Family:Whitney, Anne (c1691-1773)

Anne³ Whitney (John², Henry¹), daughter of John² and Elizabeth(Smith) Whitney,^[1] was born about 1691, Norwalk, CT, and died 9 May 1773, Sharon, CT, aged 82 years.

She married, 13 Oct 1709, Norwalk, CT, Matthew St. John,^[2] son of Matthias and ----- (Bouton) St. John. He was born about 1686, Norwalk, CT, and died 3 Aug 1755, Sharon, CT, in his 69th year.

Phoenix says the following:

Anne Whitney, b. at Norwalk, Conn., about 1691; married, 13 Oct. 1709, probably at Norwalk, though the record is in Ridgefield, Conn., Matthew St. John, a farmer, son of Matthias and ----- (Bouton) St. John; g. son of Matthias St. John; and g. g. son of Matthias St. John of Norwalk, where he was born about 1686. He was one of the company who bought Ridgefield of the Indians, 30 Sept. 1708; one of the petitioners for town privileges, 12 May 1709; and one of the original settlers of the place.

Dec. 27, 1715, voted at ye same meeting yt Matthew Saintjohn shall have for drumming ye Ensueing year, fifteen shillings as pay, in Case he Keep ye drum in good rigg ye Town finding heads.

He was chosen lister, 19 Dec. 1716; and surveyor, 20 Dec. 1722, in Ridgefield, where they dwelt till 6 Ap. 1723, when he sold the whole of his rights in that town and returned to Norwalk, settling at Pympawaug, which is now in the town of Wilton, Conn. They were members of the First Congregational Church in Norwalk, in 1725. He was appointed, 7 June 1726, one of a committee to call the Rev. Mr. Sturges to settle in the new parish of Wilton. Ensign Matthew St. John was appointed a committee of the society, 10 March 1729, to visit Hartford, and lay before the Legislature a complaint against the town of Norwalk. The earliest record of the church in Wilton is a list of those who were members, 13 Feb. 1732-3, at the ordination of Rev. William Gaylord, in which are the names of himself and wife.

March 3 1730-31; Left. Matthew St. John was chosen for the Society Clark for the year Insewing, or untel ther is another.

He continued to fill this office till 1745, when he settled in Sharon, Conn., having bought, 5 March 1745, of Samuel Comstock, of Sharon, for £655, old tenor, a farm about two miles north of Sharon Village. The church record of his removal, dated June 1745, calls him Captain. Soon after his removal, he was chosen by the church of Sharon to be their third deacon.

They died at Sharon; he, 3 Aug. 1755, in his 69th year; she, 9 May 1773, aged 82 years; and were buried in the old cemetery, at the head of "Sharon Street," where their gravestones are yet legible.

Children of Matthew and Anne³ (Whitney) St. John:

i.	Matthew St. John, b. 23 Jun 1711, Ridgefield, CT; m. Mary Elmer.
ii.	Sarah St. John, b. 8 Sep 1713, Ridgefield, CT; no further record.
iii.	Mark St. John, b. 15 Aug 1715, Ridgefield, CT; m.(1) Hannah -----; m.(2) Ann Gay.
iv.	Anne St. John, b. 1 May 1717, Ridgefield, CT; m. Ezra St. John; m.(2) Caleb Cole.
v.	Thaddeus St. John, b. about 1720, prob. Ridgefield, CT; d. 4 Oct 1736, Wilton, CT, aged 16 years.
vi.	Luke St. John, b. 28 Aug 1721, Wilton, CT; m. Elizabeth -----.
vii.	John St. John, b. 1 Nov 1723, Wilton, CT; m. Sabra Colver.
viii.	Hannah St. John, b. 7 Jan 1729/30, Wilton, CT; m. Ebenezer Sprague.

References

• All data imported from Stephen Whitney Phoenix, The Whitney family of Connecticut, and its affiliations; being an attempt to trace the descendants, as well in the female as the male lines, of Henry Whitney, from 1649 to 1878; to which is prefixed some account of the Whitneys of England. (New York : Priv. Print. [Bradford Press] 1878), pp. 18-19 and pp. 34-36.

1.^  Her parentage is proven by her marriage record.

2.^  "Anne [Whitney], d. John, of Norwalk, m. Matthew SAINT JOHN, 13 Oct 1709," according to the Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Ridgefield LR1:227.

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Copyright © 2007, 2011, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group