John White (abt. 1598 - 1684)

Born about 1598 in Shalford, Essex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Levitt) White — married 26 Dec 1622 in Messing, Essex, England

Descendants

Died 23 Jan 1684 at about age 86 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut

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John White migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 3, p. 1976) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disambiguation: Please note - this is NOT the John White who settled in Salem and died in Lancaster, Massachusetts and whose wife was Joanne.

This John White lived in Hartford and Hadley, and had only one wife - Mary Levit.

Biography

John White, son of Robert White, yeoman of Messing, Essex, England, was probably born at Shalford, Essex, where his father lived from the time of his marriage to Bridget Allgar, June 24, 1585 until his death in 1617.^[1] John's baptism record has not been found. He was likely born in 1598 in the gap between Daniel (1596 and Ann (1600).

A previous version of this profile claimed he was born July 13, 1600 but this is the record for his sister.

He married Mary Levett. John passed away January 23, 1684 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut.^[2]

Immigration to New England

Arrival: Boston, Massachusetts in the Year 1632.^[3]

Sailed from England on the ship Lyon, on 22 June 1632^[4] and arrived at Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday, 16 Sept. after eight weeks at sea (and twelve weeks on board).^[4]

Three of John White's sisters came to New England with their husbands - Mary, wife of John Loomis; Elizabeth, wife of William Goodwin; and Anne, wife of John.

They settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. John was admitted freeman on March 4, 1633. They lived on 30 acres of land on "Cow Yard Row". The library building of Harvard University now stands on this property.

Oath of Allegiance

22 June 1632

Freeman

4 March 1632/3

Residences

1597 - 1622, Shalford, Essex, England

1622 - 1632, Messing, Essex, England

1632 - 1635, Cambridge, Massachusetts

1635 - 1659, Hartford, Connecticut

1659 - 1671, Hadley, Massachusetts

1671 - 1684, Hartford, Connecticut

Title

Elder, appointed in 1671 at the 2nd Church, at Hartford, Connecticut^[3]

Death

Death: 23 JAN 1683/4 Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut^[3]

Marriage and Children

John White married Mary Levit 26 Dec 1622, at Messing, Essex, England, ^[1] as recorded in the parish register.

John White and Mary Levit had eight children:^[3]

1. John White baptized 28 Dec 1623, Messing, Essex, England. No further record.
2. Mary White baptized 16 Jul 1626 at Messing, Essex, England, died 16 Dec 1650; married Jonathan Gilbert.
3. Phillip White baptized 21 Dec 1628; Philip is identified as a daughter in her baptism record, Messing, Essex, England. No further record.^[1]
4. Nathaniel White born about 1630, died 27 Aug 1711. He married first Elizabeth Unknown. He married second the widow Martha (Coit) Mould.
5. John (again) White born about 1636, died 15 Apr 1665; married SARAH BUNCE, before 1659 probably at Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut.
6. Daniel White born about 1638, died 27 Jul 1713, married Sarah Crow
7. Sarah White born about 1641, died 10 Aug 1702. She married first Stephen Taylor of Hatfield who was buried on 8 Sep 1665 in Hatfield. She married second Barnabas Hinsdale of Hatfield on 15 Oct 1666. He was slain by the Indians on 18 Sep 1675. She married third Walter Hickson of Hatfield.
8. Jacob White born at Hartford 8 Oct 1645, died before 12 Dec 1701. He married Elizabeth Bunce.

Removal to Connecticut

With Thomas Hooker in June, 1636, they joined a group of men, women and children that left Cambridge and traveled through wilderness 110 miles to Hartford, Connecticut, with no guide but a compass. Some of the women were carried on litters. They drove 160 head of cattle and carried on their backs their packs, arms and utensils. The journey took nearly a fortnight.

John White appears as one of the original proprietors. His lands were a 2 acre homelot, 40 acres of meadow, 32 acres of uplands, 10 acres of swamp, and 150 acres of upland on Hockanum (east of the Great River). In 1642 he was chosen one of the selectmen [or orderers], and again in 1646, 1651, 1656. After Rev Hooker's death in 1647 there were dissentions in the church at Harford between Rev Stone and Elder Goodwin. They were unable to settle their differences and eventually on Apr 18, 1659, 60 persons from Hartford and Wethersfield signed an agreement to remove to Hadley. John White was 5th on that list so was probably one of the leaders of the movement. He was among those selected to go and lay out homelots. He served as selectman in 1662, 1663 and 1665. In 1664 and 1669 he served as Deputy or Representative to the General Court or Legislature of Massachusetts at Boston.

John became a selectman in Hartford and Hadley as well as Deputy for Hadley to the Massachusetts Bay General Court, 3 Aug 1664, and 19 May, 1669. He returned to Hartford by 1671 after he was dismissed from the Hadley church. He joined the Second Church at Hartford, where he became elder of the church. In 1676 and '77 he and his eldest son Nathaniel {of Middletown} were members of a council called to try to heal the church difficulties.

John is listed on the obelisk erected in 1837 in the Center Church Burial Ground in Hartford as an original founder of the town.

Estate

In his will, dated 17 December 1683 and proved 6 March 1683/4, "Mr. John White of Hartford" bequeathed to son Nathaniel £30, movables, and part of "my ox pasture"; to son Daniel White £20; to son Jacob White part of "my ox pasture" and moveables; "I empower my executor to give to my daughter Hixton according to his discretion as he shall see her need calls for"; "and whereas formerly I intended to give one parcel of meadow land in great Ponset to Stephen Taylor, yet now being forced to pay a great sum of money for the redemption of his house & home lot, I now see cause to dispose of that land for payment of that debt, and shall leave it to my executor with the advice of the overseers to give either to him or the rest of my daughter Hixton's children as he shall see cause"; to "my grandchild Stephen Taylor" various moveables; to "Sarah White the daughter of my son Nathanaell" £5; to "the Reverend Mr. John Whiting my honored pastor" £5; residue to be divided "among my grandchildren (viz) Jonathan Gilbert son of my daughter Mary, my son Nathaniell's children, my son John's children, my son Daniell's children & my daughter Sarah['s] children, their sons to have as much more as their daughters"; "my wearing apparel be divided amongst my sons"; "my son Nathaniell White" to be sole executor and "my beloved friends Ensign Nathaniell Stanly and Stephen Hosmer" to be overseers

The inventory of the estate of Elder John White deceased 23 January 1683[/4]" totalled £190 9s., of which £48 was real estate: "his lots in the west division," £12; "his oxpasture lying on the east side of the highway leading to Wathersfeld," £18; and "his oxpasture lying on the west side of the highway leading to Wathersfeld"

Research Notes

Elder John White, who was born in England, and came to this country only twelve years after the "Mayflower" Pilgrims. The exact place of his birth is not known, and the date, which is placed between 1595 and 1605, is only inferred from the ages of his children and other data which have been handed down. On June 22, 1632, he sailed from Land's End, England, in the ship "Lyon," accompanied by his wife, Mary, and second child, and on Sunday, Sept. 16, they landed at Boston, Mass. He settled in Newtown (now Cambridge), Mass., where he was admitted as a freeman on March 4, 1633. In February, 1635, at the first election in Cambridge, he was elected a selectman (one of seven). In June, 1636, he removed to Connecticut, and settled in Hartford, being one of the chief of the original proprietors there. His home lot was on Elen street (now Governor's street). Religious dissensions caused John White and others to leave Hartford and settle in Hadley, on the Connecticut river, near Springfield, Mass. He was among the founders of Hadley, and was chosen selectman in 1662, 1663 and 1665, and also served as representative (or deputy, as it was then styled) to the General Court or Legislature of Massachusetts, sitting in Boston. No account of his first wife, Mary, has been preserved, but it is probable she died after his removal to Hartford. By his second wife, Mrs. Martha Mould, he had no children

Of the six children of the first marriage three were born in England: Mary married Jonathan Gilbert; Nathaniel is mentioned more fully below; John married Sarah Bunce; Daniel married Sarah Crow; Sarah married Stephen Taylor (she was subsequently remarried); Jacob, born Oct. 8, 1645, married Elizabeth Bunce.^[5]

He passed away about 1683.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} The Children of Robert White of Messing, Co. Essex, England, Who Settled in Hartford and Windsor, NEHGR Vol 55 (1901), pages 22-31. HathiTrust
2. ↑ U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=66175204. BETTER SOURCE SOUGHT
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, pages 1976-1979
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Memorials of Elder John White, page 13
5. ↑ COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. CHICAGO: J. H. BEERS & CO. 1901.

• The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). Pages 1976-1979.

• The Children of Robert White of Messing, Co. Essex, England, Who Settled in Hartford and Windsor, (anon) NEHGR Vol 55 (1901), pages 22 - 31
• Repository: The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2013.)

• James Junius Goodwin and Frank Farnsworth Starr, The Goodwins of Hartford, Connecticut, descendants of William and Ozias Goodwin (1891); digital images, Hathi Trust, page 44

• Kellog, Allyn Stanley. Memorials of Elder John White (Case, Lockwood and Company, 1860)

Mr. Kellogg, compiler of John White's genealogy, was a painstaking researcher. He described his labors in these terms: "The facts contained in this volume have been drawn from the records of the Colonies of Connecticut and Massachusetts, from the records of Probate Courts and the Registries of Deeds, from town and church records, from inscriptions on tombstones, from family records and oral statements, and from the replies to more than six hundred letters of inquiry. Besides the labors of those who have aided his researches, the compiler has visited about forty towns, and has personally examined more than sixty sets of public records." [Although we do not find formal footnotes, Mr Kellogg embeds in the text entire wills, parish baptism records, etc. and gives the place those records are kept, so we may easily quote his citations. Dellinger-332]

• Findagrave.com

• Andrew Curtis White, Memorials of Roderick White and His Wife, Lucy Blakeslee of Paris Hill, N.Y (1892) Pages 5-6

Record details Name Elder John White Gender Male Birth Place En Birth Year 1595 Spouse Name Mary Levett Spouse Birth Place En Spouse Birth Year 1601 Marriage Year 1622 Marriage State En Number Pages 1