RICHARD AND GAMALIEL WAYTE, AND SOME OF THEIR DESCENDANTS.
BY ARTHUR THOMAS LOVELL.
The records of Boston, beginning with the year 1633, and for many years thereafter, contain frequent references to Richard and Gamaliel Wayte, brothers, born in England, the former in the year 1596, and the latter in the year 1598. A writer in the Boston Transcript (Dec. 6, 1874) makes the ancestry of these brothers common with that of Thomas Wayte, who was a member of the English Parliament in Cromwell's time, one of the judges who condemned Charles the First to death, and who signed the warrant for his execution. Be this as it may, the records show that the brothers Richard and Gamaliel were admitted to the church in Boston in 1634 and 1633 respectively, thus establishing the fact of their residence here at that early date. Tracing their history chronologically, the name of Gamaliel, the younger brother, appears first on the list of Freemen, in 1635. Nov. 30, 1637, he was disarmed because of his sympathy with the views of Mr. Wheelwright and Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. His occupation is inferred from the fact that in company with other fishermen he petitioned the court at Salem, Oct. 14, 1657, "for exemption from training in the fishing season." In 1670 he received from the General Court a grant of a half acre of land in Boston, on the south side of "Sentry Hill," to plant and improve; and in 1673 he was part owner of Long Island in Boston Harbor. Mention is made in 1677 of his son John, his daughter Deborah, and his grandchildren Ebenezer and Richard Price, the children of his daughter Grace. From an entry in the diary of Judge Sewell it is learned that he died suddenly, Dec. 9, 1685, aged 87 years.
His son John, born in 1646, after long experience as a member of the General Court of Massachusetts, was in 1684 made Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was eminent in his day among Boston business-men, was a witness to the will of Governor Leverett, was one of the sureties on the bond of Emma, widow and administratrix of the estate of Moses Maverick, of Marblehead, in 1686; succeeded to his father in the ownership of a portion of Long Island in Boston Harbor, and in 1694 sold "Beudal's Dock," then in his possession. His wife Emma (née Roberts), upon his death in 1702, was appointed executrix of his estate.
From John, and other descendants of Gamaliel Wayte, are traced the Watertown, Medford, and Brookfield branches of the family, whose representatives are found in all parts of the United States. A memorial of the last named branch is found in the historic "Wait Monument" at Springfield, Mass., erected in 1763 to mark the old "Boston Road." It appears that Mr. Wait, mistaking his way at this point, nearly perished in a snow-storm, and erected this waymark for the benefit of future travellers. It is about four feet high, two feet broad, and one foot thick, and, beside Masonic emblems, bears two Latin inscriptions,—"virtus est sua merces," and another, of which only the word "pulsanti" remains. Beneath are the words,—
BOSTON ROAD.
this stone is erected by
Joseph Wait, Esq., of Brookfield,
for the benefit of travellers, 1763.
The stone is of a dark red, similar to the Long Meadow stone, and is supposed to have been cut by Nathaniel Brewer. By a singular coincidence, it marks the spot where the celebrated "Shay's Rebellion" culminated in an encounter between the insurgents and the Springfield militia under General Shepard, and bears upon its face the scars of the opposing bullets.
Thomas, one of the Malden descendants of Gamaliel, removed to Lyme, Conn., about the year 1700, where he married, in 1704, Mary Bronson, a granddaughter of Matthew Griswold, the ancestor of a family distinguished in American history. Remick, a grandson of the Thomas last referred to, married Susannah Matson, whose sister was the mother of Connecticut's noble war governor, Hon. William A. Buckingham. The first child of Remick and Susannah (Matson) Wait, born in Lyme, Feb. 9, 1787, was Henry Matson, who, when of legal age, restored to the name the final letter, which had been for some time omitted by many of the descendants of Gamaliel Wayte. Henry Matson Waite was fitted for college at the academy in Colchester, and graduated at Yale with distinction, in 1809. He studied in the office of Gov. Matthew Griswold, and his brother, Lieut.-Gov. Roger Griswold; became a lawyer of marked ability; was repeatedly made a member of the legislature; in 1832 and 1833 was a member of the state senate; in 1834 was made associate of the supreme court of Connecticut; and in 1854, by the almost unanimous vote of the legislature, was elevated to the position of chief justice. He held this office until 1857, when he retired, having reached his seventieth year, the legal limit as to age. He died Dec. 14, 1869, full of years and full of honors. His wife, married in 1816, was Maria, daughter of Col. Richard Selden, of Lyme, and granddaughter of Col. Samuel Selden, of the revolutionary army. By her he had eight children. The first born of these was Morrison Remick, the most distinguished of the members of this old and honorable family.
Hon. Morrison Remick Waite, LL.D., Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was born in Lyme, Conn., Nov. 29, 1816. He graduated with distinction from Yale College in 1837, in a class which included Hon. William M. Evarts, Edwards Pierrepont, and Prof. Benjamin Silliman, Jr., and began the study of law in his father's office. He finished his studies, preparatory to admission to the bar of Ohio, in the office of Samuel M. Young, in Maumee City, in that state, and, on his admission, formed a partnership with Mr. Young. In 1840 the firm removed to Toledo, and there continued their law-partnership until Mr. Waite's youngest brother, Richard, who graduated at Yale College in 1853, was admitted to the bar, when the brothers formed a new partnership, which existed until the senior partner received his present appointment. He was married Sept. 21, 1840, to Miss Amelia C. Warner, a resident of his native town. He received the degree of LL.D. from Yale College in 1872, and, a year prior to his appointment as chief justice, was admitted to the bar of the United States Supreme Court, on motion of Hon. Caleb Cushing, whose name was subsequently spoken of in connection with the office of chief justice. It was not until 1849 that Judge Waite, as he was called by courtesy, occupied a public position. He was then elected a member of the Ohio House of Representatives for the sessions of 1849 and 1850. Although frequently urged to allow the use of his name as a candidate for Congress, and other positions, he subsequently declined to hold office. On two or three occasions, he was offered a position on the supreme bench of his adopted state, offers which he also declined. The esteem in which he was held by the citizens of Ohio is marked by the fact that he was unanimously chosen as the representative from Toledo in the Ohio Constitutional Convention in 1874, of which body he was made president.