George Wallis ca. 1619-1685 of Portsmouth, N.H.

Here's the problem with this family in a nutshell.  George has three sons: William, George, and Caleb.  Caleb proceeds to vanish from the records.  George² marries Anne Shortridge and daughters out.  His only son is deemed "an idiot."  However, his daughters have families and many marry back into the Wallis family.  So in the third generation there are only two Wallis men from whom the rest must descend, both sons of William²: Samuel and William.

• Samuel³ is the head of what I call the Rye branch.  He is born ca. 1683 and died between 1 June and 26 August 1741, the dates on which his will was written and proved. [N.H. State Papers 33:55].  He has four sons: William, Samuel, George, and Ebenezer.
• William³ is the head of what I call the Greenland branch.  He is born ca. 1690 and died at Greenland between 16 June and 24 June 1772. [Rockingham County Probate #3944, Helen F. Evans, Abstracts of the Probate Records of Rockingham County, N.H. 1771-1799 (Batimore, Md.: Heritage Books, 2000) II:983.]  He has three sons: Samuel, William, and Nathaniel.

This would all be quite simple.  However, as you can see in generation #4 there are two Williams and two Samuels, both first cousins of each other.  During this time there is a complete lack of birth records in Greenland and Epsom, N.H. None of the William³ sons leave wills and only one leaves an administration [which names no heirs].  Three of the four Samuel³ children do leave wills, although one, George, was indexed under Walls and not Wallis.  Combine that with the newly-immigrated Scots-Irish Wallaces who settle in Nutfield (later Londonderry) and environs, and you get quite a mess.  Suddenly records are either under Wallis, Wallace, Wolles, Walles, and even Walls.  

So this fourth generation is critical.  Getting them straight and naming the fifth generation was my initial goal.  The problem is you slow down tremendously when all the families into which the Wallises marry are also not well-researched.  The Scaggell/Scadgel family; the Weymouth family; the Fullers; the Blazo vs. Blaisdell family, etc.  You then need to research them to pinpoint the correct husband/wife, etc.  It takes some time and effort.