John Whitney has his own genealogy tome. In it, he is given a royal descent. This royal descent was later disproved by an article in The American Genealogist. Since then, another article tried to figure out the parentage of Thomas Whitney, but it failed. So we begin with all that is known for certain.
1. Thomas Whitney was born about 1550 and was buried at London, England on 20 May 1637. He married at London on 10 May 1583, Mary Bray, baptized 24 December 1564 at Westminster and buried 25 September 1629 at London, daughter of John and Margaret (Haslonde) Bray. Thomas is referred to as a gentlemen in records. He had ten children: Margaret, Thomas, Henry, Arnwaye, John, Nowell, Francis, Mary, Robert and Thomas.
2. John Whitney was baptized 20 July 1592 at Westminster and died 1 June 1673 at Watertown, Massachusetts. He married before 1618, Eleanor (---) who died at Watertown on 11 May 1659. John married secondly on 29 September 1659 at Watertown, Judith (---) Clements, widow of Robert Clements. John was a tailor and arrived in New England in 1635. He had ten children by his first wife: Mary, John, Richard, Nathaniel, Thomas, Margaret, Jonathan, Joshua, Caleb, and Benjamin.
3. Jonathan Whitney was born about 1634 in England and died 1 January 1702/3 at Sherborn, Massachusetts. He married 30 October 1656 at Watertown, Massachusetts, Lydia Jones, born about 1636 and died 3 February 1701/2 at Sherborn, daughter of Lewis and Anna Jones. Jonathan was a member of the General Court for Sherborn in 1694. He had eleven children: Lydia, Jonathan, Anna, John, Josiah, Elinor, James, Isaac, Joseph, Abigail, and Benjamin.
4. John Whitney (II) was born 27 June 1662 at Watertown, Massachusetts and died 1735 at Wrentham, Massachusetts. He married first on 10 April 1688 at Watertown, Mary Hapgood, born 2 November 1667 at Sudbury, Massachusetts, died 13 January 1692/3 at Sherborn, Massachusetts, daughter of Shadrach and Elizabeth (Treadway) Hapgood. John married secondly in 1694 Sarah Haven who died 23 April 1718, daughter of Richard and Susanna Haven. Lastly, John married Mrs. Martha (How) Walker. John was a fuller. By his first wife, John had three children: Mary, Elizabeth, and James. By his second wife he had two more children: Lydia and Hannah.
5. Mary Whitney was born 27 March 1689 at Sherborn, Massachusetts and died 18 April 1753 at Sudbury, Massachusetts. She married at Sudbury on 1 February 1708/9 Daniel Moore, born 13 April 1687 at Sudbury, died there about 1773, son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Loker) Moore. Daniel's will is in Middlesex Probate #10898. Daniel and Mary had eight children: Abigail, Mary, Daniel, Hannah, Eunice, Isaac, Israel, and Elizabeth.
Sources:
The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came From London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635 by Frederick Clifton Pierce (Chicago, 1895).
The American Genealogist 69 (1994):9-14. [another disproval of royal line]
The American Genealogist 10 (1933-34):84-88. [disproval of royal line]
The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton 1878-1908: Part I, The Ancestry of Warren Francis Kempton 1817-1879 by Dean Crawford Smith (Boston, NEHGS, 1996).
“The Whitney Lineage of John Whitney of Watertown, Massachusetts” by Robert Leigh Ward and Tim Doyle, The American Genealogist 81 (2006):249-262.
“A Note of the Ancestry of John Whitney of Watertown, Massachusetts” by Adrian Benjamin Burke, The American Genealogist 86 (2013):209-212.
Great Migration Immigrants to New England 1634-35 by Robert Charles Anderson (Boston, Mass.: NEHGS, 2011), VII:366-72.
Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court 1691-1780: A Biographical Dictionary by John A. Schutz (Northeastern U. Press, Boston, 1997).
Is there anyone who is a direct relative to Thomas F. Whitney? He was a direct decent to John Whitney. Thomas was born in Sudbury, Ma. in 1823. If you are I have been in contacted with someone on Family Search who has a family Bible from 1860. I am related to him from my 3 time great father William Larrabee.
Posted by: JoAnn Kolick | 01/05/2020 at 12:23 PM