Ralph Wheelock

   Another name for Ralph was Ralph Wheelocke.

  General Notes:

The English Ancestry of Joseph Clark (1613-1683) of Dedham and Medfield, Massachusetts, Christopher Gleason Clark, Published in "New England Historical and Genealogical Register", Vol 152, January 1998.
Medfield Vital Records

  Information about this person:

• Background Information. ⁴³⁴
Reverend Ralph Wheelock, the immigrant ancestor, was born in Shropshire, England, in 1600. He was educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, England, where he received his B.A. in 1626 and his M.A. in 1631. He became an eminent preacher in England, but because of his non-conformists views, he was prosecuted and finally in 1637, sourght refuge with his Puritan fellows in New England. He was at Watertown for a short time, but located permanently at Dedham, Massachusetts. He brought with him from England, his wife Rebecca and his daughter also named Rebecca.

In Ralph's birography written by his great grandson, Rev. Ebenezer Wheelock, who founded Dartmouth College, we are told that the ship was driven back once by storms and that the voyage was long and distressing. Rev. Ralph Wheelock was one of the founders of the town and church of Dedham, and he was learned, devout, unselfish, practical and indefatigable. In 1638, he made his home in that part of Dedham which was set off as Medfield. He was admitted a freeman, 13 Mar 1638/9; was seledtman, schoolmaster, deputy to the general court, commissioner to end small causes, appointed magistrate to perform marriages while at Dedham, and was equally prominent in the new town of Medfield.

Rev. Ralph Wheelock built his house at Medfield in 1651/2. He was made clerk of writs in 1642, was selectman of Medfield, 1651-1652, school teacher and justice of the peace. He made his will 3 May 1681; the inventory was dated 31 Jan 1683; and the will was proved 1 May 1684. He bequeathed to his eldest son Gershom, and other sons, Benjamin, Eleazer and Samuel; sons-in-law Increase Ward and Joseph Warren; grandchild Rebecca Craft; refers in his will to his deceased wife; and appoints George Barbour one of the overseers of his will.

Rev. Wheelock's wife, Rebecca, died in 1680. Two of his sons, Bejamin and Eleazer settled in Mendon, Massachusetts. Rev. Wheelock declined to take charge of any particular parish, but preached occasionally in Medfield and adjacent parishes. His last years were spent in teaching and farming.

Rev. Louis Hicks, of New Haven, wrote in 1899: "It is highly probable that he was a descendant of Hugh de Wheelock, who in in the reign of Henry II. received from Roger Maine Warring a titled to all the latter's claims to the village of Wheelock, Cheshire, England, which he had previously held. It is also probable that he was a relative of Abrahm Wheelock, a native of Shropshire, who took the degree of A.M. at cambridge University in 1618, and was admitted to Clare Hall as a Fellow about the same time as Ralph Wheelock, entered the same college and who later became the first professor of Arabic and Saxon tongues in the University and became librarian."

The children of Ralph and Rebeccas Wheelock were:
Rebecca, born in England 1632
Peregrina, born about 1636, on the voyage to New England from England.
Gershom Wheelock
Mary, born 1638
Benjamin, born 8 Jan 1639/40
Samuel, born 22 Sep 1642
Eleazer, father of Ralph, who settled at Windham, Connecticut, and whose son, Rev. Dr. Eleazer Wheelock, was the founder and first president of Dartmouth College
Experience, born 1648

~ New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial, Vol. III, p. 1276

• Background Information. ³⁵⁶
His family origins can be traced back to the tenth century in Wheelock Village, near Sandbach, in the County of Cheshire. Ralph was educated at Cambridge University, Clare Hall.

Upon arrival, Rebecca and Ralph Wheelock settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. There Rev. Wheelock participated in a plan to create a new settlement further up the Charles River, to be called Contentment (later renamed Dedham). In 1638 Rev. Wheelock became one of the earliest settlers and a founder of Dedham. He lived there with his wife for more than a decade, and played a leading role in the affairs of the town. The records at Dedham show that children Benjamin, Samuel, Record, and Experience were born into the family of Ralph and Rebecca while at Dedham.

In July 1637, Rev. Ralph Wheelock signed the 'Dedham Covenant' which was in effect the founding constitution of the settlers of Dedham.

Though the records are sketchy, it is likely that Rev. Wheelock was the first public school teacher in America.

By the late 1640's Dedham was becoming quite populous, and it was decided to establish a new township further up the Charles River, out of a tract of land that was then part of Dedham. Rev. Wheelock was appointed leader of this effort, and in 1649 he and six others were given the duties of erecting and governing a new village, to be called New Dedham, later renamed Medfield.

• Will: Ralph Wheelock's Will.

• Family. ¹¹⁴¹
Children of Ralph Wheelock and Rebecca Clarke:

Mary Wheelock, bapt. 2 Sep 1631 at Banham, Norfolk, England. She married Joseph Miles, 28 Jan 1662/3 at Medfield, MA.
Peragrina Wheelock born in Dedham, Norfolk, England, died 1 Apr 1671 at Medfield, MA and married John Warfield on 26 Oct 1669, at Medfield
Gershom Wheelock, baptized 3 Jan 1632/3 at eccles, Norfolk, England, died 28 Nov 1684 at medfield
Rebecca Wheelock, baptized 24 Aug 1634, Eccles, Norfolk, England, died Nov 1667, Roxbury, and married John Crafts, 7 Jun 1654, at Roxbury, MA.
Benjamin Wheelock, born 8 Oct 1639 in Dedham, died about 1720 at Mendon, MA., married, as his first wife, Elizabeth Bullen, 21 May 1668, Medfield, and as his second wife, Elizabeth French, 1692k Mendon.
Samuel Wheelock, born 22 Jul 1642 in Dedham, died 23 Oct 1698, Medfield, married Sarah Kendricke, 3 Apr 1678, Medfield
Record Wheelock, born 15 Dec 1644 in Dedham, died 26 Jul 1726, and married Increase Ward, 3 Oct 1672, Medfield
Experience Wheelock, born abt 1648 in Dedham, died 27 Feb 1720, Medfield, and married Josehp Warren, 21 May 1668, Medfield.
Eleazer Wheelock, born 3 May 1654 in Medfield, died 24 Mar 1730/1, Medfield, buried at vine Lake Cemetery, Medfield, and married as his first wife, Elizabeth Fuller, 17 Apr 1678, Rehoboth, MA, and married as his second wife Mary Chenery.

~ The Wheelock Family of Eden and Cambridge, in Lamoille County, Vermont, p. 5

[Sources cited: Medfield Vital Records; "the English Ancestry of Joseph Clark of Dedham and Medfield, Massachusetts," NEHGR, Vol. 152, 1998; "Mr. Wheelock's Cure," NEHGR, Vo. 152, Roxbury Vital Record; Dedham Vital Records; New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Ward Family: Descendands of William Ward]

Ralph married Rebecca Clarke, daughter of Thomas Clarke and Mary Canne, on 17 May 1630 in Wramplingham, Norfolk, England ^356,362 Rebecca Clarke was born about 1610 in England ³⁵⁶ and died on 1 Jan 1681 in Medfield, Massachusetts ³⁵⁶.)