Additional information about Richard¹Waite, Watertown in 1637.

Please mail questions or corrections to Barbara T. Petty

James Savage in his Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, says he was of Watertown in 1638, and that upon the death of the father, the two elder sons gave their mother all the st.(sterling?) to bring up Joseph.

Henry Bond, in his Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of Watertown, Vol. II, p. 1055:

Richard Waite, of Watertown, 1638; died 1669, aged 60. Was grantee of a farm of 60 acres, and purchaser of 5 other lots. His homestall, of 2 acres was the grant of the town plot to J. Doggett, and bounded south and east by highways; north by John Whitney, Jr. west by Edm. White.

Ibid, p. 1017, List of Freemen, March 1637: Richard Waite.

Ibid, Vol. I, p. 617: Waite (Wait, Wayt, Wayte, Waight, Weight). Richard Waight, of Watertown, married Mary ___. He died January 16, 1668/9, aged 60, and she died January 21, 1678/9, aged 72.

Since it appears that Richard Waite did not show up in the Watertown records until at least 1634 (see below), it is only possible that he came with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630 but usually those who were here in 1630 were mentioned in records before 1633. So he may be one of the later emigrants to America. We can not tell what his occupation was from any of the above, but another researcher said that he was a cooper, for there is a record of his having been paid 1 shilling sixpence for hooping the powder in 1651. He was probably primarily a farmer. We also know that he must have been born about 1608, probably in England.

As far as the name Waite, in Our Heritage, by Lee Powers Hynes:

The Wait Family -
In 1075 William the Conqueror gave to one of his knights, Ralf de Waiet, the Earldome, city and castle of Norwich, England, when Ralf married William's sister Emma. Ricardus Le Wayte of Norwich was a descendant of Earl Ralf and Emma Waiet. The Wayte Coat of Arms was a shield with three silver bugles and the motto, "Pro Aries et Foce," which means, "For our Homes and Altars."

This Coat of Arms of course is not a family Coat of Arms, but was for an individual as are all Coat of Arms.

Citing Genealogy Of The Waite Family as written by Arthur R. Mandeville found in a notebook at Wyoming Historical and Geological (sic - said to be correct spelling) Society, 49 South Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701, Betty Lichty in 1996 gave the following information -

"The first settlers by the name of Waite in New England were: Richard, Gamaliel, and Thomas of Boston; Richard of Watertown; Thomas of Ipswich; Benjamin of Hatfield, John of Windsor, Ct, and George of Providence, RI. This first came before 1640. All claimed (source: "Boston and Western Massachusetts" by Cutler, see below [where the author is there listed as Cutter]) descent from Ricardus Le Wayte (the name has been spelled Waite, Wait, Wayt, Wayte, Waight, and Weight) of the County of Warwick, who was Escheater of the counties of Berkshire, Wilts, Oxford, Bedford, and Bucks in 1315, and was a direct lineal descendant of Ralf, whose wife was Emma, sister of Roger, Earl of Hereford, and cousin of William the Conqueror."

In the Watertown Town Proceeding book and Lands Grants and Possessions also the Proprietor's book we find the following about Richard Waite (abstracted June 1996 by Fred Kunchick of Pennsauken NJ [amsoil@gnn.com on the Internet]) -

June 26 1637 A Grant of the Remote or Westpine Meaddows devided & lotted out by the Freeman to all the Townefmen then Inhabiting being 113 in number; allowing one Acres for a perfon, & likewise for cattle valued at 20 lbs. the Head beginning next to plaine Meddow & fo to go on vntill the lotts be ended. Lott 47 Richard Wait Six Acres

May 10 1642 Ordered that 11 the Townes Men that had not Farmes laid out formerly fhall take them by Ten in a Divifion, & to caft Lotts for the feverall Divifions allowing 13 Acres of vpland to every head of Perfons & cattle. Lott: 1or Divifion Richard Waite Sixty acres Lot #4

First Inventory From Orignal index (The Courts of 1 (2) 1634, of 4 (1) 1634/5, and of 9 (7) 1639 ordered that records of every man's houses and land should be taken, entered in the town book, and a transcript thereof handed into the court, and that such record shold be sufficient assurance of title. (Here is seems to indicate Richard Waite may have been in Wat. as early as 1634/5 but this record probably came from the 1639 index)
Richard Waite

1. An Homeftall of Six Acres bounded the Eaft & South with the highway the North with John Whitney & the Weft with Edmund White
2. Six Acres of plowland in the futher Plaine & the 110 Lott
3. Six Acres of meddow in the remote Meddowes & the 47 Lott.
4. Thirty Acres of vpland being a great Divident in the 4 Divifion & the 12 Lott.
5. Sixty Acres of vpland for a Farme in the 7 Divifion.

Inventory 1644: No record of Richard Waite's Lands or possession.

Third Inventory probably made before the end of 1646
Richard Waite

1. An Homeftall of Six Acres by eftimation bounded the Eaft & South with the highway the North with John Whitney jun. & the Weft with Edmond White in his Poffeffion.
2. Six Acres of Plowland in the futher Plaine by eftimation bounded the Eaft with Thomas Rogers the Weft with Martin Vnderwood the North with Common land & the South with the higway in his poffeffion.
3. Six Acres of remote Meddow by eftimation & the forty feven lott in his poffeffion.
4. Thirty Acres of vpland by eftimation being a great Divident in the fourth Divifion & the twelfe lott in his poffeffion
5. Foure Acres of Plowland in the hither Plaine bounded the North with Abram Browne the south with the highway the Eaft with Ephraim Child & the Weft with Joseph Bemis in his poffeffion.

(Lands, Grants & Possessions Book, pp. 9,13,38,39,125)

January 19, 1651/2: Due to Richard Wayte for hopping the powder 0pds. 01s. 6d. Novem 12, 1652: Paid Richard wait 0 1:6 January 22, 1653/4: For the preuention of Damage by Swine it is ordered that all hogs fhall be ringed Continually all the yeare and yorked from the firft of Aprell to the eand of Indian harueft with sfufficent yoake vnder the throate vpon the penalty of 12d for euery hog that fhall be found vpon Comon or high way not fo regulated Richard Wayte and Willyam Shattake are chofen to profecute the orders about hogs and fences.

Feb 14, 1653/4: Miles eiues and Richard wayt wanting 6 or 7 akers of their Diuedent it is ordered that they fhall haue it vp vpon mackrell hill.

January 12 1662/3: Choffen For Survayers of the Hay wayes Richard Waight & Isaak Sternes

Nov 2, 1668: Richard waight; william perry weare Chofen survaryers of the high-wayes.

Feb 8, 1668/9: Danill Warrin was Chofen survayor of th highway in the rome of Richard waight deceafed.

One of the descendants of Richard and Mary Waite was Morrison Remick Waite, Chief Justice of the United States. In an obscure genealogy of Thomas Waite of Portsmouth Rhode Island, it states that Chief Justice Waite traced his lineage through a Henry Matson Waite, Remick Waite and three Thomases to Thomas Wayte the Regicide. This would not take into consideration the immigrant Richard Waite, however, and is to be questioned until the genealogy could be viewed to see what citations there are to support this claim. When Charles II, King of England ascended the throne in 1660, those who were instrumental in putting his father to death were brought to the scaffold (except John Dixwell, William Goffe and Edward Walley, who fled to America) and Thomas Wayte, being one of the number, either by act of Parliament or edict from the throne, tradition says, the family was deprived of that insignia, but from the description handed down a copy of the coat of arms of the Waite Family (sic) is depicted in a drawing in this little genealogy. It is said that the descendants of the Regicide settled in Connecticut. Morrison Remick Waite descends from the Lyme Connecticut family.

Sources:
Bond, Henry, M.D., Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of Watertwon, Vol. I, p. 617; Vol. II, pp. 1015, 1017
Freas, Margery, of Felton, Pa., her research (which seems to have some errors)
Hynes, Lee Powers, Our Heritage, Haddonfield, NJ, 1957
Pope, Charles H., Pioneers of Massachusetts, reprint by Gen. Pub. Co., 1968
Savage, James, The Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of new England in 4 volumes
Virkus, Frederic, The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy, Vol. I
Waite, D. Byron, Wait Genealogy of a Rhode Island family, not dated but perhaps turn of the cnetury, copy of which sent to this compiler by a fellow researcher on Prodigy Service, obtained by her from the Library of Congress (no more known than this).
Watertown Historical Society who in 1894 published:
Births, Deaths and Marriages The Proprietors Book Watertown Records Comprising the First and Second Books of Town Proceedings with the Land Grants and Possessions