Family:Whitney, James (c1791-a1850)

James Whitney, parentage unknown but perhaps son of James and Lidia (Spaulding) Whitney, was born circa 1791, MA, and died between 1850 and 1860, IL.

He married Hannah Bruce, daughter of Benjamin and Philadelphia (Wheeler) Bruce. She was born circa 1795, and died 1840, Jay, Essex Co., NY.

There is a record of a grave for Hannah wife of James Whitney located right next to the graves of Benjamin and Philadelphia Bruce in the Jay Cemetery in New York.

Also on the 1840 census page in the next household listed as head is their son (John) Franklin Whitney with his family. In the household after that is Jacob Nokes, John Franklin Whitney's father in law.

On John Franklin Whitney's death entry in Crow Wing County, Minnesota his parents are listed as James & H Whitney.

Children of James and Hannah (Bruce) Whitney:

i.	John Franklin Whitney, b. ca. 1815, d. 23 May 1888, Mooresville, Crow Wing, Minnesota.

Notes

Based on his age and reported birth in Massachusetts, it is possible that he may be the same as James⁷ Whitney, son of James⁶ and Lydia (Spalding) Whitney, born 4 Jun 1792, Dunstable, MA, of whom we know nothing further. Proof of this identification is needed.

The following information taken from [1]:

James WHITNEY Hannah BRUCE Husband: James WHITNEY Birth: 1790/1, MA Death apparently: 1850-60, Brown Co., IL Occupation: farmer Marriage: Wife: Hannah BRUCE Birth: ca. 1794/5, Bolton, Worcester Co., MA Death apparently: 1840-50, Jay, Essex Co., NY Father: Benjamin BRUCE Mother: Philadelphia WHEELER — descendant of Resolved WHITE, Mayflower passenger Children: 1. (Daughter A) WHITNEY, b. 1810-15 2. (Son A) WHITNEY, b. 1810-20 3. John Franklin WHITNEY, b. 1814/5, VT; m. Sarah NOKES (b. 1815/6, VT), d/o Jacob NOKES (1778-1844) & Mary FULLER (c1784-1857) 4. Jacob WHITNEY, b. 1818; not found in 1850 5. William T. WHITNEY, b. 23 Jun 1820, NY; 1850 census in Jay, Essex Co., NY 6. (Son B) WHITNEY, b. 1820-25 7. (Son C) WHITNEY, b. 1820-25 8. (Son D) WHITNEY, b. 1825-30 9. (Daughter B) WHITNEY, b. 1825-30 10. (Daughter C) WHITNEY, b. 1830-35 11. (Daughter D) WHITNEY, b. 1835-40 12. (Daughter E) WHITNEY, b. 1835-40 Known to have had these children: William, Barney, John Franklin, Sheldon, Joseph, Hannah (m. GRAHAM), and Abigail. Keywords for search engines: USA, United States, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont Sources: 1. LDS. Family Search: Internet Genealogy Service: IGI - International Genealogical Index (online at FamilySearch.org). William T. WHITNEY Birth: 23 Jun 1820, New York Father: James WHITNEY; Mother: Hannah BRUCE Source: patron submission 2. 1810 Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com): not found, as expected. (There is only one James WHITNEY in VT, and he is too old to be our subject.) 3. 1820 Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #1 of 4 — indexed and grouped as being in Keene, but actually in Jay; list was roughly alphabetized; extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen): 1820 NY Essex Co. Jay Roll M33_69 p. 426 Ln. 6 Whitney James 400010-10100-0-100 These data indicate: No. & Sex Age Class Therefore Born Individuals Inferred 4 males 9 or under 1810-1820 = William (b. 1820) = Jacob (b. 1818) = John (b. 1814/5) = Son A 1 male 26-44 1775-1794 = James (b. 1790/1) 1 female 9 or under 1810-1820 = Daughter A 1 female 16-25 1794-1804 = Hannah (b. ca. 1794/5) 1 person engaged in agriculture 4. 1830 Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #19 of 20; extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen): 1830 NY Essex Co. Jay Roll 114 p. 298 Ln. 5 James Whitney 132 001 - 100 101 These data indicate: No. & Sex Age Class Therefore Born Individuals Inferred 1 male 4 or under 1825-1830 = Son D 3 males 5-9 1820-1825 = Son C = Son B = William (b. 1820) 2 males 10-14 1815-1820 = Jacob (b. 1818) = John (b. 1814/5) 1 male 30-39 1790-1800 = James (b. 1790/1) 1 female 4 or under 1825-1830 = Daughter B 1 female 15-19 1810-1815 = Daughter A 1 female 30-39 1790-1800 = Hannah (b. ca. 1794/5) Listed seven lines above Jonah BRUCE (æ 70-80). 5. 1840 Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #15-16 of 26; extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen): 1840 NY Essex Co. Jay Roll 282 pp. 55B-56A Ln. 24 James Whitney 001 220 100 - 211 010 100 0600000 These data indicate: No. & Sex Age Class Therefore Born Individuals Inferred 1 male 10-14 1825-1830 = Son D 2 males 15-19 1820-1825 = Son C = Son B 2 males 20-29 1810-1820 = William (b. 1820) = Jacob (b. 1818) 1 male 40-49 1790-1800 = James (b. 1790/1) 2 females 4 or under 1835-1840 = Daughter E = Daughter D 1 female 5-9 1830-1835 = Daughter C 1 female 10-14 1825-1830 = Daughter B 1 female 20-29 1810-1820 = Daughter A 1 female 40-49 1790-1800 = Hannah (b. ca. 1794/5) 6 persons employed in agriculture Listed one line above Franklin WHITNEY (æ 20-30), who is one line above Sarah (NOKES) WHITNEY's father, Jacob NOKES (æ 50-60). 6a. 1850 Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #9 of 16): T1S.R4W, Brown Co., IL, Roll M432_98, p. 159A, 977/982, enumerated 27 Sep 1850, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1850 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen): James Whitney 59 M Farmer Mass Solomon 8 M NY Aaron Inman 13 M Ohio Hannah was to old to have been Solomon's mother, unless we're wrong about her age (in which case, she's too young to be the mother of the eldest children). Listed next to our subject's son, John F. WHITNEY (æ 35, b. VT), his wife, Sarah [nee NOKES] (æ 34, b. VT), and their four children. 6b. 1850 Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com): William WHITNEY (æ 30, b. NY) and his family are living in Jay, Essex Co., NY (p. 213A), listed next to Nymphus BRUCE, who is William's first cousin (son of Hannah's brother, Jonah); William's is the only WHITNEY family in Jay. 7. 1860 Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com): not found. 8. Messages posted to the Whitney Family Genealogy Forum (online at GenForum.com). 9. Archives of the WHITNEY-L mailing list (online at RootsWeb.com). 10. WorldConnect / Ancestry World Trees (online at RootsWeb.com/Ancestry.com). 11. Email from Bertha Emmett, who supplied (among other things) this list of chldren: William, Barney, John Franklin, Sheldon, Joseph, Hannah (m. GRAHAM), and Abigail.

Census

• 1820, Jay, Essex Co., NY: James Whitney, 4 males under 10, 1 male 26-45, 1 female under 10, 1 female 16-26, and 1 person in agriculture.
• 1830, Jay, Essex Co., NY: James Whitney, 1 male under 5, 3 males 5-10, 2 males 10-15, 1 male 30-40, 1 female under 5, 1 female 15-20, and 1 female 30-40.
• 1840, Jay, Essex Co., NY: James Whitney, 1 male 10-15, 2 males 15-20, 2 males 20-30, 1 male 40-50, 2 females under 5, 1 female 5-10, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 20-30, and 1 female 40-50.
• 1850, Township 1SR4W, Brown, IL: James Whitney, head, age 59, farmer, born Mass... Solomon Whitney, age 8, born NY... Aaron Inman, age 13, born OH... note: James son, John is listed as head with his family in the following household.

References

• Census, death entry, online grave listing

---

Copyright © 2008, Kristy Fitterer and the Whitney Research Group.