INTRODUCTION by Wade C. Wightman

All Wightmans should be very thankful for the tremendous amount of work done by the talented genealogist, Mary Ross Whitman, in her research, travels, and efforts to compile the Wightman ancestry, George Wightman of Quidnessett, R.I. (1632-1721/2) and Descendants. We will be indebted forever for the genealogical foundation that she has established for our family name.
Mary Ross Whitman was born on 27 Apr 1872 in Omro, Winnebago Co., WS, and died on 26 Mar 1938 in Chicago, IL, unmarried. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1903. Mary accepted in 1905 the position of head of the Department of Modern Languages in the Northern Illinois State Teachers College at DeKalb, IL, where she taught Latin and French continuously until 1930, when she was automatically retired on a pension with the title of Professor Emeritus. For several years she had classes in the teaching of English Grammar. She eagerly renewed her studies of the French, German, and Italian languages in preparation for summer trips of European travel between 1910 and 1928. She was able to conduct large parties of her friends successfully upon these European journeys.
She feared that some time her manuscript might fall into the hands of someone whose reverence for the absolute truth might not be as commanding as her own. She kept her secretaries busy until the last days of her life, and when she died, she left in her will a bequest for the purpose of completing her work. The manuscript, George Wightman of Quidnessett, R.I. (1632-1721/2) and Descendants, was published in the exact form in which she left it.
I have strived to build on her compilation of the descendants of George Wightman, and also identify the ancestry of the other Wightmans who migrated from England, Scotland, and Ireland to America.
We have a fabulous and distinguished Colonial and Old English heritage. All Wightmans should be very proud of their ancestors. The Wightman name is unique, distinctive and quite special. All the Wightman immigrants seem to claim the same heritage in the Old Country, which makes all of us cousins.
I have tried to go beyond the recitation of names and dates. Anecdotes on family members, as well as education, occupation, religious affiliation, and even the thoughts of our cousins and ancestors gives us a better feeling of the family to which we belong. Close family ties by the Wightman/Whitman members are indicated by the naming of children after well-loved relatives.
Please contact me for any corrections or additions. These will be put into Volume II. Any person named WIGHTMAN/WHITMAN or who is associated with these names, please contact the compiler with your family information at the following address:
Wade C. Wightman
7202 North Chipman
Henderson, MI 48841-9716