William Wightman

1796 - 1877  (80 years)

• Name	William Wightman
  Birth	30 Oct 1796	Pawlet, Rutland, Vermont   [1, 2, 3]
  Gender	Male
  Death	27 Mar 1877	Marion, Linn, Iowa   [2, 3]
  Burial	Oak Shade Cemetery, Marion, Linn, Iowa   [2]
  Person ID	I36797	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others | Ancestor of LMW
  Last Modified	8 Nov 2023

  
  

  Father	Edward Wightman,   b. Abt 1754   d. Aft 1800, Pawlet, Rutland, Vermont (Age ~ 47 years)
  Mother	(Unknown wife of Edward Wightman)   d. Abt 1800, Pawlet, Rutland, Vermont
  Family ID	F21654	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Martha Woodard,   b. 30 Mar 1806, Sandgate, Bennington, Vermont d. 27 May 1878, Marion, Linn, Iowa (Age 72 years)
  Marriage	19 Jun 1822	Sandgate, Bennington, Vermont   [4, 5]
  Children	+ 1. Monroe Alphonso Wightman,   b. 19 Apr 1848, Manchester, Bennington, Vermont d. 15 Mar 1910, Anamosa, Jones, Iowa (Age 61 years)
  Family ID	F21627	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	8 Nov 2021

  
  

• Notes

  From George Wightman of Quidnessett, R.I. (1632-1721/2) and Descendants (citation details below): William Wightman was an infant of about three years of age when his mother died and he was given to a childless couple by the name of Hamilton to be brought up. He kept his own family name and grew up as Bill Whitman. Later, when he was a grown man his older brother, David, returning to Vermont to see the brother left behind told him that his name was really Wightman, and he so called himself thereafter. He married probably in Manchester and seems to have engaged in farming as the records at Manchester show several transactions in land in Bennington County. He also bought a farm in Pawlet on 23 Feby. 1829, selling the same in 1833. He finally located in E. Dorset; but he sold his farm there 3 Feby. 1855 and some ten years later, in 1865, went to Marion, Linn Co., Ia. where some of his children had located. Both he and Martha died at the home of their son Franklin D. Wightman in Marion. Following his death, this son notified his sister Marian by letter of the father's passing, and she was moved to write a brief note of information concerning their father, pinning the note to the letter. As this compiler was seeking to establish the relationship of this branch of the family, Marian's daughter, Mrs. Carrie Rivett of Lincoln, Neb., now a woman of seventy-five years, went through old letters, the accumulation of half a century, and found that note in her mother's handwriting. Lacking that valuable evidence, it is probable that this family would have remained unplaced.

  
  

• Sources

  [S2228] 1850 United States Federal census, on ancestry.com., year and state only. [S6088] Find a Grave page for William M. Wightman. [S6074] George Wightman of Quidnessett, R.I. (1632-1721/2) and Descendants: Waitman, Weightman, Whiteman, Whitman, Whytman, Wightman, Wyghtman by Mary Ross Whitman. Chicago, 1939. [S6092] Carolyn J. Schneider, "Descendants of William Woodward" (paywall). [S6074] George Wightman of Quidnessett, R.I. (1632-1721/2) and Descendants: Waitman, Weightman, Whiteman, Whitman, Whytman, Wightman, Wyghtman by Mary Ross Whitman. Chicago, 1939., says "Manchester, Bennington Co., Vt.".