Oliver Wilder (1694-1765)
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 was the great great great grandfather of James Lewellyn Wilder. He was born in 1694 on (probably) his father's farm on George Hill, in South Lancaster, Massachusetts. Oliver was the son of Lt. Nathaniel Wilder, the son of the original Wilder immigrant to America, Thomas Wilder. Oliver’s mother was Mary Sawyer, the daughter of Thomas Sawyer, and the granddaughter of John Prescott, the founder of the town of Lancaster. Through blood or marriage Oliver was related to many of the families that occupied the surrounding farms. Oliver’s father Nathaniel had a provincial commission to run a tavern, the first in colonial Lancaster.
Oliver’s outlook on the world, and most likely Indians specifically, was no doubt formed by several tragedies that he witnessed or endured himself over his youth. At age 10, Oliver was probably witness to the murder of his father, Nathaniel, in the family farmyard by a raiding Indian party. Shot in the leg trying to get inside, Nathaniel bled to death inside his home during the attack. In the raid, most of the family’s livestock was senselessly killed by the Indian party. Nathaniel had been involved with a tragic dispute involving a party of Indians that had resulted in for all intents and purposes a specific vendetta against both him and his family. Over the next few years, Oliver would suffer the loss of another brother murdered by the Indians in 1707, the near murder of another, and he barely escaped murder with yet another brother while working a field nearby. Indians managed to get between Oliver and his Mobrother and their muskets, leaned against a wall a ways from where they were working. They managed to flee to safety in their garrison house. An Indian farm worker who was with them was murdered.
After the death of Nathaniel Wilder, Oliver’s mother Mary continued to run the tavern on their farm. In 1713, at Lancaster, Oliver married Mary Fairbank, age 21, who was the great granddaughter of Jonathan fFairbanke, of Dedham. fFairbanke is known to American history as the builder of the Fairbanks House in Dedham, surviving today as the oldest frame constructed house in North America, and considered a national architectural treasure. By his early 20’s, Oliver was an ensign in the colonial militia of Massachusetts, completing regular patrols around the countryside of Lancaster, scouting for hostile Indians. By the 1750’s, Oliver was a colonel of colonial militia, and commanded one of the largest "foot", or infantry regiments of colonial Massachusetts in marches in support of the British army against the French and Indians. In 1754, he commanded a regiment of colonial troops who were mustered to march to the defense of Fort William Henry (the siege of which is described in “Last of the Mohicans”). Among the troops were his son Moses, also our ancestor. While en route, peace was attained between the French and English, and his regiment turned back. In 1757, it appears Wilder’s regiment was part of the Second Crown Point Expedition against the French during the French and Indian War. In 1758, it appears that Wilder commanded a regiment raised for service against the French in Canada. In 1759, it Oliver Wilder’s regiment was a detachment in Gen. Geoffrey Amherst’s expdition against Fort Ticonderoga (Amherst College is named after him), Crown Point and Montreal. According to records, it appears that this dispatch was active by about April of 1759. Dispatches and fragments of his journal still exist if people would like to read them. Apparently Amherst College in Massachusetts may have letters or correspondence from the French Indian War written by Oliver Wilder.
In his life, Oliver served in several civic capacities, in addition to his military duties. At one time he was coroner of Lancaster, and was also a justice of the peace there. A fragment of a newspaper announcing his appointment to coroner exists, this from the 1730’s. He died at Turkey Hill, MA in 1765. The circumstances of his death were recorded in regional papers. He apparently rose as he normally did, and went outside, when he became very ill. He came back to his house, and died a short time later.
Here is a working framework of research about the life of Colonel Oliver Wilder of Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. His colonial commission, in the Amherst College Collection, was discovered after this was posted. The links to the commission are directly below.
An Incomplete Accounting of the Life of Colonel Oliver Wilder
These two links show the colonial commission to colonel for Oliver Wilder in 1753, issued by the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. The link to the back side of the document shows a list of dates that he received commissions to various ranks in the colonial militia of Massachusetts, from 1722 to 1753. Also, references to the regiments he served under.
The Colonial Commission of Colonel Oliver Wilder, 1753, Front Side
This link is an image of corespondence written by Colonel Oliver Wilder in 1754, during the French and Indian War. In it, he is replying to a request for men from the various Massachusetts regiments be sent to defense of the colonists in western Massachusetts from raids by Indian war parties and their French allies.
Letter from Colonel Oliver Wilder to Colonel Israel Williams, September 11, 1754
A document showing the unit strength of Colonel Oliver Wilder's Middlesex and Worcester Regiment of Foot, from the year 1757.
From the provincial papers of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay.
Out of thirty two Massachusetts regiments enumerated, Wilder's was the fifth largest, with 2,145 men.
Strength of Colonel Oliver Wilder's Middlesex and Worcester Regiment of Foot in 1757
The headstone and footstone of Colonel Oliver Wilder, in Old Settler's Burial Yard, Lancaster, Massachusetts.