Family:Whitney, Phinehas (1761-a1832)

House of Phineas⁶ Whitney^[1]

Phinehas⁶ Whitney (Samuel⁵, William⁴, Nathaniel³, John², John¹), son of Samuel⁵ and Abigail (Fletcher) Whitney;^[2] born 16 Jan 1761, Westminster, MA;^[3] died after 10 Jul 1832, Brandon, VT.^[4]

He married 13 Jan 1788, Westminster, MA, Elizabeth Rand,^[5] daughter of John and Tabitha (Hart) Rand.^[6] She was born 1 Feb 1767, Westminster, MA,^[7] and died after 14 Jun 1825.^[8]

He settled in Westminster, on the northerly part of his father's estate, in the house now occupied by John C. Goodridge. Mr. Whitney sold the place to Jacob Sawyer, from whom it passed to Joel Whitney, and removed to Pittsford, VT, where both he and his wife spent the remainder of their days. During the Revolutionary war he served in the company from Westminster, and some years after its close moved to Rutland County, VT, where he was granted a pension 3 Mar 1831, in his 71st year; resided Westminster, MA, and Pittsford, VT.^[9]

"Phinehas was Samuel's tenth child, and one of the six sons for whom he provided a substantial lot for a home and farm. Marriage record stated that Phinehas and Elizabeth were married in Ashburnham, MA. The family moved to Rutland Co., VT. From Westminster in 1812. He served in Captain Wilson's Company in 1777. He was the rank of Private and served in the Massachusetts militia and navy during the Revolutionary War. There is a folder showing many receipts for payment for pay, mileage, or other supplies. One receipt gives the following: Colonel WHitney's Regimane, age 23 years; stature, 5 feet 11 inches; complexion, dark; occupation, farmer; engaged for the town of Harvard; engaged 7 Mar 1781; term, 3 years. He received a pension annually of $80.00. He died at age 70."^[10]

"Phinehas, MA Line, S22581, sol was b 16 Jan 1761 at Westminster MA & he lived there until 1812 then moved to Chittenden VT & afterwards lived at Pittsford, Salisbury & Brandon VT, he appl 10 Jul 1832 at Brandon in Rutland Co VT, sol had orig appl 14 Jun 1825 in Rutland Co VT at which time sol had a wife Elizabeth aged 57 & they had a daughter Evelina aged 22 living with them."^[11]

Children of Phinehas⁶ and Elizabeth (Rand) Whitney:

i.	Lydia7 Whitney, b. 30 Mar 1788, Westminster, MA;[12] d. 1858; m. ----- Blaisdell.[13]
ii.	Betsey E. Whitney, b. 27 Dec 1789, Westminster, MA;[14] apparently m. bef. 1805, Phineas Ward Hartwell, although no primary source evidence for this marriage has been found. He was b. -- Jun 1779, Charlemont, MA, son of William and Mary (Lovell) Hartwell. Phineas Ward Hartwell, husband of Betsey, d. 19 Nov 1814, Charlemont, MA; and Betsey Hartwell, widow of Phinehas, d. 17 Aug 1829, also in Charlemont, MA.[15] The following are three of their children, but there may be more: a. Orpha Hartwell, b. 27 Nov 1805, Charlemont, MA; m. 3 Dec 1829, Montague, MA, William Farnum. b. Lucy W. Hartwell, b. ca. 18 Apr 1808, Westminster, MA; d. 11 Sep 1870, Westminster, MA, aged 62 years 4 months 22 days, of paralysis on the brain; m. 12 Dec 1833, Calvin G. Goodridge. c. Betsey Anna Hartwell, b. 9 Apr 1814, Charlemont, MA.
iii.	Nancy Whitney, b. 21 Sep 1791, Westminster, MA;[16] m.(1) ----- Jenner; m.(2) John Smith.[17] She d. 6 Oct 1870, Brockport, Monroe Co., NY. Married first to a Mr. Jenner about 1811. When he d. she m. about 1826, John Smith, b. 21 Apr 1781 Ashford, CT, d. 25 Jan 1860, Rutland, VT. His parents were Solomon and Rebecca (Crane) Smith. He was buried in West Street Cemetery, Rutland, VT. She moved to Brockport, NY, and lived with her daughter Nancy and husband Charles Winslow. Nancy and John had the following children: a. Charles Whitney Smith, b. 24 Jul 1827, VT, d. 30 Sep 1804, MI. He was a farmer and teacher and pastor of Aurora, IL, Advent Christian Church from 1863-1888; m.(1) 26 Nov 1846, VT, Asenath Edson, b. 8 Feb 1828, VT, d. 23 Oct 1862, IL, dau. of Alfred and Martha "Patty" (Russell)(Spoffard) Edson; m.(2) 5 May 1863, Mary Anette Billings; b. 31 Oct 1843, MI. b. Nancy Elizabeth Smith, b. 3 Feb 1829, VT; d. 11 May 1887, NY; m. 5 Jan 1848, VT, Charles Melvin Winslow, son of Job and Lucy (Spencer) Winslow, b. 1 Mar 1823, VT, d. 1910, Brockport, NY. She was a teacher. He was an insurance agent. They had four children, and were buried in Brockport Cemetery, Brockport, NY, Town of Sweden. c. Solomon Smith, b. 3 Jul 1830, VT; d. 21 Aug 1830, VT. d. Marion Smith, b. 2 Jul 1831, VT; d. 25 Aug 1831, VT. e. Adoniram Judson Smith, b. 21 Aug 1832, VT; d. 19 Nov 1832, VT. f. Judson, b. 1835, VT, d. 8 Jan 1858, VT.
iv.	John Whitney, born 28 Jul 1793, Westminster, MA;[18] m. Sarah Chapman.[19]
v.	Thomas Whitney, born 18 Mar 1795, Westminster, MA;[20] m.(1) Artimacy Preston; m.(2) Hannah Preston.[21] He d. 4 Jul 1881, Muncie, Delaware Co., IN.
vi.	Evalina Whitney, b. about 1803, living 1825.[22] She may be the Evelina Whitney who m. before 1827, Nathaniel Blaisdell of Franklin, VT.

Census

• 1790, Westminster, Worcester Co., MA: Phinehas Whitney, 1 males over 16 and 3 females.
• 1800, Westminster, Worcester Co., MA: Phenias Whitney, 1 male 26-44, 3 male 0-9, 1 female 26-44, 1 female 10-15, and 2 females 0-9.
• 1810, Pittsford, Rutland Co., VT: Phinehas Whitney, 1 male 26-45, 1 male under 10, 1 female 26-45, 1 female 16-26, 3 females under 10.
• 1820, Salisbury, Addison Co., VT: Phinehas Whitney, 1 male over 45, 1 male 10-15, and 1 female over 45; 1 engaged in agriculture.
• 1830, Brandon, Rutland Co., VT: Phineas Whitney, 1 male 60-69, 1 male 30-39, and 1 female 60-69.

References

• All data imported from Frederick Clifton Pierce, The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635, (Chicago: 1895), p. 148.

1.^  Homestead Heritage of Westminster, compiled by the House Inventory Committee of the Westminster Historical Society (Westminster, MA: 1980), p. 203.

2.^  His parentage is proven by his birth record.

3.^  "Pheneas [Whitney], s. Samuel and Abigail, [born] Jan. 16, 1761," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Westminster, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (1915), p. 100.

4.^  On that date he applied for a pension for service in the Revolutionary War, so he died after that.

5.^  "Phinehas [Whitney] and Elizabeth Rand, [married] Jan. 13, 1788," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Westminster, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (1915), p. 202.

6.^  Her parentage is proven by her birth record.

7.^  "Elizebath [Rand], d. John and Tabitha, [born] Feb. 1, 1767," according to Rice, op. cit., p. 75.

8.^  On this date she was living with her husband in Brandon, VT, when he originally applied for a pension.

9.^  [[Archive:The Descendants of John Whitney, page 148|Pierce, loc. cit.

10.^  "Online Family Tree, by Ancestry.com", family group sheet of Phinehas and Elizabeth (Rand) Whitney.

11.^  Virgil D. White, Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files, Vol. III (Waynesboro, Tennessee: The National Historical Publishing Company, 1992).

12.^  "Lydea [Whitney], d. Phinehas and Elizabeth, [born] March 30, 1788," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Westminster, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (1915), p. 99.

13.^  "Online Family Tree, by Ancestry.com", family group sheet of Phinehas and Elizabeth (Rand) Whitney.

14.^  "Bettsa [Whitney], d. Phinehas and Elizabeth, [born] Dec. 27, 1789," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Westminster, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (1915), p. 100.

15.^  It seems certain that there were two separate contemporary couples named Phineas and Betsey Hartwell. Clearly one was Phineas and Elizabeth (Willard) Hartwell. The other seems to have been Phineas Ward and Betsey (Whitney) Hartwell.

Elizabeth Willard, daughter of Charles and Sally (Scolley) Willard, was born 7 Oct 1779, Lunenburg, MA. She married, 16 Jun 1807, Fitchburg, Phineas Hartwell. She died 3 Mar 1862, Westminster, MA, aged 82 years 5 months 28 days, born in Lunenburg, daughter of Charles Willard. This age at death consistent with Elizabeth Willard's birth. Her husband Phineas Hartwell died 29 Oct 1853, Westminster, MA, aged 72 years 3 months 4 days, born in Fitchburg, son of Phineas and M. Hartwell. This tallies with the birth record of Phineas Hartwell, son of Phineas and Mary (Pierce), on 25 Jul 1781, Fitchburg, MA. Apparently they lived their entire married lives in Westminster. Their children pretty clearly were the following:

1.	Lucy Willard Hartwell, b. 20 Apr 1808, Westminster; "aged 36" m. 9 May 1844, Westminster, Calvin G. Goodridge. The fact that they bought the Joel Whitney farm, which had previously been owned by Samuel Whitney, seems to be a coincidence.
2.	Josiah Willard Hartwell, b. 6 Dec 1810, Westminster; died 11 Sep 1830, aged 29 years 9 months 5 days, Westminster [should be 19 years, not 29]; apparently unmarried.
3.	Phineas Philander Hartwell, b. 22 Dec 1812, Westminster; m. int. 29 May 1846, Westminster, Abigail D. Polly, of Pelham.
4.	Charles Hartwell, b. 15 Nov 1815, Westminster; d. 21 Aug 1822, aged 6 years 9 months 6 days, Westminster.
5.	Leander Hartwell, b. 1 Jun 1818, Westminster; m. int. 28 Sep 1843, Westminster, Persis B. Brigham.
6.	Mary Elizabeth Hartwell, b. 11 Sep 1821, Westminster; d. 21 May 1843, aged 21 years 8 months 10 days, Westminster.

Apparently they lived their entire married lives in Westminster. The fact that this Phineas was never called "Jr." or "Sr." in any of the records supports the idea that there was just one Phineas Hartwell living in Westminster, the one born in Fitchburg. Records of Phineas Hartwell in other towns apparently apply to Phineas Ward Hartwell, who did not live in Westminster.

See also "Online Family Tree, by Ancestry.com", family group sheet of Phinehas and Elizabeth (Rand) Whitney.

16.^  "Nancy [Whitney], d. Phinehas and Elizabeth, [born] Sept. 21, 1791," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Westminster, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (1915), p. 99.

17.^  "Online Family Tree, by Ancestry.com", family group sheet of Phinehas and Elizabeth (Rand) Whitney.

18.^  "John [Whitney], s. Phinehas and Elizabeth, [born] July 25, 1793," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Westminster, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (1915), p. 98.

19.^  "Online Family Tree, by Ancestry.com", family group sheet of Phinehas and Elizabeth (Rand) Whitney.

20.^  "Thomas [Whitney], s. Phinehas and Elizabeth, [born] March 18, 1795," according to Franklin P. Rice, ed., Vital Records of Westminster, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (1915), p. 101.

21.^  "Online Family Tree, by Ancestry.com", family group sheet of Phinehas and Elizabeth (Rand) Whitney.

22.^  Virgil D. White, Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files, Vol. III (Waynesboro, Tennessee: The National Historical Publishing Company, 1992).

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Copyright © 2006, 2009, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group