Family:Whitney, Joseph (1679-1741)
Joseph3 Whitney (John2, Henry1), child of John2 and Elizabeth (Smith) Whitney,[1] was born 1 March 1678[/9], Norwalk, CT,[2] and died after 21 Mar 1740/1, when his will was written, and probably soon after.[3]
He married, 6 Jul 1704, Norwalk, CT, Hannah Hoyt,[4] daughter of Zerubbabel and Hannah (Knapp) Hoyt.[5] She was born say 1685,[6] and died said 1734.[7]
Phoenix wrote the following:
- ... a mill-wright .... She was a member of the First Congregational Church in Norwalk, in 1725. After the death of his brother, John Whitney, he came in possession of the grist-mill, by deed from his father, stipulating to pay all of his debts, and give him one half of all tolls which the mill should earn during his father's lifetime. His will was dated 21 March 1740-41; and he probably died in Norwalk, in 1741.
- His great-grandson, James Whitney, when eighty years old, wrote an interesting letter, in which he speaks of him as follows: "He was a very excentric man, and I heard many ancedotes of him. One was as follows; he was called upon to name a street running from the foot of Pudding Lane to the bridge at the head of the harbor, by the mill; and this was his answer, --
- From Hyatt's hill to Thacher's mill,
- Was once a lonesome valley;
- Since it's become a place of fame,
- We'll call it Petticoat Alley,
- and it went by that name when I was a boy, I believe over one hundred years later."[8]
Children of Joseph3 and Hannah (Hoyt) Whitney, all born Norwalk, CT:
i. Hezekiah4 Whitney, b. 10 Apr 1705;[9] m. Margaret Harris. ii. Hannah Whitney, b. 5 Nov 1707;[10] m.(1) Daniel Keeler; m.(2) Samuel Betts. iii. Joseph Whitney, b. 6 Dec 1710;[11] m. Mary Colt. iv. Thankful Whitney, b. 1 Mar 1713/4;[12] m. Ebenezer Benedict. v. Elizabeth Whitney, b. 1717;[13] m.(1) Miles Riggs; m.(2) David Rockwell; m.(3) Agur Fairchild. vi. David Whitney, b.24 Jun 1721;[14] m. Elizabeth Hyatt. vii. Abraham Whitney, b. 23 Feb 1723/4;[15] m. Anne Plumb.
References
1.^ Stephen Whitney Phoenix, The Whitney family of Connecticut, and its affiliations; being an attempt to trace the descendants, as well in the female as the male lines, of Henry Whitney, from 1649 to 1878; to which is prefixed some account of the Whitneys of England. (New York : Priv. Print. [Bradford Press] 1878), p. 13.
2.^ "Whitney, Joseph, s. John, b. 1 Mar 1678," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR1:112.
4.^ "Whitney, Joseph, m. Hannah Hayt [sic], d. Zerubbabel, 6 Jul 1704," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:2.
5.^ Ibid.
6.^ This is an estimate based on the birth dates of her children.
7.^ L.D.S. Ancestral File.
9.^ "Whitney, Hezekiah, s. Joseph, b. 10 Apr 1705," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:2.
10.^ "Whitney, Hannah, d. Joseph, b. 5 Nov 1707," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:2.
11.^ "Whitney, Joseph, s. Joseph, b. 6 Dec 1710," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:2.
12.^ "Whitney, Thankfull, d. Joseph, b. 1 Mar 1713/4," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:2.
13.^ Calculated from age at death.
14.^ "Whitney, David, s. Joseph, b. 24 Jun 1721," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:2.
15.^ "Whitney, Abraham, s. Joseph, b. 23 Feb 1723/4," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:2.
Copyright © 2007, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group
