Family:Whitney, Sylvanus (1749-1827)

Sylvanus⁵ Whitney (Eliasaph⁴, Nathan³, John², Henry¹), son of Eliasaph⁴ and Mary (Bishop) Whitney, was born 3 Feb 1748/9, Stamford, CT,^[1] baptized 12 Mar 1749, Darien, CT, and died 24 Aug 1827, Carleton, NB.

He married firstly, 30 Sep 1772, Norwalk, CT, Betty Hoyt, daughter of Nathan and Elizabeth (Lockwood) Hoyt. She was born 7 May or 16 Jun 1751, Norwalk, CT, and died 8 Dec 1808, Carleton, NB.

He married secondly, 21 Feb 1810, Carleton, NB, Sarah (Sniffen) Wetmore, parentage unknown. She was born 2 Mar 17--, Rye, NY, and died 18 Dec 1818, Carleton, NB. She had married firstly, Abraham Wetmore, who died 6 Feb 1790, New York, NY.

Phoenix says the following:

Sylvanus Whitney, b. at Stamford, Conn., 3 Feb. 1748-9, O.S., according to the town-record, and 14 Feb. 1749, N.S., according to his family-record; bap. at Middlesex, now Darien, Conn., 12 March 1749; a trader; married, 30 Sept. 1772, at Norwalk, Conn., by Rev. Jeremiah Leaming, D.D., Episcopal, to Betty Hoyt, dau. of Nathan and Elizabeth (Lockwood) Hoyt, of Norwalk, where she was born 7 May 1751, according to her family-record, while the Hoyt Genealogy, p.381, and Hall's History of Norwalk, p. 224, say 16 June 1751. He first settled in the parish of Green's Farms, Fairfield, Conn., where he built a house, which he sold, 12 Oct. 1773, to Gideon Gray, for £57. He was living at Stamford in 1775; and remained loyal. Sabine's Loyalists of the American Revolution, II., pp. 425-6, says: "In June, 1775, he was arraigned before the Committee of that town, charged with the offense of buying and selling tea. He made a written confession of the fact, delivered up the tea remaining in his possession, and was allowed to depart. As the reader may be curious to learn how the Whigs sometimes disposed of this obnoxious article, the following account of the destruction of that received of Mr. Whitney is here given: 'About eight o'clock in the evening a gallows was erected in the middle of the street. . . . . A large concourse of people soon collected, and were joined by a number of the soldiery quartered in the town. A grand procession soon began to move. In the first place, a large guard under arms, headed by two captains who led the van, with the unfortunate Tea hung across a pole, sustained by two unarmed soldiers. Secondly, followed the Committee of Observation. Thirdly, the spectators who came to see the great sight. And after parading through part of the principal streets, with drums beating and fifes playing a most doleful sound, they came to the gallows, where the common hangman soon performed his office to the general satisfaction of the spectators. As it was thought dangerous to let the said Tea hang all night, for fear of invasion from our tea-lovers, a large bonfire was made under it, which soon reduced it to ashes; and, after giving three loud huzzas, the people soon dispersed to their respective homes, without any bad consequences attending. Mr. Whitney was present, during the execution, and behaved himself as well as could be expected.' He removed to St. John, New Brunswick, at the peace, and was a magistrate, and one of the aldermen of that city," from 1804 to 1807, and from 1812 to 1818.

His wife died, 8 Dec. 1808, at Carleton, St. John, N.B., and was buried there. He was married (2d), 21 Feb. 1810, at Carleton, St. John, by Rev. Roger Viets, rector of Digby, N.S., to Sarah Sniffen, born at Rye, N.Y., 2 March 17--, widow of Abraham Wetmore, of Rye, and St. John, N.B., who died in New York, 6 Feb. 1790. They died at Carleton, St. John; she, 18 Dec. 1818; he, 24 Aug. 1827; and were buried there.

His descendants say that he dwelt at Lloyd's Neck, Oyster Bay, L. I., N.Y., in the latter part of the Revolutionary War. Tradition also says that he was one of the leaders of the party which took his father and neighbors prisoners, at the Middlesex Church, on Sunday 22 July 1781.

Children of Sylvanus⁵ and Betty (Hoyt) Whitney:

i.	Betty6 Whitney, b. 7 Jul 1773, Norwalk, CT; m. David Brown Wetmore.
ii.	Polly Whitney, b. 1774, Stamford, CT; bapt. 28 May 1775, Stamford, CT; m. Samuel Hicks.
iii.	Sally Whitney, b. 10 Nov 1776, Stamford, CT; bapt. 2 Jan 1777, Stamford, CT; m. Amos Adams.
iv.	Walter Hoyt Whitney, b. 6 May 1778, Stamford, CT; d. Aug 1794, at sea; unmarried.
v.	Platt Whitney, b. 7 Aug 1781, Oyster Bay, NY; was lost at sea in 1793.
vi.	William Whitney, b. 17 Jan 1783, Oyster Bay, NY; m. Elizabeth Seely.
vii.	Huldah Whitney, b. 13 May 1785, St. John, NB; d. 13 Apr 1808, St. John, NB, and was buried there.
viii.	Hannah Whitney, b. 2 Oct 1788, Kingston, NB; m. William Olive.
ix.	Henry Platt Whitney, b. 10 Oct 1792, St. John, NB; m. Mary Brundage.
x.	George Walter Hoyt Whitney, b. 10 Apr 1795, St. John, NB; d. 10 Apr 1822, St. John, NB, and was buried there.

Sylvanus⁵ and Sarah (Sniffen)(Wetmore) Whitney had no children.

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. 106-107 and pp. 306-308.

1.^  "Silvanus [Whitney], s. Eliasph & Mary, b. 3 Feb 1748/9, Stamford 1:79," according to the Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Stamford 1:79.

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