Family:Whitney, Shadrach (1770-1832)
Shadrach5 Whitney (Timothy5, Daniel4, Jonathan3, Jonathan2, John1), son of Timothy5 and Katherine (Davenport) Whitney, was born 6 Oct 1770, Shrewsbury, MA, and died 5 Oct 1832, Sutton, MA, aged 62 years.
He married, 5 Nov 1801, Boylston, MA, Sophia (Brigham) Martin,[1] daughter of Samuel Brigham. She was born about 21 Apr 1784, Northborough, MA, and died 18 Aug 1863, Sutton, MA, aged 79 years 3 months 27 days, of dysentery, born in Northboro.[2] She had married firstly, ----- Martin.
Children of Shadrach5 and Sophia (Brigham)(Martin) Whitney:
i. Sophia6 Whitney, b. ca. 1802, Boylston, MA; d. 5 Feb 1864, Marlborough, MA, aged 61 years, of ovarian tumor and ovarian dropsy;[3] m. 17 Jan 1826, Lancaster, MA, Charles Bridge.[4] ii. Betsey Whitney, b. bef. 1810, Boylston, MA. iii. Sally Whitney, b. bef. 1810, Boylston, MA. iv. Catharine Whitney, b. ca. 1810, Boylston, MA; d. 26 Sep 1829, Sutton, MA, aged 19 years. v. Persis Whitney, b. ca. 1813, Boylston, MA; d. 21 Dec 1834, Sutton, MA, aged 21 years. v. (son) Whitney, b. ca. 1816; d. 21 Nov 1826, Lancaster, MA, aged 10 years, of fever.[5]
Notes
The alleged parentage for Sophia (Brigham) Martin as daughter of Samuel and Mary (Ball) Brigham can not be correct since Samuel Brigham and Mary Ball were not married until 17 Feb 1789, and their daughter Sophia was apparently born 22 Nov 1803. That Sophia did marry a Whitney, and she was still alive in 1854.
(Comment 7 May 2008 by User:Ajfranke)
Agreed that Samuel and Mary (Ball) Brigham were not the parents of Sophia (Brigham)(Martin) Whitney. In Sophia's death record, it gives her father's name as Samuel Brigham, but omits the name of her mother. It does state that her father was born in Westborough and her mother in Northborough. There was, indeed, a Samuel Brigham born 6 Dec 1763, Westborough, son of Edmund and Sarah (-----) Brigham, who was old enough to be Sophia's father. He was evidently the Samuel Brigham who married, 5 May 1785, Westborough, MA, Lydia Ball. She was born 4 Feb 1765, Westborough, MA. It may be that her birth occurred in that part of Westborough that became Northborough in 1766, shortly after her birth. However, this couple apparently moved to Maine, and had a daughter Sophia born in 1804, who died in 1830 in Boston.
Thus the question of which Samuel Brigham was the father of Sophia (Brigham)(Martin) Whitney remains a mystery. The fact that a younger Sophia Brigham married a different Whitney in the same area of Massachusetts is a very confusing factor.
Another possibility is suggested by the fact that she married at 17 with the surname Martin. That would be extremely young to be a widow. Instead, she could have been an illegitimate daughter of Samuel Brigham and a Martin woman, raised with the Martin surname. Alternatively, she might have been adopted by a family named Martin.
In any case, her birth is not recorded in the vital records of any town in the area.
(Comment 8 May 2008 by Robert L. Ward)
Census
- 1810, Boylston, Worcester Co., MA: Whitney, Shadrach, 1 male 26-44, 1 female 16-25, and 4 females 0-9.
References
- Shrewsbury Vital Records
- Sutton Vital Records
1.^ "Shadrach [Whitney] and Sophia Martin, [married] Nov. 5, 1801," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Boylston, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1850 (1900).
2.^ "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 167, page 283.
3.^ "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 175, page 139.
4.^ "Sophia [Whitney], Miss, and Mr. Charles Bridge, [married] Jan. 17, 1826. T.R.3, p. 235," according to Henry S. Nourse, ed., The Birth, Marriage and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs, of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1850 (Lancaster, MA: 1890), p. 235.
5.^ "______ [Whitney], s. of Shadrach, [died] Nov. 21, 1826. T.R.2," according to Lancaster Vital Records, p. 195. Also "______ [Whitney], s. of Shadrach, [died] Nov. 21, 1826, 10y., fever. C.R.1.2," according to Lancaster Vital Records, p. 363.
Copyright © 2007, 2008, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group
