Thomas Wellman
Thomas Wellman was born in about 1615 in England and died at Lynn, Massachusetts on 10 October 1672. He was among the early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and progenitor of the Wellman family of New England. At age 21 he traveled from London to Barbados in 1634 or 1635 aboard Hopewell as part of a mass exodus of Puritans called the Great Migration.
New life in America
Thomas sailed from Barbados to Massachusetts and settled in Lynn about 1640, where he married Elizabeth about 1642. At the time of his death, he owned 180 acres of land in Lynn. Their home on the east side of Summer Street in Lynn was occupied by several generations of Wellmans before being demolished in the 1830s.Second generation of Thomas Wellman's family
Thomas Wellman and his wife Elizabeth had five children: Abraham, Isaac, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Mary.- Abraham married Elizabeth Cogswell about 1668. She was the daughter of John Cogswell of Ipswich, Massachusetts. Abraham inherited half of his father's land and the family home. Abraham and his wife Elizabeth made grand jury depositions concerning Sarah Cole of Lynn during the Salem witch trials. Abraham and his wife Elizabeth had eight children:
- * Thomas six children.
- * Elizabeth
- * Abraham seven children.
- * John
- * Elizabeth married three times.
- * Abigail
- * Mary married Caleb Coye. 2 children.
- * Martha became the 2nd wife of her 1st cousin Ebeneezer.
- Isaac married Hannah Adams 13 March 1678 or 1679. She was the youngest daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Adams of Malden, Massachusetts. Issac inherited half of his father's land. Isaac was a soldier in King Philip's War and participated in the capture of Fort Narraganset on 19 December 1675. His heirs were among the grantees of Narraganset No. 2 in 1733. Isaac made a grand jury deposition concerning Sarah Cole during the Salem witch trials. Isaac and his wife Hannah had eleven children:
- * Isaac
- * Stephen six children.
- * Hannah the last record of Hannah was dated 1706.
- * Sarah married John Hall 7 March 1726 or 1727.
- * Isaac five children.
- * Ebeneezer seven children.
- * Joseph twelve children.
- * Timothy six children.
- * Samuel five children.
- * Benjamin never married.
- * Adam no children.
- Elizabeth married George Hull of Beverly, Massachusetts.
- The last record of Sarah was dated 22 October 1684.
- No record of Mary has been found after the death of her father.
American revolution
- great-grandson Joseph Wellman of Wrentham marched on Lexington in Captain Samuel Cowell's company and served until 1779.
- great-great-grandson Thomas Wellman of Lynnfield marched on Lexington in Captain Nathaniel Bancroft's company and served until 1777.
- great-great-grandson Jonathan Wellman of Lynnfield marched on Lexington in Captain Nathaniel Bancroft's company.
- great-great-grandson Stephen Wellman marched on Lexington in Captain Abraham Pierce's company of Waltham militia and was a corporal at the Battle of Dorchester Heights.
- great-great-grandson Timothy Wellman of Mansfield was a private in Captain Isaac Hodge's company at the Battle of Dorchester Heights and the battle of Rhode Island.
- great-great-grandson Jacob Wellman of Lyndeborough was wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill as a private in Captain Levi Spaulding's company.
- great-great-grandson Joseph Wellman was a private in Captain Abiel Clapp's Mansfield minutemen.
- great-great-grandson Peter Wellman was a private in Captain Clapp's Mansfield minutemen and fought in the battle of Rhode Island.
- great-great-grandson Samuel Wellman was a private in Captain Clapp's Mansfield minutemen.
- great-great-grandson Ebenezer Wellman was a private in Captain Clapp's Mansfield minutemen and fought in the battle of Rhode Island.
- great-great-grandson Silas Wellman was a private in Captain Clapp's Mansfield minutemen and served until 1782 at West Point, New York.
- great-great-grandson Samuel Wellman was a private in Captain Clapp's Mansfield minutemen served until 1780 including the Battle of Trenton.
- great-great-grandson Isaac Wellman of Cornish was a private in Captain Jonathan Chase's company at the Siege of Fort Ticonderoga.
- great-great-grandson James Wellman of Cornish was a ranger in Captain Josiah Russell's company at the siege of Fort Ticonderoga and the Saratoga campaign.
- great-great-grandson John Wellman of Lyndeborough was a private in Colonel John Mellin's regiment at the siege of Fort Ticonderoga and in 1778 a corporal in Captain Samuel Dearborn's company in the battle of Rhode Island.
- great-grandson Reuben Wellman was a private in the New Hampshire Regiment reinforcing the Continental Army at New York during the winter of 1776/7.
- great-great-grandson Solomon Wellman of Cornish joined the Continental Army under General Horatio Gates for the Saratoga campaign.
- great-great-grandson Jacob Wellman of Mansfield enlisted in 1776 and served through 1783 as a corporal at the battles of Saratoga, Monmouth, and Yorktown.
- great-great-grandson Abraham Wellman of Lynn was a Continental Army drummer wounded at the battle of Monmouth.
- great-grandson Adam Wellman of Wrentham was a gunner in Captain Perez Cushing's artillery company from 1776 and a corporal in Captain Samuel Cowell's company in 1778.
- great-grandson Elijah Wellman of Attleborough was a private in Captain Stephen Richardson's company in 1777 and in Captain Samuel Robinson's company in 1780.
- great-great-grandson David Wellman was a member of the Stoughtonham militia.
- great-grandson Jedediah Wellman was a member of the Keene militia in 1776.
- great-great-grandson John Wellman was a private in Captain Moses Knapp's company from 1775 to 1776.
- great-great-grandson Caleb Wellman was a private in Captain Zadok Buffington's company in 1777 and in Captain Addison Richardson's company of Essex County militia in 1780.
- great-great-grandson Oliver Wellman of Mansfield enlisted in the First Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army from 1779 through 1781.
- great-great-grandson Benoni Wellman enlisted in 1782 as a private in Colonel Jackson's regiment.
- great-great-grandson Darius Wellman was a corporal in the Athens, Vermont militia in 1782.
- great-grandson Adam Wellman of Salem was a privateer serving as lieutenant aboard the schooner Success in 1776, and commanding the brigantine Rover in 1780 and the schooner Jackal in 1782.
- great-grandson John Wellman of Dedham was ship's doctor aboard the brigantine Hawke in Commodore John Manley's squadron.
- great-great-grandson Jedediah Wellman of Danvers shipped aboard a privateer in 1776 and was taken prisoner at Portsmouth
- great-grandson Samuel Wellman of Salem was captured by the British aboard the privateer sloop Gates in 1779.
- Samuel's son Oliver Kempton Wellman served aboard the privateer Junius Brutus in 1780.
- Samuel's son Timothy Wellman shipped aboard the sloop Tyrannicide in 1776 at the age of 8.
Descendants
- Wellman, Iowa named for Joseph Edward Wellman
- Wellman, Texas
- Bela Wellman, San Francisco Committee of Vigilance merchant during the California Gold Rush
- Abijah Wellman, New York state senator of the Wellman House
- Samuel T. Wellman, inventor
- Augustus Ogden Wellman, Santa Fe Railroad official for whom Wellman, Texas was named
- Arthur Holbrook Wellman, Massachusetts state senator
- Walter Wellman, journalist and explorer
- Jack London, author
- William A. Wellman, film director
- Harry R. Wellman, president of the University of California
- James Milo Wellman, founder of Wellman-Lord Engineering