Family:Whitney, Henry (1772-1812)

Henry⁵ Whitney (Henry⁴, Josiah³, John², Henry¹), son of Henry⁴ and Eunice Clark) Whitney, was born 30 Jul 1772, Derby, CT, baptized 2 Aug 1772, Derby, CT, and died 12 Mar 1812, New York, NY.^[1]

He married, 30 Jul 1808, New York, NY, Mary Suydam, daughter of Hendrick and Phoebe (Skidmore) Suydam. She was born 15 Sep 1780, Hallett's Cove, NY, and died 5 Aug 1867, Brooklyn, NY. She married secondly, 1 Feb 1821, Hallett's Cove, NY, Adrian Van Sinderen.

Phoenix says the following:

Henry Whitney, b. at Derby, Conn., 30 July 1772; bap. in the Congregational Church at Derby, 2 Aug. 1772; a merchant in New York City; was married on Saturday evening, 30 July 1808, by Rev. Dr. Abeel, Dutch Reformed, to Mary Suydam, dau. of Hendrick and Phoebe (Skidmore) Suydam, of Hallett's Cove, L. I., where she was born 15 Sept. 1780. They dwelt, in 1809 and 1810, at 3 Stone Street, New York, directly opposite the house of his brother, Stephen Whitney; in 1811, at 75 Broadway, where he died, at 6 o'clock, on Saturday morning, 12 March 1812, of a malignant croup, which attacked him on the previous Thursday. He is buried in the Whitney Mortuary Chapel, Greenwood Cemetery.

He was a member of the honorable and highly respected film of Lawrence and Whitney, shippers, of New York City. They were, as we learn from the City Directory, at 12 Burling Slip, in 1793; cor. of Front Street and Burling Slip, 1794; 176 Front Street 1795; 181 Front Street 1796; 180 Front Street, 1797; 178 Front Street, 1798-1800; 182 Front Street 1801-1803; 167 Front Street, 1804; 85 South Street, 1805-1806; 185 Front Street, 1808-1812; and at 91 South Street in 1813-1814.

The general estimate of his character may be inferred from the following obituary notice, which appeared in The Evening Post: "In the lamented death of this worthy and excellent man, society has sustained no common loss. He was endowed with a penetrating and judicious mind, and his heart was the abode of every amiable and social virtue. To an invincible integrity, and elevated sense of honor, that rendered him one of the brightest ornaments of the mercantile profession, he united a philanthropy or disposition, and suavity of manners, which justly acquired him the affectionate esteem of all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. To his chosen friends, he was peculiarly dear; he gave them his whole heart, and received their unlimited affection in return. Perhaps a more pure and ingenuous spirit never animated the human form. In the fortieth year of his age; in the meridian of usefulness, and vigor of health, he was suddenly arrested by a most formidable disease which baffled the efforts of medical skill, and in ahout 36 hours, terminated his life. The excrucating agonies of his disorder he endured with the magnanimity of a man, and submitted to his fate with the meekness and resignation of a Christian. He has left behind him 'a sadly pleasing name, a name ever to be remembered with a sigh.' To a fond wife, the loss is irreparable; the hearts of an affectionate sister and brothers must long smart under the bereavement, and our city will deeply sympathize with them in this afflictive dispensation.

He had two children, the first of whom died at birth. The second, born in Ap. 1812, three weeks after the father's death, lived only seven hours, dying, apparently, from the same disease of the throat which proved fatal to him.

His widow was married (2d), on Thursday evening, 1 Feb 1821, in her mother's house at Hallett's Cove, by Rev. John Goldsmith, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Newtown, L. I., to Adrian Van Sinderen, a retired merchant, of Newtown. She died at No. 109 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, N.Y., 5 Aug. 1867; and was buried at Newtown.

Mr. Van Sinderen was born at Flatlands, L.I., in 1772 and died 20 Aug. 1843. He was son of Ulpian and Magdalen (Bancker) Van Sinderen; g. son of Rev. Ulpian Van Sinderen, pastor of Flatbush, who came from Holland in 1747, and his wife, Cornelia Schenck; and g. g. son of Rev. Hotso Van Sinderen, who lived and died in Holland. His first wife, whom he married in 1797, at Newtown, was Mary Lawrence, dau. of Capt Thomas and Elizabeth (Fish) Lawrence, g. dau. of John and Patience (Sackett} Lawrence, g. g. dau. of John and Deborah (Woodhull) Lawrence, and g. g. g. dau. of Major Thomas and Mary Lawrence--all of Newown, L. I.

Children of Henry⁵ and Mary (Suydam) Whitney:

i.	(child)6 Whitney, d. at birth, New York, NY.
ii.	(child) Whitney, b. Apr 1812, New York, NY; d. Apr 1812, New York, NY, aged 7 hours.

Census

• 1810: not found.

References

• All data imported from 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. 118-119.

1.^  "Henry [Whitney], merchant, [died] at New York. Gazette of March 28, 1812," according to Rhode Island, Vital Records.

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