Family:Whitney, John (1747-1831)

John⁵ Whitney (John⁴, Henry³, John², Henry¹), son of John⁴ and Hephzibah (Olmstead) Whitney, was born 21 Apr 1747, Ridgefield, CT,^[1] and died about Mar 1831, Henderson, NY.

He married firstly, 3 Feb 1768, South Salem, NY, Rebecca Morehouse, parentage and birth unknown. She probably died after 1808-1812, Pompey, NY.

He married secondly, Pompey, NY, Sarah (Osborn) Chapin, daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Osburn) Osborn. She was born 3 May 1756, Ridgefield, CT, and died Dec 1812, Pompey or Manlius, NY. She had married firstly, Daniel Chapin.

Phoenix says the following:

... a farmer; married, 3 Feb. 1768, at South Salem, Westchester Co., N.Y., by Rev. Solomon Mead, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at South Salem, to Rebecca Morehouse. He was baptized, and she renewed the covenant, in the Presbyterian Church at South Salem in Oct. 1768. Her history is not known beyond the fact that she was the mother of all his children, and must have lived later than 1792. They dwelt in South salem as late as Oct. 1781, and probably till after June 1791, when their daughter Huldah was married there. We next find the family in Manlius, Onondaga Co., N.Y., in Jan. 1804, when their daughter Electa was married. About 1808 or 1810, he bought a farm in Pompey, N.Y., on which he lived till March 1825. Here his wife probably died, but the date has not been found. He married (2d), at Pompey, Sarah Osborn, widow of Daniel Chapin, and dau. of Daniel and Sarah (Osburn) Osborn, of Ridgefield, where she was born, 3 May 1756. She died in Dec. 1812, at Pompey, or Manlius, and was buried there. In March 1825, he moved to Henderson, N.Y., to live with his son Amasa, who went there at the same time. He died in Henderson, about March 1831, after an illness of only one day and one night, and was then called 85 years old. He was a man of stalwart proportions, about six feet and two inches in height, and of corresponding weight. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War; was in the battle of Long Island, 27 Aug. 1776; at the capture of Burgoyne in Oct. 1777; and wintered at Valley Forge, in 1777-1778, excepting a short furlough in which he went home for food and clothing. While out with a party of men, observing the motions of a British vessel which was passing up the Hudson River, they were fired upon, and a part of the brim of his cocked hat was cut away by a grape-shot. This torn hat, with the sword and musket which he used, were carefully kept by him during his life, but the musket was overcharged and burst by his irreverent grandsons, 4 July 1834.

Children of John⁵ and Rebecca (Morehouse) Whitney:

i.	Rhoda6 Whitney, bapt. 30 Apr 1769, South Salem, NY; m. Sylvanus Keeler, a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was admitted, New York Conference, on trial, 1799; full connection, 1801; ordained Elder, 1801; assigned, Bay Quinte, U. C., 1800-1801, Oswegatchie, N. Y., and Ottawa, U. C., 1802, Niagara and Long Point, U. C., 1803, Bay Quinte, 1804, Oswegatchie, 1805, St. Lawrence, 1806; and located in 1807, since which no tidings of him have been found.
ii.	Huldah Whitney, bapt. 9 Dec 1770, South Salem, NY; m. 2 Jun 1791, South Salem, NY, Ebenezer Pardee. It is said that they lived at Spring Arbor, MI.
iii.	Mary Whitney, b. Mar 1774; m. 15 Dec 1793, Thomas Barnum.
iv.	Josiah Whitney, bapt. 7 Oct 1781, South Salem, NY; died unmarried, and no one is able to tell when or where.
v.	Electa Whitney, b. 19 Feb 1783; m. George Wright.
vi.	Amasa Whitney, b. 3 Aug 1792; m.(1) Sarah Chapin; m.(2) Sally Keene.

John⁵ and Sarah (Osborn)(Chapin) Whitney had no children.

Census

• 1790, Ballstown, Albany Co., NY: John Whitney Jr, 1 male over 16, 1 male 0-15, and 4 females.
• 1800: not found.
• 1810, Manlius, Onondaga Co., NY: John Whitney, 1 male over 45, 2 males 16-25, 1 female over 45, and 1 female 10-15.
• 1820, he was probably the male 45+ in the household of his son Amasa.
• 1830, he was probably the male 80-89 in the household of his son Amasa.

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), p. 58-59 and pp. 167-169.

1.^  "John [Whitney], s. John & Hepzibah, b. 21 Apr 1747," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Ridgefield LR1:198.

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Copyright © 2007, 2011, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group