Person:Anne Unknown (458)

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Anne Unknown
b.Est 1620
d.Aft 4 Mar 1667/68
  • HThomas WilderAbt 1618 - 1667
  • WAnne UnknownEst 1620 - Aft 1667/68
m. Abt 1641
  1. Mary Wilder1642 -
  2. Thomas Wilder1644 - 1716
  3. John WilderBet 1646 & 1651 - 1722
  4. Elizabeth WilderEst 1648 -
  5. Ebenezer WilderEst 1652 -
  6. Nathaniel Wilder1655 - 1704
Facts and Events
Name[1][2] Anne Unknown
Gender Female
Birth[7] Est 1620
Marriage Abt 1641 to Thomas Wilder
Death[6] Aft 4 Mar 1667/68
Alt Death[3][1] Abt 1691
Ancestral File Number 12GT-JJ4

Surname Unknown

Various hypotheses have been proposed for the identity of Thomas Wilder's wife. Her first name is known to be Ann(e) from Thomas' will[5], and from the birth record of their first known child, Mary[4].

It has been suggested that she was Ann/Hannah Eames (on what basis is unclear), but no document has been found to support this.[2]

Speculation that she was Hannah Mears presumably comes from will of Robert Meers of Boston, who makes "my beloved Brother James Johnson and Mr. Thomas wilder, Ouerseers of this my last will". But brother is singular so most likely only applies to James Johnson. See Source:The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, p. 17:345, "Abstracts from the Earliest Wills of Suffolk".]

Torrey records speculation that her surname was Johnson[1] - again the basis for this speculation is not known, though it may simply be a different interpretation of Robert Meers' will? According to Stevens-Miller, James Johnson was Meers' wife's brother. But the same objection as above still applies, there being no indication that the label "brother" was meant to apply to Thomas Wilder, therefore, no inference is possible about his wife being related to either Meers or Johnson.

References
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. (1963)
    page 816.

    'WILDER, Thomas (1618/19-1667) & Anna [JOHNSON?]/?Hannah MEARS?/EAMES (-1692); b 1642; Charlestown/Lancaster'

    This source indicates that various identities for the wife of Thomas Wilder have been suggested. There does not appear to be much evidence for any of them.

  2. 2.0 2.1 "Thomas Eames of Dorset and Descendants".

    'No document has come forth to support [the] contention' that Ann, daughter of Anthony and Margery (Pierce) Eames, married Thomas Wilder.

  3. Crandall, Ralph J., and Ralph J. Coffman. From Emigrants to Rulers: The Charlestown Oligarchy in the Great Migration. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (1977)
    131:212.

    'Wilder, Thomas, 1619-67 m. by 1642 Anna, d. 1691'

    No source is given to support her death year. It is not known how reliable this information is.

  4. Early Records of Boston. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (1848-1866)
    4:267, 270.

    'Charlestown. ...
    Mary the daughtr. of Thomas Wilder & Anne his wife was borne. 30. (4.) 1642.'

  5. Nourse, Henry Stedman. Early Records of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1725. (Lancaster [Massachusetts]: [s.n.], 1884)
    page 298.

    Regarding Thomas Wilder: 'There are named in his will, his wife Ann, ...'

  6. Holman, Mary Lovering; Winifred Lovering Holman; and Helen Pendleton Winston Pillsbury. Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his wife, Frances Helen Miller: Compiled for Helen Pendleton (Winston) Pillsbury. (Concord, New Hampshire: Rumford Press, 1948, 1952)
    1:43.

    Thomas Wilder m. around 1640 Anna, or Hannah --- ["perhaps related to Robert Mears of Boston". Later comments point to the Meers will described elsewhere on this page, but point out that Robert Mears was only known to have children Samuel, John, Stephen and James.] who was living 4 Mar 1667-68. ["It has been stated, in print, that she d. 10 June 1692, but no reference cited."]

  7. Birth year estimated based on birth years of her children and approx birth year of her husband.