Family:Whitney, Silas (1781-1824)

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Capt. Silas7 Whitney (Silas6, Daniel5, Richard4, Richard3, Richard2, John1), son of Silas6 and Patience (Goodenow) Whitney, was born 26 Jan 1781, Stow, MA,[1] and died 20 Jan 1824, Charlestown, MA.

He "Jr." "of Ashby" married, 1 Jan 1801, Waltham, MA, Abigail M. Shedd,[2] daughter of Zachariah and Lydia (Spring) Shedd. She was born 15 Sep 1778, Cambridge, MA, and died 21 Sep 1853, Boston, MA, aged 75 years 6 days, of old age.[3]

Capt. Silas Whitney was born in Stow, MA. In 1795 he built the first temporary railroad used in this country. It was constructed of two tracks on the western slope of Beacon Hill, Boston, MA, for the purpose of facilitating the removal of gravel from the top of the hill down to Charles street, which he was filling up and grading. There were two trains of cars on the railroad and they were so arranged that one train being loaded with gravel at the upper end, would, in its descent, haul up the empty train, then while the full cars were being emptied, the empty ones were being filled, and in their descent would haul up the first train, and thus it was managed to do the work without horses. Mr. Whitney was assisted in the work by his brothers, John and Ephraim. The brothers were great contractors for filling up wharves, etc. They filled in Central wharf. From the above it will be seen that Capt. Whitney was the real pioneer of railroads in this country. Capt. Whitney, during the later years of his life, kept the Middlesex hotel, which was situated between Warren Ave. and the old bridge road in Charlestown. It was burned in the year 1836. He resided Boston and Charlestown, MA.

Children of Silas7 and Abigail M. (Shedd) Whitney:

i. Silas Gore8 Whitney, b. 9 Aug 1800; m. Sarah Susan Penniman.
ii. Mary Whitney, b. 8 Oct 1801; d. 3 Apr 1803.
iii. Mary Whitney, b. 28 Sep 1803; d. 7 Jul 1837.
iv. Charles Whitney, b. 15 Sep 1805; m. Lydia M. Emery.
v. Abigail S. Whitney, b. 21 May 1808; d. 4 Jan 1870; m. ("both of Charlestown" int. 23 Jul 1826, Charlestown, MA) Thomas R. Spear;[4] resided Boston.
vii. Eliza A. Whitney, b. 15 Apr 1809; d. 6 Jun 1894, Thomaston, ME; m.(1) ----- Hinckley; m.(2) (int. 9 Apr 1835, Bristol, ME[5]) 27 Aug 1835, Boston, MA, David O'Brien;[6] resided Warren and Thomaston, ME.
viii. Ephraim A. Whitney, b. Aug 1816; m. Joanna A. Hook.
vi. John Francis Whitney, b. 27 Feb 1819; m.(1) Julia A. Andrews; m.(2) Maria Hook.
ix. William Henry Whitney, b. 2 Jun 1819; drowned at sea, 1830.

Census

References

1.^  "Silas [Whitney], s. Silas and Pashance [Patience C.R.], [born] Jan. 26, 1781," according to F. Apthorp Foster, ed., Vital Records of Stow, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1911).

2.^  "Silas [Whitney] Jr. of Ashby, and Naby Shed, [married] Jan. 1, 1801," according to Vital Records of Waltham, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1904).

3.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 77, page 70.

4.^  "Mr. Thomas R. Spear & Miss Abby S. Whitney, both of Charlestown, entered July 23, 1826," according to Roger D. Joslyn, F.A.S.G., comp. and ed., Vital Records of Charlestown, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1984).

5.^  "Eliza A. [Whitney], of Boston, Mass., and David O'Brien of Nobleboro, int. Apr. 9, 1835," according to Dodge, Christine Huston, ed., "Vital Records of Bristol and Nobleboro in the County of Lincoln, Maine, Including the Present Towns of Bremen, Damariscotta, South Bristol and the Plantation of Monhegan (Brunswick, ME: Maine Historical Society, 1951).

6.^  Boston Vital Records.

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