Edward Whittaker (1640 - 1695)

Descendants

Husband: Edward Whittaker

Wife: Joanna (Hannah) Wakeman

Marriage:

Date: ABT 1672

Place: , Ulster Co, N Y

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Warning! This profile contains information about people or events that some readers may find upsetting

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Research Notes 2 Sources 2.1 Records 2.2 Resources 3 Acknowledgements

Biography

Presumed born: c. 1635 - c. 1640 Possible birthplace: Chard, So. Somerset District, Somerset, England (unproven: included for further research only)

British soldier who participated in the Duke of York's Expedition under Sir Richard Nicolls in 1664, when the English seized New Amsterdam from the Dutch.

Edward Whittaker arrived with Capt. Daniel Brodhead's 1664 Regiment from England to New Netherland during which time the governor surrendered jurisdiction to the English fleet; the province was renamed New York after the Duke of York of England. Stationed at Wiltwyck (Esopus), Whittaker eventually settled in the area.

In 1667, he took as mistress Joanna/Hannah Wakeman-Hackleton, a distressed woman he met in New York who was picked up for vagrancy and ordered to leave the city. Hannah had fled from her own serious problems in Hartford CT. and could not return. She went with him to his home, ostensibly as a servant, taking her 4 yr old dau. Anna with her. The couple, although not married, lived together as husband and wife.

In 1669, Edward Whittaker received a land grant in Esopus for his British military service. In 1685, he acquired 200 acres near Esopus Kill ^[1]

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Whittaker was a man of extreme temperament, prone to violent outbursts. A long string of cases involving Whittaker, recorded by Kingston Courts, embody details of various aggressions against acquaintances and neighbors, including complaints of ill-treatment toward Hannah and her dau..^[2]

In 1670, Hannah gave testimony of his maltreatment and the Court ordered Edward to care for her as his wife. The court decreed Edward was to marry Hannah if she became pregnant again (they had just lost an infant to "convulsions"); the case was then referred to the Governor. Notwithstanding additional grievances lodged in 1671/2, the couple reportedly married in 1672.^[3][4]

In late Oct 1672, noting a number of "diverse complaints" to the local court regarding Edward's abusiveness, a local citizen of standing, Mr. George Hall, admonished him - a reprimand Whittaker rudely rebuffed.^[3]

Mr. Hall spoke to Eduward Wittikar asking him why he treated his wife so badly, that he would ruin himself, whereupon Wittikar answered that he could do with his wife as he pleased, that nobody was to prescribe to him how to treat his wife, and thereupon George Hall said that some time or another he would kill her, and that the magistrates and officers would demand an account of her blood. Thereupon Wittikar answered that he cared nothing about magistrates or officers. And Mr. Hall [said] what he did to the magistrates he did to the governor, and the Duke of York, and he answered, "I shall do what I please."^[5]

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Characterized by early family historians as "rescuing" his future wife from a life of destitution, on the contrary, the truth about Edward was far uglier. For example, Kingston records show he beat Hannah, threatened to burn her and her child, cast them out into freezing weather, and to kill them.^[3] Suffice to say, accounts of Whittaker's abuses toward Hannah are sparse in these brief biographies^[6]. Hannah herself experienced a churlish history prior to taking up with Whittaker, one that involved family connections to a Hartford witch trial in 1662, and, in a separate incident in 1665, she had been tried for murder, adultery, and blasphemy during her first marriage ((found guilty of the latter two) ^[7]. One might say Edward's intimidation invoked in her feelings of fear built upon her past that, since she had nowhere else to go, pushed her to plead for help from local magistrates.

Ironically, a similar fright engulfed Edward personally in a 1675 allegation of involvement with a witch, wherein his wife was also implicated. Only a partial record of the witch trial remains, telling of the verdict wherein both were exonerated^[6]. Yet, this event no doubt put a scare into Edward as witch trials were ramping up in New England and those involved often remained under long-time scrutiny. In fact, within several months of case dismissal, Whittaker signed a petition requesting a minister be brought to the County for religious instruction to the community. ^[3]

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In spite of their on-going difficulties, Edward and Hannah probably had at least four children of their own and raised three including Hannah's dau., to adulthood:

1. Anna b. abt.1662/3, CT d/o Frances Hackleton of Conn., Edward's step-dau.
2. Infant Whittaker b. 1670 d. in infancy (mentioned in court record).
3. Infant Whittaker b. 1672/3 d. in infancy (presumed, due to previous court ruling ordering Edward to marry Hannah if she became pregnant again. They married in 1672).
4. James b 24 Apr 1675 bp Kingston ^[8]
5. Edward b. abt. 1676/7 Kingston (no bp record).

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After 1676, Ulster County Surrogate Court records reflect a few petition signings, land deeds and other such normal dealings as had by male free-holders of Kingston. Fewer complaints of calamitous civil or criminal behavior surface, probably due to the destruction of Kingston's courthouse in 1777 and a later Albany fire which, as seen from lack of witch trial records, damaged many official documents.^[9][6]. Whether Edward learned to keep his anger in check, is not unwholly unknown, however. In 1682, Hannah testified in a slander case brought against Edward "that she had grown weary of life." ^[10] While hopeful for the best, one may surmise Edward Whittaker remained a problematic man.

Edward's will, dated 03 Sep 1694, parted out his estate: 1/3 to his wife, 1/3 and a horse to son James, 1/3 and a colt to son Edward, and money to his wife's daughter's children.^[11]

Research Notes

Whittaker was garrisoned at Esopus under Capt Daniel Brodhead. As the English soldiers integrated into Dutch settlements, violence often ensued, many times instigated by Brodhead himself ^[12]. Whittaker was cut from similar cloth, a rouser whose first response in handling disagreements was to threaten and even assault those involved. He did not, however, mutiny or raid neighboring homes of Dutch settlers as did many of his peers. Still, his disagreeable temper landed him in Kingston Courts on several occasions.

Family historian and writer, Terry Prall's article about Edward Whittaker presents numerous verbatim court records of Whittaker's ill-tempered altercations, interspersed with short biographical accounts.

Colonial Period Court records of Kingston NY (hard copies) are available via WorldCat and more. The records referenced herein were sourced from Prall's articles since he recounts them verbatim. -per C-213 23:32, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ History of Ulster County, New York, The. p53
2. ↑ For an extensive list of Kingston Court complaints, see Prall, Terry D.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Prall, Terry D. "The Tumultuous Story of Edward Whittaker"
4. ↑ Torrey, Charles A.. "New England Marriages Prior to 1700."
5. ↑ qtd. in Prall, Terry D.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Zimm, Louise H. "Whittaker, Whitaker, Whitiker."
7. ↑ See [[Wakeman-5657|Hannah]'s wiki tree profile
8. ↑ Baptismal and Marriage Registers of the Old Dutch Church of Kingston, Ulster County, New York p9 #136.
9. ↑ History of Ulster County, New York, The
10. ↑ Prall, Terry D."The Wakeman Family Chronicles III: The Hannah Wakeman Story- Part II"
11. ↑ Will of Wittaker, Edward, of Kingstown.
12. ↑ "The Papers that concerne ye Esopus Mutineys wiph ye death of Henrick Cornelius." The Brodhead Family. Goodwill, Anne and Jean M. Smith, editors. Port Ewen, NY: Brodhead Family Assoc., 1986. p (Soldier Edward Whitcar mentioned (in passing) item 7 p13)

Records

History of Ulster County, New York, The. Alphonso T. Clearwater, ed. Kingston, NY: W.J. Van Deusen, 1907. Internet Archive. archive.org. land survey p53; p211 (destruction of Kingston courthouse reasons all records residing in bldg were damaged/destroyed also)

Hoes, Roswell Randall, ed. Baptismal and Marriage Registers of the Old Dutch Church of Kingston, Ulster County, New York: (formerly Named Wiltwyck, and Often Familiarly Called Esopus or 'Sopus), for One Hundred and Fifty Years from Their Commencement in 1660. New York: De Vinne Press, 1891. Internet Archives. archive.org. p9 #136 (record: "James, Parents: Edward Wittikar, Hanna. Wit.: Cornelia Bogardus. [Probably 24 April].")

Torrey, Charles A.. Third Supplement to Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore: Genealogical Publ. Co., 1985. Pg. 272. Print. (It read as follows: Whitaker, Edward ( _-1694) & Hannah2 (WAKEMAN) (HACKLETON) m1Francis HACKLETON; m 1672 Ulster Co. NYGBR 127:73).

Will of Wittaker, Edward, of Kingstown. Ulster County, N.Y. probate records in the office of the surrogate, and in the county clerk's office at Kingston, N.Y. : a careful abstract and translation of the Dutch and english wills, letters of administration after intestates, and inventories from l665, with genealogical and historical notes, vol. 1., Gustave Anjou, transcriber. NY: Anjou, 1906. p50.

Resources

Family Tree - Landreth Web Site - MyHeritage

Klein, Christopher. "Before Salem, the First American Witch Hunt." history.com. 2012. (note: Bethia Kelly was Hannah Whittaker's sister, Elizabeth Seager a neighbor).

Prall, Terry D. "The Tumultuous Story of Edward Whittaker"; "The Wakeman Family Chronicles III: The Hannah Wakeman Story-Part I; Part II. TDP Genealogy, Apr 2015. Blog. (sourced with Kingston Court records).

Zimm, Louise H. "Whittaker, Whitaker, Whitiker." Schoonmaker record (2d supplement). William L.L. Peltz, compiler. NY: American Historical Society, 1953. Internet Archive. archive.org. [1], p. 389-92. (essay writer demonstrates an astonishing misrepresentation of Whittaker's character as showing "affection" to wife and children, based solely on standardized language in his 1694 will).

Acknowledgements

• This person was created on 14 September 2010 through the import of 124-DeCoursey.ged.
• This person was created through the import of grant2.ged on 07 February 2011.
• Thank you to Dorothy Phelps for creating this profile, 2011.
• Full Biography/sources/research added C-213 23:32, 6 July 2019 (UTC); source added, minor edits per C-213 05:38, 8 September 2019 (UTC)