Family:Whitney, Josiah (1753-1827)

Josiah⁶ Whitney (Josiah⁵, Richard⁴, Richard³, Richard², John¹), son of Josiah⁵ and Sarah (Farr) Whitney; born Harvard, Massachusetts, 25 Feb 1753; married in Harvard, 10 Jan 1776, Anna Scollay, bap. 18 Apr 1756; died Nelson, New Hampshire, 8 Mar 1824.

Josiah Whitney, son of General Josiah Whitney, was born in Harvard, Massachusetts, where he resided until shortly after the Revolutionary war, when he moved to Nelson, New Hampshire, where he ever after resided and conducted an extensive farm. "Josiah Whitney, Jr., was a private in the Minute Men from Harvard, Massachusetts, at the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775. Also private in Capt. Manassah Sawyer's company, Colonel Dike's regiment, Massachusetts Militia, 1776, at Dorchester Heights." He. died 2 Jan 1827; resided Harvard, Massachusetts, and Nelson, New Hampshire.

Children of Josiah⁶ and Anna (Scollay) Whitney:

i.	Nancy7 Whitney, born 12 Apr 1777; married Nathaniel Breed, of Nelson. He died 10 Oct 1837, at Alstead, New Hampshire. She died 23 Mar 1859. Ch.: Whitney, born 27 Apr 1810; married 26 Oct 1837; Persis B. Hatch, resided Alstead Center, New Hampshire.
ii.	Sally Whitney, born 26 Jun 1778; married 15 Jun 1802, Capt. Pius Upton Burnap. She died 26 Feb 1846. He was born in Reading, Massachusetts, Feb. 5, 1775; died 11 Aug 1827; resided Nelson, New Hampshire Ch.: John, born Apr. 4, 1803; died 13 May 1803; Upton, born 20 Jun 1804; married Harriet Batchelder, and died 13 Aug 1854; Josiah, born 26 Aug 1805; married Miranda Adams; died 1892; Eli, born 15 Feb 1807; died 22 Jan 1837; Polly, born 20 Sep 1808; died 1 May 1811; Nancy, born 13 May 1810; married 30 Sep 1828, Asa Taft; and died 22 Feb 1887; a dau., Nancy Marietta Taft, resided Keene, New Hampshire; Mary, born 26 Jun 1812; married 5 Mar 1840, Reuel Nims, and died 24 Mar 1869; Lura, born Apr. 3, 1814; married 14 Nov 1837, Maynard Wilson; James, born 6 Sep 1816; married 17 Oct 1840, Mary Gilman; George, born 15 Jul 1818; married Susan M. Sherwin, Mary F. Reynolds and Charlotte Harris Atwood; Laura, born 13 Oct 1819; died 28 Aug 1822; Lorin, born Oct. 13, 1819; died 11 Sep 1822.
iii.	Lois Whitney, born 15 Mar 1781; married Ezra Wardwell. They resided Nelson, N. H. He died in Sullivan, New Hampshire, 3 Jun 1845; she died there Jan. 16, 1859. Ch.: Lois, born 1 Apr 1801; died 20 Jul 1880; Ichabod Nichols, born 5 Dec 1802; died Mar., 1859; Ezekiel, born 18 Aug 1804; married Mary Cate; died abt. 1840; Phebe, born 1 Aug 1806; died in infancy, no date; Lucy, born 30 May 1808; died 27 Apr 1859; Emily, born Apr. 8, 1810; died 3 May 1811; Ezra, born 17 Mar 1812; died 24 Sep 1850; Harriet, born 11 Jun 1814; died 1874; Hersey, born 4 Feb 1817; married Sarah M. Emerson, and died 1 Aug 1871; a dau. married Charles Stay, and resided Greenfield, Massachusetts; Granville, born 9 Dec 1819; died June 24, 1858. The children of Lois Whitney and Ezra Wardwell are all dead; for further information in regard to their descendants reference is given as follows: Those of Lois Wardwell to J. R. Beal, Keene, New Hampshire; of I. N. Wardwell, to Mrs. Albert G. Nims, Keene, New Hampshire; of Lucy, to W. H. Buckminster, Keene New Hampshire; of Ezra, to Granville Wardwell, Winchester, New Hampshire; of Harriet, to Mrs. J. N. Nims, Sullivan, New Hampshire; of Granville, to Mrs. Mary L. Campbell, Great Falls, Montana.
iv.	Stephen Whitney, born 1 Jul 1784; married Mary A. Burgess.
v.	Lucy Whitney, born -----; married 4 Jun 1811, Asa Lawrence, born 21 Aug 1795; died 8 Oct 1862. She died 16 Jan 1829; resided Nelson, New Hampshire Ch.: Laura, born 28 Oct 1812; married Sept. 1831, George W. Towns, and died 5 Mar 1858; Lara, born 6 Mar 1815; died 29 Jul 1818; Justus, born 19 Feb 1817; married 4 Nov 1852, Caroline E. Trust, of Derby, Vermont; he died 21 Dec 1872; Loren Woodbury, born 3 May 1819; died Sept. 29, 1855, at Honolulu, Sandwich Islands; Lara, born 15 Apr 1822; died 4 Apr 1825; Josiah Whitney, born 6 Jun 1827; died 22 Jun 1832.
vi.	Josiah Whitney, born 24 Feb 1782; married Sarah Emes.
vii.	James Whitney, born 26 Dec 1789; married Anna Goss.
viii.	Lydia Whitney, born 6 Jul 1795; married 1818, Henry Melville, born -----; died -----. She died 8 Jan 1864; resided Nelson, New Hampshire Ch.: Sarah Minot, born 5 Oct 1818; married Dr. Leonard French; died in Ashby, Massachusetts, 11 Sep 1849, leaving son Leonard Melville French, born 26 Jul 1849, who married ----- Blood, and resided in Manchester, New Hampshire; Josiah Henry, born 18 Dec 1820; married Nancy Rebecca Nesmith, 15 Oct 1857; died 19 Mar 1885, in Nelson, New Hampshire; 3 ch., (1) Henry, born 25 Aug 1858. Mr. Melville, for four years last past secretary of the Republican Club of the city of New York, and of the Harvard Law School Association, and now one of the non-commissioned officers of Company "B" Seventh Regiment, was graduated at Dartmonth in 1879, and in 1884 took the Master's Degree and LL. B., cum laude at Harvard. He prepared for college at the Rev. Dr. Leach's school at Keene, New Hampshire. At Dartmouth he was a member of a well known local society, the Kappa Kappa Kappa, one of the oldest and best in the institution, and, on the completion of his course, was a commencement debater with the Honorable Hiram D. Upton, late speaker of the New Hampshire. House of Representatives on the question, "Is suffrage a Birthright?" After spending two years as principal of the high school at Winchendon, Massachusetts, he entered Harvard, where he remained three years, and was honored by being appointed by the faculty to represent the law school, at the university commencement in 1884, with an oration on the subject of "National Regulation of Inter-State Commerce." Coming from there to New York, he entered the office of James C. Carter, the distinguished leader of the local bar, and was admitted to practice in June, 1885. In December of that year he formed a business association with Senator Roscoe Conkline, which continued till the latter's death in 1888. Later he became a member of a partnership with Honorable Daniel Dougherty and William A. Sweetser (assistant corporation counsel), and also was one of the editorial writers in an edition of "Smith's Leading Cases." He has at all times taken an active interest in public affairs and in the Presidential campaign of 1888 made upward of thirty speeches for Harrison. As a National Guardsman he engages enthusiastically in rifle practice, and has gained some distinction by his shooting in competitions as a member of his company's team. He is a member of the Harvard Club, Republican Club, Bar Association, Phi Beta Kappa Alumni, and Sons of the Revolution. Apropos of the latter, it is interesting to note that no less that eight of his ancestors fought for American independence, viz.: Josiah Melville, Josiah Melville, Jr., Capt. Jonas Minot, James Nesmith, Reuben Gregg, Sergeant Adam Dickey, General Josiah Whitney and Josiah Whitney, Jr. The two Melvilles, two Whitneys and Minot were at Concord, the elder Whitney and Nesmith at Bunker Hill, and Dickey and Gregg at Bennington. Mr. Melville stands well among his contemporaries at the New York bar, and reflects credit upon Dartmouth, his alma mater. (2) Arthur Nesmith, born 10 Aug 1861; died 13 Jan 1883; (3) Caroline Lydia, born 10 Oct 1865; died 15 Aug 1885, in Nelson, New Hampshire; Caroline Lydia, born 17 Jan 1822; married Francis W. Wright, of Ashby, Massachusetts; died in Ashby, Massachusetts, 4 Jan 1864; buried in Nelson, New Hampshire; 2 ch.,(1) Henry Melville, died young; (2) Dascomb Francis; (4) Ann Maria, born 9 Apr 1825; married Dr. Leonard French (2d wife), died 6 Jan 1864; one child, Henry Minot, born 1 Apr 1853; Dr. Leonard died in Manchester, New Hampshire, Feb., 1892; (5) Lucy Eveline, born Dec. 12, 1828; died 5 Feb 1832, in Nelson, New Hampshire; (6) Mary Jane, born Nov. 17, 1832; married Rev. Samuel H. Tolman; died 31 Aug 1875; buried in Nelson, New Hampshire; ch., Mary Melville, born 9 Jun 1858; Edward Howe, born 30 Apr 1860; died 14 Mar 1877.
ix.	Scollay Whitney, born 6 Oct 1798; married -----; died Lynn, Massachusetts.
x.	Betsey Whitney, born 4 Jun 1801; married 31 Dec 1822, Capt. Asa Spaulding, resided Nelson. He was born 14 May 1796. Ch.: Sylvester, married Sarah Searles, of Townsend, Massachusetts; resided Keene, New Hampshire; Alfred, married C. Ann Bromley, of Danby, Vermont. She died 7 Mar 1869.

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. 181-184.

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