Family:Whitney, Anna (1775-1845)

Anna⁶ Whitney (Joshua⁵, (Benjamin⁴, Josiah³, [prob.] Benjamin², John¹), daughter of Joshua⁵ and Dorothy (Knowlton) Whitney, was born circa 1775, and died 1845, DeWitt, Clinton Co., IA.

She married, circa 1800, possibly Norwich, Windsor Co., VT, Warren Percival, son of Ebenezer and Lucy (Knowlton) Percival. He was born Sep 1767,^[1] possibly Ellington, Tolland Co., CT, and died 2 Jun 1841, Williamsfield, Ashtabula Co., OH.

Warren and Anna lived in Norwich until about 1820 and then moved to Ashtabula Co., OH. After Warren's death in 1841, Anna moved to DeWitt, Clinton Co., IA with possibly two of her sons, George and Rufus. Anna died there about 1845.

Children of Warren and Anna (Whitney) Percival:

i.	Julianna Percival, b. ca. 1801, possibly Norwich, Windsor Co., VT; d. 4 Mar 1868, Wayne, Ashtabula Co., OH.
ii.	Caroline Percival, b. ca. 1804, possibly Norwich, Windsor Co., VT; d. after 1860, WI, m. 15 Jul 1824, Ashtabula Co., OH, Sylvanus Woodworth.
iii.	Thomas Percival, b. ca. 1805, possibly Norwich, Windsor Co., VT; d. 27 Jan 1839, Ashtabula Co., OH.
iv.	George Percival, b. ca. 1809, possibly Norwich, Windsor Co., VT.
v.	Rufus Percival, b. 12 Dec 1812, possibly Norwich, Windsor Co., VT.
vi.	Warren Jr Percival, b. 11 Feb 1815, possibly Norwich, Windsor Co., VT; d. 28 May 1894, Cottage, Hardin Co., IA.
vii.	Luther Percival, b. ca. 1817, possibly Norwich, Windsor Co., VT.
viii.	Elisa Percival, b. ca. 1822, possibly Norwich, Windsor Co., VT.

Notes

User:Dwood: Family tradition states that Anna corresponded with either two brothers or nephews who lived in Oswego, NY by the names of Joseph and William and supposedly were preachers. The Norwich, VT records include a William Whitney, who married Prudence Brown on March 24, 1808, and a marriage record of Electa Whitney to Alfred Brown on 18 July 1809. Another clue showed William Whitney as a witness to a land transaction on Jan 26, 1816^[2] in Windsor Co, VT by Warren Percival, Anna's husband. It was common for relatives or neighbors to be witnesses on deed transactions.

After exhausting all possible Whitney families in the mid Vermont area, I focused my research on Elijah and Chloe (Beckley) Whitney of Canaan, CT since they had three sons with one named Joseph and according to Pierce a fourth son named William and a daughter named Electa. Over a period of 3 years, I found no references to William or Anna or Electa as children of Elijah (church records, town records, probate records - none for Elijah, and land records). Elijah had 3 sons per the Canaan, CT Town Records, Elijah, Elisha, Joseph, and according to Pierce, William and Electa. The three sons moved to the Scriba, Oswego, NY area.

My research then focused on an obscure, short, Norwich, VT probate record for Joseph Whitney^[3], a minor over 14 years, who was probated 9 Jan 1813 in Hartford District Court in Norwich, VT with William Wade as his guardian. The record noted that Joseph was "an heir to the Estate of Joshua Whitney late of Belcher in the State of Massachusetts, deceased". In Aug 2011 at the LDS Library I reviewed the probate records for Belchertown, MA and found Joshua's record that listed all his children: "... I give and bequeath to William, Joshua, Joseph, Anna, Dorothy, Lucinda, Electa, Betsy, my children to each one five shillings to be paid by my Executrix...". This was the big breakthrough I had been searching for! The next piece is to find who William, Joseph, Anna, and Electa and possibly others were living with in Norwich around 1798 to 1813 since their mother, Dorothy remained in Belchertown, MA and remarried. I will focus initially on the Browns of Norwich. Also, I do not know what became of Joseph Whitney of Norwich ... did he become a preacher and move to the Scriba, NY area???

References

1.^  West Williamsfield Cemetery, Headstone, "Warren Percival Born: 1767 Died: 2 June 1841 Aged: 73y 9m".

2.^  Norwich, VT Land Records, Vol 4, 1812-1814, FHL #28591, page 288

3.^  Probate Records, Hartford District, Windsor Co., VT, Vol. 4, 1809-1816, p365, FHL#29161. "... on the ninth day of January in the year of Our Lord Christ one thousand eight Hundred and thirteen ... Joseph Whitney a minor above the age of fourteen years and now residing at said Norwich and an heir to the Estate of Joshua Whitney late of Belcher in the State of Massachusetts, deceased."

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Copyright © 2009, 2011, Doug Wood and the Whitney Research Group.