Family:Whitney, Hezekiah (1767-1839)

Dea. Hezekiah⁶ Whitney (Timothy⁵, Jonas⁴, Moses³, Richard², John¹), son of Timothy⁵ and Alice (Whitney) Whitney.^[1] was born 14 Oct 1767, Petersham, MA,^[2] and died 25 Oct 1839, Otis, MA.

He married Mehitable Haven.

He was a farmer all his life and resided in the east part of Otis, MA. He chronicles the following: "One Sunday, 11 Jul 1819, God visited us with lightning and thunder and destroyed the south part of the house and preserved our lives in the north end of the house." The house was struck by lightning while the family was at prayer one warm Sabbath evening. A curious fact was that every room in the house was damaged but the one occupied by the family at the time. No one was hurt, although his daughter, Julia, was struck to the floor, as she stood near a window. The house is yet standing, I think. He married his wife against the wishes of his father, but he was soon reconciled. "Mehitable was a very handsome girl and remarkably smart." He was a very patient, gentle man, was a deacon in the Presbyterian church. He resided Otis, MA.

Children of Hezekiah⁶ and Mehitable (Haven) Whitney:

i.	Paul7 Whitney, b. 18 Jun 1793; m.(1) Rebecca Desire Freeman; m.(2) Mrs. Harriett (Wheeler) Roberts.
ii.	Julia Whitney, b. -----; d. 6 Aug 1856, New Boston, MA; m. Jesse Williams; resided Sandisfield, MA. A son, Orville, is a physician.
iii.	Hannah Whitney, b. -----; m. Isaac Snow; resided Otis.
iv.	Mehitable Whitney, b. -----; m. ----- Galpin. Had 2 sons. Mehitable Whitney, daughter of Hezekiah Whitney, was a small, frail woman, waist measure when a girl less than eighteen inches; her whole figure well proportioned. Yet this frail, little woman, once in winter when the deep snow made stout men wait before braving it, found the supply of fuel almost gone and her father too ill to go for any. She donned her father's coat and trousers, boots and mittens, yoked the oxen, and with shovel to help clear away the snow, went into the woods alone, cut down, drew home, and cut for the fire wood enough to last till her father was well again.
v.	Hezekiah Whitney, b. -----; d. Buffalo, NY, unmarried.
vi.	William Whitney, b. -----; d. in infancy.
vii.	Juliette Whitney, b. -----; m. John Bowen.
viii.	Sally Whitney, b. -----; m. John Bowen. After her death he married Juliette.
ix.	Lucy Whitney, b. -----; m. ----- Chatfield.
x.	Tabitha Whitney, b. -----; m. John Bowen.

Census

• 1800, Loudon, Berkshire Co., MA: Hezekiah Whitney, 1 male 26-44, 1 male 16-25, 2 males 0-9, 1 female 26-44, and 3 female 0-9.

References

• All data imported from Frederick Clifton Pierce, The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635, (Chicago: 1895), pp. 170-171.

1.^  His parentage is proven by his birth record.

2.^  "Hezekiah [Whitney], s. Timothy and Alice, [born] Oct. 14, 1767," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Petersham, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Worcester: The Systematic History Fund, 1904), p. 54.

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