Family:Whitney, Fisher (1775-1805)
Fisher5 Whitney (Jason4, Mark3, Benjamin2, John1), son of Jason4 and Lois (Fisher) Whitney, was born 3 Jan 1775, Natick, MA,[1] and died 19 Dec 1805, Italy, NY.[2]
Marriage intentions were published 28 Jul 1799, Natick, MA, for him and Patty Watkins "of Partridgefield".[3] Marriage intentions were published 19 Jun 1799, Peru, MA, for him "of Middleton, N.Y." and Patty Watkins.[4] He married Patty Watkins, daughter of James and Esther4 (Whitney) Watkins "of Partridgefield". She was born circa 1778, possibly Partridgefield, MA, and died 7 Jun 1849. She married secondly, 1805, Italy, NY, Elias Lee, son of Jonathan Lee. She was also known as Martha.
Pierce says the following:[5]
- Fisher WHITNEY was born in Natick Mass. The country around Boston was, in 1775, sparsely settled, and there was little else to do than to cultivate the soil. Fisher WHITNEY was, therefore, the son of a Massachusetts farmer - but the farmers in those days made up the bulk of the population. Stirring events were just then happening in that vicinity. Before Fisher was a year old, the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill were enrolled in history. Natick, his home, was less than twenty miles distant, and the terrors of those bloody days made such an impression upon young Fisher's mind that before he was fifteen he was enrolled as a soldier against King George III.
- Thus the WHITNEYS are from Revolutionary stock, as will be seen in another place. Fisher's grandsons, nearly 100 years later, also bore arms for their country.
- But Massachusetts did not long retain young WHITNEY, for about the year 1795, he removed to Yates county, NY., where, three years later he married Patty WATKINS and settled upon a farm, which he improved while acting as county surveyor. Two children were born to him, Patty WHITNEY, born in 1800, and James Watkins WHITNEY, born June 21, 1803.
- Everything seemed prosperous for this little family when suddenly the father, in one of his surveying expeditions, took a violent cold which rapidly settled into a fever, and in three days terminated fatally. He was buried in the family burial ground on his farm in the town of Italy, Yates county, in April, 1805. Fifty-seven years later, his grandson, Col. L.H. WHITNEY, visited his grave, and found his resting-place marked by a plain slab, which his widow had erected to his memory. She now sleeps by his side, and by her side repose the ashes of her daughter, Patty.
- Fisher WHITNEY was a dark haired, dark complexioned man, six feet tall, athletic, and possessed a great aptitude for mathematics. Hence, it was easy for him to drift into the surveyor's office. He died at the early age of thirty-seven, sincerely mourned by a large circle of acquaintances.
Children of Fisher5 and Patty (Watkins) Whitney:
i. Patty Watkins6 Whitney, b. 9 Sep 1800, Italy, NY; d. 21 Jun 1875 or Jun 1880; m. 15 Jan 1823, Italy, NY, Jason Griswold, b. 10 Apr 1797, CT, d. 2 Sep 1842. ii. James Watkins Whitney, b. 21 Jun 1803, Italy, NY; m. Betsey Harper.
Census
- 1800, Middletown, Ontario County, NY: Fisher Whitney, 1 male 26-45, 1 male 16-26, 1 female over 45, 1 female 26-45, 1 female 10-16, 2 females 0-10.
References
1.^ "Fisher [Whitney], s. of Jason and Lois, [born] Jan. 3, 1775," according to Thomas W. Baldwin, ed., Vital Records of Natick, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: 1910).
2.^ Source
3.^ "Fisher [Whitney] and Patty Watkins of Partridgefield, int. July 28, 1799," according to Natick Vital Records.
4.^ "Fisher [Whitney] of Middleton, N.Y., and Patty Watkins, int. June 19, 1799," according to Vital Records of Peru, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1902).
5.^ Frederick C. Pierce, The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635 (Chicago, IL: The Author, 1895), p. 126.
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