Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

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which places him among the foremost
business men of his community. He is
active in Masonic circles and omits no
opportunity of testifying, both in word
and deed, to his fidelity to the duties of
good citizenship.
The name of Wickwire which, in its
original form, is a very ancient one, is a
compound of Wick, the designation of a
manor which existed before William the
Conqueror, and Warre, the name of the
family to which it was granted by King
John. The family and the manor, also
the town and parish, were then called
Wick-Warre. Wick signifies a creek, and
Warre or Ware, belonging to Ware, a
dweller at the wier or dam. It also signifies
wary, astute, prudent, and is said by
some to be allied to the French guerre,
and so to mean war. The town is situated
in Southern Gloucestershire, England,
and the name has, in comparatively
recent years, become Wickwire, after
passing, in the course of centuries,
through great variations of orthography.
Following is the escutcheon of the
Warre family
Arms—Gules, a lion rampant between eight
cross-crosslets argent.
Crest—Out of a ducal coronet or, a griffin's head
azure.
Motto—Je trouve bien.
(I) John Wickware, supposed to have
been the son of John and Mary WT
ickware
of Wotton-under-Edge, England, was
baptized May 18, 1656, and in 1675 settled
at New London, Connecticut. He served
in King Philip's War, participating in the
Great Swamp Fight, and for his services
on that occasion received from the Gen-
eral Court one hundred and forty acres of
land in Yoluntown, Connecticut. He was
one of the seventy-seven patentees of
New London. In 1676 he married Mary,
daughter of ucorge and Margery Tonge.
The death of John Wickware occurred in
Februarv. 1712.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
148
(II) Christopher, son of John ana
Mary (Tonge) Wickware, was born Jan-
uary 8, 1680, in New London, Connecticut,
and later removed to Salem. He
married Elizabeth , and died in
1746 or 1747.
(III) James, son of Christopher and
Elizabeth Wickware, was born in 1725,
and served in the French and Indian War.
He lived in New Salem, Colchester, East
Haddam, and Millington, Connecticut.
His wife was Mary Grant, who was born
in 1731, and died September 5, 1819, at
Millington. Mr. Wickware passed away
at the same place, April 19, 1801.
(IV) James (2), son of James (1) and
Mary (Grant) Wickware, was born September
28, 1759, in Colchester, and removed
to East Haddom, and afterward to
Litchfield. He served in the Revolution-
ary War, and in August, 1776, was ordered
to the Brooklyn front. He also saw
service at White Plains, crossed the Delaware
and was present at the battles of
Trenton and Princeton. He married, in
1779, Sarah, born in 1759, daughter of
Sergeant Enos and Abigail (Luddington)
Barnes, the former a soldier of the Revolution.
James Wickware died September
4, 1822, and his widow passed away July
22, 1848.
(V) Alvin Benjamin Wickwire (as he
spelled the name), son of James (2) and
Sarah (Barnes) Wickware, was born
July 7, 1796, at Litchfield, Connecticut,
and lived in Warren, Connecticut, and
Sheffield, Massachusetts. He always followed
agricultural pursuits. He was a
soldier in the War of 1812, serving as a
bugler at Sackett's Harbor, Plattsburgh,
and Governor's Island. He has left this
testimony written in regard to his military
career: "I enlisted for five years and
served my time out." He married, December
17, 1828, Sarah Miranda, born in
1795, daughter of Bennett Humiston, and
a descendant of John Humiston, who mar-