Family:Whitney, Joseph (1717-a1800)

Joseph⁵ Whitney (Timothy⁴, John³, John², John¹), son of Timothy⁴ and Margaret (Bacon) Whitney, was born 1 or 21 Feb 1716/7, Roxbury, MA,^[1] and died after 1784, Lima, NY.^[2]

Joseph married firstly, 26 Oct 1749, Newton, MA, Mary Hastings,^[3] daughter of Samuel and Bethia (Holloway) Hastings.^[4] She was born 16 Dec 1725, Watertown, MA,^[5] and died before 1776.^[6]

He married, between 1761 and 1776, Anna (-----) Palmer or Anna (Palmer) -----.^[7] She died after 1784, Lima, NY.^[8] She apparently was a widow, but the name of her first husband is unknown.

"Jasper Whitney, writing from Thomson, Ill., states his great-grandfather's name was Joseph Whitney, Samuel Whitney's father's name was Joseph, and Silvanus Hayward, A. M., of Southbridge, Mass., in his history of Gilsum, N.H., says Joseph Whitney was the son of Palmer Whitney, and that Palmer was the half-brother of Samuel. From all the evidence and data I can secure, it is my opinion that Joseph Whitney, of Newton, after his first wife's death married again and finally became one of the first proprietors of Gilsum, N. H., and that his sons finally located there on land he had purchased. In the history of Gilsum is this record: "Joseph Whitney was a corporal in the seventh company in Col. Samuel Ashley's regiment from Gilsum, N. H., in 1776." Later he moved to Warwick (Orange), Mass., and still later to Lima, N. Y., where he passed the remainder of his days. He was killed by the falling of a tree. He d. at Lima, N. Y.; res. Newton, Mass.; Gilsum, N. H.; Orange, Mass, and Lima, N. Y."^[9]

Joseph Whitney is found in Roxbury, Newton, and Dorchester, all in the Boston vicinity. Then later he is in Warwick, in northern central MA. By the process of elimination, he appears to be the Joseph Whitney who was living in Princeton, MA in 1771, about halfway between Boston and Warwick.

Children of Joseph⁵ and Mary (Hastings) Whitney:

i.	Abigail Whitney6; b. 18 Dec 1749, Newton, MA.[10]
ii.	Martha Whitney, b. 31 May 1752, Newton, MA.[11]
iii.	Anne Whitney, b. 10 Feb 1755, Newton, MA.[12]
iv.	Samuel Whitney, b. 7 Aug 1758, Newton, MA;[13] m. Mary6 Whitney.
v.	Lois Whitney, b. 5 Sep 1761, Dorchester, MA.[14]

Child of Joseph⁵ Whitney, maternity uncertain:

vi.	Edward Whitney,[15] b. say 1763-1774. Possibly identical to Edward Whitney of Falmouth/Portland, ME, who m. 1788, Martha Moody, and, if so, then probably son of his father's first wife Mary (Hastings) Whitney.

According to my grandmother Kate (Cole) Whitney's records, Mary and Content were the daughters of Anna Palmer from her first marriage and not from her marriage to Joseph Whitney. She received her information from Joseph Whitney, son of Palmer Whitney who was the son of this Joseph. She writes about Joseph: "Married 2nd a widow with two daughters (Mrs. Gurney and Mrs. Content Fuller)."

Children of ----- and Anna (-----) Palmer:

vii.	Mary Palmer, b. before 1776; m. ----- Gurney.[16]
viii.	Content Palmer, b. before 1776; m. ----- Fuller.[17]

Children of Joseph⁵ and Anna (-----)(Palmer) Whitney:

ix.	Palmer Whitney, b. 11 May 1776, Warwick, MA;[18] d. 6 Oct 1777, Warwick, MA, aged 1 year 4 months 25 days.[19]
x.	Palmer Whitney, b. 12 Jul 1779, Warwick, MA;[20] m. Judah Barber.
xi.	Abigail Whitney, b. 20 Jan 1781, Warwick, MA;[21] m. Samuel Mark; they lived in Wyoming County, NY.[22]
xii.	Lemuel Whitney, b. 15 Aug 1784, Warwick, MA;[23] m. Sally Pratt.

Census

• 1771, Princeton, MA (tax list): Joseph Whitney
• 1790, Warwick, Hampshire Co., MA: Joseph Whitney, 1 male over 16, 1 male 0-15, and 2 females.
• 1800, Warwick, Hampshire Co., MA: Joseph Whitney, 1 male over 45, 1 male 10-15, 1 female over 45, and 1 female 16-25.
• 1810: not found.

References

1.^  "Joseph [Whitney], s. Timothy and Margarett, [born] Feb. 21, 1716. [1716-17-C.R.2.]," according to Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1925-1926), pp. 371-373.

2.^  Frederick Clifton Pierce, The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635 (Chicago: 1895), p. 67.

3.^  "Joseph [Whitney] and Mary Hasting [dup. Hastings], [married] Oct. 26, 1749. [Hastings, M.R.]," according to Vital Records of Newton, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1905), p.

4.^  Henry Bond, Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston; to Which is Appended the Early History of the Town. With Illustrations, Maps, and Notes. Volume I, Genealogies (2nd ed., 1860), pp. 642-652; Vol. II, Additions, Corrections, and Early History (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Company, 1855), vol. 2, p. 790.

5.^  Ibid.

6.^  She died before the birth of the oldest known child by the second wife.

7.^  Her given name is from the births of her recorded children. The fact that she named a son "Palmer" has led to the guess that her maiden name or her married name may have been that.

8.^  Pierce, op. cit., p. 66.

9.^  Pierce, op. cit., p. 67.

10.^  "Abigail [Whitney], d. Joseph and Mary, [born] Dec. 18, 1749," according to Newton Vital Records, pp. 210-211.

11.^  "Martha [Whitney], d. Joseph and Mary, [born] May 31, 1752," according to Newton Vital Records, pp. 210-211.

12.^  "Anne [dup. Anna] [Whitney], d. Joseph and Mary, [born] Feb. 10, 1755," according to Newton Vital Records, pp. 210-211.

13.^  "Samuel [Whitney], s. Joseph and Mary, [born] Aug. 7, 1758," according to Newton Vital Records, pp. 210-211.

14.^  "Lois [Whitney], d. Joseph and Mary, [born] Sept. 5, 1761, in Dorchester," according to Newton Vital Records, pp. 210-211.

15.^  Pierce, op. cit., p. 67.

16.^  Ibid.

17.^  Ibid.

18.^  "Palmer [Whitney], s. Joseph and Anne, [born] 11 May 1776," according to Jay Mack Holbrook, Warwick Vital Records (Oxford, MA), 1:23.

19.^  "Palmer [Whitney], s. Joseph and Anne, [died] 6 Oct 1777, a. 1y. 4m. 25d.," according to Warwick Vital Records, 1:195.

20.^  "Palmer [Whitney], s. Joseph and Anna, [born] 12 Jul 1779," according to Warwick Vital Records, 1:32.

21.^  "Abigail [Whitney], d. Joseph and Anna, [born] 20 Jan 1781," according to Warwick Vital Records, 1:38.

22.^  Pierce, op. cit., p. 67.

23.^  "Lemuel [Whitney], s. Joseph and Anna, [born] 15 Aug 1784," according to Warwick Vital Records, 1:51.

---

Copyright © 1999, 2006, 2007, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group