Wade & Webb Family History

John Wade1781–?

New York City · Lutheran Church · Kings

John Wade was born in New York City in 1781 and christened that May in a Lutheran church, but almost everything else about him comes from the family tree rather than from records. His standing in the family rests on the death records of two children, Edward and Eliza Ann, which name their parents as John Wade and Mary Hickey; whether Eliza Ann, later the wife of James M. Wade, was really his daughter is still an open question.

On this page
  1. Family Record
  2. Life
  3. Places
  4. Timeline
  5. Open questions
  6. Searches made
  7. Notes

Birth

  1. 6 Apr 1781 New York City, New York 1
  2. 26 May 1781 Christening: Lutheran Church, New York, New York 2

Marriages

  1. 20 Sep 1806 Mary Elizabeth Hickey 3

Death and burial

  1. Date unknown Death: place not recorded

Family

Parents
Not recorded
Spouse, 20 Sep 1806
Mary Elizabeth Hickey 1789–?
Children
Moses Wade 1809–1818
William Wade 1822–1834
Mary Wade 1811–1811
John Wade 1808–?
Joseph Wade 1819–?
Charles Wade 1820–?
James Wade 1831–1831
Eliza Ann Marvin 1816–1915
Edward Wade 1828–1908

Line of descent Wade line

  1. John Wade
  2. Eliza Ann Marvin, daughter
  3. William Henry Wade, son
  4. William Henry Wade Jr, son
  5. Frank Edward Wade, son
  6. William Albert Webb Wade, son

3rd great-grandfather of Webb Wade, from whom this history is traced. Why Webb Wade?

Life

John Wade was born on 6 April 1781 in New York City, according to the FamilySearch tree, which attaches no record to the day of birth.1 Three entries in the index "New York, Births and Christenings, 1640–1962" are attached to him, one dated 26 May 1781 and two giving only the year, and the tree records his christening on 26 May 1781 at "Lutheran Church, New York".2 Inference The three entries are probably the same register entry indexed more than once, since they share a name and a year, but the entries themselves have not yet been opened to confirm the congregation.2

Marriage and children

The tree gives his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Hickey as 20 September 1806, without a place or a source.3 It credits the couple with nine children, born in New York between 1808 and 1831: John (1808), Moses (1809, died 1818), Mary (1811, died 1811), Eliza Ann (1816), Joseph (about 1819), Charles (1820), William (1822, died about 1834), Edward (1828) and James (1831, died 1831).4 For most of them the tree is the only authority, but two have records that name their parents.4 The New York City death record of Edward Wade, who died in Brooklyn on 29 December 1908, gives his parents as John Wade and Mary Hickey, and so does the death record of Eliza Ann Wade, who died in Brooklyn on 15 December 1915.5 A note on the tree says the family was entered from "Larry Fyfe family records", a source not otherwise identified.6

Eliza Ann: daughter or not?

Eliza Ann, the widow of James M. Wade, poses the family's hardest question.7 Her obituary in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in December 1915 says she was born in Gold Street, New York City, on 1 March 1816, and was "the daughter of John and Mary Elizabeth Wade, both dead more than half a century."8 Her death record agrees on the parents' names.5 Against this, the New York City marriage record of her son William H. Wade in 1868, made while she was alive, gives the groom's mother as Eliza Marvin, and the tree itself calls her Eliza Ann Marvin.9 Her husband James M. Wade belonged to another Wade family, as a son of Edward Wade Jr.10 Inference Either she was born a Wade and married a man of the same surname, or she was born a Marvin and the obituary and the death record, both made after her death, gave her parents her married surname; the 1868 record was given in her lifetime and is the better evidence on her maiden name, but it does not settle who her parents were.11

There is one other point of contact between the two.12 The tree records an undated residence for John Wade, entered as "lived at 74 Gold St. New York", the street on which Eliza Ann said she was born and where, by her own account, she attended the old Gold Street Baptist Church with her parents.12 Inference The address may have been copied into his profile from her obituaries rather than from a record of his own; no directory or deed has been found that places him there.12

Later life

The New York State census of 1855 lists a John Wade in the household of James M. Wade in the First Election District of the Fifteenth Ward of the City of Brooklyn.13 Inference If this is the John Wade born in 1781, he was then about 74 and living with his daughter, or his daughter's husband, which would favour the tree's account of the family; the index entry does not say how he was related to the head of the household, and the original page should be read.13 Another record attached to him, a New York City death record of 7 July 1842, is not his own death but that of a child surnamed Wade whose father is given as John Wade; it cannot yet be said which John Wade that was.14 The tree records no date or place for his death, and no burial.15 Eliza Ann's obituary of 1915 says only that both her parents had then been dead for more than fifty years.8

Searches of the Chronicling America newspaper collection for a John Wade in New York before 1863 found nothing that could be identified as him: the identifiable hits were a ship of that name, a packet captain, a Baptist missionary to Burma and a young man indicted for murder in 1853.16 A search of Find a Grave was stopped when the site refused the request.16 City directories of New York and the federal censuses of 1810 to 1840 are the places most likely to show his trade and address.17

Places

  1. 1781New York City
  2. 1855Kings
  3. undatedlived at 74 Gold St. New York

Timeline

  1. 6 Apr 1781BirthNew York City, New York
  2. 26 May 1781ChristeningLutheran Church, New York, New York
  3. 20 Sep 1806Marriage, Mary Elizabeth Hickey
  4. 1855ResidenceE.D. 1, Ward 15, Brooklyn City, Kings, New York

Open questions

  • Who is John Wade? The tree gives birth 6 April 1781 in New York City and a wife Mary Elizabeth Hickey, but no trade, address, death or burial. New York city directories (Longworth's, 1800–1840) and the 1810–1840 federal censuses are the way to pin him down; a bare "John Wade" in New York newspapers is too common to identify (Chronicling America hits reviewed 2026-11-08 were a ship, a sea captain, a missionary and a young man indicted for murder in 1853).

  • Parent link to check in FamilySearch. The tree lists Eliza Ann Marvin (LVPD-4NH, wife of James M. Wade) as a child of John Wade and Mary Elizabeth Hickey alongside eight Wade children. Either her surname (Marvin) or the parent link is wrong; if she was a Wade by birth, her 1915 obituaries ("born in Manhattan, 1 March 1816") would fit this family, but a marriage between cousins or an adoption would need evidence.

  • Ross, 1902. "A grandson of John Wade and great-grandson of Edward Wade, who ... emigrat[ed] ... from England about 1800", of Dr. John E. Wade, whose mother is called "Elizabeth (Wade) Wade" (1902). Supports Eliza Ann as a Wade by birth (so the parent link may be right and the surname Marvin wrong), but makes John's father an emigrant of about 1800, which does not fit a John Wade born and christened in New York City in 1781. Check whether the 1781 christening really belongs to this John.

  • Times death notice, 16 September 1862 (2026-11-09). The "DIED." column of the Times, 16 Sep 1862, p. 6, names a John Wade; he would have been 81. Not read: nytimes.com refuses our fetches. Matt can open it free: https://www.nytimes.com/1862/09/16/archives/died.html

Searches made

  1. 2026-11-08Chronicling America: "John Wade", New York, 1805–1807no matches
  2. 2026-11-08Chronicling America: "John Wade", New York, 1796–186292 pages; first: [New-York daily tribune (New-York [N.Y.]), 1858-02-09, p. 6](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030213/1858-02-09/ed-1/?sp=6); [Morning star (Limerick, Me.), 1833-05-23, p. 2](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84024361/1833-05-23/ed-1/?sp=2); [New-York daily tribune (New-York [N.Y.]), 1853-07-07, p. 7](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030213/1853-07-07/ed-1/?sp=7)
  3. 2026-11-08Chronicling America: all of: Wade Brooklyn City, New York, 1796–186212921 pages; first: [New-York daily tribune (New-York [N.Y.]), 1858-04-20, p. 8](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030213/1858-04-20/ed-1/?sp=8); [New-York daily tribune (New-York [N.Y.]), 1858-04-21, p. 8](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030213/1858-04-21/ed-1/?sp=8); [Morning star (Limerick, Me.), 1834-03-27, p. 3](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84024361/1834-03-27/ed-1/?sp=3)
  4. 2026-11-08Find a Grave search (stopped)refused: HTTP 429 (rate-limit or challenge page) while fetching memorial 54941494; not retried
  5. 2026-11-08Assessment: Chronicling America: "John Wade", New York, 1805–1807No matches (marriage-window search; Chronicling America has almost no New York pages before the 1830s, so this is absence of coverage, not evidence).
  6. 2026-11-08Assessment: Chronicling America: "John Wade", New York, 1796–186292 pages; the first 10 read, none is this person. The ship John Wade (Tribune 1853-03-01, 1853-07-07, 1858-02-09); Capt. John Wade, packet master, Boston/New Orleans (Morning Herald 1838-01-24, 1840-09-19, 1840-09-24); Rev. John Wade, Baptist missionary to Burma (Morning Star 1833-05-23); "a young man named John Wade" indicted with James Fox, William Dinan and Edmund Mahoney for killing Henry Osborne, New York, Nov–Dec 1853 (Tribune 1853-11-09, 11-29, 12-05): our John Wade would have been 72 and his son John (L26L-C41) 45, neither "young". Hits 11–92 not reviewed: a bare "John Wade" in New York City is too common to identify without a trade or address, and the tree records neither.
  7. 2026-11-08Assessment: Chronicling America: all of: Wade Brooklyn City, New York, 1796–1862Uninformative: 12,921 pages (any page with both words). The only Wade in the snippets is "Malvina T. Wade agt. the Brooklyn City Railroad" (Tribune 1858-04-20, City Court damages suit); she is not in the tree and nothing links her to this family (FAN note only). Not reviewed further.
  8. 2026-11-09Find a Grave search: John Wade, b. 1781 ±3, d. ? ±3: 12 resultsbest: [John Wade (1780 – 31 Oct 1833), Bloxom Cemetery, Greene Township, Clark County, Ohio](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23196687/john-wade); score 9 (high, before review)
  9. 2026-11-09Assessment of the Find a Grave batch candidates (2026-11-09)Rejected: the best candidates (John Wade, 1780-1833, Bloxom Cemetery, Clark County, Ohio, score 9) are a namesake: our John Wade was alive at 78 in his son James M. Wade's household in Williamsburgh in 1855 (New York state census). No memorial recorded.
  10. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "John Wade", New York24686 pages; first: [The Wade genealogy : being some account of the origin of the name, and of the lost folkstory of the famous hero, Wada, particulars and pedigrees of famous Englishmen of the name : and genealogies of the families of Wade of Massachusetts and New Jersey, to which are added many miscellaneous pedigrees : also, a roll, 1900, p. ](https://archive.org/details/wadegenealogybei00byuwade?q=%22John%20Wade%22); [The Wade genealogy : being some account of the origin of the name, and genealogies of the families of Wade of Massachusetts and New Jersey. [pt. 1-4], 1900, p. ](https://archive.org/details/wadegenealogybei1900wade?q=%22John%20Wade%22); [National United Committee to Free Angela Davis, n.d., p. ](https://archive.org/details/NationalUnitedCommitteeToFreeAngelaDavis?q=%22John%20Wade%22)
  11. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Wade", inside 1887BPL21 pages; first: [Lain's Brooklyn Directory for the year ending May 1, 1887, 1887, p. 143](https://archive.org/details/1887BPL/page/n143/mode/1up?q=Wade); [Lain's Brooklyn Directory for the year ending May 1, 1887, 1887, p. 1251](https://archive.org/details/1887BPL/page/n1251/mode/1up?q=Wade); [Lain's Brooklyn Directory for the year ending May 1, 1887, 1887, p. 1251](https://archive.org/details/1887BPL/page/n1251/mode/1up?q=Wade); 4 with the given name (John)
  12. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Wade", inside brooklyn-city-directory-1858-1859-lain-yale-university-librarynot searchable: brooklyn-city-directory-1858-1859-lain-yale-university-library: No hOCR or Abbyy file present
  13. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "John Wade", New York (24,686 pages)First 20 reviewed: the Wade genealogy of 1900 (Massachusetts and New Jersey Wades), a 1970s Angela Davis committee file and other namesakes; too broad. Not him.
  14. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Wade" inside 1887BPL (4 with "John")The John Wades listed (clerk, labourer, marble, stonecutter, John B., and Dr. John E., his grandson in the tree) are not him; he was born in 1781.
  15. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: Ross, *History of Long Island* (1902), found under LVPD-1F4RELEVANT: Dr. John E. Wade is "a grandson of John Wade" and his mother is "Elizabeth (Wade) Wade". Through the mother, this John Wade would be Eliza Ann's father, as her 1915 death record says; the sketch adds that John's father was Edward Wade, emigrant from England about 1800, which conflicts with the tree's birth of John in New York City in 1781. Record [1902](../documents/1902-ross-history-of-long-island-wade-physicians.md).
  16. 2026-11-09Internet Archive hits assessed: 3 searchesNo match by name; the 1902 Ross biography adds a family account of his place in the line.
  17. 2026-11-09DPLA: "John Wade"132 pages; first: [John Wade (University of Virginia), 1917-03-23, p. ](https://search.lib.virginia.edu/sources/uva_library/items/uva-lib:1047340); [John Wade (State Library and Archives of Florida), n.d., p. ](http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/193809); [John Wade (State Library and Archives of Florida), n.d., p. ](http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/193810)
  18. 2026-11-09New York Times: "John Wade", 1851–18623 pages; first: [New York Times: THE GREAT REBELLION.; Highly Important News from Western Virginia, Missouri and Kentucky. A BATTLE IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. Disastrous Defeat of the Rebels at Romney by Gen. Kelly. Capture of Prisoners, Cannon and Camp Equipage. A BATTLE IN MISSOURI. Brilliant Charge of Fremont's Body Guard Against Two Thousand Rebels. SPRINGFIELD OCCUPIED BY GEN. FREMONT. Price's Retreat to Arkansas Cut Off. Forward Movement of the National Forces in Kentucky. EVERYTHING QUIET AT WASHINGTON. A VARIETY OF RUMORS. THE SUCCESS IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. GEN. MC'LELLAN OVER THE RIVER. MORE REVIEWS. THE CONFISCATION LAW TO BE ENFORCED. THE REBEL BATTERIES ON THE POTOMAC. THE ESTATE OF JOHN A. WASHINGTON. ANOTHER NEW-YORK FIRM IN LUCK. DISPATCHES FROM CALIFORNIA., 1861-10-28, p. 1](https://www.nytimes.com/1861/10/28/archives/the-great-rebellion-highly-important-news-from-western-virginia.html); [New York Times: LIST OF KILLED AND WOUNDED., 1862-05-10, p. 8](https://www.nytimes.com/1862/05/10/archives/list-of-killed-and-wounded.html); [New York Times: DIED., 1862-09-16, p. 6](https://www.nytimes.com/1862/09/16/archives/died.html)
  19. 2026-11-09DPLA assessment: "John Wade" (132 hits; 10 cached)All namesakes: photographs (University of Virginia 1917 and 1974, Florida Memory, Southern Appalachia); the John Wade house at Marshallville, Georgia (c. 1930); Frisco and Wake Forest cards; a National Archives photograph (1895–1957). Not him.
  20. 2026-11-09DPLA assessment: 1 searchNo match.
  21. 2026-11-09New York Times assessment: "John Wade", 1851–1862 (3 hits)28 Oct 1861, p. 1, "THE GREAT REBELLION" (war dispatches) and 10 May 1862, p. 8, "LIST OF KILLED AND WOUNDED": soldiers. Not him: he would have been 80. 16 Sep 1862, p. 6, "DIED." (https://www.nytimes.com/1862/09/16/archives/died.html): a death notice naming a John Wade. POSSIBLE (low to medium): he was born in 1781, the 1855 census has him in Brooklyn's 15th Ward, and his death is unknown, so a New York death notice in 1862 (at about 81) would fit, as would a notice naming him as a relative. not read: nytimes.com refused the fetch, so only the headline and index entry were seen. For Matt (free): look for his age, address, a wife "Mary" or children's names.
  22. 2026-11-09New York Times assessment: 1 searchNo match read. One possible (16 Sep 1862).

Notes

  1. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-HNW: birth 6 Apr 1781, New York City, New York, United States; no source attached to the event back to the text
  2. "New York, Births and Christenings, 1640-1962", FamilySearch, John Wade, 26 May 1781. Record: John Wade, 26 May 1781, New York, Births and Christenings "New York, Births and Christenings, 1640-1962", , FamilySearch, John Wade, 1781. Record: John Wade, 1781 "New York, Births and Christenings, 1640-1962", , FamilySearch, John Wade, 1781. Record: John Wade, 1781 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-HNW: christening 26 May 1781, Lutheran Church, New York, New York, United States back to the text
  3. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-HNW: marriage 20 Sep 1806, no place, no source back to the text
  4. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-HNW: children and their years as the tree gives them FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-C41 (their page) FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-CVB (their page) FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-C57 (their page) FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-Z4M (their page) FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-ZDT (their page) FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-Z59 (their page) FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-ZJY (their page) FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-Z1V (their page) back to the text
  5. "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949", FamilySearch, John Wade in entry for Edward Wade, 29 Dec 1908. Record: John Wade in the death entry for Edward Wade, 29 Dec 1908 "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949", FamilySearch, Mary Hickey in entry for Edward Wade, 29 Dec 1908. Record: Mary Hickey in the death entry for Edward Wade, 29 Dec 1908 "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949", FamilySearch, John Wade in entry for Eliza Ann Wade, 15 Dec 1915. Record: John Wade in the death entry for Eliza Ann Wade, 15 Dec 1915 "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949", FamilySearch, Mary Hickey in entry for Eliza Ann Wade, 15 Dec 1915. Record: Mary Hickey in the death entry for Eliza Ann Wade, 15 Dec 1915 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-ZJY (their page): death place Brooklyn back to the text
  6. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-HNW: note: based on Larry Fyfe family records back to the text
  7. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LVPD-4NH (their page): Eliza Ann Marvin, wife of James M Wade, listed as a child of John Wade and Mary Elizabeth Hickey back to the text
  8. 1915-12-16-eliza-ann-wade-death: born in Gold street, New York City, on March 1, 1816 ... the daughter of John and Mary Elizabeth Wade, both dead more than half a century back to the text
  9. "New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1938", FamilySearch, Eliza Marvin in entry for William H Wade and Emma May Goodrich, 10 August 1868. Record: Eliza Marvin in the marriage entry for William H Wade and Emma May Goodrich, 10 August 1868 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LVPD-4NH (their page): name Eliza Ann Marvin back to the text
  10. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LVPD-4ZV (their page): James M Wade, son of Edward Wade Jr. back to the text
  11. 1915-12-16-eliza-ann-wade-death: notes: the paper may have given her parents her married surname "New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1938", FamilySearch, Eliza Marvin in entry for William H Wade and Emma May Goodrich, 10 August 1868. Record "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949", FamilySearch, John Wade in entry for Eliza Ann Wade, 15 Dec 1915. Record back to the text
  12. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-HNW: custom event Residece: lived at 74 Gold St. New York, undated 1914-03-03-eliza-ann-wade-98th-b-day: born in Gold street, New York City ... attended, with her parents, the old Gold Street Baptist Church back to the text
  13. "New York, State Census, 1855", FamilySearch, John Wade in entry for James M Wade, 1855. Record: John Wade in the entry for James M Wade, 1855 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-HNW: residence 1855, E.D. 1, Ward 15, Brooklyn City, Kings, New York back to the text
  14. "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949", FamilySearch, John Wade in entry for Wade, 7 Jul 1842. Record: John Wade in the entry for Wade, 7 Jul 1842, New York City Municipal Deaths back to the text
  15. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L26L-HNW: deceased; no date, place or burial back to the text
  16. Research log, searches made: Chronicling America, John Wade, New York, 1796–1862: first ten hits read, none is this person; Find a Grave search stopped (HTTP 429), not retried back to the text
  17. Research log, searches made: open question: New York city directories (Longworth's, 1800–1840) and the 1810–1840 federal censuses back to the text
Every FamilySearch record attached to John Wade (7)
  1. 26 May 1781John Wade, "New York, Births and Christenings, 1640-1962"
  2. 1781John Wade, "New York, Births and Christenings, 1640-1962"
  3. 1781John Wade, "New York, Births and Christenings, 1640-1962"
  4. 7 Jul 1842John Wade, "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949"
  5. 1855John Wade, "New York, State Census, 1855"
  6. 29 Dec 1908John Wade, "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949"
  7. 15 Dec 1915John Wade, "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949"