Family:Whitney, Job (1755-a1830)
Job6 Whitney (Solomon5, Benjamin4, Thomas3, Thomas2, John1), son of Solomon5 and Elizabeth (Smith) Whitney, was born 25 Jun 1755, Petersham, MA,[1] and died after 1830.
That he was married is clear from the census records, but nothing is known of his wife, except that she was born before 1755 and died after 1800, when she appears in his household. Apparently there is a record of a Job Whitney marrying a Rhoda Stearns, 5 Jan 1787, Pittsfield, MA, who could be this man, possibly a second marriage for him. She was born 17 Mar 1756, Billerica, MA, daughter of Thomas and Betty (Manning) Stearns.
On 11 Apr 1771, he had guardian David Sanderson of Petersham.
- "In a few of the towns in the county, the Yorkers continued to assert their rights, and did not scruple to punish those whom they deemed guilty of crime. Some time in the month of February, 1780, Henry Sherburn and Timothy Root, inhabitants of Guilford, and supporters of New York authority, "arrogated to themselves" the power of acting as judges in a case between Ephraim Nichols and Henry Hix. Sherburn administered oaths, took the evidence in due form, and, in conclusion, he and Root decreed Hix guilty, and awarded to him, as a suitable punishment, fifteen stripes on his naked back. It is stated that "Job Whitney laid them on." But the Guilfordite Yorkers were not content with partially establishing the jurisdiction of the state to which they owed allegiance. They aimed to be the sole rulers within their own town."[2]
He is mentioned several times in Guilford town records. In May 1779, he was appointed constable. He was a petit juror on 25 Mar 1782. On 18 Mar 1784, he was made one of the surveyors of highways, and a tythingman. In 1788, he was again made one of the surveyors of highways.[3]
Children of Job6 Whitney, conjectural, and probably incomplete:
i. (daughter)7 Whitney, b. before 1784; inferred from the 1800 census. ii. (daughter) Whitney, b. before 1784; inferred from the 1800 census. iii. (daughter) Whitney, b. 1784-1790; inferred from the 1800 census. iv. Job Whitney, b. ca. 1791, Guilford, VT; m. Sylvia Delano. v. (son) Whitney, b. 1790-1800; inferred from the 1800 census. Probably Ozias L. Whitney, b. 1799, VT, m. Olive Russell.
Census
- 1791, Guilford, Windham Co., VT: Job Whitney, 1 male over 16, 1 male 0-15, and 6 females.
- 1800, Guilford, Windham Co., VT: Job Whitney, 2 males 0-9, 1 female over 45, 2 females 16-25, and 1 female 10-15. It's hard to understand how Job Whitney could be the head of a household containing no male over the age of 10 years, but the census page image is very clear, and the above numbers are an accurate reporting of its data. Possibly he had died immediately before the census date, so it was his household, but he was absent.
- 1810, Watertown, Jefferson Co., NY: Job Whitney, 1 male over 45, 1 male 10-15, 1 female over 45, 1 female 26-44, and 1 female 0-9.
- 1820, Watertown, Jefferson Co., NY: Job Whitney, 1 male over 45 and 1 female over 45.
- 1830, Watertown, Jefferson Co., NY: Job Whitney, 1 male 70-79 and 1 female 60-69.
References
1.^ "Job [Whitney], s. Solomon and Elizabeth, [born] June 25, 1755," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Petersham, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (1904).
2.^ Benjamin H. Hall, History of Eastern Vermont, p. 368.
3.^ Abby Maria Hemenway, Vermont Historical Gazetteer, vol V.
Copyright © 2007, 2008, 2010-2012, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group.
