John White (abt. 1608 - 1662)

Born about 1608 in England

Husband of Ann (Cooper) Phillips — married about 1640 in Lynn, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 1662 at about age 54 in Southampton, Connecticut Colony, New England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message]

John White migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 369) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

John White immigrated to New England between 1621 and 1640 and later departed for Southampton, Long Island.

Parentage

No evidence has been found that identifies a most probable parentage for John White of Lynn, Massachusetts and Southampton, Long Island.

Some family trees^[1][2] and certain databases compiled from family trees^[3] suggest that John White of Lynn and Southampton was John Wight who was baptized in Hareby, Lincolnshire, England in 1608. The original source of that theory seems to be a 1914 NEHGR article on the "Lincolnshire Origin of Exeter Settlers."^[4] In the article, the author lists the Wight entries from the bishop's transcripts of the Lincolnshire Parish Registers. Included among the entries is a record of the 1608 baptism in Hareby of a John Wight, son of Robert Wight. The article does not discuss any possible connection between that John Wight and any John White. It appears likely, however, that one or more enterprising family genealogists looking for the origins of John White of Lynn and Southampton found the NEHGR article and speculated that the John Wight baptized in Hareby in 1608 had immigrated to the Boston area and that the spelling of his name had been changed along the way from "Wight" to "White." There is no evidence supporting this theory, however, and it seems fairly improbable given the difference in surnames, the fact that no record relating to John White of Lynn and Southampton uses the spelling "Wight" or any similar spelling, the fact that there were probably dozens or hundreds of John Whites born in England around 1605-1612 who could have been this profile's John White, and the fact that no reasonably reliable source even mentions the theory.

Date and Place of Birth

Based on evidence that John became a freeman in Lynn in 1633, John was probably born no later than 1612. Based on the fact that there is no evidence that he was married prior to his marriage to Ann Cooper in 1640, it is likely that he was not born much before 1612. It is therefore probable that John was born sometime between 1605 and 1612.

According to "The History of Lynn," John was among the immigrants who arrived in Lynn in 1630 and those immigrants sailed from Southampton, England. It is perhaps therefore likely that John was from the general area around Southampton, but no most probable place of birth has been identified.

Immigration; Residency in Lynn, Massachusetts

According to "The History of Lynn," John White appears to have been one of the persons who emigrated from England in the spring of 1633 and arrived in Lynn later that year.^[5] John was a farmer and was admitted as a freeman in 1633.^[6][7] In 1638, a committee appointed by the town divided the town's lands among its inhabitants and awarded John White 20 acres.^[8] No further record of John White's residency in Lynn has been found.

Residency in Southampton, Long Island

Southampton, Long Island was originally settled largely by families who came over from Lynn, Massachusetts.^[9] John White's in-laws moved from Lynn to Southampton about 1640,^[10] and John and his family seem to have followed.^[7] The first record of John White's presence in Southampton is from March 1644,^[11] but it is possible that he moved there somewhat earlier. He became a "freeman" in Southampton in 1647.^[11] John appears regularly in the town records until his death in 1662.^[11]

Marriage and Children

John married Ann Cooper.^[10][12][7] Some sources of dubious reliability put their date of marriage as 1647,^[13] which seems highly improbable. Based on the dates of birth of their grandchildren, Anderson's "Great Migration" states that they were married "by about 1640,"^[10] which is consistent with the 1989 TAG article on the Cooper family, which estimates that they were married about 1640.^[12] Neither Anderson's "Great Migration" or the 1989 TAG Cooper article, however, state where John and Ann were married. While it is possible that John moved to Southampton about 1640 and thus John and Ann could have been married there, as discussed above there is no record of him in Southampton until 1644. Based on the fact that john probably did move to Southampton until after 1640, it is likely that John and Ann were married in Lynn.

John and Ann had the following children:

1. Hannah, b. perhaps about 1641^[14] in Lynn or Southampton, m. about 1659^[15] Thomas Topping^[7][16]
2. Sarah, b. perhaps about 1643^[14] in Lynn or Southampton, m. John Topping,^[7][16] d. before 1679^[16]
3. John, b. probably about 1645 in Southampton, m. about 1666 Hannah ________, d. May 1670 in Southampton
4. Martha, b. perhaps about 1648 in Southampton,^[17] m. June 12, 1673 Capt. John Howell^[7]
5. James, b. perhaps about 1650 in Southampton,^[17] m. November 24, 1675 Ruth Stratton, d. 1694^[7]
6. Esther, b. perhaps about 1657 in Southampton,^[17] m. July 11, 1678 Samuel Clark^[7]
7. Abigail, b. perhaps about 1661 in Southampton,^[17] m. October 19, 1682 Capt. Abraham Howell^[7]

Last Will & Testament

John made his will out on May 23, 1662:

In the name of God Amen. Know all men by these presents that I John White of Southampton on Long Island in the confines of America being at this present time in perfect strength of memory although weak in body. Blessed bee the Lord, doe make this my last will and testament as folloueth. Imps I freely give and bequeath my soule unto God. 2 I give me body to the earth from whence it was taken, And by these presents I doe make my wife Anne White my executor of this my last will and testament, and to see all the legacies hereafter mentioned fullfilled. 3d I give unto my wife my house and lott I now live upon with all the land thereunto belonging that is in ye greate and little plaines, and one of my closes lying and being on the other side of the towne, to have and to be at her own disposing during her life, and after her decease to redowned unto my son John White and James White only that my son John shall have the new dwelling house and lott to himself, And the other land to be divided equally betwixt them. 4ly I give unto my son John White that house and lot that was ye widow Bridges and one of my closes that is on the other side of the towne during my wives life and after her decease to redowned unto my son James, and after her decease my son John is to have the house I now dwell upon and the whome lott, and my son James is to have that lott that I bought of the widow Bridgs and then John and James shall equally divide the land in the great and little plaines and elsewhere that doth belong unto me, one half to one and the other half to the other, only my wife shall give them my two closes as she seeth good one to the one, and the other to the other. 5thly I give twenty pounds toward ye building and fenceing ye said lott that was the widow Bridges, for John or James as it shall fall out to be, and in case one of my sons should chance to decease before my wife then my wife shall have the power to dispose of one of the closes as she shall see cause. 6thly I give unto my six youngest children, to each of them a mare, to be delivered to them as they come to age, only my son John shall have his mare with the increase of her fowre years before he is of age. 7thly I will that my wife shall give to every of them some moveable goods as they come of age, as she shall think meet. 8thly I give unto my two daughter Sarah and Hannah each of them a chest that I made for them. 9thly I by these presents do leave my wife as above said executor of this my last will, so every or any manny of goods or chattels moveable or unmoveable that is not in particular mentioned in this my last will and testament to be her own and at her disposeing as she shall think most beneficiall to herself. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 23d of May 1662.

John White

Signed in the presence of Thomas Topping Jun

A true copy by me, Henry Peirson Regist.

The above said will was proved in Court.^[18]

Death and Estate

An inventory of John White's movable estate, totaling about 885 pounds in value, was made by John Jagger, Jonas Bower and Obadiah Roger and recorded in the Southampton records on August 24, 1662 by Henry Peirson, Register.^[19] Based on the fact that John White made his will on May 23, 1662 and the fact that his estate was inventoried on August 24, 1662, it is established that he died sometime between the two dates.

Records Relating to John White

Lynn Records

• 1633. John White admitted as a freeman of Lynn^[6]
• 1638. John White allotted 20 acres in the town of Lynn's division of land^[8]

Southampton Records

• March 7, 1644. In grouping of adult residents into 3 "wards" of 11 men for purposes of allocating the rights to beached whales, John White is listed as among those assigned to the first ward^[20]
• November 19, 1644. Reference to a lott purchased by Henry Pierson from John White.^[21]
• October 8, 1647. By order of the Generale Court, Richard Odell gentlemen, Edward Joanes, Josias Stambro, and John White are chosen freemen.^[22]
• February 8, 1648. At the General Court, John White among 11 men who have undertaken to buy the house of John Mulford^[23]
• November 14, 1648. At a meeting of the General Court of freemen, John White agrees to make "a sufficient payre of stockes" for the town^[24]
• March 8, 1649. John White among the 16 men included in the list of freemen of Southampton^[25]
• October 10, 1649. Mr. Richard Smithe, Thomas Sayre and John White voted by the General Court at Southampton "to agitate towne business" for the next year^[26]
• October 8, 1650. John White among the 19 men included in the list of freemen of Southampton^[27]
• November 10, 1650. John White among the 7 men listed as absent from the town meeting^[28]
• November 27, 1650. Thomas Cooper and John White named as defendants in action of tresspass brought by Isaac Willams^[28]
• April 21, 1651. John White and John Cooper engage themselves for 30 pounds that John Cooper will appear at the court in Hartford for his suit against Josiah Stanbrough^[29]
• December 17, 1651. John White included in Jury in action of slander by Mark Meggs against Richard Smith^[30]
• February 2, 1653. John White included in list of inhabitants granted a land allotment^[31]
• March 8, 1653. In grouping of adult residents into 4 "squadrons" of men for purposes of allocating the rights to beached whales, John White is listed as among those assigned to the third squadron^[32]
• October 24, 1653. At a town meeting, Captain Topping, Mr. Rayner and John White are appointed to try to reach agreement with the miller concerning the alteration of his mill to ease the burden on the town of opening the "sepoose"^[33]
• February 1654. John White included in list of inhabitants granted a land allotment in the Seaponack Division^[34]
• October 30, 1655. John White is a member of the Jury for an action of trespass by Capt Sillvester against Jonas Wood^[35]
• January 5, 1657. John White selected at a town meeting as one of 9 men to determine town tax rates^[36]
• October 6, 1657. At a court of election, Thomas Halsey, John White and Joshua Barnes were chosen townsmen to order the affairs of the town of the ensuing year^[37]
• [undated, probably sometime 1657-1659] John White included in list of the owners of parts of the eastward lottment of the meadow at the beach or pines no.1^[38]
• [undated, probably sometime 1657-1659] John White included in list of "the order of the fence for the little plaine"^[39]
• [undated, probably sometime 1657-1659] John White included in list of persons engaged by the town to keep the oxen in the ox pasture^[39]

^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [8] [9] [11] [13] [12] [10] [7] [14] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [32] [33] [31] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Thomas White," geni.com
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Hardin Clay Roots #1," rootsweb.ancestry.com
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Victor Channing Sanborn, "The Lincolnshire Origin of Some Exeter Settlers," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register," Vol LXVIII (1914), p 78
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Alonzo Lewis, "The History of Lynn, including Nahant," 1844, p 62
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Alonzo Lewis, "The History of Lynn, including Nahant," 1844, p 69
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9} Selleck, Lillian Lounsberry, "One branch of the Miner family : with extensive notes on the Wood, Lounsberry, Rogers and fifty other allied families of Connecticut," Donald Lines Jacobus, 1928, p 187
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2} Alonzo Lewis, "The History of Lynn, including Nahant," 1844, p 104
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} George Rogers Howell, "Early History of Southampton, L.I. New York, with Genealogies," 1866, p 15
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3} Anderson, Robert Charles, Sanborn, George F. Jr., Sanborn, Melinde Lutz. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. Volume II C-F. New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 2001. p. 202. Link to page at americanancestors.org.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3} See "Southampton Records" in this profile.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2} Thomas W. Cooper II, "The Cooper-Pierson-Griggs Connection," The American Genealogist, Vol 64, No 4 (Otober 1989), p 199
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2} It is unclear whether Sarah or Hannah was born first. Sarah is mentioned before Hannah in their father's will, which suggests that Sarah was the elder. However, Hannah married the older of the two Topping brothers and had a child in February 1661. See Selleck, Lillian Lounsberry, "One branch of the Miner family : with extensive notes on the Wood, Lounsberry, Rogers and fifty other allied families of Connecticut," 1928, p 187. This suggests that Hannah may have been the elder. Both were very probably older than their brother John, who, as discussed in his profile was probably born in 1645.
15. ↑ Date of marriage estimated based on date of birth of first child in 1660. See Selleck, Lillian Lounsberry, "One branch of the Miner family : with extensive notes on the Wood, Lounsberry, Rogers and fifty other allied families of Connecticut," Donald Lines Jacobus, 1928, p 173.
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3} Selleck, Lillian Lounsberry, "One branch of the Miner family : with extensive notes on the Wood, Lounsberry, Rogers and fifty other allied families of Connecticut," Donald Lines Jacobus, 1928, p 173
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4} Date of birth estimated based on date of marriage.
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1} "The Second Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1877, p 22
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1} "The Second Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1877, p 23
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 32
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 35
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 49
23. ↑ ^{23.0 23.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 55
24. ↑ ^{24.0 24.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 53
25. ↑ ^{25.0 25.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 56
26. ↑ ^{26.0 26.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 57
27. ↑ ^{27.0 27.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 18
28. ↑ ^{28.0 28.1 28.2} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 64
29. ↑ ^{29.0 29.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 83
30. ↑ ^{30.0 30.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 52
31. ↑ ^{31.0 31.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 100
32. ↑ ^{32.0 32.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 92
33. ↑ ^{33.0 33.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 94
34. ↑ ^{34.0 34.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 101
35. ↑ ^{35.0 35.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 110
36. ↑ ^{36.0 36.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 118
37. ↑ ^{37.0 37.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 127
38. ↑ ^{38.0 38.1} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 140
39. ↑ ^{39.0 39.1 39.2} "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, N.Y., with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," 1874, p 143

See also:

• Savage, James, "A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England," 1860, p 510
• George Rogers Howell, "Early History of Southampton, L.I. New York, with Genealogies," 1866, pp 286-287