Individual Details

Possibly the son of Robert Wight of Hareby, Lincoln, England, if indeed this is the correct baptism. First wife was Alice by whom he had Henry, John Thomas Jr. Mary (Wight) Ellis, Samuel & Ephraim.

Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, by Henry Sweetser Burrage and Albert Roscoe Stubbs, 1909, p.1254
" Thomas Wight, who was of English birth and parentage, is first known on record in this country at Watertown, Massachusetts, where he epent the winter of 1635-6. With eleven others he was an admitted inhabitant of Dedham, July 18, 1637. At that time he had a wife Alice (sometimes written Elsie) and three sons: Henry, John and Thomas. He was first granted twelve acres of land for a homestead, and his wife was received into the church of Dedham, September 6, 1640. On October 8 of the same year he was made a freeman. He was selectman of the town for six years, beginning with 1641, and was often otherwise engaged in the public service, his name appearing frequently in the records. His name is fourth on the list of those pledged to support schools, and as a result of this pledge, the first free school in Massachusetts was establish. In 1650 he was a member of a committee to erect a village for the Indians at Natick. He was identified with a movement in 1649 for the establishment of the new town of Medfield, and soon after removed to that town. He was a deacon of the church there in 1677, and was one of a committee appointed November 4, 1669, to frame a plan of government for the town. In 1654 he was elected a selectman of the town, continuing the service with the exception of the years 1656-57, until his death, March 17, 1674. He received a grant of twelve acres in the first regiment at Medfield, of which town he was one of the wealthiest citizens and subsequently received numerous other grants. He was also among the proprietors of the town of Medway, where some of his children settled. The valuation of his property in 1660 was two hundred sixty-six pounds. He and all his surviving sons in Medfield, as well as his son-in-law, subscribed for the new brick college at Cambridge, now known as Harvard University. His wife Alice died July 15, 1665, and he was married (second) December 7, same year, to Lydia (Eliot) Penniman, widow of James Penniman and sister of John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians. The children of Thomas Wight were: Henry, John, Thomas, Mary, Samuel and Ephraim."

Look for:
Book of Thomas Wight descendants state Thomas SR and his wife, Alice, came from the Isle of Wight with their 3 sons, Henry, John, and Thomas in 1637.
The Wight Family: Memoir of Thomas Wight by Danforth Phipps Wight, MD, Boston, 1848.
The author states that papers related to family affairs, fifty years ago, are now lost. Written at Dedham, MA, 10 Dec 1840.
Suggests Isle of Wight as birthplace of Thomas Wight "by family tradition" but this seems highly unlikely based on actual records.
Twelve persons were admitted as inhabitants of Dedham, 18 Jul 1637 - Thomas Wight was included so he was in the colonies by then. Rev. John Allin named as first pastor of the First Church in Dedham - and said that his associates had come from several parts of England - few known to each other before. Thomas Wight was granted 12 acres bounded by John Luson and Anthony Fisher, and on a brooke.
From the town records: Thomas Wight and Alice his wife were received into the church 6th day of 7th month, 1640. Alice wight, wife of Thomas Wight departed this life the 15th of July 1665. He then married Lydia Penneman, widow of James, on 7 Dec 1665.
In 1652 there is a sale of land from Thomas Wight to Henry, his son. Thomas served as a selectman for six years - the last year apparently, 1650.
Thomas removed to Medfield with others (43 persons in all) from Dedham according to a town meeting, 14 Nov 1649. His son John also moved to Medfield. Son Henry was the only member of the family to remain in Dedham.
Thomas was chosen a selectman in Medfield, 1653 and served almost to his decease.
Children listed as: Henry, John, Thomas, Samuel b. Feb 5, 1639, Mary, and Ephraim b. Jan 27, 1645.

Dedham and Medfield, Massachusetts
Applied as Freeman, 8 Oct 1640.
He married, second, at Medfield,MA on Dec 7,1665, Lydia (Eliot) Penniman. She was the widow of James Penniman Jr, (he d. 26 Dec 1664) and daughter of Bennett Eliot and Lettice Alger Eliot. She died by Jul 19,1676, the date of her estate inventory. Her will names her Penniman children - her son Samuel Penniman, the Executor.


The following appears to be a very different Thomas:

And Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire:
WIGHT, Thomas, Exeter 1639, prob. of Lincolnshire origin; see N. E. Reg. 68: 77. He was fined for speaking contemptuously of magistrates in 1642, signed a pet. in Sept. 1643. Lists 373, 375ab, 376ab (1645). Prob. d. bef. 25 Mar. 1648 when w. Lucy gave p/a to George Barlow. As a wid. she sold a ho. and lot to John Tedd which he sold to John Bean in 1664. She m. 2d in Boston 24 Dec. 1652 John Samuel (see Records of Mass. Bay, 3: 420; 4: 1: 283), whose est. was apprais. 8 Dec. 1662, and was liv. 1665 when there was a suit over a Boston ho. which Samuel had left to her for life with remainder to her ch: Israel, a Boston wit. 1656. In 1664 sued his former gdn. Capt. E. Waldron for withholding his est., got judgment, levied on Squamscott land, and sold to Christopher Palmer, 20 a. marsh and meadow; the deed also incl. a q. c. to a Boston ho., and ho. and land of Charles Buckner in Dover. See Records of Mass. Bay 4: 2: 283, 322; Rec. of Ct. of Assistants 3: 142-4, 170. On 11 Apr. 1665 he was gr. adm. on his fa.’s est. (N. H.); in Sept. 1666 had gone out of the country. Elizabeth, had John Joyliffe as gdn. ‘in 1665.

Christen	6 Dec 1607	Hareby, Lincolnshire, England
Marriage	7 Dec 1665	Lydia Eliot
Death	17 Mar 1674	Medfield, Suffolk County, Massachusetts

Spouse	Alice (1605 - 1665)
Child	Ephraim Wight (1645 - 1723)

Spouse

Lydia Eliot ( - 1676)