Wight, John B. (John Burt), 1790-1883

Congregational clergyman at Wayland, Mass., 1815-1830; Unitarian pastor at Castine, Me., Milford, N.H., Chelsea, Mass., and Dennis, Mass.; member of Mass. State Legislature; b. Bristol, R.I.; d. Wayland, Mass.

From the description of John B. Wight bill from John Owen, 1838 July 18. (Maine Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 177140679

Henry Wight (1752-1837) was a minister and the father of John Burt Wight. He was born in Medfield, Massashusetts in 1752, married to Alice Burrington of Trenton, Rhode Island in 1789 and he died in Bristol, Rhode Island in 1837.

John Burt Wight was a clergyman, the pastor of the First Parish Church of East Sudbury (later Wayland), and was also Wayland's representative to the General Court of Massachusetts. The son of Henry Wight and Alice Burrington Wight, he was born in 1790 in Bristol, Rhode Island and died on December 20, 1883. He married Sarah Grout Wight in 1818.

From the description of John Burt Wight papers, 1808-1858. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 612800744

Henry Wight (1752-1837) was a minister and the father of John Burt Wight. His journal records that he was born in Medfield, Massashusetts on May 26, 1752 and was married to Alice Burrington of Trenton, Rhode Island on June 21, 1789. Henry Wight died in Bristol, Rhode Island in 1837.

John Burt Wight was a clergyman, the pastor of the First Parish Church of East Sudbury, and was also Wayland's representative to the General Court of Massachusetts. The son of Henry Wight and Alice Burrington Wight, he was born on May 7, 1790 in Bristol, Rhode Island and died on December 20, 1883. He married Sarah Grout Wight on January 1, 1818.

In 1815, John Burt Wight developed a collection of 300 moral and religious books known as the "East Sudbury Charitable Library". This collection was one of the early libraries that formed the original collection of the Wayland Free Public Library when it was established in 1850. In 1851, Wight, then a Representative in the General Court, introduced a bill which resulted in the Library Act of 1851 making it legal to raise and spend public funds in order to "establish and maintain libraries for the use of the inhabitants thereof."

From the guide to the John Burt Wight papers, 1808-1858., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard)