 15 shillings from the Town Treasurer for his care of Ephraim.9
Joseph married first, Sarah, maiden name unknown, who died February 5, 1683/84. He then married on June 6, 1684, Elizabeth Straight, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Kimball Straight, born about 1653 in Watertown. They had four children: 1. Elizabeth, born April 22, 1685; 2. Thomas, born November 10, 1686, the grandfather of Enoch: 3. Mary, born October 7, 1688; and 4. Susanna, born February 5, 1691.10
Joseph died on December 11, 1724, supposedly in Waltham, although his death is not listed in the Waltham Vital Records. Elizabeth died on October 3, 1714. I have not located their graves, nor that of Elizabeth Straight Wellington.11
Thomas Wellington, grandfather of Enoch, like his grandfather, Roger, was also a corporal in the militia and a surveyor.12 He apparently removed from Watertown to Cambridge by 1741. Thomas married first, Rebecca Simonds, born June 11, 1682 and who died November 6, 1734, daughter of Joseph and Mary Tidd Simonds. Those acquainted with 18th century Lexington will recognize both of those family names. Thomas and Rebecca had five children all born in Watertown: 1. Rebecca, born November 3, 1709; 2. Joseph ,the father of Enoch, born November 21, 1711; 3.Thomas, born August 16, 1714; 4. Susanna, born ?; and 5. Elizabeth, born in 173413
Rebecca died on November 6, 1734, perhaps from complications of childbirth, and her infant daughter, Elizabeth, was baptized in Watertown, March 14, 1735. Thomas then married in Watertown on April 1, 1735, Chary (sometimes spelled Cherry) Adams Stone, baptized January 31, 1697, died December 16, 1774 daughter of Joseph and Margaret Eames Adams and the widow of Jonathan Stone. Thomas and Chary had one child, Susanna, baptized in Watertown, September 3, 1738.14
By 1739, Thomas and Chary were in the Second parish of Cambridge, later to be known as Menotomy and then Arlington. The village was located across the Menotomy River, later to be called Alewife Brook. A church was established there when the Reverend John Hancock of Lexington officiated at a ceremony on September 9, 1739 at which the members entered into a solemn covenant. Thomas and Chary were listed among the members. The covenant was publicly read and “subscribed by the males, the females giving their consent by standing up as their names were called.” There were “30 males and 53 females for a total of 83.”15
Thomas died on July 3, 1759 and was buried in The Old Burying Ground located behind the First Parish Unitarian Church. His gravestone still exists.
Here Lyes the Body of
Mr THOMAS WELLINGTON Who
Departed this Life July ye 2d
1759 in ye 73d Year of His Age
In viewing this you See where you must lie
your great Concern is to be fit to die
Death to whose power all must yield
Seized him at Labour in ye Field
My work on earth is done and here I rest
In hopes at last to be completely blest
Chary married Captain James Lane of Bedford and died there on December 16, 1764 at age 70.16 Her gravestone can be seen at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25191252/chary-lane
Joseph Wellington, son of Thomas and father of Enoch, married in Watertown on November 13, 1733, Dorcas Stone, born March 23, 1715 in Lexington, died date and place not known, daughter of Jonathan and Chary Adams Stone. Interestingly, Joseph’s father, Thomas, two years later, married Joseph’s mother-in-law, Chary Adams Stone. Joseph and Dorcas had been married for two years before their parents, so they were not step brother and sister at the time of their marriage. When Thomas and Chary then had a daughter the relationships became quite convoluted. The spreadsheet on page 7 might offer some visual clarity.17
Joseph and Dorcas lived in Watertown where the births of the first six of their children were listed. They later were listed in Waltham, that was set off as a separate village from Watertown in 1738. Later, they may have moved to what would become Arlington where they were admitted to the church on January 6, 1765. Joseph served as a committeeman and assessor in 1761-63. After listing the children of Joseph and Dorcas, Benjamin and William Cutter in their History of the town of Arlington, state:
“Joseph the father was prob. the Joseph Wellington whose negress Violet was bap. privately 3 Dec. 1772, and d. 3 Dec. 1772, aet. 14 or 16 yrs. (both ages given).”18
Slavery existed in Massachusetts until well into the 18th century, and black servitude was not uncommon.
Joseph died “of languishment” (gradual debilitation) on December 18, 1777 and Dorcas on March 1, 1801. Joseph is buried in Arlington’s Old Burial Ground, Dorcas’s resting place has not yet been found. She may have lived with one of her children and been buried at that location.19
Erected in memory of ye Mr. Joseph Wellington who departed this life Dec. 18th 1777 in the 67 year of his age.
Children of Joseph and Dorcas Stone Wellington: 1. Joseph, born November13, 1734 in Watertown; 2. Margaret, born August 27, 1735 in Watertown; 3. Elizabeth, baptized March 14, 1736 in Watertown, died young; 4. Rebecca, baptized September 4, 1737 in Watertown; 5. Dorcas, born March 31, 1740 in Watertown; 6. Mary, born November 29, 1742 in Watertown; 7. Palsgrave, baptized March 12. 1747/48 in Waltham; 8. Jeduthan, born September 4, 1750 in Waltham; 9. Elizabeth, born November 6, 1753 in Waltham; and 10. Enoch, the subject of this essay, born in Waltham, September 1, 1756.20
Enoch was just eighteen when, in the early morning of April 19th, 1775, he stood on the common with his first cousins, Timothy and Benjamin Wellington as members of Captain John Parker’s Lexington Militia. He saw his cousin, John Brown, die at the hands of the Regulars.
On April 25, 1775 Enoch was one of 34 individuals who testified concerning the action that took place on April 19, 1775 on Lexington Common:
We [34 names] all of lawful age, and inhabitants of Lexington, in the County of Middlesex, and Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, do testify and declare, that on the nineteenth of April instant, about one or two o’clock in the morning, being informed that several officers of the Regulars had, the evening before, been riding up and down the road, and had detained and insulted the inhabitants passing the same, and also understanding that a body of Regulars were marching from Boston towards Concord, with intent (as it was supposed) to take the stores belonging to the Colony in that town, we were alarmed; and having met at the place of our Company’s parade, were dismissed by our Captain, John Parker, for the present, with orders to be ready to attend to the beat of the drum. We further testify and declare, that about five o’clock in the morning, hearing our drum beat, we proceeded toward the parade, and soon found that a large body of Troops were marching towards us. Some of our Company were coming up to the parade, and others had reached it; at which time the Company began to disperse. Whilst our backs were turned on the Troops we were fired on by them, and a number of our men were instantly killed and wounded. Not a gun was fired by any person in the Company on the Regulars, to our knowledge, before they fired on us, and they continued firing until we had all made our escape.21
Following the Battle of Lexington, Enoch performed military service, remaining, however, in Massachusetts. The following entries appear in Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War.
WELLINGTON, Enoch. Lexington. Private, in a detachment from Lexington militia co. commanded by Capt. John Bridge; service 5 days; detachment reported on command at Cambridge from May 11 to May 15 , 1775, by order of Committee of Safety.
WELLINGTON, Enoch. Capt. John Wood’s co. Col. Samuel Gerrish’s regt. ; order for advance of pay, signed by said Wellington and others, dated Cambridge, June 1, 1775.
WILLINGTON, Enoch. List of men belonging to Capt. John Wood’s co. who took the oath in Middlesex Co. May 27, 1775 required by Congress to be taken by the Mass. army.
WELLINGTON, Enoch. List of men who guarded the cannon at Lexington and thence to Cambridge; warrant for pay allowed in Council April 26, 1776.
WELLINGTON, Enoch. Private, Capt. Benjamin Blaney’s co., Col. Brooks’s regt. of guards; joined Feb. 9, 1778; service to April 3, 1778, 53 days, at Cambridge.22
WELLINGTON, Enoch. Lexington, Private, Capt. John Wood’s co., Col. Loammi Baldwin’s regt.; muster roll dated August 1, 1775; enlisted May 5, 1775; service 88 days; also, abstract for wages from Auguat 1, 1775, dated camp at Medford;, Sept 1, 1775; also, pay abstracts for Sept., 1775; recipt for amount of abstract, dated Chelsea. Oct. 31, 1775 and signed by Capt. Wood; also, Capt. Woods (5th) co., Lieut. Col. Loammi Baldwin’s (late Col. Samuel Gerrish’s) 38th also given 37th regt.; company return (probably Oct., 1775); also, receipt for money in lieu of bounty coat dated Medford Dec. 28, 1775; also, list endorsed “Medford Dec’br ye 22 1775,” of men belonging to Capt. Wood’s co. who agreed to serve the month of Jan., 1776; also, account dated Chelsea. Dec. 31, 1775, of the appraisement made by appraisers appointed by Col. Baldwin, of guns taken for public use from men from the 38th regt. (old army) who left the service Dec. 31, 1775, having been stationed at Chelsea, Feb. 3, 1776, signed by Lieut. Abraham Childs, in behalf of said Willington and by others for money received of Col. Loammi Baldwin for guns stopt and priz’d by the Committee on the 31st day of Decem. Last agreeable to General Orders in the 26 regt.
WILLINGTON, Enoch. Private, Capt. Benjamin Blaney’s co., Col. Eleazer Brooks’s regt, of guards; Joined Jan. 12, 1778; service to Feb. 3, 1778, 23 days, at Cambridge.
In 1793, Enoch removed to Jaffrey, NH:
Enoch Wellington came from Cambridge, Mass in 1693, when he bought of Aaron Colman, lot 21, range 5.On June 27, 1799, he sold 21 ¾ acres in the south end of the lot with the buildings to John Wood from whom he bought at the same time twenty-eight acres in the northeast corner of lot 20, range 5, with buildings thereon. This transaction was apparently an exchange of that part of their farms containing the buildings, to the convenience of both parties. In September, 1813, Enoch Wellington sold his farm to John Richardson of Newton, Mass., but continued to reside their until his death in August, 1817.23
Enoch Wellington settled in Jaffrey on lot 20, range 5,
Enoch was maried three times. He first married on August 8, 1782, Sarah Richardson, born June 8, 1763 in Watertown, MA, died perhaps in 1793 in Jaffrey, NH., or prior to Enoch’s move to Jaffrey in that year, daughter of Edward and Abigail Chinery Richardson. He married second in Jaffrey, NH, Nellie Colman, born in Ashburnham, MA, December 2, 1772, died before 1799, daughter of Aaron and Eleanor Colman; he married third, on December 18, 1799 in Jaffrey, NH, Sarah Wood, baptized in Lunenburg, MA, November 25, 1770, daughter of John and Sarah Burpee Wood.24 You will notice that not only was Enoch undertaking real estate transactions, but marriage proposals to the daughters of both Arron Colman and John Wood.
The children of Enoch and Sara Richardson Wellington were: 1. Harriet, supposeldy born June 28, 1781 in Waltham, but the records do not confirm the birth; lived in Cambridge, d. in Waltham, “June 28, 1845 a. 64;” 2. Sarah (Sally), born April 4, 1785 in Boston, but record not yet found, lived in Concord, MA; 3. Thomas, born September 12, 1786 in Watertown, record not found, died in Ashby, MA, November 15, 1860 age 74 yrs., 2mos., 3 days; 4. Abigail M. born August 9, 1788 in Watertown, record not found, m. in Jaffrey, NH,Aug. 17, 1813, Daniel Wood; 5. Charlotte, born April 4, 1793 in Jaffrey,NH, Lived in Fryeburg Me.25
Enoch and Nellie Colman did not have any children
The children of Enoch and Sarah Wood Wellington were: 6. Luke, Born January 22, 1801 in Jaffrey, NH, lived in Kochville, Mich., died 1876, a physician, married in Williamstown, N.Y., 1833, Nancy M. Freeman, one child, b. N.Y.7. Louisa, b. Sept. 12, 1802, married at Keene, N.H., 1824, Amos, son of Samuel and Abigail Wood, lived in Concord, N.H., had five children. 8. Almira, b. Apr. 4, 1804, married at Concord, N.H., Chester Pratt, son of
Henry and Elizabeth (Murdock) Pratt; 9. Sophronia, b. Feb. 6, 1808, married (1), Sand Bank, N.Y., 1828, Henry Jaquith, married (2), Sand Bank, N.Y., 1838, Robert McCauley; lied in Goshen, N.Y.26
Enoch died in Jaffrey on August 5, 1817, but I have not yet been able to locate a gravesite. NOTE
Lexington was a very close knit town with multiple family connections. David Hackett Fisher used the term “cousinage” to describe the interwoven relationships of Colonial families. Almost everyone seemed to be connected directly or by marriage to everyone else. There were three Wellingtons on Lexington Common on April 19th, 1775 and they were first cousins, but they were related to other families by the ties of “cousinage.” There were three Brown cousins on the Common as well, and you can see in the spreadsheet below an Most of the families in Lexington were related either directly or through marriage. This spreadsheet shows for example how the example of how families could be connected.
Footnotes
1Watertown Vital Records at https://archive.org/details/watertownrecords01wate/page/n5/mode/2up Vital Records from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 102, p. 97; Torrey, Clarence Almon, original Manuscript “W”-page 133; Torrey, Clarence Almon, New England Marriages to 1700, Volume 3, page 1624, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 2011, p. 1624; Anderson, Robert Chales, The Great Migration Begins, Immirants to New England, 1620-1633, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1995, Volume 3, page 1375.
2 Bond, Henry M.D., Genealogies of the Families & Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1860, Volume. I, p. 627; https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wellington-43. 3Watertown Historical Society, Watertown Records Comprising the First and Second Books of Town p. 76.
Proceedings with the Land Grants and Possessions also the Proprietors’ Book and the First Book and Supplement of Births Deaths and Marriages, Watertown, Mass. Press of Fred G. Barker, 1894,Volume 1,
4Watertown Records, Volume 1, p. 77.
5Ibid., p. 83.
6Bond, p. 627; Hudson, Charles, Bi-centenary Edition History of the Town of Lexington Massachusetts in Two Volumes, Volume II, Genealogies, Lexington Historical Society, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press, 1913, pp. 726-27.
7Watertown Records, Volume 3, pp. 16, 42, 53, 57, 96, 123, 136-37, and 165.
8Ibid., p. 169.
9Ibid., pp. 1677, 169 and 232.
10Hudson, Genealogies, pp. 727.
11Ibid.
12Watertown Records, Volume 3, pp. 220 and 260.
13Vital Records of Watertown, MA to the End of the Year 1849 at https://archive.org/details/watertownrecords01wate/page/n5/mode/2up Hudson, Genealogies, pp. 727-28. 14Watertown Vital Records; Hudson, Genealogies, pp. 728.
15Cutter, Benjamin and William, History of the Town of Arlington, Massachusetts, Formerly the Second Precinct in Cambridge of District of Menotomy, Afterward the Town of West Cambridge. 1635-1879, with a Genealogical Register of the Inhabitants of the Precinct, Boston, David Clapp & Son,1880, pp. 25-28. 16Vital Records of Bedford, MA at https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofbe00bedf 17Watertown Vital Records, Hudson, Genealogies, p. 278.
18Cutter, History if the Town of Arlington, p.314.
19Ibid.
20Watertown Vital Records; Vital Records of Waltham, Mato the End of the Year 1850 at https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofwa00walt, Genealogies, p. 729.
21Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, A compilation from the Archives Prepared and Published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth in Accordance with Chapter 100, Resolves of 1891, Boston, Wright & Potter, 1896-1908, Volume 16, p. 829, Volume 17, p. 496.
22Kehoe, Vincent J.R., “We Were There April 19, 1775 The American Rebels,” Self-Published, January 1, 1975, “Deposition of John Munroe December 28,th 1824, pp. 87-88.
23Cutter, Daniel B,., M.D., History of the town of Jaffrey, New Hampshire, From the Date of the Masonian Charter to the Present Time, 1749-1880; with a Genealogical Register of the Jaffrey families, and an appendix Containing the Proceedings of the Centennial Celebration of 1873, Concord, N.H.: Printed by the Republican Press Association, 1881, pp. 514-15, 522, (Hereinafter History of the Town of Jaffrey); Annett, Albert and Alice E. Lehtinen, History of Jaffrey (Middle Monadnock) New Hampshire, an average country town in the heart of New England, two volumes, Volume 2, The Generations of Jaffrey New Hampshire Arranged after their Families, Published by the Town, MCMXXXIV, pp. 174, 839-40, 866- 7 (Hereinafter, History of Jaffrey).
24Watertown Vital Records; History of Jaffrey, pp. 839-40.
25Ibid. 26History of Jaffrey, pp. 839-40.