Nathaniel Wilder
Born: November 3, 1650/55 Charlestown, Massachusetts
Married: November 24, 1673 Massachusetts
Died: July 31, 1704 Lancaster, Massachusetts
Father: Thomas Wilder
Mother: Anna
Wife: Mary
Sawyer b.1653
Children:
Mary Wilder b.1679
Notes:
-Original Birth Register in Charlestown gives Nov 3, 1655 birth to
"Thomas and Anna Wilder". However, gravestone in 1704 gives age as 54
years old (which would be born around 1650). Not sure why there is a
discrepency here, as Nathaniel is a well attested son of Thomas Wilder.
Thomas Wilder was a very involved citizen, and Lieutenant. He was very
muc involved in the Indian Wars. At one point, he was tried and sentenced
to hang to death for the treacherous murder of an Indian who had surrended
to the colonists. He later was released and fined 10 pounds each, half
going to the Indian who prosecuted them. Nathaniel would be killed
twenty-eight years later in a raid on Lancaster by Indians. The Indians
shot him in the thigh which was the mortal wound. They also killed off
his six oxen, five cows, three calves, sixteen sheep, twelve pigs, and
burnt his barn.
-As to the English origins of the family, his father is oftentimes
associated with the Wilders of Shiplake and Higham, England. This is a
very old tradition. However, a DNA analysis of the Wilder lines showed no
relationship whatsoever between Thomas Wilder of Charlestown, and the
Shiplake Wilders.
Sources:
-Birth Source: Charlestown Vital Records and Gravestone.
-Marriage Source:
-Death Source: Lancaster Vital Records.