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Nathaniel Whiting Sr. (1609 - 1683)

Nathaniel Whiting Sr.
Born in Bocking Parish, Essex, Englandmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 4 Mar 1644 in Dedham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colonymap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 73 in Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusettsmap
Profile last modified | Created 10 Oct 2010
This page has been accessed 4,965 times.
The Puritan Great Migration.
Nathaniel Whiting Sr. migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 371)
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Contents

Biography

This profile is part of the Whiting Name Study.
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Nathaniel Whiting Sr. migrated from England to Colonial America.
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See Whiting ONS Project Page

Disputed Origins

He was NOT the Nathaniel Whiting born 1 August 1609 in Bocking, Essex, England to parents John Whitting and Sarah Smith.

Nor was he son of John Whiting who had 6 children all listed in the Parish records of Baptisms of St. Boltoph's, Boston, Lincolnshire. There is no Robert, Sarah, Stephen, Joseph or Nathaniel listed in this baptismal record or later in John Whiting's Will.[1]

Life in New England

In 1638, Nathaniel Whiting first appears in in Salem Quarterly Court files regarding the number of acres owned by Landholders in Lynn, Massachusetts, "Nathaniell Whiteinge." He was admitted to the First Church of Dedham, Massachusetts on 30 May 1641 and became a freeman on 18 May 1642. [2][3][4]

He was a miller by trade and the first to operate a working mill in Dedham, Massachusetts. [3]

Marriage & Children

He married 4 November 1643, Hannah Dwight, eldest daughter of John Dwight.[5] Lazell shows the date as 4 Sept 1643.[3][6][7] "I suppose he liv. in that part which became Medfield." They had the following children:

  1. Nathaniel Whiting, b. 26 July 1644[3][8], bp 29 Sep 1644; m. Dedham, Mass. 29 Mar 1664, Johanna Gay [9]
  2. John Whiting, b 28 July 1646[3]; bp. 11 Oct 1646, prob died early
  3. John Whiting, b. 3 Sept 1647[3]; d. 25 July 1656
  4. Samuel Whiting, b. 20 Dec 1649[10][3]; 30 Dec 1649; m. 23 Sept 1676, Mary Fairbanks. [3]
  5. Hannah Whiting, b. 17 Dec 1651[10][3]; bp. 22 Feb 1652; m. John Fairbanks.
  6. Timothy Whiting, b 5 Nov 1653[3]
  7. Mary Whiting, b. 8 May 1656; d. 29 Aug 1656[3]
  8. Mary Whiting, b. 12 Apr 1658. [10][3]; bp. 24 Oct 1658
  9. Sarah Whiting, b. 3 March 1660; [10] d. 22 March 1732, Dedham, Mass.; m. abt 1685, Nathaniel Farrington (b. 9 Aug 1656, d. 8 May 1723).[3]
  10. Abigail Whiting, b 7 Jun 1663; d. 25 Oct 1721, Roxbury, Mass.; m. 18 Feb 1680 in Roxbury, Mass to James Draper [11][3] [5]
  11. John Whiting, b 19 July 1665[3]; bp. 23 Jul 1665; d 1732; m Mary Billings
  12. Jonathan Whiting, b. 9 Oct 1667[3]; bp. 20 Oct 1667; m. 1689, Rachael Throp [7] and had a son Nathaniel Whiting, m. Hannah Lyons and perhaps more.
  13. Judah or Judith Whiting, b. 30 Mar 1670; d. Dedham, 19 Feb 1746; m. (1) 1693, Barachiah Lewis; m. (2) Dedham, Mass. 16 Mar 1714, Joseph Ellis.
  14. Ann, b. 25 Nov 1672; [4] d. 9 March 1749, Dedham, Mass.; m. (1) John Eaton; m. (2) Dedham, 4 Apr 1700, John Lewis; m. (3) Dorchester, Mass. 11 Aug 1725, James Herring of Roxbury. [3]

In his will, John Dwight mentions Nathaniel Whiting, "the children of my son Nathaniel Whiteing and of Hannah his wife." [12]

Death & Will

He died on 15 January 1682/3 at Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts. [13] [3] [10] His will was made on 15 March 1677 and proved on 19 April 1683 in Suffolk, Massachusetts.[14] He is buried at Old Village Cemetery in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts. [15]

Common Errors to Avoid

Death date: He died on 15th of the 11mo 1682 which should be interpreted as 15 January 1682/3. [16] It can be found online, including on Find A Grave, that he died in 15 November 1682 - this is incorrect.

Sources

  1. Memoir of Rev. Samuel Whiting, D.D., and of his wife, Elizabeth St. John, with references to some of their English ancestors and American descendants, by Whiting, William, 1813-1873, p. 15 & 16, 1873, Boston : Press of Rand, Avery & Co.[1]
  2. Jackson, Ron V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. Massachusetts Census, 1790-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes.Ancestry.com
  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 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 Theodore Studley Lazell. Whiting genealogy. Nathaniel Whiting of Dedham, Mass., 1641, and five generations of his descendants, Boston, Mass. [T.R. Marvin & son, printers], 1902, pp. 12, 14-15. Archive.org
  4. 4.0 4.1 James Savage. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1862, IV, p. 519.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.
  6. Alternative dates in the same year appear in other sources.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.Ancestry.com Ancestry.com
  8. New England Historic Genealogical Society. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston: The New England Historic Genealogical Society.
  9. Clemens, William Montgomery. American Marriage Records Before 1699. Pompton Lakes, NJ, USA: Biblio Co., 1926.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).
  11. Draper Genealogy, p 20.
  12. Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, Volumes 2, C-F; Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1996-2011. p 375.
  13. Dedham. Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths. (1886):16.
  14. Massachusetts County, District and Probate Courts. Item Description: Probate Records, Vol 5-7, 1666-1674.
  15. Find A Grave Memorial #73164107, Nathaniel Whiting (1609-1683). Note: FAG currently has the incorrect birth date of 15 Nov. 1682. He died in the 11month which was 15 January 1682/3.
  16. Dedham. Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths. (1886):16.
Source list:
  • Find A Grave Memorial #73164107, Nathaniel Whiting (1609-1683). Note: FAG currently has the incorrect birth date of 15 Nov. 1682. He died in the 11month which was 15 January 1682/3.

Notes

Merge requested 8/12/2019 with Nathaniel (Whiting) Whitting 1 Aug 1609 Bocking Parish, Essex, England - 15 Jan 1683 ~ Managed by Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree. [compare] (PPP Whiting-62)





Memories: 1
Enter a personal reminiscence or story.
Our ancester is first mentioned in theis country in the Salem, MA quarterly court file, in the return made by the proprietors clerk of the number of acres belonging to each of the landholders al Lynn, MA in 1638: Nathaniell Whiteinge 10 (acres). He is believes to have gone with Rev. Samuel Whiting of lynn in a636In Lewis' History of Lynn, the name appears as Whiteridge, but the correct spelling has been given by later writers.

He is next mentioned on the records of the First Church at Dedham, MA: Nathaniel Whiting was admitted into ye Church 30th 5m 1641. He was granted the privileges of a freeman Mat 18, 1642. He was by occupation a miller and the first to operate a corn mill in Dedham, MA. The records do not give us the date of the completion of the dam and mill, but a committee was appointed on July 14, 1641 to lay out a a cartway to our watermill. A grant of 8 acres was made to John Elderkin and Nathaniel Whiting jointly on the south side of the mill for a house lot. There is no date for this grant but the next entries: John Elderkin conveyed to Nathaniel Whiteings his half as appears by a deed dated thee 22 of the 9th month 1642. In 29th of ye 7th month 1649n, Nathaniel Whiting obtained the other half of the mill and privileges. The mill privilege was retained in the hands of the Whiting family until 1823, when the heirs of Hezekiah Whiting sold it to Jabez Chickering. The printed records of the Town of Dedham, MA contain many entries concerning Nathaniel Whiting, the mill and his tax rates town, county and school purposes, his grants of land and public services. On January 15, 1862-3 the very day of his death, the Town empowered the selectmen to make the following agreement with Nathaniel Whiting and James Draper, Sr. (Printed records Townof Dedham v:140) He died at Dedham 14: 11 mo, 1682. His age is notgiven. The original of his will and inventory are missing from the files and the following copies are taken from Suffolk County Probate records, VI: 408 and IX: 117: He married at Dedham 4th 9 mo, 1643 Hannah Dwight, daughter of Joh and Hannah Dwight of Dedham, MA. She died in Dedham, MA November 4, 1714, age 89. She was therfore born about 1625. She survived him over 30 years and appears to have managed his business and briought up their large family with rare discretion. His will is recorded in the Suffolk Registry of Probate, XVIII: 396. Children, all born in Dedham. MA: Nathaniel b. 7/26/1644 (9/7/1644?; m. Dedham, MA 3/29/1664 Joanna Gay b. 3/23/1645; daughter of John and Joanna Gay John b. 9/28/1646; d. x/26/1646 John b. 9/3/1647; d. 7/25/1856 Samuel b. 10/20/1649 Hannah b. 12/17/1651; d. Wrentham, MA 6/14/1740 Timothy b.11/5/1653; d. Dedham, MA 12/26/1728; m. Sarah Bullard Mary b. 5/8/1656;d. 8/29/1656 Mary b. 4/12/1658; Probably died young Sarah b. 4/12/1660; d. Dedham, MA 3/22/1732; m. about 1685 Nathaniel Farrington(b. 8/9/1656; d. 5/8/1721) Abigail b. 6/7/1663; d. Roxbury, MA 10/25/1721; m. Roxbury, MA 2/18/1680-1, James Draper John b. 7/19/1665; m. 12/4/1688 Mary Billings; d. 1/4/1728 of Wrenthham, MA where he resided' d. 1732 (from a fragmentary account of some of his decendents, see Goodwin's Genealogical notes pp 46-7.) Jonathan b. 10/9/1667 (recorded also at Roxbury)m. Rachel Thorp. They had a son Nathaniel whomarried Hannah Lyons whose son Nathaniel, Jr. was a near progenitor of the whitins of Whitinsville, a flourishing manufacturing town founded by them. Judah (or Judith) b. 3/30/1670; d. Dedham 2/19/1746-7; m. 1st Barachiah Lewis; m. 2nd Dedham, 3/16/1714, Joseph Ellis Anna b. 11/25/1672; d. Dedham, MA 3/9/1749; m. 1st John Eaton; m. 2nd Dedham John Lewis 4/4/1700; m. 3rd Dorchester, MA 8/11/1725 James Herring of Roxbury, MA The Whiting Family in Dedham By Eleanor Palma When Nathaniel Whiting arrived in Dedham in 1641, it was the beginning of a one hundred eighty-two year relationship of the Whiting family with the town of Dedham and the mills. He originally was given a site and privileges to grind corn on what was called Mother Brook, near the site of the Old Boston Envelope Company on Maverick Street. When a new corn mill was erected above the mill of Nathaniel Whiting in 1664 by Ezra Morse, it began a series of complaints to the town by Nathaniel of flooding damage to his mill. Some contentious years followed with accusations on both sides as well as law suits until Whiting agreed to abide by the town’s decisions. Nathaniel Whiting had been born in England about 1609. He was deeded ten acres of land in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1638. Subsequently he moved to Dedham, and on November 4, 1643, he married Hannah Dwight, the daughter of John Dwight, an upstanding member of the community. Over the years, fourteen children were born, ten of whom lived to maturity. Nathaniel Whiting was a prosperous man and owned land not only in Dedham but also in Roxbury and Wrentham. Shortly before his death in 1683, Nathaniel and James Draper received the third mill privilege upon Mother Brook to build a fulling mill, and the descendents of Nathaniel Whiting held this mill privilege for over one hundred eighty years. Throughout the years, the descendents of Nathaniel Whiting continued to be an integral part of the town of Dedham. Calvin Whiting, the son of Isaac and Rebecca Fisher Whiting, was born in 1762 and married Elizabeth Fuller. Calvin was a merchant and an inventor. He formed a partnership with Eli Parsons, tinsmith, for the manufacture of tin ware and sold it in his store at what was called “Connecticut Corner.” Their first machine patent for tin ware manufacture dates to 1806 and was granted to Whiting and Parsons. Calvin Whiting was also authorized by an Act of the Legislature to bring water in pine logs from a large spring in Federal Hill to residents in the Village in 1797. Calvin was an inventive genius and invented much of the wool carding machinery for the Whiting mills. He received a U.S. patent on February 1, 1814 for a loom for warping or mounting the warp of the yarn bean in a wool mill. The original copy of the patent is signed by President James Madison with the official raised seal. Calvin was also a civic minded individual and served a total of fourteen years as a selectman in the town as well as being licensed as a Justice of the Peace. A series of journals authored by Isaac Whiting, the son of Moses and Sarah Gay Whiting who was born in 1776, gives much insight into the early nineteenth century. What began as work journals turned into commentaries about family affairs and aspects of daily life in a busy community. For example: “March 18. 1823 Mr. Holis Perry came to work for me on trial for 6 or 7 months and if he suits me, am to give 20 dollars per month. He finding his own board, washing and mending.” “Self attended annual meeting of Horse Thief Society at Gregg’s Tavern.” “August 3, 1826 Self with Lemuel Whiting went to Mr. Birds in order to do something about settling for his flowing the water upon the gristmill.” Almost one hundred fifty years after Nathaniel Whiting complained about flooding at his mill, the argument continues. Much of the genealogy information present in the Society’s archives was garnered by Caroline Whiting. Caroline, the oldest daughter of John and Lucinda French Whiting, was born in Dedham in 1810. She had been a schoolteacher in several towns in Rhode Island and worked for a time as an assistant teacher at the Academy at Kingston in Kingston, Rhode Island. For several years, about 1835, she taught a private school in her own home. In 1839, she was the Preceptress at Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts. She had many interests in addition to genealogy and kept careful journals of her day-to-day affairs. It is through her diligence that much of the family’s lineage is preserved. William Whiting, the son of Lemuel and Mary Gay Whiting who was born in 1830, was the last Whiting to own a mill. The mills had changed over time, and much of the family land had been sold. About 1871, Charles Sanderson began laying out the old Whiting Farm as Oakdale. The land was divided into house lots and only the name of Whiting Avenue remains. [There is a painting by Charles Mills in the furniture room at the Society showing the Whiting mills.]

posted 9 Oct 2012 by Holt Whiting II   [thank Holt]
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Comments: 5

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Could Timothy Whiting and Ann Bunning be Nathaniel Whiting's parents. I found a reference at familysearch? https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/M82P-FYV
posted by Sandra Pounds
Baptised in 1617 and birthdate drawn from Find a Grave I think makes it a very dodgy source. It would be highly unusual for such a late baptism if the estimate birth date is in any way reliable.

There is a Nathaniel Whyting botn in Winthorpe LIncolnshire in 1608. Just trying to find if there is a burial record for him Edited to add There is a burial for a Nathanile Whiting Senior in 1704 nearby

Ann

posted by Ann Browning
edited by Ann Browning
It's more than just "disputed." There is what I would call conclusive proof that Nathaniel Whiting of Dedham, Mass. was NOT the son of John & Sarah Whiting of Boston, Lincolnshire. Therefore the first sentence of the "Biography" should be deleted altogether, or at least replaced by a statement that Nathaniel's parents are unknown. Personally I haven't decided on what would be the most likely set of parents for him, except that I'm certain that the parents were not the above John & Sarah Whiting. The whole "John and Sarah"thing is a mishmash of John Whiting of Boston (England), who was having children in the 1570s, and Sarah (Smith), the wife of TIMOTHY Whiting of London, whose father John Smith, a merchant tailor, made his will in 1655. Timothy and Sarah (Smith) Whiting indeed had a son Nathaniel, but he was christened at St. Pancras (London) 20 March 1647, by which time our honored ancestor Nathaniel Whiting was already a married man well ensconced in Dedham, Mass. (The abstract of the will, as retrieved by Henry Waters as part of his Genealogical Gleanings in England series, can be read at http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/henry-f-henry-fitz-gilbert-waters/genealogical-gleanings-in-england-parts-i-xxiiixxv-volume-1-eta/page-7-genealogical-gleanings-in-england-parts-i-xxiiixxv-volume-1-eta.shtml). The will confirms that Grandpa Smith was talking about a grandson who was a minor at the time, as the testator made provision for the boy to serve an apprenticeship. Therefore we need to bury once and for all the notion that the beneficiary of John Smith's will had anything to do with Nathaniel Whiting of Dedham, Mass.
posted by Barry Wood
Thanks, Barry. I've removed the text about the parents. Feel free to add further clarification to the narrative.
posted by Jillaine Smith
Bottom of profile has a disputed parents section that should be at top as Disputed Origins. It indicates he (and a few others) should be detached from these parents. Objections?
posted by Jillaine Smith