He married Sarah Travers, 30 August 1654, in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts.⁽¹⁾ Sarah was born about 1636, in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts.⁽²⁾ Sarah was the daughter of Henry Travers and Bridget Fitts?. Sarah died before 22 August 1709. Administration of her estate was granted to her son John on that date, when she was referred to as "Sarah Wallingford alias Mash", of Bradford, "Relict of Nicholas Wallingford of Bradford."⁽³⁾

The American family was founded by Nicholas Wallingford, who arrived in Massachusetts from England, in 1638. He married Sarah Travis on 30 Aug 1654. She was the daughter of Henry & Bridget Travis. One account says that Nicholas was captured by Barbary pirates ca 1681. Another says that he drowned at sea. Whichever the case, he disappeared leaving a widow and 13 children behind. From these 13 children, are descended the vast majority of the the Wallingford Family in America. Nicholas & Sarah's children:

John
Nicholas
John(again)
Sarah
Mary
James
Hannah
William
Joseph
Elizabeth
Esther
Benjamin
Abigail

Nicholas was a seaman and his last voyage to sea apparently led to his being captured on his way to England and his death in captivity. The first word yet found of his disappearance is in a letter dated 24 October 1680 from Samuel Sewall of Boston to his brother Stephen Sewall of Bishop-Stoke, Hampshire, England. At one point in this letter Samuel writes, "Mr. Lidget is well & brisk in London: enquire if he can tell any thing of Nic Wallingford"⁽³⁸⁾. Samuel Sewall was a rich merchant who later became a judge, but in these early years he had recently come of age in the town of Newbury where his father and grandfather were early settlers. It seems reasonable to imagine that the Wallingford family appealed to Sewall, having known his family and knowing that they had contacts in a wider world who might have word of Nicholas. Sewall later was a judge at the Salem witch trails, and eventually Chief Justice of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The Mr. Lidget mentioned in the letter may be either Peter or his son Charles, both merchants from Boston and London. More research should be done into these individuals to see if they left any more letters with information on Nicholas. Samuel Sewall left an extensive diary covering most of his life but, unfortunately, the years which might reveal more information about Wallingford's disappearance were lost long ago.

Certification of his death by Mr. Thomas Kellon, a merchant, was made to the court at Ipswich, Mass. on 27 September 1681, and an inventory of his estate had been made on the 22d.⁽³⁹⁾ Nicholas had been captured at sea while on a voyage to England and died in captivity, so likely died long before the news reached home. Evidence for this fact is contained in his probate files in a 1683 petition from his wife where she states that he "being going for England was taken Captive and there ended his Days". Some secondary sources state that he was captured by Barbary pirates, but this is likely only oral tradition, although perfectly plausible. The inventory of his estate begins "An Inventory of ye Estate of Nicholaus Wallingford who Deceased in Argone."⁽⁴⁰⁾ This would seem to indicate that the name of the place where he died is called "Argone". Three possible locations for this would be "Aragon", a part of Spain, "Argonne", a part of France, and "Arguin", a fortified trading station dominating a section of the West African coast, now in Mauritania. Arguin was under contention between the Dutch and the French about that time and was also being visited by some adventurous English traders.

At a court held in Ipswich on 27 September 1681, administration of the estate of Nicholas Wallingford was granted to Sarah Wallingford, relict of said Nicholas, and Caleb Hopkinson, and they were ordered to bring in an inventory to the next March court. This action was performed "upon a certificate received from Mr. Tho. Kellon, merchant, on the death of Nicholas Walingford".⁽⁴¹⁾