When does genealogy move beyond the compilation of ancestors’ dates of birth, marriage and death? When does the picture of an early ancestor fill out beyond those dates or the photo of their grave marker?
The Intertwining Newton Branches
The Jackson Branch
Cambridge was one of the earliest Massachusetts towns. Newton Massachusetts split off from Cambridge in 1681. The earliest settler of Newton was John Jackson, one of my ancestors. John Jackson (about 1602-1676), my 10th great grandfather, was the first settler of Newton settling there in 1639. “The coming of John Jackson, in 1639, may properly be considered the-first settlement of Newton.”[1] His brother, my 11th great-grandfather Edward Jackson, (about 1604-1681) settled at Newton by 1643.[2]
We visited a house that was once the home of a descendant of Edward Jackson. The house was built in the early 1800’s on Jackson’s land and today functions as a museum. The house was once a stop on the underground railroad and the museum focuses on that era.
We also visited the Center Street Cemetery at Newton. The cemetery is where some families that appear in my family tree, Jacksons, Wiswalls, Wards and Greenwoods, are buried. I walked through the cemetery looking for the markers of my early Newton ancestors but many of their markers are not there. I left the cemetery with a feeling that I had unfinished business.
The Wiswall Branch
Noah Wiswall married Theodosia Jackson (1643 – 1725) on 14 December 1664. Theodosia was a daughter of John Jackson, founder of Newton.[3] [4]
The Wiswalls were also early settlers of Newton. My 9th great-grandfather Noah Wiswall (1638- 1690) was about 16 years old when his father Thomas Wiswall (1602 – 1683), also a first settler of Newton, moved his family from Dorchester Massachusetts to Newton around 1654. They lived on the Dedham Trail. The location of their house was near today’s intersection of Center St. at Paul St. Today the spot is near a busy road intersection that overlooks a railroad track.
“With the settlement of Massachusetts by the British, in 1634 John Haynes was granted 1000 acres of land in the area including Crystal Lake and extending to Newton Upper Falls. Haynes later went on to become the governor of the colony and then moved to Connecticut, where he also served as governor. The land owned by Haynes was leased first by Captain Thomas Prentice and then by Thomas Wiswall, who purchased 300 acres of the Haynes land holdings and who was the first actual settler on the property. Wiswall built his house in 1654 on the Dedham Trail, which is now known as Centre Street, on the south side of the lake near present-day Paul Street. What is now Newton was then administratively part of Cambridge. Wiswall worked to make Newton a separate community and distinct from Cambridge, donating some of his land for a meetinghouse so that people would not need to walk to Cambridge to worship. Wiswall died in 1683. For many years, his was the only house in the immediate area, and the pond next to it became known as Wiswall’s Pond.”[5]
Crystal Lake is nearby. When Noah lived in Newton the lake was called Wiswall Pond. There is a small pleasant park on the lakeshore. When we visited Crystal Lake Park, teenage kids were throwing a football and people were sunning themselves.
The Ward Branch
William Ward (about 1603 -1687) was in Sudbury Massachusetts by 1639 as one of its founders. Later he moved on to be a founder of Marlborough Massachusetts. [6] [7] His son John Ward (1626 – 1708) was a first settler of Newton and was in Newton by 1650.[8] Edward and Frances Jackson’s ( – 1648) daughter Hannah (1631-1704) married John Ward about 1650.[9]
A daughter of John Ward and Hannah Jackson, also named Hannah, ( – 1687), married Thomas Greenwood (1643 – 1693) on June 8, 1670. [10] [11]
The Greenwood-Cushing Branch
Thomas Greenwood immigrated from England in 1665 at age 22 and was in Newton by 1667. He is said to have been the great grandson of Rev. John Greenwood, “the Congregational martyr, executed at Tyburn, England on 6 April 1593.”[12]
Thomas Greenwood was a weaver. Thomas Greenwood died by 1 September 1693 at Weymouth Massachusetts and is buried in Newton.[13] On 28 December 1693 his son Thomas Jr. (1671-1720) married Elizabeth Wiswall (1668 – 1736), daughter of Noah Wiswall.[14] Thomas Greenwood Jr. was recruited to be Pastor in Rehoboth Massachusetts. He and Elizabeth located there in early 1694. He died in Rehoboth September 8, 1720, and she died there 24 January, 1736.[15]
Elizabeth and Thomas Greenwood Jr.’s daughter Hannah Greenwood (1695 – ) married Adam Cushing (1693 – 1752) on 28 August 1718.[16] Adam Cushing and Hannah Greenwood had a son Adam Cushing (1719 – ) who married Sarah Reed (1721 – ) on 9 June 1743. [17] They in turn had a son Ezra Cushing (1748 – 1820) a RW soldier.[18] My descent from Ezra has been validated by the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
The Farmer and McLain Branch
Thomas Wiswall, the father of Noah Wiswall above, married Isabella Burbage Farmer ( -1686 ) after the death of her first husband John Farmer.[19] A descendant of Isabella, John Farmer, is an important figure in genealogy and the creation of NEHGS – “The importance of John Farmer’s work to American genealogical research was also illustrated by the fact that his memoir was published in the very first issue of The New England Historical and Genealogical Register in 1847.”[20]
One of Isabella’s descendants through John Farmer is Uriah McLain, a Revolutionary War soldier. Isabella Burbage Farmer Wiswall was stepmother to Noah Wiswall but she also enters my family tree again as an ancestor to Revolutionary War soldier Uriah McLain, my 4th great-grandfather. She is my 8th great grandmother.
Isabella Burbage and John Farmer married and had a son Edward Farmer (1640-1727) who married Mary Moore (1641-1719).[21] [22] Edward Farmer and Mary Moore’s son Thomas Farmer (1683- 1767) married Elizabeth Hunt (1687-1767).[23] Thomas Farmer and Elizabeth Hunt had a daughter Susanna (born between 1710/1719-died 1758) who married Charles McLain (1719-1758) on 24 October 1740.[24] Charles McLain and Susanna Farmer had a son Uriah McLain (1750-1822) the Revolutionary War soldier.[25] My descent from Uriah has been validated by the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Noah Wiswall and his daughter Elizabeth link together all of the above families. Noah died in Lee New Hampshire at the Battle of Wheelwright Pond leading a hundred colonists against a much larger band of marauding Indians. We went to Wheelwright Pond in Lee where Noah died. I wrote about the battle in an earlier article but I wanted to see the place to get a better understanding of the site.[26]
Wheelwright Pond
There are no historic markers to show where the Battle of Wheelwright Pond took place. The place is actually a small lake. We spoke to several locals who had heard of the battle but did not know specifically where it was fought. While looking for the site of the battle we stopped at the local historic society, a small building adjacent to the library, but it was closed.
We next stopped in at the library. We were interested in accessing the public park that was on the southwest side of the lake. No books in the library referenced the battle.
The Librarian was familiar with the name of the battle but not the specific location. The park was not showing up on our maps, but the librarian knew how to get to the park.
We went to the park, which is on the southwest side of the lake. The Battle of Wheelwright Pond is said to have been a running fight through the woods and to have taken place on the southeast side of the lake. The southeast side of the lake is thinly populated with residential houses and a private campground.
The park is down Rita Lane, a narrow bumpy dirt road only wide enough for one car. Parking our car at the small parking lot at the road end, we went for a two hour walk on the trails.
Walking on the trails at the park was an introduction to the terrain the battle was fought in. A thick forest with tall trees having many exposed gnarled roots and occasional sections of swamp. It was the kind of place Indians would choose for an ambush. A hilly, swampy thick forest, lots of trees to hide behind, a difficult terrain to advance forward in.
“History gives but few details of the battle at Wheelwright’s Pond, which was a running fight through woods, after Indian fashion, beginning, as local tradition says, at Turtle Pond in Lee and extending to the southeast side of Wheelwright’s Pond in the same town. One hundred men, under command of Capt. Noah Wiswall and Capt. John Floyd, set out from Dover. The fight was on Sunday. Captain Wiswall, Lieut. Flag, Serg. Walker, and twelve privates were killed, when both parties withdrew from the conflict.”[27]
An eerie breeze in the tree canopy hinted at the bloody fight here hundreds of years ago. Today there is no trace of what happened. There is no historic marker, no hint of the battle that cost so many men their lives.
We hiked for two hours then sat at a picnic table by the lake contemplating the battle. Why is there no marker here telling what happened? The battle was widely reported in the colony and in England at the time, as was the courage of the men who participated in it. It seems disrespectful to those who lost their lives fighting for their families and their communities to forget the story of what happened here and to leave the place not memorialized.
Conclusion
We followed the genealogical threads from Revolutionary War soldiers Ezra Cushing and Uriah McLain back to Newton. We researched local history and works already produced by genealogists. We visited the site of Jackson family land, Wiswall family land, Wiswalls Pond, Center Street Cemetery, and Wheelwright Pond. We discovered much more about our family story of colonial settlement and frontier conflict. With this story we dispersed a haze of forgetfulness of those times.
Almost four hundred years after John Jackson first settled in Newton we were able to extend our understanding of our ancestors lives beyond the compilation their dates of birth, marriage and death. The picture of an early ancestor becomes more complete with research and if possible a visit to where they lived and experienced important events in their lives. All of these things together provide the context to memorialize their lives in print.
© Bruce A. Wright Esq., 2026
[1] Francis Jackson, A History of the Early Settlement of Newton, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts, From 1639-1800, p. 327, Stacy and Richardson, Boston, 1854. https://archive.org/details/historyofearlyse00injack/page/327/mode/1up
[2] Francis Jackson, A History of the Early Settlement of Newton, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts, From 1639-1800, p. 333, Stacy and Richardson, Boston, 1854. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/21645/images/dvm_LocHist007480-00170-1?pId=333
[3] Clarence A. Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, p. 831, Genealogical Publishing, Baltimore,2004. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/3824/images/gpc_newenglandmarriages-0847?pId=74150
[4] A History of the Early Settlement of Newton, p.454, Stacy & Richardson, Boston, 1854. https://archive.org/details/historyofearlyse00injack/page/454/mode/1up
[5] Srdjan S. Nedeljkovic, Crystal Lake: A Brief History, 2009. http://www.crystallakeconservancy.org/crystal-lake-a-brief-history.html
[6] Charles Martyn, The William Ward Genealogy : The History of the Descendants of William Ward of Sudbury, Mass., 1638-1925, p. 24, A. Ward, New York, 1925. https://archive.org/details/williamwardgenea1925mart/page/24/mode/1up
[7] Charles Martyn, The William Ward Genealogy, p. 42-43. https://archive.org/details/williamwardgenea1925mart/page/42/mode/1up
[8] Charles Martyn, The William Ward Genealogy, p. 65. https://archive.org/details/williamwardgenea1925mart/page/65/mode/1up
[9] Charles Martyn, The William Ward Genealogy, p. 65. https://archive.org/details/williamwardgenea1925mart/page/65/mode/1up
[10] Charles Martyn, The William Ward Genealogy, p.41. https://archive.org/details/williamwardgenea1925mart/page/41/mode/1up
[11] Frederick Greenwood, Greenwood Genealogies, 1154-1914 : The Ancestry and Descendants of Thomas Greenwood, p. 53, Lyons Genealogical Co., New York, 1914. https://archive.org/details/greenwoodgenealo00gree/page/53/mode/1up
[12] Frederick Greenwood, Greenwood Genealogies, 1154-1914 : The Ancestry and Descendants of Thomas Greenwood, p. 44, Lyons Genealogical Co., New York, 1914. https://archive.org/details/greenwoodgenealo00gree/page/44/mode/1up
[13] Frederick Greenwood, Greenwood Genealogies, 1154-1914 : The Ancestry and Descendants of Thomas Greenwood, p. 53 Lyons Genealogical Co., New York, 1914. https://archive.org/details/greenwoodgenealo00gree/page/53/mode/1up
[14] Clarence A. Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, p.325, Genealogical Publishing, Baltimore,2004. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/3824/images/gpc_newenglandmarriages-0341?pId=51555
[15] Frederick Greenwood, Greenwood Genealogies, 1154-1914 : The Ancestry and Descendants of Thomas Greenwood, p. 56 Lyons Genealogical Co., New York, 1914. https://archive.org/details/greenwoodgenealo00gree/page/56/mode/2up
[16] Adam Cushing in Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Ancestry.com online database. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2495/images/40143_271861__0001-00008?pId=6299170
[17] Adam Cushing in Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, p. 44 at bottom left. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2495/images/40143_270985__0018-00024?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=7943318
[18] James S. Cushing The Genealogy of the Cushing Family : An Account of the Ancestors and Descendants of Matthew Cushing, p. 144, Perrault, Montreal, 1905. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/14977/images/dvm_GenMono002524-00083-0?pId=149
[19] Francis Jackson, A History of the Early Settlement of Newton, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts, From 1639-1800, p. 452, Stacy and Richardson, Boston, 1854. https://archive.org/details/historyofearlyse00injack/page/452/mode/1up
[20] Michelle Norris, John Farmer: Contributions to American Genealogy, Vita Brevis, 2020. https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2020/06/john-farmer-contributions-to-american-genealogy
[21] Nathaniel L. Taylor, John Farmer Discovers his Ancestry, The Warwickshire Family of Edward Farmer, NEHGS Register, v. 161 p. 217. https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/new-england-historical-and-genealogical-register/image?rId=143404921&volumeId=11689&pageName=217&filterQuery=
[22] Samuel S. Drake, Genealogical Memoir of the Farmer Family, NEHGS Register, v.1 p.24. https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/new-england-historical-and-genealogical-register/image?volumeId=11616&pageName=25&rId=23544093
[23] Nathaniel L. Taylor, John Farmer Discovers his Ancestry, The Warwickshire Family of Edward Farmer, NEHGS Register, v. 161 p. 217. https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/new-england-historical-and-genealogical-register/image?rId=143404921&volumeId=11689&pageName=217&filterQuery=
[24] Susanna Farmer in Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Ancestry.com online database. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2495/images/41254_265468-00074?pId=81311256
[25] Uriah McLane in Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 (middle of p. 95), https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2495/images/40143_264462__0028-00108?pId=5289872
[26] Bruce Wright, Captain Noah Wiswall’s Fight, 2024. https://theboatinggenealogists.com/2024/04/02/captain-noah-wiswalls-fight/
[27] Everett Stackpole et al, History of the Town of Durham, New Hampshire : (Oyster River Plantation), v. 1, p. 88, published by the town of Durham, https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofd00stac/page/88/mode/1up
The Boating Genealogists 