Family:Whitney, Nathaniel (1749-1829)

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Capt. Nathaniel6 Whitney (Samuel5, Nathaniel4, Nathaniel3, John2, John1), son of Samuel5 and Elizabeth (Hastings) Whitney, was born 30 May 1749, Shrewsbury, MA,[1] and died 4 Jun 1829, Marlboro, VT.

Marriage intentions were published 30 Oct 1770, Lancaster, MA, for him "of New Molbury" and Moley Houghton "of Lancaster".[2] He "of New-Marlborough" married, 21 Jan 1771, Shrewsbury, MA, Mary Houghton "of Lancaster",[3] daughter of Solomon and Deliverance (Ross) Houghton, and sister of Tamar who married Nathaniel's brother Jonas, and of Lois, who married Nathaniel's brother Eliphalet. She was born 18 Jun 1752, Lancaster, MA, and died 27 Sep 1844, Marlboro, VT.

Capt. Nathaniel Whitney, when a young man, 20 years of age, with his brother Samuel Jr., on invitation of Colonel William Williams, visited Marlboro, VT, for the first time, in Nov 1769. He returned to his home in Shrewsbury, MA, in a few weeks, where he remained until the following March, when in company with his father and brother Samuel, he returned to Marlboro. The father left the two boys and returned with the sleigh and horses to Shrewsbury. That spring, on land in the easterly part of the town, they made their first attempt at making maple sugar and were very successful in the enterprise. The same spring these two brothers purchased of Charles Phelps, esq., of New Marlboro, in the county of Cumberland, and Province of New York, for £55 land near that of Governor Wentworth, and Samuel West. Capt. Whitney erected a log camp in the woods and began clearing his new farm. In this camp he spent the two following summers, ambitious and laborious in his new field of labor. At his request Mrs. Colonel Williams cooked for him a week's provision at a time and he returned to his camp and spent the week in hard work upon it. His principal living was pork and peas and beans with a comfortable supply of bread, and occasionally with the additional luxury of trout and wild game. For his bread he brought the meal upon his back from Brattleboro, Colrain or Greenfield, distances from 10 to 20 miles away. Upon these premises he erected the first framed dwelling in the town, which he occupied for a few years and then disposed of for Continental paper money, which depreciated in value, by which he suffered an almost total loss of his sale. In this impoverished condition he began anew by purchasing of Charles Phelps 472 1/2 acres of land, the deed of which is dated 28 Mar 1777. He sold part of the land to his brother Eliphalet and purchased other adjoining of Perez Stockwell, 12 Jun 1777. He again became a prosperous farmer and was an influential and much esteemed citizen. In the adventures of Cap't Whitney, as one of the early settlers of Marlboro, there are numerous incidents not wholly devoid of interest and which would justify an extended notice in the town history. On one occasion he killed a bear which when dressed weighed 466 pounds, one of the largest, if not the largest ever killed in Vermont. Cap't Whitney was a staunch Whig, and took a decided stand in favor of the American Revolution. On hearing of the battle of Lexington which occurred 19 Apr 1775, Cap't Whitney and Cap't Jonathon Warren shouldered their muskets and hastened forward to offer their services as volunteers in defense of the colonies. He reached Bennington on the eve of the battle 16 Aug 1777, and was placed as a guard over a captured enemy. At the close of the campaign he returned to his family and his farm, a laborious citizen, taking a lively interest in the growth and prosperity of the town and in the spiritual advance of the Congregational church of which for many years he was a worthy member. He reared a large family of children, whose voices in the church choir will long be remembered. He resided Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and Marlboro, Vermont.

WHITNEY, Nathaniel, Capt, VT; b 1749; r Shrewsbury, MA; Marlboro 1772; Capt Warren's co 1782; d Marlboro 1829; m Mary; 41, p 807; CL-5, p 29; M-2a, pp 265-9; OS-109, Part 2a, pp 444-5.[4]

Children of Nathaniel6 and Mary (Houghton) Whitney:

i. Nathaniel7 Whitney, b. 15 Sep 1771, Shrewsbury, MA, or Marlboro, VT;[5] d. 1 Dec 1771, Shrewsbury, MA.
ii. Molly Whitney, b. 10 Sep 1772, Marlboro, VT;[6] d. 10 Dec 1774, Marlboro, VT. Her remains were the first interred in the graveyard in the woods in Marlboro, VT.
iii. Dolly Whitney, b. 29 Jul 1774, or -- Feb 1774, Marlboro, VT;[7] m. 1 Jan 1791, Marlboro, VT, Levi Sawtell.[8]
iv. Molly Whitney, b. - Mar 1776, Marlboro, VT;[9] d. Sep 1783.
v. Luther Whitney, b. 2 Oct 1777, Marlboro, VT;[10] m.(1) Jerusha Burnham; m.(2) Elizabeth Vance.
vi. Nathaniel Whitney, b. 24 May 1779, Marlboro, VT;[11] m.(1) Sally Stewart; m.(2) Mrs. Lucy (Houghton) Hatch.
vii. Solomon Whitney, b. 1 or 7 Mar 1781, Marlboro, VT;[12] m.(1) Lucy Lyman; m.(2) Mrs. Sybil (Armes) Goudenow.
viii. Chloe Whitney, b. 4 May 1783, Marlboro, VT;[13] d. 12 Sep 1803.
ix. Charlotte Whitney, b. 4 Apr 1785, Marlboro, VT;[14] m. 1806, Eli Higley; resided Whitingham, VT. He d. 4 May 1845. She married 2d, Jabez Smith of Wilmington, VT.
x. Rhode Whitney, b. 9 Jul 1787, Marlboro, VT;[15] d. 1848; m. 14 Jun 1807, Marlboro, VT, William D. Merrill;[16] resided Burlington, VT.
xi. Zilpha Whitney, b. 8 Jun 1789, Marlboro, VT;[17] d. 22 Aug 1863, Shelburne, MA, aged 73 years, of cancer of the stomach;[18] m. 9 Oct 1808, Marlboro, VT, Elisha Putnam,[19] of Buckland, MA, b. 18 May 1786, d. 24 Dec 1859, Shelburne Falls, MA.
xii. Betsey Whitney, b. 22 Aug 1791, Marlboro, VT;[20] m. 8 Dec 1809, Marlboro, VT, Asa/Asahel Jacobs, of Guilford, VT.[21]
xiii. Clark Whitney, b. 8 Apr 1794, Marlboro, VT;[22] d. 13 Feb 1814.

Census

References

1.^  "Nathaniel [Whitney], s. Samuel and Elizabeth, [born] May 30, 1749," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (1904).

2.^  "Nathaniel [Whetney] of New Molbury and Moley Houghton of Lancaster, int. Oct. 30, 1770. T.R.1," according to Henry S. Nourse, ed., The Birth, Marriage and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs, of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1850 (Lancaster, MA: 1890), p. 44.

3.^  "Nathaniel [Whitney] of New-Marlborough and Molly Houghton of Lancaster, [married] Jan. 21, 1771," according to Shrewsbury Vital Records.

4.^  Major General Carleton Edward Fisher and Sue Gray Fisher, Soldiers, Sailors, and Patriots of the Revolutionary War - Vermont (Camden, Maine: Picton Press, 19??).

5.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

6.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

7.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

8.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, Marriages.

9.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

10.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

11.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

12.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

13.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

14.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

15.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

16.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, Marriages.

17.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

18.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 165, page 304.

19.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, Marriages.

20.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

21.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, Marriages.

22.^  Vermont, Vital Records Index, All Births.

Copyright © 2006-2008, 2014, 2016, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group.

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