John Whiting (spelled Whiteing and Whitting in town birth records) was born on 19 July 1665 in Dedham, Massachusetts[1]. He was the third son named John born to Nathaniel Whiting and Hannah Dwight. His two brothers of the same name died before his birth.[2]
He married Mary Billings on 24 December 1688 in Wrentham, Massachusetts.[3][4][5] He died in 1732, prior to 22 May, when his will was contested in a petition of his son Nathaniel (and then by son John on 31 May)[6]; the death of a John Whiting was recorded on 25 March 1732, at Wrentham, Massachusetts Bay, and one would expect that this was the record of his passing... except that this record names parents John and Mary Whiting (not Nathaniel and Hannah), which by convention indicates the death of a child[7][8][9]. John and Mary's son, Deacon John Whiting, is recorded as living until 1755; his wife was named Mary, so the listing of parents John and Mary in the 1732 death record – unless a highly unusual clerical error – indicates that the record must be assumed to be for Deacon Whiting's young son John, who had been born in 1723[10].
In American Marriage Records Before 1699 Clemens lists 25 Dec 1688 in Milton, Mass as the date and place of marriage for John Whiting and Mary Billings.[11]
John Whiting, now identified as "Capt.", had a late second marriage in January of 1729 to a wife shown in the handwritten, original marriage record as "Mrs. Sarah Holbrook"[13], the widow of Eleazer Holbrook born Sarah Pond. Her given name appears in his will, dated May 29,1729, and proved on Aug 15,1732.[14]
From Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania:
John Whiting, son of Nathaniel Whiting, was born July 19, 1665.
He married (first) December 24, 1688, by Rev. Peter Thacher, of Milton,
Mary Billings, of Dorchester, and she died at Wrentham, Massachusetts,
January 4, 1727-28. He married (second) Sarah . His will was
dated May 29, 1729, and proved August 15, 1732. In it he mentioned his
wife Sarah, sons Nathaniel, John and Eliphalet; daughters Mary Mann,
Jerusha Slack, Jemima Wight, Zabiah Ware, Hannah Fisher and Phebe
Whiting, and grandson Lewis Sweeting. Children, born at Wrentham:
Nathaniel, mentioned below ; Mary, born October 14, 1692 ; John, born
January 16, 1694-95; Jerusha, born November 2, 1697; Jemima, born
December 5, 1699; Zabiah, born December 29, 1701 ; Eliphalet, bom September
16, 1705; Hannah, born February 13, 1706-07; Abigail, born October
2, 1708, died November 8, 1725 ; Phebe, born June 18, 1710, living 1765,
unmarried, "non compos mentis."
Fact: baptism (23 JUL 1665) First church of Dedham, Massachusetts Colony
Fact: Christening (23 July 1665) Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States
Fact: will (w.p. 15 Aug 1752)
Fact: http://familysearch.org/v1/LifeSketch John Whiting was the son of Nathaniel and Hannah (Dwight) Whiting. He was married 24 December 1688 to Mary Billings. After her death, he had a second wife named Sarah, married January 20, 1728/9.
Sources
↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4JZ-WVF : 20 May 2022), John Whiting, 19 Jul 1665; citing Birth, Dedham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009369.
↑ Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).
↑ "1688, Decr. 24, John Whiting and Mary Billings" -- "Early Records of Wrentham", Vol. 4, p. 85; Vital Records from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (Compiled from articles originally published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB522/i/21068/85/1426547774 (by subscription)
↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHQB-6TB : 20 May 2022), John Whiting, 24 Dec 1688; citing Marriage, Wrentham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007010771.
↑ Petition of Nathaniel Whiting, 22 May 1732, Suffolk Case 6279:5; Suffolk County, MA: Probate File Papers.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017-2019. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB2735/i/48705/6279-co5/0 (by subscription
↑ New England Historic Genealogical Society. Massachusetts, Town Death Records, 1620-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FH8H-FXY : 20 May 2022), John Whiting, 25 Mar 1732; citing Death, Wrentham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007010771.
↑ Death 1732: "Wrentham HR 1711; selectman 1706, 07, 11-15; lieut. 1712; M Mary Billings (c1669-1728) in 1688 and Sarah (?Pond) Holbrook (1679-?1757) in 1729, 10 ch; miller, farmer; will." -- 1902 Whiting g 12-3, 15-6; Wrentham VR 2:395, 513; Sherborn VR 227; Torrey 379; Massachusetts: Legislators of the General Court, 1691-1780 (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002), (Orig. Pub. by Northeastern University Press , Boston, MA. John A. Schutz, Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court 1691–1780 A Biographical Dictionary, 1997.); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB142/rd/5874500 (by subscription)
↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4J9-GBV : 20 May 2022), John Whiting, 21 Jun 1723; citing Birth, Wrentham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007010771.
↑ Clemens, William Montgomery. American Marriage Records Before 1699. Pompton Lakes, NJ, USA: Biblio Co., 1926.
↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHS6-GJF : 20 May 2022), Sarah Holbrook in entry for John Whiting, 20 Jan 1729; citing Marriage, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009599.
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It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
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[Edited] The 25 March 1732 death record for a "John Whiting, son of John Whiting and Mary, his wife" (see handwritten transcript, apparently carefully made and assumed accurate, at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8979-WQMG?i=113&cc=2061550&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AFH8H-FXY) is something of a potential spanner in the works. I have edited and re-edited the related passage in the narrative Biography above, having first thought that this must be the record of the death of the senior John Whiting (shown BTW in two records as "Capt."). The alternative is that this is, as it appears on its face, the record of the death of a child of the Captain's son Deacon John Whiting and his wife, Mary (Wight) Whiting; what gave me pause is that a) no other death record is known for the good Captain, and yet b) he was certainly deceased by the 22nd of May when his eldest son Nathaniel (followed by brother John on 31 May) filed petitions with the court, objecting to the will. This suggests that the March death record might be the Captain's... and that the inclusion of the named parents might have been a clerical error, albeit a highly unusual one. (Capt. John Whiting & wife Mary's son Deacon John Whiting was evidently quite alive until 1755, so this record could not be for him.)
After going back and forth, I have revised the death date in the data field to indicate that Capt. John died _before 22 May 1732_, which is certain. This leaves the interpretation of the March death record open. While it remains conceivable that the recorder misunderstood the news of the death of a John Whiting, and assumed that this was a son of Deacon John and his wife, when in fact it was the Deacon's father, examination of later genealogies indicates that the John Whiting who died on 25 March 1732 was, in fact, the Deacon's son. I do however continue to look for further evidence one way or the other. Unfortunately, after poring over the 45-page probate record for Capt. John, I have yet to find any specific mention of the date of his death... which would have cleared things up considerably.
Whiting-267 and Whiting-61 appear to represent the same person because: There appear to be several duplicates of this profile. Also for his wife Mary Billings.
Whiting-3237 and Whiting-61 appear to represent the same person because: recommend merging instead of switching fathers of Abigail and Zebiah, as they would lose their connections..
After going back and forth, I have revised the death date in the data field to indicate that Capt. John died _before 22 May 1732_, which is certain. This leaves the interpretation of the March death record open. While it remains conceivable that the recorder misunderstood the news of the death of a John Whiting, and assumed that this was a son of Deacon John and his wife, when in fact it was the Deacon's father, examination of later genealogies indicates that the John Whiting who died on 25 March 1732 was, in fact, the Deacon's son. I do however continue to look for further evidence one way or the other. Unfortunately, after poring over the 45-page probate record for Capt. John, I have yet to find any specific mention of the date of his death... which would have cleared things up considerably.
edited by Christopher Childs