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| Notes for John WALLIS | ||||||||||||||||||
| 727John Wallis was born possibly in Cornwall, England, about 1627 or earlier, and died in Gloucester, Massachusetts, 13 September 1690. He married, probably in the late 1650s, Mary Phippen, who was baptised at Hingham, Massachusetts, 5 March 1643/4 and died, probably at Gloucester, after 29 April 1691, daughter of Joseph728 and Dorcas (Wood) Phippen. John Wallis was a fisherman in Falmouth and Purpooduck, Maine, by 27 October 1650. He appeared in Falmouth court records from 1659 through 1663 and bought land at Purpooduck in 1667. A selectman in 1674 and 1680, he was a refugee in Salem and Gloucester in the first indian war, 1675; in the next he retired to Gloucester where he died 13 September 1690. Many of his descendants were also fisherman; others were engaged in various maritime pursuits. The importance of fishing to Gloucester from 1623 to the present has been expressed in many different economic and political formats. An amusing early anecdote regarding the role of fishing even had theological connections, albeit somewhat tangential. 729"The minister began his service by reminding the worshippers, 'We have come here to praise God,' when a voice from the congregation added, '... and to catch fish'." John's widow Mary and son Josiah, with David Phippen as surety, gave bond for the handling of his estate. The last record of Mary was when she and son Josiah presented an inventory 29: 2: [29 April] 1691.730 A daughter, daughter-in-law, and five young grandchildren were killed by Indians in 1702. More than 20 years later, on 22 June 1724, three grandsons and a grandson-in-law, all young men, were also killed by Indians. Three of our fishing vessels were taken by the Indians in Fox Harbor, viz: James Wallis, sen., James Wallis, Jr., and John Lane. They killed of our town James Wallis, Thomas Finson, John Lane, Richard Tarr [the only one not a member of this family] and Joseph Wallis."731 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 732The family of John Wallis, a fisherman in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and that of his eldest son Josiah, a seaman, received good, almost telegraphically-succinct coverage in 1939 in The Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire. In the mid-19th century, incomplete, although usually accurate accounts of some of the agnate lines appeared in John J. Babson's classic history of Gloucester. Joseph E. Garland in his introduction to the reprint stated "It is almost axiomatic that if the event isn't in Babson it didn't happen or has been irretrievably lost," and then continued with " ... there is plenty still to be mined from old newspapers and county records in Salem, both of which sources Babson used quite selectively, although he appears to have thoroughly combed through town and church documents ... of the Colonical and Revolutionary periods." Additional incomplete coverage of the Wallis family appeared in 1876 when the Gloucester Telegraph published Notes and Additions to the History of Gloucester, consisting of material serialized by the newspaper in 1872. Babson continued to acquire data until his death in 1886. This new material, much of it from the diary of the Rev. Samuel Chandler, was published in 1891 at Salem as Notes and Additions to the History of Gloucester, Second Series. Later the two parts, each with separate pagination, were printed in one book, with two partial indices. These two parts were deemed unworthy of inclusion in the 1972 reprint, and consequently they are much less readily available. The Fifth Parish of Gloucester eventually became the town of Rockport, Massachusetts, which is also the current designation of the region known as Sandy Bay during colonial times. Ebenezer Pool, "Rockport's Venerable Antiquarian" lived from 1787 to 1878, collected extensive data on the residents of that community. Photocopies of transcriptions of his notes, at the Sandy Bay Historical Society and also at the Rockport Library, both in Rockport, have been consulted. Although Babsob frequently attributed statements to Pool, there is much in the Pool Papers that has not been published; specifically one Tarr family has not been found in any other source. This article rarely differs from Babson's conclusions in its discussion of individuals with the surname Wallis and other less commonly used variations, mostly Wallace. Details and specific dates have been incorporated from vital records, deeds, and probate records. Babson obviously had the advantage of being on the scene, closer in time, able to interview persons and have access to documents since lost. The families of several Wallis women which have not been previously connected to this family are presented in more detail. Numerous members of the "first family" of Rockport, almost 20 percent of Rockport's adult males or their wives in 1754, prominent shipbuilders of Essex, Massachusetts, the wife of one of the five founders of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the patron of the Gloucester Public Library will appear as descendants of John Wallis. John Wallis has plausibly been considered, without proof, to be a brother of Nathaniel Wallis who died in Beverly, Massachusetts, 18 October 1709, aged about 77. Nathaniel's death record states that he was born in the county of Cornwall, Great Britain. Five of John's children had all or part of their families in Beverly, where Nathaniel's descendants were established. Nathaniel Wallis has a son Joshua who owned land in Gloucester between 1716 and 1723; however, none of his children were born there. Joshua does not appear as a given name in the John Wallis family, nor do Nathaniel and Caleb, names frequently used in the Nathaniel Wallis family, which had far more descendants with the surname Wallis. The daughters' names are in common, and only one, Mary, is found also in the Nathaniel Wallis family, eliminating onomastic clues that might support a fraternal relationship between Nathaniel and John. | ||||||||||||||||||
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