Family Talk:Whitney, Jacob (1804-1873)

At 01:47 PM 9/18/2006, Robert L. Ward wrote: >I found two other siblings of Jacob Alonzo and Charles Mayo Whitney: > Whitney, Esther Desire Fuller, d. Jacob and Sally, Oct. 20, 1844. Athol > Whitney, George Hoyt, s. Jacob and Sally, April 16, 1847. Phillipston >Neither birth record reveals Sally's maiden name.

I think I have found Sally in the 1880 Census:

  <http://www.whitneygen.org/archives/census/1880/extracts/ma.htm#797>

She was apparently living with her daughter Esther D., who married Henry H. Lindsey. I found that couple's marriage record. From Massachusetts Vital Records 1841-1910, Volume 155, Page 196, Line 12, Petersham, MA, Marriages:

  "Aug. 29, [1861]
     Henry H. Lindsey   Petersham  21  Farmer  [b.] New Salem
           [son of] Asa C. & D. M. Stone (m n Brooks)  first [mar.]
     Esther D. Whitney     do      18          [b.] Athol
           [dau. of] Jacob & Sally Whitney             first [mar.]
   by S. Saltmarsh, Unitarian minister of Petersham"

Actually she was 16, not 18.

I think I have also found Sally's death record. From Massachusetts Vital Records 1841-1910, Volume 364, Page 409, Line 4, Westfield, MA, Deaths:

  "Jan. 5, 1885  Sally Pratt Whitney  Female  Widow  7[6?]  Diabetes
     [res.] Westfield, [d./bur.] Phillipston  [b.] Royalston  [dau. of]
     Davis"

If Pratt was her maiden name, then we have her marriage record in Ware, MA:

  WHITNEY, Jacob, Mr., and Miss Sarah Pratt, b. of Ware, 24 Aug 1828. (2:275)

Presumably she died in Westfield because she was living with family members who were living there. Recall that Alonzo J. Whitney's third marriage was in Westfield.

Perhaps one could find her tombstone in Phillipston. It would be useful to find out who was buried near her.

According to the above, Sally was born in Royalston, and, sure enough, there is a birth record of Sally, daughter of Jabez and Becca Pratt, Oct. 5, 1807. This tallies with her age on the censuses. There is also recorded the marriage of Jabez Pratt and Rebecca Shepherdson, July 23, 1799, Royalston. Jabez died 21 Jul 1847, Royalston, aged 79 years, of old age, born in Natick, son of Moses and Jemima. The rest of the Pratt line should be easy enough to follow from there.

As for Jacob Whitney, on geographical and chronological grounds, my guess is that he was the same Jacob-7 Whitney, son of Jabez-6 and Elizabeth (-----) Whitney (Jacob-5, Jonas-4, Eleazer-3, Thomas-2, John-1), born 4 Nov 1807, Orange, MA. Note that Orange, Athol, Phillipston, Royalston, and Petersham are adjacent towns in north central Massachusetts. Ware adjoins Petersham on the south, in the central part of the state. This is just a guess, and there is no indication in my records of the later history of the above Jacob-7 Whitney. Perhaps with this suggestion, proof or disproof can be found.

Regards,

Robert

Mr. Robert L. Ward

Linkage of Chas. Mayo and Alonzo to Jacob and Sally Whitney

From Curtwhitney: "Mayo Whitney is my family's last proven predecessor. His tie to Alonzo is through a diary kept by his grandson, Charles Francis Whitney, in 1897, while he was sailing near Australia and the South China Sea. In the diary, he referred to A. J. Whitney in Lakeview, near Worchester. His son, my father, Charles Orlando Whitney remembers Chas. Francis mentioning his Uncle Lon. The diary also mentions Aunt Lizzie (Elisabeth?) and Esther Lindsey of Petersham,MA and an M. Whitney (Melissa?). Also mentioned are Henry, Lizzie, Frank, Lewis, and Myra. All these family members names are included in the 1850 census as children of Jacob and Sally along with others. There was no Charles listed in 1850 but there was a male child of the right age shown in 1840. Stacy also included info re a young son, George Hoyt (1847-1848) who died of lung fever while the family was in Phillipston. Also,from the diary, Elisabeth M. b. ~1836 married Francis Emerson Grout, and lived at 23 West School St., Westfield, MA. Westfield is where Sally lived with family members, and presumably died before burial in Phillipsburg. I personally remember my dad, C. O. Whitney taking our family to Westfield, MA in 1955 to look for his family's home which he had visited as a child. Also from the diary, Esther D.H., b~1845 living as Esther Lindsey in Petersham, MA, married to Henry Lindsey, with children Lizzie, Frank, Lewis, and Myra. And Myra living in North Danna, as a storekeeper. We seem to be missing info on Sarah R., b.~1830 and John P.(?), b. July 14, 1831 in Athol. Your find of birth records includes Esther Desire Fuller, b. Oct.20, 1844 and Charles Hoyt, b. Apr. 16, 1847. So it seems the tie in of Chas. Mayo Whitney to the Jacob and Sally Whitney family is 1. a son of the right age in the 1840 census, missing from the 1850 census, and 2. his son's diary which includes several family members exact names, and 3. of course all were born in Mass."