Family:Whitney, Asa (1782-1826)

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Major Asa7 Whitney (Elisha6, Elijah5, Daniel4, John3, John2, John1), son of Elisha6 and Abigail (Dana) Whitney, was born 18 May 1782, Roxbury, MA,[1] and died 5 Mar 1826, Brookline, MA, aged 44 years, of dropsy.[2]

He married, 6 Nov 1806, Brookline, MA,[3], also Boston, MA, Mary Hammond[4] He married, 31 Dec 1805, Pomfret, CT, Mary Hammond. She was born 7 Dec 1787, and died 29 Aug 1849, Cambridge, MA, aged 62 years, of dysentery.[5]

He resided Pomfret, CT, Roxbury, Cambridge, Brookline, and Boston, MA.

Children of Asa7 and Mary (Hammond) Whitney:

i. Benjamin Duick8 Whitney, b. 10 Nov 1807, Roxbury, MA;[6] m.(1) Elizabeth Williams; m.(2) Charlotte Genalla.
ii. Daniel Hammond Whitney, b. 7 Oct 1809, Roxbury, MA;[7] d. 6 Oct 1817, Cambridge, MA, aged 8 years.[8]
iii. Sarah Hammond Whitney, b. 23 May 1812; d. 23 Jun 1817, Cambridge, MA, aged 5 years.[9]
iv. Mary Whitney, b. 5 May 1815; d. 12 Apr 1845; m. 19 Jul 1839, Cambridge, MA, Prof. Cornelius C. Felton,[10] of Harvard University. Felton, Cornelius Conway, scholar, born in West Newbury, MA, 6 Nov 1807; d. Chester, Pennsylvania, 26 Feb 1862. He was graduated at Harvard in 1827, having partially supported himself through his course by teaching in Concord and Boston, and at the Round Hill school in Northampton, MA. In his senior year he was one of the conductors of the "Harvard Register," a students' periodical. After teaching for two years in Geneseo, NY, he was appointed Latin tutor at Harvard in 1829, became Greek tutor in 1830, college professor of Greek in 1832, and in 1834 was given the Eliot professorship of Greek literature. He was also for many years regent of the college. In 1853-54 he revisited Europe, studying the various collections of art and antiquities, and spent five months in Greece, where he devoted himself not only to the topography of the country and the remains of ancient art, there, but to its present language and literature, to which he attached great importance. He was an enthusiastic defender of the modern Greeks, by whom he was known, during his stay among them, as the "American professor." He visited Europe a second time in 1858, and in 1860 was elected president of Harvard college, which office he held until his death. President Felton was a member of the Massachusetts board of education, and one of the regents of the Smithsonian Institute. His literary labors were extended and he was one of the most profound and enthusiastic classical scholars in the country. Besides making large contributions to current literature, he published a translation of Menzel's "German Literature." (3 vols., 1840, in George Ripley's "Specimens of Foreign Literature"); "Classical Studies," original and translated selections, in connection with Prof. Sears and Edwards (1843); a translation of Prof. Arnold Guyot's lectures on "The Earth and Man" (1849); a selection from the writings of Prof. Popkin, with a memoir (1852); "Life of William Eaton," in Sparks' " American Biographies" (New York, 1853); a revised edition of Smith's "History of Greece," with a continuation from the Roman conquest to the present time (1855); and "Selections From Modern Greek Writers" (1856). After his death appeared "Familiar Letters from Europe," giving an account of his last trip (Boston, 1864), and "Greece, Ancient and Modern," his most important work, composed chiefly of his lectures before the Lowell Institute (2vols., Boston, 1867). He was also the author of several Greek text books, including an edition of Homer, with Flaxman's illustrations (1833). He m.(1) 28 Sep 1846, Mary Louise Cary. Children:
a. Mary Felton, b. 20 Apr 1839, Cambridge, MA; d. 1896, Boston, MA.
b. Julia Ward Felton, b. 24 Aug 1842, Cambridge, MA; d. 8 Mar 1884, Florence, Italy/\.
v. Emily Whitney, b. 27 Sep 1817; d. 19 Apr 1897, Worcester, MA, aged 79 years 6 months 29 days, of old age;[11] m. 27 Sep 1841, Boston, MA, Dr. Joseph Sargent,[12] of Worcester. He was b. 31 Dec 1815, Leicester, the son of Col. Henry. He entered Harvard University in 1830, and graduated in 1834. Studied medicine with Dr. Edward Flint, of Leicester, and Dr. James Jackson, in Boston, and attended medical lectures in the latter city and Philadelphia. He took his degree of M.D. at Harvard in 1837, and at once entered upon the office of house physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1838 he went to Paris, where he remained until 1840, when he settled in Worcester. In 1850 he again visited Europe for professional improvement. He ranks high in the medical profession in Massachusetts and is held in high esteem by his fellow-citizens. He died 13 Oct 1888. Children:
a. Joseph Sargent, b. 17 Oct 1842: d. 26 Feb 1845.
b. Emily Whitney Sargent, b. 26 Nov 1843; d. 28 Jul 1892.
c. Mary Felton Sargent, b. 16 Dec 1845.
d. Joseph Sargent, b. 15 May 1849; m. 5 Dec 1872, Nellie Louise McClure (see [[Family:Whitney, Ellerton Pratt (1858-?)|Ellerton Pratt9 Whitney).
e. Henry L. Sargent, b. 29 Jul 1853; d. 26 Apr 1854.
f. Henry Leight Sargent, b. 14 Jul 1856; m. 24 Oct 1877, Lydia Hughes, of Lawrence, MA.
vi. Asa Hammond Whitney, b. 17 Jun 1819; m. Laura Leffingwell Henshaw.
vii. Sarah Whitney, b. 13 Jul 1822; m. 16 Feb 1852, Worcester, MA, Frederic W. Gale, of Worcester, b. ca. 1817, Northborough, MA, son of Cyrus and Eliza (-----) Gale.[13] Both lost on the steamer Artic, 27 Sep 1854.
viii. Catherine Dean Whitney, b. 17 Dec 1824; bapt. 5 Nov 1826, Brookline, MA;[14] d. 9 Sep 1849; m. (int. 4 Mar 1849, Cambridge, MA[15]) May 1849 or 30 Apr 1850, Cambridge, MA, Dr. Henry Sargent "of Worcester", b. ca. 1823, Leicester, MA, son of Henry and Elisabeth (-----) Sargent.[16] He d. Apr 1858. He was born in Leicester the brother of Dr. Joseph, 7 Nov 1821. Entered Yale College in 1837, and graduated in 1841. Studied medicine with his brother also, in Boston and Philadelphia, and in the hospitals in Paris. In 1847 he took the degree in medicine at Harvard, and began practice in Worcester. His health failed and he made frequent trips to Europe. His remains are interred in Mt. Auburn in Cambridge.

Census

  • 1810, Roxbury, Norfolk Co., MA: Whitney, Asa, 1 male 26-44, 2 males 16-25, 2 males 0-9, 3 females 16-25, and 1 female 10-15.
  • 1820, Brookline, Norfolk Co., MA: Asa Whitney, 2 males 26-44, 3 males 18-25, 2 males 0-9, 3 females 26-44, 1 female 16-25, 1 female 10-15, and 3 females 0-9; 4 engaged in agriculture and 1 in commerce.
  • 1830, Brookline, Norfolk Co., MA: Mary Whitney, 1 male 10-14, 2 females 30-39, 2 females 15-19, 1 female 10-14, and 2 females 5-9.
  • 1840: not found. Mary was probably the female 60-69 living in the family of her son Benjamin.

References

1.^  "Asa [Whitney], s. Lt. Elisha and Abigail, [born] May 18, 1782," according to Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1925-1926).

2.^  "Asa [Whitney], Maj., dropsy, [died] Mar. 5, 1826, a. 44y. C.R.1," according to Vital Records of Brookline, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1929). Also, "Asa [Whitney], [died] Mar. 5, 1826, a. 44y. G.R.3," according to Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: 1914-1915). Also, "Major Asa [Whitney], aged 44 years, at Brookline. Journal of March 13, 1826," according to Rhode Island, Vital Records.

3.^  "Asa and Mary Hammond, Nov. 6, 1806. In Brookline," according to Registry Department of the City of Boston, A Volume of Records Relating to the Early History of Boston, Containing Boston Marriages from 1752 to 1809 (Boston, MA: Rockwell and Churchill, 1903), p. 493.

4.^  L.D.S. International Genealogical Index.

5.^  "Mary [Whitney], wid. of Asa, [died] Aug. 29, 1849, a. 62y. Dysentery," according to Cambridge Vital Records. Also "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 40, page 145.

6.^  "Benjamin Duick [Whitney], s. Asa and Mary, Nov. 10, 1807," according to Roxbury Vital Records.

7.^  "Daniel Hammond [Whitney], s. Asa and lilary, Oct. 7, 1809," according to Roxbury Vital Records.

8.^  "Daniel Hammond [Whitney], s. of A. and M., [died] Oct 6, 1817, a. 8y. G.R.3," according to Cambridge Vital Records. Also, "Daniel Hammond, s. Maj. Asa, Oct. 6, 1817, a. 8 y.," according to Roxbury Vital Records.

9.^  "Sarah Hammond [Whitney], d. of A. and M., [died] June 23, 1817, a. 5y. G.R.3," according to Cambridge Vital Records.

10.^  "Mary [Whitney] and Cornelius (Cornelius C., int.) Felton, [married] July 19, 1838," according to Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: 1914-1915).

11.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 474, page 785.

12.^  Boston Vital Records.

13.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 62, page 251.

14.^  "Catharine Dean [Whitney], d. Maj. Asa, bp. Nov. 5, 1826. C.R.," according to Brookline Vital Records.

15.^  "Catherine D. [Whitney] and Henry Sargent of Worcester, int. Mar. 4, 1849," according to Cambridge Vital Records.

16.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 46, page 39.


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