Weatherby Family - The First Five Generations

The Wetherby family traces itself back to the immigrant ancestor, John Wetherbee, who emigrated to the New World in the 1660s. He is listed as being of Sudbury, Marlborough and Stow, all in Middlesex County. John is said to have been born in Yorkshire, England about 1642. He first married Mary How in 1672 in Marlborough. She died June 5, 1684 after bearing three children, Joseph, John and Thomas. Their years together were marked by the fierce Indian fighting known as King Philip's Wars. Philip was the leader of the local Indians who were bitterly resentful of losing their lands to the English settlers.

John married Lydia Moore, the daughter of John and Ann Smith Moore, on September 16, 1684 in Stow, and had six more children, David, Jonathan, Ephraim, Mary, Lydia and Anne. We are descended from Ephraim who was born about 1689.

John died in Stow, leaving Lydia and all nine children. His will was dated October 13, 1707, added to on April 11, 1709, and was probated on April 2, 1711. John had been a selectman in Stow in 1688, and in that capacity had signed the town rate list for Governor Andros.

John's inventory filed with his will gives an interesting view of his life. He was fairly well to do, by the standards of the time, but his house would have seemed rather barren of furniture by our standards. There is no mention of chairs or tables.

Imprimis. His wearing Apparill, Linen and wollen Hose & shoes & hatts all 07.00.00
Im The Beads and Beadsteads was ye furniture belonging (viz) The best Bead, Beadstead, Pillows, a bolster, bead coverings with the vallance and curtanes all at 07.00.00
Im The two next feather Beads, with the furniture together with one older Bead and Beading 11.10.00
Im Thirteen Pare of sheets 3lb18sh nine pillow beads 12sh table linen 6sh all 4.16.00
Im One Brass Kettle 22s one Brass skillet 4s two other brass skillets 12s one brass pan 2.00.00
Im One warming pan 5s Pewter plates, a quart pott, and other odd pewter 10s all 00.15.00
Im Iron ware (viz) two Porage Potts 12s one old frying pan 2s fire shovel, one spit & tramell 5s 6d a smoothing iron 2sh 6d earthenware 13d all 01.03.06
Im pa t. Irons 10s yoa Irons pitchforks and an old whipletree chain 5s a plow chain 4s all 00.19.00
Im Two & a small 5s8d two beetle rings & wedges 7s two sicles 2s all 00.14.08
Im Plow Irons 13s 6d two axes 10s two sighths with ye tacklering & one old one 10s 01.13.06
Im To cow bells 4s three augres 3s a pare of chizells 2s one hatchelcomb 5s all 00.14.00
Im Horse furniture, three sadles one Pillion & Cloth & one Pannell all 4s 02.00.00
Im One ....22s one long saw 5s two spining Wheels 6s three pare of old cards 3s 01.17.00
Im Worsted & woollen yarn sheep wool & flax together with some hemp all 02.00.00
Im milk trays dishes & spoons 12s water pailes & pig 2 s The Bookes 6s all 01.00.00
Im one new chest 8s also three old chests & 3 boxes 11s two meal sives 2s meal bags 5 01.05.00
Im two new meat tubbs 10s a marshing tubb & Butter tubbs 6s a churn & other all 01.01.00
Im In bills of Creddit eleven pounds also provisions corn & meat &c by estimation 7 lbs 18.00.00
Im The stock (viz) two oxen 7 lbs 10s Ten cows 25 lb 15 steers 5 lb 10s 3 heifers 4 lb 15s 43.10.00
Im one Bull 1lb 15s three young calves 1 lb 4 three horse 12 lb seven swine 3 pigs 4 lb 18.19.00
Itm The homestead, housing & lands 130 lb
Holmes Lott 50 lb all 190lb 190.00.00
Due from ye estate Totall 318.03.08

Itm. To funeral Charges 02.10.00
Itm. To Doctor for Advises 05.18.00
Itm. To Captn Prescott 08.00.00
Itm To Jonas Prescott 00.11.10 John Taylor
To Eleazer How in cash 01.00.00
Itm. To ye Constables Rates 01.00.00
Jacob Stevens, John Taylor, Thomas Brown, Appraisers 13.19.10

Entd 2d Aprill 1711 Exhib . p. the widow & David Exrs. in the will named upon oath

Ephraim Witherby, who was born about 1689 in Stow, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, married as his first wife, Elizabeth Hall in April, 1721. She was the daughter of Captain Samuel and Hannah Sawtell Hall. They had five children, Ruth, Ephraim, and Paul who were born in Stow, and Mary and Betsey who were born in Lunenberg. Elizabeth died June 17, 1732 a month following the birth of her youngest child. Ephraim was married three months later to Joanna Bellows. They had seven children, Rachel, Jonathan, Abigail, Susanna, Abijah, Joanna and Samuel.

One of the original settlers of Charlestown, New Hampshire, or Number Four, under a grant from the State of Massachusetts dated December 31, 1735, Ephraim moved there after 1740. His house was one of those included in the Fort which was built in the winter of 1743. He did not stay there for long since he took part in King George's War the following year.

Ephraim was in Colonel Samuel Willard's regiment and was made a Captain on June 17, 1745, while on the Louisburg Expedition to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He died in Boston on November 7, 1745, while still in the service, possibly from the effects of exposure during that bitter siege.

In the numerous documents and deeds which Ephraim was a party to he is referred to as "gentleman" as opposed to "husbandman."

Paul, the third of Ephraim's children was born on June 27, 1727 in Stow. He married Hannah Peirce, the daughter of David and Elizabeth Bowers Pierce in Lunenburg on June 11, 1746. Hannah's grandparents, Ephraim Pearce and Mary Peirce are buried in the cemetery at Groton, Massachusetts as are so many of our other ancestors.

Paul and Hannah lived in Lunenburg and had nine children: Ephraim, Paul, Hannah, Betsey, David, Joab, Abijah, Esther and Daniel. Paul died January 6, 1768, and Hannah was remarried the following year to the widower Josiah Flagg. She lived until after May 7, 1777, dying in the town of Mason, New Hampshire.

Ephraim, the eldest son of Paul and Hannah Wetherbee, was born on August 24, 1747 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts. He married Keziah Pierce, his first cousin once removed, on December 3, 1772 at Lunenburg. She was the daughter of Ephraim and Esther Shedd Pierce, and the granddaughter of Ephraim and Mary Whitney Pierce, who were her husband's great grandparents.

The Wetherbees had nine children: Hannah, Keziah, Paul, Ephraim, Jr., Abigail, Anna, Samuel, Thomas, and Lucretia, all but one of whom lived to adulthood. Keziah died April 19, 1793 with her youngest child only four years of age. Ephraim married Mrs. Martha Robinson on July 25, 1793. He lived until June 12, 1802, and was buried between his two wives in the North Cemetery in Lunenberg. Martha died April 29, 1820, aged seventy years.

Keziah's parents, Ephraim and Esther Shedd Perce, are buried in the South Cemetery in Lunenberg.

It is interesting to see the different spellings of these various family names. Pearce, Peirce, Pierce, Perce, and finally Parce, all appear in a two generation period.

Esther's grandfather, (and also Hannah Pierces's great grandfather) Jerathmeel Bowers is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Groton.

His wife, Sarah is buried several miles away in the Founding Father's Graveyard in the town of Chelmsford. Her mother-in-law, Elizabeth Bowers is also buried there close by. Possibly Jerathmeel moved to Groton to be with his children after his wife died, and that is the reason they are not laid to rest together.

Mary Peirce's father, Joshua Whitney, was one of the founding fathers of the town of Groton.

Overview Old Lunenburg Cemetery	Forefathers Burying Ground	Forefathers Burying Ground
Forefathers Burying Ground	Old Burying Ground in Groton	Closeup of Joshua Whitney tombstone representative of the time

(To see pictures of tombstones, click links below)

┌── John WETHERBY (Immigrant), b. circa 1642, d. between 1709 and 1711                  ┌── Ephraim WETHERBY, b. circa 1689, d. 1745                  │ └── Lydia MOORE, b. 1660, d. circa 1725              ┌── Paul WETHERBEE, b. 1726, d. 1768              │ │ ┌── Samuel HALL, b. 1665, d. 1750              │ └── Elizabeth HALL, b. circa 1700, d. 1732              │ └── Hannah SAWTELL, b. 1670          ┌── Ephraim WEATHERBEE, b. 1747, d. 1802          │ │ ┌── Ephraim PEIRCE, b. 1673, d. 1741          │ │ ┌── David PEIRCE, b. 1704          │ │ │ └── Mary WHITNEY, b. 1675, d. 1749 - her father Joshua          │ └── Hannah PEIRCE, b. 1731, d. 1777          │ │ ┌── Jerathmeel BOWERS, b. 1685, d. circa 1764          │ └── Elizabeth BOWERS, b. circa 1704          │ └── Sarah (__________), b. 1688, d. 1735      ┌── Ephraim WETHERBEE, b. 1778      │ │ ┌── Ephraim PEIRCE (see above)      │ │ ┌── Deacon Ephraim PEIRCE, b. 1700, d. 1781      │ │ │ └── Mary WHITNEY (see above)      │ └── Kezia PEIRCE, b. 1743, d. 1793      │ │ ┌── Daniel SHEDD (Immigrant), b. circa 1622, d. 1708      │ │ ┌── Samuel SHED, b. 1660, d. 1723      │ │ │ └── Elizabeth (__________), d. 1699      │ └── Esther SHEDD, b. 1703, d. 1768      │ │ ┌── Jerathmell BOWERS, b. 1650, d. 1724      │ └── Elizabeth BOWERS, b. 1672, d. after 1724      │ └── Elizabeth (__________), b. 1645, d. 1721 Charles Thomas WETHERBY, b. 1807, d. 1871      │ ┌── Thomas CHAMBERLIN, b. 1667, d. 1710      │ ┌── Moses CHAMBERLIN, b. 1695, d. 1766      │ │ └── Elizabeth HEALD, d. 1699      │ ┌── Moses CHAMBERLIN (DAR Patriot), b. 1735, d. 1777      │ │ │ ┌── Benjamin ONION, b. 1659, d. 1718      │ │ └── Deborah ONION, b. 1692, d. 1778      │ │ └── Deborah WOODCOCK, b. circa 1661      │ ┌── Elisha CHAMBERLIN (DAR Patriot), b. 1762, d. 1841      │ │ │ ┌── Eleazer PARTRIDGE, b. 1693, d. 1776      │ │ │ ┌── Elisha PARTRIDGE, b. 1716      │ │ │ │ └── Sarah TAYLOR      │ │ └── Sarah PARTRIDGE, b. 1741, d. 1771      │ │ │ ┌── Ebenezer WELLMAN, b. circa 1690      │ │ └── Hannah WELLMAN, b. circa 1717      │ │ └── Sarah HALL, b. 1695      └── Elizabeth Brown CHAMBERLIN, b. 1786, d. 1862 (closeup)          │ ┌── Ebenezer BROWN, b. 1665, d. 1739          │ ┌── Thomas BROWN, b. 1698          │ │ └── Mary (__________)          │ ┌── Ebenezer BROWN, b. 1726, d. 1773          │ │ │ ┌── Joseph CHENEY, b. circa 1667, d. before 1725          │ │ └── Abigail CHENEY, b. 1703, d. 1781          │ │ └── Rebecca ROBBINS, b. 1672, d. 1747- father Nathaniel Robbins          └── Susannah BROWN, d. circa 1813              └── Elizabeth JAMESON, d. 1784