Archive:The Descendants of John Whitney, page 116
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The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635, by Frederick Clifton Pierce (Chicago: 1895)
Transcribed by the Whitney Research Group, 1999.
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| 116 | WHITNEY GENEALOGY. |
a cue. He was always welcomed by the lonely pioneers. He was also known as the "Speaker of the Lobby," as he was the leader of that branch of the Legislature for many years. The citizens, judges an legistators at Vandalia were all agog to witness the convening of the Lobby. It was a great event. A throng would assemble and, after some ceremony, "Lord Coke" would mount the stand and call the house to order. He would deliver his annual message which would be received with cheers and laughter. Many hits and jokes would be em- bodied in the message. Sometimes the satire was very broad. He presided over the Lobby with magisterial sway. Many of the reports from committees would be submitted which would be in accord with their burlesque titles. These reports were often written by Lord Coke himself, and there was a broad personality in them, rather Hudibrastic. He died Dec. 13, 1860. [History Pike Co., Ill.] 1513. xi. MILTON, b. Apr. 7, 1786; m. Lydia CLEVELAND. 585. JOSIAH WHITNEY (Joshua, David, Joshua, John), b. -----; m. ----- -----; m. 2d, at Addison, Vt., Dec. 6, 1818, Susanna HINDS; res. Addison, Vt., and Chautauqua Co., N. Y. [NOTE] 1514. i. POLLY, b. -----; m. ----- COLBURN [NOTE]. 1515. ii. AMY, b.-----; unm. [NOTE] 1516. iii. NANCY, b. -----; m. ----- FERGUSON [NOTE]. 1517. iv. HULDAH, b. -----; m. Alanson SMITH of Addison [NOTE]. 1518. v. JOSHUA, b. ----- [NOTE]. 586. GEN. DAVID WHITNEY (Joshua, David, Joshua, John), b. Conn. in 1755 [NOTE], m. ----- -----; m. 2d, ----- -----; m. 3d at Addison, Vt., Mar. 3, 1818, Eliza WILSON, b. in 1802, d. at Bridport, Vt., Sept. 3, 1884. Gen. David WHITNEY came into Addison soon after the close of the Revolution, and settled on the farm previously owned by KELLOGG. He afterward removed to the farm on the north bank of Ward's Creek, where he lived until a few years pre- vious to his death, when he moved to Bridport, where he died May 10, 1850, at the age of 93. He was a member of the Constitutional Conventions of 1793, 1814, 1836, and 1843; represented Addison in 1790, 1792, 1793, 1797, 1798, 1808 to 1815, and 1824. He was a shrewd politician and always one of the leading men in the town; possessed considerable conversational powers, spiced with a quiet vein of humor. I recollect his account of having the lake fever soon after he came into town, and as it illus- trates the practice of the day, I give it: It was whilst he lived on the Kellogg farm. He was taken very sick - pulse bounding, eyes bloodshot and starting from their sockets, the blood coursing through his veins like liquid fire. The doctor was sent for; on arriving, ordered every window and door closed, although it was in the hottest days - cold water forbidden, warm drinks ordered. Thus days and nights of intolerable suffering went by, and when he begged for just one drop of water it was denied. One night two neighbors, weary and tired from the harvest field, came in to watch through the night. One of them soon dropped off to sleep; the other, more enduring, still kept watch. At midnight, after giving the general his medicine, he brought in a pail of water, fresh from the well. How quick the sick man would have given the wealth of the Indies for one draught of that spark- ling water. Could he not by stratagem secure it? He feigned sleep, and the tired man, fixing himself as comfortably as possible, was soon in a sound sleep. WHITNEY now crawled from the bed on his hands and knees, and made his way to the pail. With what eagerness he clutched the cup and drained it, draught after draught. He then wished he could breathe a little fresh air, it was so stifling where he was. The man still slept; be opened the door. How still and quiet everything lay in the moonlight. The dew on the grass sparkling like diamonds-the chirp of the cricket alone broke the silence. How delicious was the night wind, as it fanned his fevered cheek and burning brow. The idea of escape from his prison, as he regarded it, presented itself, and instantly he started, crossing the road and through a thicket edge that grew beside the fence, into a meadow, and plunging down amid the tall wet grass, he clapped his hands for joy, as he rolled from side to side. But now the fever is upon him; the fire is quenched and his strength is gone. He cannot rise. The watchers have missed him. They shout his name. He tries to answer but is too weak. They find and carry him to the house, and in alarm run for the doctor. He does not get there until morning. A quiet, refreshing sleep has removed all
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