Richard Whitney (1661 - 1723)

Born 13 Jan 1661 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Sawtell) Whitney — married 25 Aug 1691 in Watertown, Middlesex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 15 Dec 1723 at age 62 in Stow, Middlesex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

Richard Whitney, born in Watertown, Massachusetts on 13 January 1660/1, was the son of Richard Whitney^[1][2] and Martha Coldam.^[3]

Richard married Elizabeth Sawtell, daughter of Jonathan Sawtell of Groton^[3] and Mary Tarbell, at Watertown, possibly on 25 August 1691.^[4] No original marriage record has been located. They had children:

1. Richard, married Hannah Whitcomb and [wid.] Hannah Ayres,^[3] born 9 December 1692 (aged 82 years 5 months 18 days at his death on 27 April 1775)
2. Hannah, married Samuel Farr,^[3] date of birth unknown (estimated at about 1694)
3. Elizabeth, married John Wetherbee,^[3] date of birth unknown (estimated at about 1696)
4. Jonathan, born 26 February 1698/9, married Alice Willard^[3]
5. Sarah, born about 1703, married Cap. Hezekiah Hapgood and had children^[3]
6. Ruhamah, born about 1705,^[3] married Josiah Whetcomb
7. Joshua, born about 1706, married Zerviah ____^[3] and three others
8. Hepzibah, born about 1710, married Seth Sawyer as his second wife^[3]

Richard was granted land in Stow, Massachusetts on 24 October 1682.^[3]

On 28 August 1688 he was residing in Stow, and was taxed 3s. 6d. as "Richd Whetney junr."^[5]

Richard Whitney died in Stow 15 December 1723.^[6] He was buried in the Lower Village Cemetery in Stow.^[7]

Richard left a will dated 2 December 1723 that names sons Richard and Jonathan (co-executors), son Joshua and daughters Hannah Farr, Elizabeth Wetherbee, Sarah, Ruhamah and Hepzibah.^[8] Some sources give a will date of 22 December, this is incorrect.

On 29 February 1723/4, Richard's son Richard Whitney of Stow, husbandman, was appointed guardian of Joshua Whitney age 16, and Sarah Whitney age 20. On the same day, guardian bond was posted by Richard Taylor of Sudbury, husbandman, and Richard Whitney of Stow, as surety, as guardian of Ruhamah Whitney, age 18, and Hephzibah Whitney, age 13.^[8]

The inventory of Richard's estate was taken 14-16 January 1723/4 and filed in court on 9 March 1723/4. On 19 January 1724/5, the estate was divided between Richard Whitney, Joshua Whitney (by guardian Richard Whitney); Jonathan Whitney; Samuel Farr in right of wife Hannah; John Witherbee in right of wife Elizabeth; Richard Taylor as guardian of Ruhamah and Hephzibah Whitney; and Hezekiah Hapgood, husband to Sarah Whitney. All parties signed.^[8]

Research Note

Wife Elizabeth

Some sources and many online trees conflate the Elizabeth who maried Richard Whitney with the Elizabeth Sawtell who married first to Joseph Morse on 25 August 1691. Joseph died 24 January 1709 and that Elizabeth remarried to Benjamin Nurse of Framingham. However, the wife of Morse and Nurse was a cousin of Richard's wife Elizabeth, and was the daughter of Jonathan Sawtell's brother Zachariah Sawtell.^[4]

That Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan of Groton, married Richard Whitney of Stow is proved in a 1698 deed.^[3] On 8 October 1698, the four surviving daughters of Jonathan Sawtell of Groton deeded their rights to Jonas Prescott. That Middlesex County deed (13:197) proves that Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Sawtell of Groton married Richard Whitney of Stow.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F46R-MP8 : 20 May 2022), Richard Whitny, 13 Jan 1660; citing Birth, Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009514.
2. ↑ Watertown Records, Comprising the First and Second Book of Town Proceedings, with the Land Grants and Possessions. Watertown, MA: Historical Society, 1894, p. 22. trans.
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11} Pierce, Frederick Clifton. Whitney: The Descendants of John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635. Chicago, IL: F.C. Pierce, 1895, p. 30. Father, p. 23. Ancestry Sharing Link (free access) - Ancestry Image ($). Also at Archive.org
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Kellogg, Dale C. and John B. Threlfall. "Richard Sawtell of Watertown, Mass. in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: NEHGS, Vol. 126, Jan. 1972, pp. 5-7. AmericanAncestors.org($). Jonathan Sawtell
5. ↑ Jeffries, Walter Lloyd. "Taxes Under Gov. Andros" in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: NEHGS, Vol. 32, 1878, p. 81. AmericanAncestors.org($).
6. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCMX-8PG : 20 May 2022), Richard Jr. Whitney, 15 Dec 1723; citing Death, Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007011039.
7. ↑ Find a Grave (has image), Find A Grave: Memorial #125040790, Memorial page for Richard Whitney (13 Jan 1661-5 Dec 1723), citing Lower Village Cemetery, Stow, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by CMWJR (contributor 50059520).
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2} "Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871". Boston: NEHGS, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org). AmericanAncestors.org: File 24735: Will (see also File 24736: Hephzibah and Ruhamah Whitney; and File 24737: Joshua and Sarah Whitney)

See also:

• Whitney Research Group: well-sourced online tree
• Bond, Henry. Genealogies of the families and descendants of the early settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts. Vol. 1. Boston: NEHGS, 1860, p. 643. Archive.org. Father, Richard.
• Little, George Thomas. Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1909, Vol. 4, p. 2158 Archive.org