Family:Whitney, Henry (1681-1728)
Henry3 Whitney (John2, Henry1), son of John2 and Elizabeth (Smith) Whitney,[1] was born 21 Feb 1680/1, Norwalk, CT,[2] and died 26 April 1728, Ridgefield, CT.[3]
He married, 14 June 1710, Norwalk, CT, Elizabeth Olmstead,[4] daughter of "the late Lieut. John" and Mary (Benedict) Olmstead.[5] She was born say 1690,[6] and died Ridgefield, CT, "at a great age".[7]
Phoenix says the following:[8]
- ... a weaver ....
- His father had already given to him, 18 Oct 1709, "my now Dwelling House, Barn and Home Lott, containing found acres of land." He returned to his father, 19 Oct. 1709, a life-lease of the same, as follows:
- For and in Consideration of Love, good will and Affection, which I have and do bear towards my Honoured and Well Respected Father, Mr. John Whitney, of the aforesaid Town and County, Do give and grant, and by these presents do fully & absolutely give and grant unto him, my said Father, John Whitney, the free use and Improvement of one half of ye now Dwelling House, Barn & Home Lott that he now dwells in & Improves, During ye Term of his Natural Life, as also, ye Improvement of Half of said House, & what convenience my be needful in ye Barn unto my Honoured Moather, if she survive my said father, During her continuance of Widowhood.
- He sold this property, 8 July 1712, to his brother, John Whitney, subject to the foregoing lease; and removed, among the early settlers, to Ridgefield, Conn., where we find his ear-mark recorded 1 Dec. 1712. Here he was chosen townsman, 17 Dec. 1717; fence-viewer, 5 Dec. 1720, 19 Dec. 1723, 14 Dec. 1724, and 22 Dec 1726.
- The Townsmen Do Order that ye White Oak Tree standing near Henry Whitne's be recorded their Sign Post.
- Recorded Janry 7th 1727-7, Per me
- THOMAS HAWLEY, Registr.
- He died at Ridgefield, 26 April 1728, and was, doubtless, buried in the old graveyard, south of the village, where only two gravestones yet stand, neither of which is his. In exchanging land with Joseph Northrup, Sen., of Ridgefield, 26 Ap. 1727, he styled himself "Henry Whitne, Senr., of Ridgfield, in ye County of Fairfield, in ye Colony of Connecticutt, in New England, Weaver." Four days before his death, 22 Ap. 1728, he conveyed land to Rev. Thomas Hawley, and, probably on account of weakness, signed the deed by his mark. Many grants of land were made by the town, on his right, to his heirs, from 16 May 1729 to 1742, and, perhaps, even later. It is said that his widow lived to a great age, and died at Ridgefield, but no record of her death has been found.
- The following diagram will indicate the position of his home-lot.
SCALE, EIGHT RODS TO AN INCH.
North.
| |
| |
| |
| |
Home-lot of | Main | Home-lot of
Matthew St. John. | Street, | Rev. Thomas Hawley.
| 8 rods |
| wide. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
----------------------------- -----------------------------
| |
| "Meeting House" yard, | Home-lot of Henry
| 16 rods wide. | Whitney, containing
Home-lot of Joseph | | nine acres. Divided
Keeler; 7 1/2 | | 4 Apr. 1745; north
acres; sold for | | half to son Daniel
L116 by Lot Keeler,| | Whitney, south half
of Salem, N.Y., to | 20 | to son John Whitney;
Silas Keeler, of | rods | a dwelling-house on
Ridgefield, 4 Aug. | wide. | each half. North
1749. | | half sold to Vivus
| | Dauchy, of Ridgefield,
| Congregational | 14 March 1753, by
| ----- | Daniel Whitney.
| | | | South half, 4 1/2
| | | | acres, sold by John
| | | | Whitney, 14 Feb. 1753,
| | | | for L1200 old tenor,
| ----- | to Abraham Betts of
| Church. | Norwalk.
| |
----------------------------- -----------------------------
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Main | Home-lot owned
| Street, | in 1744 by
| 8 rods | Benjamin and
| wide. | Jonathan Rockwell.
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
South.
- The main street in Ridgefield seems to have been laid eight rods wide; but encroachments have narrowed it in some places. The following, from "Descriptions of Highways, 26 Dec. 1726," shows the location of three home-lots, occupied by children of John Whitney:
- From ye South of Mr. Hawley's homelot begins ye Meeting house yard, and from Henry Whitne's Northwest Corner, to Matthew Saintjohn's South East Corner of his Home lott is Sixteen rods; and from said Whitne's North Corner to his South Corner is Twenty rods, and from sd South Corner west across ye Street to Joseph Keeler's South east Corner is sixteen rodds, and from said Keeler's Corner to Matthew Sainjohn's South east Corner, or rather Joseph Keeler's North East Corner standing in Saintjohn's line is Twenty rodds.
Children of Henry3 and Elizabeth (Olmstead) Whitney:
i. Elizabeth4 Whitney, b. 24 Aug. 1711, Norwalk, CT,[9] also recorded Ridgefield, CT;[10] apparently d. unmarried, before 1718. ii. Jerusha Whitney, b. 18 Dec 1714, Ridgefield, CT;[11] m. Daniel Sherwood. iii. Henry Whitney, b. 29 Jul 1715, Ridgefield, CT;[12] m. Elizabeth Lobdell. iv. John Whitney, b. 28 Jan 1717, Ridgefield, CT;[13] m.(1) Hephzibah Olmstead; m.(2) Thankful Benedict. v. Betty Whitney, b. 7 Nov 1718, Ridgefield, CT;[14] m. Daniel Smith. vi. Daniel Whitney, b. 4 Apr 1720, Ridgefield, CT;[15] m. Thankful Burt. vii. Richard Whitney, b. 29 Mar 1722, Ridgefield, CT;[16] m. Esther Clark. viii. James Whitney, b. 6 Dec 1725, Ridgefield, CT;[17] m. Lydia -----.
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), pp. 13-16.
2.^ "Whitney, Henry, s. John, b. 21 Feb 1680," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR1:112.
3.^ "Whitney, Henry, Sr., d. 26 Apr [1728]," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Ridgefield LR1:214.
4.^ "Whitney, Henry, m. Elizabeth Olmsted, d. Lieut. John, decd., 14 Jun 1710," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:3.
5.^ Her father is mentioned in her marriage record.
6.^ This is a guess based on the dates of marriage and the births of her children.
9.^ "Whitney, Elizabeth, [d. Henry & Elizabeth (Armstead)], b. 24 Aug 1711," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:3.
10.^ "Whitney, Elizabeth, [d. Henry & Elizabeth (Armstead)], b. 24 Aug 1711," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Ridgefield LR1:201.
11.^ "Whitney, Jerusha, [d. Henry & Elizabeth (Armstead)], b. 18 Dec 1714," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Ridgefield LR1:201.
12.^ "Whitney, Henry, [s. Henry & Elizabeth (Armstead)], b. 29 Jul 1715," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Ridgefield LR1:201.
13.^ "Whitney, John, s. Henry & Elizabeth, b. 28 Jan 1714," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Ridgefield LR1:202.
14.^ "Whitney, Betty, d. Henry & Elizabeth, b. 7 Nov [1718]," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Ridgefield LR1:202.
15.^ "Whitney, Daniel, s. Henry & Elizabeth, b. 4 Apr [1719]," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Ridgefield LR1:203.
16.^ "Whitney, Richard, s. Henry & Elizabeth, b. 29 Mar [1721/2]," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Ridgefield LR1:234.
17.^ "Whitney, James, s. Henry & Elizabeth, b. 6 Dec [1724/5]," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Ridgefield LR1:205.
Copyright © 2007, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group
