Family:Whitney, Ebenezer (1672-1727)
Ebenezer3 Whitney (Richard2, John1), son of Richard2 and Martha (Coldam) Whitney,[1] was born 30 Jun 1672, Watertown, MA,[2] and died 5 Aug 1727, Pomfret, CT.[3]
He married, say 1700, Anna -----,[4] parentage and birth unknown. She married secondly, before 14 May 1745, John Comins of Pomfret.[5] She died 15 May 1758, Pomfret, CT.[6]
"Ebenezer3 Whitney ... accompanied his parents to Stow, Mass. Here his father conveyed to him, subject to lifetime support, three parcels of land, 31 Dec. 1707, referring also to Ebenezer's brothers, Moses and Richard Jr., and to his sister Joanna Cady, apparently the wife of John Cady Jr. He and his wife Anna sold this property, 25 May 1714, soon moving to Canterbury, Conn. In 1721 he bought land at Pomfret, Conn., where he died 5 Aug. 1727.
"No record of the marriage of Ebenezer and Anna has been found, many early records of Stow being destroyed by fire. Mr. Sandiford's research revealed that in 1728 Ezekiel4 Whitney, by agreement with his mother and his brother and sister, established his rights to the double portion of primogeniture, as the eldest legitimate son. The inference is that Zachariah, clearly older, had been born out of wedlock and possibly Esther also. In any event, it seems likely that Anna was the mother of all the children. In 1725 the father deeded twenty acres to Zachariah4, possibly to ensure fair treatment for the 'natural son,' so termed in the conveyance.
"Widow Anna Whitney married John Comins of Pomfret before 14 May 1745, when he acknowledged receipt of his wife's share in the estate of her son, Dr. Ebenezer4 Whitney. Pomfret records give the date of her death, 15 May 1758.
"Presumably all but one of the children were born at Stow. Their ages are approximated, with order of birth as indicated in Ezekiel's deed."[7]
"A deed recorded at Pomfret, Conn., dated Nov. 18, 1728, ... In the deed mentioned, Ezekiel Whitney pays his respects to his mother, Anna Whitney, relict of Ebenezer Whitney, deceased, and quit claims certain rights to his brothers and sister, sons and daughter of Ebenezer Whitney, whom he names as follows: Zachariah, Enoch, Israel, Ebenezer and Anna."[8]
Children of Ebenezer3 and Anna (-----) Whitney:
i. Zachariah4 Whitney, b. say 1701, prob. Stow, MA; m. Ruth Taylor. ii. Ezekiel Whitney, b. say 1703, prob. Stow, MA; m.(1) Isabel Taylor; m.(2) Sarah Parke. iii. Esther Whitney, b. say 1705, prob. Stow, MA; d. 19 Oct 1727, Pomfret, CT; m. 18 Jan 1726/7, Pomfret, CT, William Bigginton.[9] No children. iv. Enoch Whitney, b. say 1708, prob. Stow, MA; m. Thankful Parke. v. Israel Whitney, b. bef.. 1709, prob. Stow, MA; m. Hannah Blodgett. vi. Anna Whitney, b. bef. 1713, prob. Stow, MA; m. Ebenezer Rood. vii. Ebenezer Whitney, b. 15 Sep 1715, Canterbury, CT;[10] d. 23 Jan 1743, Oxford, MA;[11] unmarried. "He was a doctor; res. Worcester, Mass. Died Jan. 23, 1743. His brother, Israel of Oxford, was admr. of his estate. Inventory dated May, 1745."[12]
References
1.^ His parentage is proven by his birth record.
2.^ "Ebeneazar Whetny, s. Richard & Martha Whetny, b. 30 Jun 1672," according to Watertown Records: Comprising the First and Second Book of Town Proceedings, with the Land Grants and Possessions. Also, the Proprietors' Book, and the First Book of and Supplement of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Watertown, MA: Historical Society, 1894), vol. 1, p. 35.
3.^ Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Pomfret, vol. 1, p. 46.
4.^ Her name is supplied by the birth record of her youngest child. The date is estimated from the estimated birth dates of her older children.
5.^ Prentiss Glazier, "Ebenezer Whitney of Stow, Mass., and Pomfret, Conn.", The American Genealogist, 52 (1976), pp. 117-119.
6.^ Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Pomfret, vol. 1, p. 46.
8.^ Edward Raymond Sandiford, Some More Descendants of John and Elinor Whitney (Bloomfield, NJ: The author, 1941), pp. 1-2.
9.^ "William Biggington & Esther Whitney, [married] 19 Jan. 1727," according to Bailey, Frederick W., ed., Early Connecticut Marriages, as Found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800 (1896-1906). Canterbury, 2:122.
10.^ Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Canterbury, vol. 1, p. 238.
11.^ This date seems to be from the probate of his estate in Worcester County, Massachusetts, probate records. It does not appear in the Oxford vital records.
12.^ Frederick Clifton Pierce, The Descendants of John Whitney (Chicago, IL: 1895), p. 43.
Copyright © 1999, 2006, 2011, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group.
