Samuel McRoy Whitten (abt. 1835 - 1909)

Born about Oct 1835 in Freeport, Maine, United States

Ancestors

Son of Samuel H. Whitten and Lydia (Stover) Whitten

Husband of Lydia M. (Mitchell) Whitten — married 28 Oct 1852 in Unity, Waldo, Maine

Descendants

Died 29 Jun 1909 at about age 73 in Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Chris Whitten [send private message] and Keith Whitten [send private message]

Biography

In the 1850 census^[1][2] Samuel appears as a 20-year-old, born in Maine, living with his parents Lydia and Samuel H. Whitten.

Samuel married Lydia Mitchell October 28, 1852.^[3]

The Maine Register and Business Directory for 1856^[4] includes Samuel M. R. Whitten under "Watches and Jewelry" in Unity.

The 1860 census lists him (indexed as "Samuel M C Whitten")^[5] as living in Searsport, Waldo, Maine at age 31, working as a jeweler. Value of real estate: $500. Personal estate: $200. These family members are in the home:

• Lydia Whitten, age: 22
• Anna M Whitten, age: 1
• Henry Whitten, age: 2
• Edward Whitten, age: 4
• Albion Whitten, age: 6

The 1870 census lists him as living in Hampden, Penobscot, Maine at age 42, working as a watchmaker.

In the early 1880s he moved to Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The 1884 city directory lists Samuel M. R. Whitten as a jeweler at L.H. Pratt & Co. (their advertisement: "Watchmakers and Jewelers, 160 Main Street, Fitchburg, All work done on premises by first-class workmen. Engraving a specialty"). In this 1884 directory, his home is listed as being at "Summer and Cane". In this directory, the only other Whitten is Fred, presumably his son Frederick, working as a painter and boarding at the house on Summer and Cane.

The 1885 Fitchburg city directory has Samuel M. R. working as a watchmaker and jeweler at 8 Day Street with his house at 176 Summer Street. His son Albion H. is living with him and working as a carpenter. Fred has moved to West Boylston.

By 1890 Samuel has moved to 52 Oliver Street. Albion moved out and was living at 55 North Street, then moved to Lowell.

In 1893, the only family member with Samuel in Fitchburg is now his son Edward.

In 1895 or 1896, Samuel moved to Everett.

The 1900 census lists him as living in Malden Ward 3, Middlesex, Massachusetts, at age 70, working as a watchmaker. The name here is "Samuel R. Whitton".

Samuel's funeral was held in his late home on Main Street in North Leominster. The Rev. Albert L. Squier of the First Methodist Church did the service. Interment was at the Forest Hill Cemetery.^[6][7]

Research Notes

Potential sources of confusion

• Samuel's father was named Samuel.
• Samuel's mother was named Lydia (Stover) and his wife was named Lydia (Mitchell).
• Samuel had a brother named Albion and a son named Albion.

McRoy Name

We know his middle name is McRoy from his daughter Mary Ellen's marriage certificate and his son Albion's death certificate.^[8] The latter also supports his birthplace as Freeport, Maine, and his wife as Lydia Mitchell of Sharon, Vermont. The former shows his profession as jeweller.

McRoy appears to be his great-grandmother's maiden name.

Sources

1. ↑ Accessed by Frank Gill, reported in G2G.
2. ↑ Where is he in the 1830 and 1840 censuses?
3. ↑ This has been confirmed by Tom Clougher from the Vital Records book of Unity, ME.
4. ↑ Accessed through Google Books. Page 286.
5. ↑ Confusingly, the 1860 census has another Samuel (age 57) living with a Lydia (age 63) an Albion (age 32) in Waldo. These are his parents.
6. ↑ This is from a clipped obituary for Samuel M. Whitten in the Whitten family bible. It does not give much additional information.
7. ↑ Bea (Whitten) Laserte also said that Samuel is buried in the Forest Hills Cemetery. This should be investigated. At the least, it would confirm his vital dates.
8. ↑ Thank you to Eric Weddington for researching and confirming this.

• Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. Keith Whitten Sr. and Chris Whitten match on 37 out of 37 markers, as reported by Family Tree DNA. This confirms their direct paternal lines back to their MRCA Richard Whitten.

• "Massachusetts, Deaths, 1841-1915," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N49F-PZ8 : accessed 01 Mar 2013), Samuel M Whitten, 1909.

• When Mildred (Bartlett) Whitten helped her grandson Chris Whitten trace some family heritage shortly before she passed away this was the last Whitten ancestor she knew about.

• The entry in the Whitten family bible says "S(?) M R Whitten died June 29, 1909, age 80. Fitchburg, Mass."

• A message board post on Ancestry.com says "Samuel M.R. Whitten, b. Oct 2, 1835 (1827?) in Freeport, Me., ... resided at 52 Oliver St. Fitchburg, MA, occupation watchmaker."

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDHG-8PB : accessed 25 May 2016), Samuel M C Whitten, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6DR-Y7M : accessed 25 May 2016), Samuel Whitten, Maine, United States; citing p. 76, family 640, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,053.

• "Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHL6-771 : accessed 25 May 2016), Samuel M. Whitten, 29 Jun 1909; citing , reference p. 350 no. 147; FHL microfilm 2,313,272.

• "Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHPK-VYY : accessed 25 May 2016), Samuel M. Whitten, 29 Jun 1909; citing , reference 584; FHL microfilm 2,258,331.

• "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N49F-PZ8 : accessed 25 May 2016), Samuel M Whitten, 29 Jun 1909; citing Leominster,,Massachusetts, 130, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2,313,392.

• "Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KSZR-W7M : accessed 25 May 2016), Samuel Mcroy Whitten in entry for John Jackson and Mary Ellen Whitten, 23 Aug 1910; citing registration , Sarnia, Lambton, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,887,240.

• "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N43W-M53 : accessed 25 May 2016), Samuel Mcroy Whitten in entry for Albion Hover Whitten, 19 Apr 1910; citing Lawrence,,Massachusetts, 168, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2,314,428.

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 05 January 2019, 20:14), entry for Samuel M R Whitten (PID L84V-G3W); contributed by various users.