Family:Whitney, Sarah (1708-1788)

Sarah⁵ Whitney (Timothy⁴, John³, John², John¹), daughter of Timothy⁴ and Margaret (Bacon) Whitney, was born 28 Feb 1707/8, Roxbury, MA,^[1] and died 27 Feb 1788, Sutton, MA, aged 81.^[2]

Sarah married, 18 Apr 1729, Hopkinton, MA, William Pierce,^[3] son of Francis and Hannah (Johnson) Pierce. He was born 1 May 1708, Weston, MA, and died 17 Jun 1779, Sutton, MA.

Pierce says the following:^[4]

SARAH [WHITNEY], b. Feb 28, 1707; m. Apr 18, 1729, William Pierce, the son of Francis Pierce, and was b. May 1, 1708; d. Jan 17, 1779. With his wife he resided in Southboro, Hopkinton, and Sutton, at which latter place he died and was buried on Leland Hill. He was a native of Weston, and in 1758 purchased land of Widow Sarah Hawding, of Boston, located in Hopkinton. Ch.: Francis, b. July 18, 1729; m. Dec 8, 1759, Lydia Ball: Ebenezer, b. Apr 4, 1731; d. unm. 1753 (see Prob. Rec. at Camb.); William, b. Dec 31, 1741; m. Abigail Walker; Jonathan, b. June 10, 1738: Sarah, b. Aug 30, 1744; d. unm. in Mendon: Aaron, b. Aug 15, 1746; Hannah, b. Aug 30, 1731; m. Aug 6, 1764, Isaac Greene; Seth, b. Nov 9, 1738. During the last years of William's life he lived with his son Jonathan, who married Eunice Leathe for his first wife. She was b. in Sutton, Mass., and died without issue. His second wife was Mary Goodale, who was a sister of the mother of Robert. B. Thomas, the founder, and during his life the publisher, of the "Farmers' Almanack," of which anybody who was born in New England has heard. Jonathan Pierce was a farmer, and when 41 years of age enlisted in the company of Capt. Brigham in Col. Job. Cushing's regiment in the Revolutionary army. Later he served in Capt. Andrew Elliott's company. Among the purchases he made of land in Sutton was one from Benjamin Whitney, of Westboro, a near relative of Eli Whitney, who was the brother of the great-great-grand-mother of the compiler of this work. Jonathan by his second wife had thirteen children. He lived and died on the old place, and left the estate to his son Amos, who was b. Oct. 13, 1770; he lived on the old place in Sutton and married Annie Hicks and had eight children; the youngest was Silas Austin, who married Maria N. Smith, daughter of Nathaniel and Nancy (Forbush) Smith, of Grafton. They had four children and are the parents of the compiler of this work. (See Pierce genealogy by Fred C. Pierce.)

Children of William and Sarah⁵ (Whitney) Pierce:

i.	Francis Pierce, b. 18 Jul 1729, Hopkinton, MA; m. 27 Dec 1759, Hopkinton, MA, Lydia Ball.
ii.	Ebenezer Pierce, b. 6 Feb 1730, Hopkinton, MA; d. 1753.
iii.	Hannah Pierce, b. 30 Aug 1731, Hopkinton, MA, or 30 Aug 1736, Southborough, MA; m. 26 Apr 1764, Isaac Greene.
iv.	Jonathan Pierce, b. 10 Jan 1736, Hopkinton, MA; d. 22 Jun 1800, Sutton, MA; m.(1) Eunice Leathe; m.(2) 14 Jun 1760, Sutton, MA, Mary Goodale.
v.	Seth Pierce, b. 9 Nov 1738, Southborough, MA.
vi.	William Pierce, b. 31 Dec 1741, Hopkinton, MA; m. 6 Dec 1763, Hopkinton, MA, Abigail Walker.
vii.	Sarah Pierce, b. 30 Aug 1744, Hopkinton, MA.
viii.	Aaron Pierce, b. 14 Sep 1746, Westborough, MA.

References

1.^  "Sarah [Whitney], d. Timothy and Margaret, [born] Feb. 28, 1707," according to Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1925-1926), pp. 371-373.

2.^  "Sarah [Peirce], w. William, [died] Feb. 27, 1788, a. 81, G.S. 16," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Sutton, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (1907).

3.^  "Sarah [Whitny] and William Perce, [married] Apr. 18, 1729* [Whitteny, and William Pierce, C.R.1]," according to Vital Records of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1911), p. 389.

4.^  Frederick Clifton Pierce, The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635 (Chicago, IL: 1895), pp. 40-41.

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