M. about 1684 in (probably) Concord, Massachusetts2
Husband: James Minot
D. 23 Sep 1734 in Concord, Massachusetts1
In the historic New England town of Concord, Massachusetts, sits a landmark house now known as the Colonial Inn. The place has seen much over the years, but it began as a home belonging to James Minot and his wife Rebecca Wheeler.
Rebecca was born in Concord in about 1666 to Timothy Wheeler and Mary Brooks,1 the third of their three girls; she also had a half-sister from her father’s first marriage. As one of Concord’s founders, Rebecca’s father was prominent in the town, serving as the captain of the militia.3 He also owned vast amounts of property in and around Concord. By early 1684, Rebecca married James Minot,2 an accomplished man from Dorchester who worked as a physician and teacher in Concord. They began a family with the birth of a daughter in February 1685,4 and over the next 21 years their family grew to having ten children. During Rebecca’s childbearing years, James held many offices in Concord including justice of the peace, and like her father, he became captain of the militia.5
At the time Rebecca’s father passed away in July 1687, all three of her older sisters were deceased, and she became his primary heir along with her mother. In his will, Timothy Wheeler wrote, “To my Daughter Rebecca Minot, I give & bequeath after thee decease of my beloved wife, viz. my Homestead in Concord that is my house & Barn, with all thee appurtenances 'that' is joined to it, & also all my meadow in 'ye Great meadow', also I give to my Daughter Rebecca, my Mill in Concord, with all thee privileges of thereunto pertaining.”3 When Rebecca’s mother wrote her will in 1691, she specified that her daughter would receive “one silver cupp without letters, a standing cupp and a bible with silver clasps.”3 She left “land at the east end of town” to Rebecca’s three oldest children, girls who were born by the time the will was written. The old woman also gave 23 acres of land in Charlestown to Rebecca’s oldest son who was not yet born.
Some of the property described in Rebecca’s father’s will was in the heart of Concord, and at some point, likely after 1700, she and her husband James built a house there which survives to this day as part of the Colonial Inn.6 The earliest record of the building came when James and Rebecca deeded the house to their son James in 1716,6 and this is often credited with when it was built, but it may have been before that year. While the exact year of the house’s construction isn’t established, it’s likely that James and Rebecca lived there; the transfer of it to their son seems to have come at the time of his marriage.7
The house in Concord went on to have some notoriety. Rebecca’s son James passed it along to his son Ephraim, then to a cousin Timothy Minot, who worked as a doctor.6 On April 19, 1775, the “shot heard ‘round the world” marking the beginning of the American Revolution happened nearby, and Dr. Minot treated the wounded who were brought into the house.6 An addition to the house was said to have been used to store ammunition supplies, which was the reason the British marched into Concord. A generation or so later, the house came into the possession of the Thoreau family, and Henry David Thoreau lived there for a time in the mid-19th century.6
The Colonial Inn.
In 1897, the house was converted to what became known as the Colonial Inn.6 By then, a neighboring house was joined to the original Minot house with its addition to make a decent-sized hotel that’s still in operation today. Famous guests over the years have included John Wayne, Arnold Palmer, Jackie Kennedy, and F.D.R.8 The Colonial Inn is also known for having a ghost problem; over the years many have reported strange sightings in the rooms believed to have been used for wounded soldiers during the American Revolution.9
Rebecca passed away on September 23, 1734,1 and she was buried with a gravestone that has a long inscription: “Rebeckah Minott ye vertuous Consort of James Minott Esq'r. A daughter of Capt. Timothy Wheeler, she was a person of serious piety and abounding charity, of great usefulness in her day, a pattern of patient Holy submission under a long confinement & resigned her Soul with Joy in death Sept. 23d 1734.”1 James survived her by one year, dying in September of 1735.10
Rebecca’s grave. (Source: Find-a-Grave)
Children:
1. Rebecca Minot — B. 9 Feb 1685, Concord, Massachusetts;4 D. 23 Jun 1738, Concord, Massachusetts;4 M. Joseph Humphrey Barrett (1678-1763), 27 Dec 1701, Concord, Massachusetts11
2. Lydia Minot — B. 12 Mar 1687, Concord, Massachusetts;12 D. 14 Feb 1743;12 M. Benjamin Barrett (1681-1728), 3 Jan 1705, Marlborough, Massachusetts13
3. Mary Minot — B. 16 Nov 1689, Concord, Massachusetts;14 D. 3 Sep 1760, Concord, Massachusetts;14 M. Ebenezer Wheeler (1682-1748), 26 Sep 1706, Concord, Massachusetts15
4. Timothy Minot — B. 18 Jun 1692, Concord, Massachusetts;16 D. 30 Nov 1778, Concord, Massachusetts;16 M. (1) Mary Brooks (1699-1760);16 (2) Beulah Brown17
5. James Minot — B. 17 Oct 1694, Concord, Massachusetts;18 D. 6 Feb 1759, Concord, Massachusetts;18 M. (1) Martha Lane (~1695-1735), 14 Nov 1716, Concord, Massachusetts;7 (2) Elizabeth Merrick (~1694-1746), 173618
6. Elizabeth Minot — B. 29 Jan 1697, Concord, Massachusetts;19 D. 12 Nov 1764, Lincoln, Massachusetts;19 M. Daniel Adams (1690-1780), 23 Apr 1715, Concord, Massachusetts20
7. Martha Minot — B. 3 Apr 1699, Concord, Massachusetts;21 D. 18 Jan 1738, Bedford, Massachusetts;22 M. James Lane, 30 Apr 1719, Billerica, Massachusetts23
8. Mercy Minot — B. 15 Apr 1702, Concord, Massachusetts;24 D. 25 Jul 1793, Sudbury, Massachusetts;25 M. Samuel Dakin (1700-1758), 13 Dec 1722, Concord, Massachusetts26
9. Love Minot — B. 15 Apr 1702, Concord, Massachusetts;27 D. 21 Oct 1772, Lincoln, Massachusetts;27 M. John Adams, 13 Dec 1722, Concord, Massachusetts28
10. Samuel Minot — B. 25 Mar 1706, Concord, Massachusetts;29 D. 17 Mar 1766, Concord, Massachusetts;29 M. (1) Sarah Prescott (1712-1737);30 (2) Dorcas Prescott (1714-1803), 173831
Sources:
1 Find-a-Grave listing of Rebecca (Wheeler) Minot
2 Estimated marriage date based on birth of oldest child Rebecca
3 The genealogical and encyclopedic history of the Wheeler family in America, Albert Gallatin Wheeler, 1914, pp. 134-141
4 Find-a-Grave listing of Rebecca (Minot) Barrett
5 A History of the town of Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Lemuel Shattuck, 1835
6 Historic Buildings of Massachusetts: Concord’s Colonial Inn (1716)
7 Marriage record of James Minot and Martha Lane, Massachusetts Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, FamilySearch.org
8 New England’s Colonial Inns & Taverns: Centuries of Yankee Fare and Hospitality, Maria Olia, 2016, p. 8
9 The Ghosts of Concord’s Colonial Inn
10 Find-a-Grave listing of James Minott
11 Marriage record of Joseph Barrett and Rebecca Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
12 Find-a-Grave listing of Lydia (Minot) Stow
13 Marriage record of Benjamin Barrett and Lydia Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
14 Find-a-Grave listing of Mary (Minot) Wheeler
15 Marriage record of Ebenezer Wheeler and Mary Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
16 Find-a-Grave listing of Timothy Minot
17 Marriage record of Timothy Minot and Beulah Brown, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
18 Find-a-Grave listing of Col. James Minot
19 Find-a-Grave listing of Elizabeth (Minott) Adams
20 Marriage record of Daniel Adams and Elizabeth Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
21 Birth record of Martha Minot, Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1815, FamilySearch.org
22 Find-a-Grave listing of Martha (Minott) Lane
23 Marriage record of James Lane and Martha Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
24 Birth record of Mercy Minot, Concord Births – Massachusetts Vital Records Project
25 Death record of Mercy (Minot) Dakin, Concord Deaths – Massachusetts Vital Records Project
26 Marriage record of Samuel Dakin and Mercy Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
27 Find-a-Grave listing of Love (Minott) Flint
28 Marriage record of John Adams and Love Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
29 Find-a-Grave listing of Deacon Samuel Minott
30 Marriage record of Samuel Minot and Sarah Prescott, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
31 Marriage record of Samuel Minot and Dorcas Prescott, Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925, FamilySearch.org
