Nathaniel Wilder (1655-1704)
Marian and Agnes Wilder were the daughters of
James Lewellyn Wilder, the son of
Francis L. Wilder the son of
James Marvel Wilder the son of
Abel Wilder the son of
Moses Wilder, the son of
Oliver Wilder, the son of
Nathaniel Wilder (great great great great great grandfather)
Nathaniel Wilder was born around 1649 or 1650, either in Charlestown, MA or in Lancaster, MA. He was murdered July 30, 1704 at his farm on George Hill, Lancaster MA.
Nathaniel’s father was Thomas Wilder (aka Wyellder), our Wilder immigrant ancestor from England. Nathaniel’s mother was Anna or Hanna Eames (probably), the daughter of Captain Anthony Eames, the commander of the Hingham MA militia (called the “Trained Band” in those days). Nathaniel may have been a twin birth, as he is shown that way on some documents. His boyhood in Lancaster was probably peaceful, as the early years of the community maintained generally good relations with the Indians. In 1673, he married Mary Sawyer, daughter of Thomas Sawyer, an original settler of Lancaster. Mary was also the granddaughter of John Prescott, the founder of the town. In 1675 Nathaniel’s first child, a son named Nathaniel was born The happiness of a new family was soon to be destroyed. A series of disputes between Indians and whites culminated on February 10, 1676, when approximately 1500 warriors under Metacomet (King Philip) attacked the village, and murdered a great number of the inhabitants. While the Wilders apparently escaped with no deaths, in total the families of our ancestry in the town at this point in time lost several members either killed or carried away into captivity. Nathaniel Wilder, and his wife and baby managed to escape, and appear to have resettled in Sudbury, MA, for several years. Lancaster itself was abandoned after the disastrous attack for about four years, before the inhabitants returned to reclaim their homes. Nathaniel, like the other men who were able, were actively involved in the defense of their homes. On August 7, 1676, Nathaniel was apparently a member of a mounted column that came upon a group on Christian Indian women and their children, picking berries on Hurtleberry Hill near Concord MA (Hurtleberry is an archaic colonial name for a huckleberry). As the main column moved away from where the women were working, Nathaniel and three other soldiers swung back, and slaughtered them all. They were discovered shortly, and brought before the colonial court on charges of murder. The case was highly charged, the fact that Lancaster and other communities had been annihilated only six months earlier, the fact that the Indian women apparently did not have permission that was then needed to be there, and the fact that there was a belief held among the British that the Indian women generally were used as spies by their chiefs resulted in a great deal of sympathy for the four men. In court testimony, it came out that two of the men had done the actual killing, while Nathaniel and the other man had done little or nothing to stop the massacre.
Nathaniel Wilder was afforded the opportunity to plead guilty to the lesser charge and throw himself upon the mercy of the court. He was granted a reprieve, and was instructed to pay the survivors of the murdered Indians about 10 pounds. The two men who were found guilty were hanged. Apparently, though, Nathaniel’s involvement in the atrocity was not forgotten or forgiven by the Indians. There were instances of Indians, believed to be looking for revenge for the murders, rushing out onto the trail to grab the reins of other English in the wake of the attack and being driven off. It’s recorded that Nathaniel tried to redeem himself, and, in the eyes of his neighbors, appears to have been considered a useful man.
He was granted a license to “Retale wine, Beere, Ale, Cyder, Rum, &c.” from his garrisoned home on George Hill. His was the first public tavern in Lancaster, MA.
Over the intervening years since the massacre, Nathaniel’s family had grown to 10, by 1694, when Oliver, our ancestor, was born. Oliver must have heard amazing stories from travelers who journeyed through his father’s tavern on their farm. On July 31, 1704, a Canadian French and Indian raiding party under the command of Frenchman Chevalier Beaucour, attacked the Wilder garrison house. Nathaniel, outside in the farmyard at the beginning of the attack, was shot in the leg. He bled to death in his house, as the attack was driven off.
His wife, Mary, retained the license to run the tavern, and she with the help of her children, including Oliver, did so for many years
Nathaniel Wilder was the great great great great grandfather of James Lewellyn Wilder. He was the first Wilder of our family line that was born in America, in 1655 in Massachusetts. He was an ordinary, or tavern keeper. The link below gives references for Nathaniel Wilder from the book "The Early Records of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1725".
Nathaniel Wilder references from Early Records of Lancaster, Massachusetts 1643-1725
Various references to Nathaniel Wilder in the book History of the Town of Lancaster, Massachusetts
References to Nathaniel Wilder from the History of the Town of Lancaster, Massachusetts
The link tells the story of a murder of several Indian women and children that Nathaniel Wilder was accused of being nvolved with at a place near Walden Pond called Hurtleberry Hill.
Nathaniel Wilder and the Hurtleberry Hill Massacre
The link below is to information collected by the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MCRIS), who have created a large database about historic structures in the commonwealth. This document provides information about an existing homestead on George Hill, in South Lancaster, Massachusetts, and is associated through context to Nathaniel Wilder, father of Colonel Oliver Wilder. The last two pages are an old newspaper article that suggests that the land is either part of the Nathaniel Wilder house, or sits on land from the Nathaniel Wilder Homestead. This house is dated to about 1700. Nathaniel Wilder was murdered by an Indian raiding party in 1704. The description places ownership of the land to a David Wilder, who lived there in the late 1800's, but the home an apparent Wilder ownership seems to much older from the context of the document.
Wilder House on George Hill, Lancaster, Massachusetts
A link to a document that investigates the possible location of the Nathaniel Wilder garrison house on George Hill, Lancaster, Massachusetts.