Family:Whitney, Abner (1734-1802)

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Abner5 Whitney (John4, Isaiah3, Thomas2, John1), son of John4 and Rebecca4 (Whitney) Whitney, was born 21 Jan 1733/4, Harvard, MA,[1] and died 5 Mar 1802, Falmouth, ME.

He "of Shirley" married, 21 Jun 1753, Lunenburg, MA, Sarah Hilton "of Lunenburg",[2] daughter of Samuel and Eleanor (Griggs) Hilton. She was born 6 Jun 1734, Boston, MA, and died 9 Nov 1815, North Yarmouth, ME, aged 83 years.[3] She moved from Boston to Lunenburg with her parents. Sarah (Hilton) Whitney had one daughter, seven grandaughters, and six great-granddaughters named for her, varying from Sallie, Sally, to Sarah, and often including the initial H. or the name Hilton as well. Janice Grannell Whitaker, research observation.

After marriage, he lived for a few years in Shirley, then a district of Groton, MA.[4] Listed in Sheldon's "A History of Deerfield Massachusetts" as residing in that town in 1767, with wife Sarah and ch. Abner, Uriel, Ely, Beulah and Sarah.[5] **From Shirley (also given as Groton) Private, Lieut. Nathaniel Sartell's Co., Col. William Prescott's regt.; muster roll dated Aug. 1, 1775; enlisted May 2, 1775; service, 91 days; also, Capt. Ephraim Corey's Co., Col. Prescott's regt.; company return dated Cambridge, Oct. 7, 1775, and endorsed "The late Capt. Parker's" Co.; also, order for bounty coat dated Camp at Cambridge, Oct. 31, 1775.[7] *Enlisted at outbreak of Revolutionary War (May 2, 1775-see above). Residence during service in the War of the Revolution listed as Newton. Son Uriel, in an interview in 1834 states, "Was at the Battle of White Plains in 1776, was discharged in the beginning of 1777 and returned home to Groton".[8] **"Moved into Otisfield, ME, from Mass. His dau. Beulah married Capt. Jonathan Britton and was working at George Peirces at the time. Abner had sons Uriah(sic), Samuel, Micah (author's error, not Abner's son[6]), and Elijah, one of whom died in N. Yarmouth (that would be Uriel[6]). Abner Whitney was living at Geo Peirces Dec. 6, 1782-4 and Capt. Britton there made the acquaintance of his dau. Beulah whom he m. in 1785."[9] **Found in Boxborough Town Records to have come into the town sometime after March 1785, with "his wife Sarah and Two Children Viz Amaziah & Molly, Last of Newtown"[10] The Hilton family lived in Newton.[11] **He later settled and died in Maine. Lived in Shirley, Deerfield and Newtown, MA and Falmouth, Maine Listed as having died in Falmouth, ME,[3] but his grave is not listed in any of the Falmouth cemeteries or any other cemetery in neighboring towns.[12,13] He is not listed in either the 1790 or 1800 Census, and he and his wife do not appear to be included in the households of the known children living in that area of Maine.[6] **From HISTORICAL REGISTER OF OFFICERS IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY DURING THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION - LDS History Network: Whitney, Abner (Mass.) Private in Lexington Alarm, April, 1775; Corporal in Gerrish's Massachusetts Regiment, May to December, 1775; Sergeant 26th Continental Infantry, 1st of January to 31st December,1776-, Ensign 9th Massachusetts, 1st January, 1777; resigned 15th December, 1777. **Sources from above: **3) Fisher, C. E. & S. G. [compiled by] "Soldiers, Sailors, and Patriots of the Revolutionary War-Maine", pub. Nat. Soc. SAR *4) Pierce, F. C., "The Descendants of John Whitney, etc.", Chicago, 1895 *5) Sheldon, Geo., "1636 - Pocumtuck - 1886. A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts: The Times When and the People by Whom it was Settled, etc. Vol. 1 (1895), Vol. 2 (1896) 371. *6) Research Observation by Janice Grannell Whitaker (primary researcher of this family) *7) "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution", Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1900, Vol. 17, pg. 206 *8) "Uriel Whitney: A Revolutionary War Veteran's Eye Witness Account of the Battle", Interview, 20 Aug 1834. Original located in John Lewis papers at the Maine Historical Society, published in "North Yarmouth 1680-1980* An Illustrated History", North Yarmouth Historical Society, 1991. *9) Spurr, William S., "History of Otisfield, Cumberland County, Maine, from the original grant to the close of 1944." 1944, p. 639. *10) Town Records of Boxborough, Mass. *11) E-Mail from John Hilton, Newton, MA, Hilton Family Researcher, "Abner and Sarah Hilton Whitney", 29 Jan 1997, to Janice G. Whitaker *12) Ketover, Karen S., "Westbrook Maine Cemeteries", Heritage Books, Inc 1996 *13) Willis, William; "Burial Records, 1717-1962, of the Eastern Cemetery, Portland, Maine." 1987 **Most of the other sources are subsumed in the structured source listings or the notes for the various children and events.

Pierce says the following:[4]

They lived for a few years in Shirley, which about this time became a district of Groton. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, Abner enlisted (May 2, 1775), in Capt. COREY's company in Col. William PRESCOTT's regiment. After the war he settled in Maine.

Children of Abner5 and Sarah (Hilton) Whitney:

i. Abner6 Whitney, b. 22 Oct 1755, Shirley, MA;[5] m. Polly -----.
ii. Uriel Whitney, b. 11 Sep 1757, Shirley, MA;[6] m.(1) Lydia Whitmore; m.(2) Betsey Lothrop. He was also known as Royal Whitney.
iii. Samuel Whitney, b. 1759, Lunenburg, MA; m. Hannah Thompson.
iv. Amaziah Whitney, b. circa 1760; bapt. 4 Aug 1771, Groton, MA;[7] m. Sarah Boynton.
v. Beulah B. Whitney, b. circa May 1764, ?Shirley, MA; d. 11 Oct 1850, Otisfield, ME; m. 1785, Otisfield, ME, (Capt.) Jonathan Britton; History of Otisfield, Cumberland Co., ME, by William S. Spur. She met her husband in Otisfield, in 1782, when they both came into town. The marriage is not recorded in Otisfield and there are no children recorded either. Spurr, William B., "Vital Records of Otisfield", and Spurr, William B., "History of Otisfield, Maine." **Birthdate derived from age [86 y., 6 m.] on Tombstone - Death date 11 Oct. 1850.
vi. William Whitney, b. 15 Sep 1765, Shirley, MA; bapt. Aug 1769, Shirley, MA;[8] m. Hannah Bangs.
vii. Sarah Hilton Whitney, b. before 1767, ?Shirley, MA; m. (int. 13 May 1786, Buxton, ME[9]) 27 May 1786, Limerick, ME, or Buxton, ME,[10] Jabez Page Bradbury, both "of Buxton;" m. Jabez Page Bradbury (Source: William Berry Latham's "Bradbury Memorial", Brown Thurston Co., Portland, ME, 1890, entry #296); d. at Athens, ME. She had a large family.
viii. Elijah Whitney, b. circa 1762; bapt. Aug 1769, Shirley, MA.[11]
ix. Barzillai Whitney, b. say 1771. He drowned at 11 years of age.
x. Mary Whitney, b. 12 Jan 1774, ?Shirley, MA; bapt. 25 Sep 1774, Groton, MA;[12] d. 25 Oct 1850; m. Stephen Howard Horseley. She was also known as Molley or Molly Whitney.

Census

References

1.^  "Abner [Whitney], s. of John and Rebecca, [born] Jan. 21, 1733-4," according to Thomas W. Baldwin, ed., Vital Records of Harvard, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1917).

2.^  "Abner [Whitney], of District of Shirley, and Sarah Hilton of Lunenburg, [married] June 21,1753, by the Rev. David Stearns, minister of Lunenburg," according to Walter A. Davis, comp., Early Records of the Town of Lunenburg, Massachusetts, Including That Part Which is Now Fitchburg, 1719-1764 (Fitchburg, MA: Fitchburg City Council, 1896), volume 1, page 102.

3.^  "Sarah [Whitney], wid., [died] 9 Nov. 1815. a. 83y.," according to Sherman, Ruth Wilder, comp., Vital records of North Yarmouth, Maine to the year 1850 (Rockport, Me.: Picton Press, 1993).

4.^  Frederick C. Pierce, The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635 (Chicago, IL: The Author, 1895), p. 84.

5.^  "Abner ([A]bner) [Whitney], s. Abner and Sarah, [born] Oct. 22, 1755," according to Vital Records of Shirley, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1918).

6.^  "Royal [Whitney], s. Abner and Sarah, [born] Sept. 11, 1757," according to Shirley Vital Records.

7.^  "Amaziah [Whitney], s. Abner, bap. Aug. 4, 1771," according to Vital Records of Groton, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1926-1927).

8.^  "William, [Whitney] ch. Abner and w., bp. Aug. --, 1769, B.R.," according to Shirley Vital Records.

9.^  "Sarah Hilton Whitney and Jabez Bradbury, both of Buxton, pub. 13 May 1786, cert. 27 June," according to Buxton, Maine, Vital Records.

10.^  "1786, May 27. - [married] Jabez P. Bradbury & Sarah H. Whitney both of Buxton," according to Buxton, Maine, Vital Records.

11.^  "Elijah [Whitney], ch. Abner and w., bp. Aug. --, 1769, B.R.," according to Shirley Vital Records.

12.^  "Molley [Whitney], d. Abner, bap. Sep. 25, 1774," according to Groton Vital Records.

Copyright © 1999, 2006-2008, 2011, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group

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