Family:Whitney, Richard (1687-a1734)
Richard3 Whitney (John2, Henry1), son of John2 and Elizabeth(Smith) Whitney,[1] was born 18 Apr 1687, Norwalk, CT,[2] and died after 24 Dec. 1734.[3]
He married, 7 Apr 1709, Norwalk, CT, Hannah Darling,[4] daughter of John and Elizabeth (Beers) Darling.[5] She was born say 1685,[6] and died 22 Oct 1774, Fairfield, CT.[7]
Phoenix says the following:[8]
- ... a millwright .... His father gave him thirteen acres of land at Horse Pound Hill, and twenty-six acres at Drum Hill, with three acres of swamp east of Horse Pound Hill, seven acres of land to take up in the unsequestered land, and "one pair of stears past three years old," 18 Oct. 1709; and, at the same date, sold him three acres of land, with a house-frame thereon, at Belden's Hill. They dwelt at Norwalk for several years; then settled in that part of Stratfield Society, which lay in the town of Fairfield.. He proposed to build a grist-mill on Sasco River, "where the sawmill stood," and asked the town to give him a small piece of land on which to set a house. His request was granted by town-meeting, 27 Ap. 1713, and a committee appointed to lay out the land and stipulate the conditions of the grant. Another town-meeting, 6 Aug 1716, granted him liberty to flow so much of the town-commons as should be needed for the mill. His mill appears to have been built before 24 Aug. 1716, when the committee laid out, and 12 Sept. 1716, formally conveyed to him, land on the east side of Sasco River, near to his mill, on his engagement "to keep a good and sufficient grist mill on said river, att or near the place where his now grismill now standeth, when it can be done with labour; and to grind all sorts of grain for two quarts a bushell into good & sufficient meal, if the grain be good; and also to keep a sufficient house over said mill to secure all such grain as shall be brought to said mill, with a good lock and key continually to said house; and to grind all such grists of all sorts of grain as shall be brought by any Inhabitant of said town to said mill seasonably and before hee or they shal grind for a stranger." He was living at Stratfield as early as 18 Oct. 1714, when he sold land in Norwalk, to "William Jarvis of Huntington, on ye Island of Nassau," and again, 21 Jan. 1725-6, when he sold to his brother, Joseph Whitney, a "Fifty pounds Right of commonage" in the undivided lands of Norwalk. He was a juror at Fairfield, 24 Dec. 1734. The date of his death has not been found. She died at Fairfield, 20 Oct. 1774.
Children of Richard3 and Hannah (Darling) Whitney:
i. Elijah4 Whitney, b. 16 Apr 1710, Norwalk, CT;[9] m. Rebecca Seymour. ii. Samuel Whitney, b. 5 Oct 1711, Norwalk, CT;[10] m.(1) Amy Northrop; m.(2) Sarah -----. iii. Richard Whitney, b. 1 Sep 1715, Stratford, CT;[11] bapt. 22 Ap. 1716, Stratfield, CT;[12] m. 4 Dec 1750, Stratfield, CT, Experience Beardsley, probably the one born 26 Feb 1724/5, Stratfield, CT, eleventh child of John and Mary Beardsley. Nehemiah Whitney's MS. says that he "settled in Fairfield, leaving no heirs." She died 11 July 1780, Stratfield.[13] iv. John Whitney, b. 17 Jan. 1719/20, Stratfield, CT;[14] m. Deborah Smith. v. Daniel Whitney, b. 24 Apr 1723, Stratfield Parish, Fairfield, CT;[15] m. Hester Clawson.
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), p. 17.
2.^ "Richard [Whitney], s. John, b. 18 Apr 1687, m. Hannah Darling, formerly w. of John, of Fairfield, 7 Apr 1709," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:1.
4.^ See note 2 above. On the other hand, "Richard Whitney married Hannah Darling, daughter of Mr. John Darling, of Fairfield, April 17, 1709," according to Edwin Hall, Ancient Historic Records of Norwalk, Connecticut, p. 7. Phoenix follows Hall. Perhaps there is an error in the transcription of the Barbour Collection.
5.^ See note 4 above.
6.^ This is an estimate, based on a previous marriage and on the ages of their children.
8.^ See note 2 above.
10.^ "Elijah [Whitney], s. Richard [& Hannah], b. 16 Apr 1710," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:1.
11.^ "Samuell [Whitney], s. Richard [& Hannah], b. 5 Oct 1711," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Norwalk LR4:1.
12.^ "Richard [Whitney], s. Richard & Hannah, b. 1 Sep 1715," according to Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Stratford LR2:481.
13.^ "Richard Whitney (son of Richard) - April 22 [1716]," according to Stratfield Church Records.
14.^ Phoenix, op. cit., p. 32.
Copyright © 2007, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group
