John Whitney, Sr. was born 20 July 1583 in St. Margarets Church, Westminister, London, England to Thomas Whytney (c1560-1657) and Mary Bray (1563-1629) and died 1 June 1673 Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States of unspecified causes. He married Elinor Bray (1599-1659) 1615 in St. Margarets Church, Westminister, London, England. He married Judith Clement (1628-1662) 29 September 1659 in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
Biography
In his youth, John was apprenticed to William Pring, who was a freeman of the Merchant Tailor’s Company, then the most famous and prosperous of all the great trade guilds. On 13 March, 1614 John was admitted as a full-fledged member. John lived for some years at Isleworth, seven miles up river from London, and moved back to London for the years immediately preceding his emigration to the Americas. In April 1635, he and his family set sail on the “Elizabeth and Ann” for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, arriving in Watertown in June of 1635. They settled there on 16 acres of land and eventually held 198 acres. He became a freeman of the colony on March 3, 1635/ 6; was appointed Constable of Watertown on June 1, 1641; and was Selectman from 1638 to 1665; and was Town Clerk in 1655.31 Research: Mackenzie states his death year as 1673
1635 Voyage of Elizabeth and Ann
He was a passenger on the English ship Elizabeth and Ann, which sailed from London in 1635, bound for New England. The ship arrived safely to Massachusetts in 1635. His family constitute #9-#20 on the list of passengers.
John Whitney, Sr., then aged 35, embarked for America in 1635 on the ship Elizabeth and Ann from London, England. He took his family with wife, Elinor (___) Whitney (1599-1659) , and five sons, John (11), Richard (9), Nathaniel (8), Thomas (6) and Jonathan (1). They arrived in Watertown MA in June and a son Joshua was born the following month (July 1635).
Watertown Homestead
Upon arrival they purchased the 16-acre homestall of John Strickland who was dismissed from the Watertown church on 29 May 1635 and went with a colony to settle Wethersfield. This homestead was the permanent residence of Mr Whitney.
In 1668 he requested his youngest son, Benjamin to return home from his settlement in York ME to help keep this hose in the family. But in 1671, Benjamin transfered his rights to his brother Joshua who later moved to Groton and sold the house to Nathan Fiske.
The homestead was located north of Belmont Street and East of Common Street. By 1642, the town had granted nine more lots to John Whitney, amounting to 198 acres total.
Freeman of Watertown
- 1636-Mar-03 : Admitted Freeman in Watertown MA
- 1638-1655 : Selectman
- 1641-Jun-01 : Appointed Constable of Watertown by the General Court
- 1655 : Town Clerk
=== Constable of Watertown 1641-Jun-01 : Appointed Constable of Watertown by the General Court.
Duties of the Constable included besides law and order as in modern days, but also collecting taxes of the town and the levies made by the General Court, to pay the debts of the Colony due to individuals in their respective towns, to supply the town with sealed weights and measures, to order the night watch, and to inflict punishments ordered by the judge. He carried a large black staff as a badge of office.
Marriage & Family
All children are from his first marriage:
1st Marriage: Elinor Bray
First five children were born in England.
- John Whitney (1624-1692), Jr. -
- Richard Whitney (1626-1719)
- Nathaniel Whitney (1627- - not mentioned in father's will, probably died young.
- Thomas Whitney (1627-1719) - d. in Watertown, 1719
- Jonathan Whitney (1634-1702)
- Joshua Whitney (1635-1719) - first family member born in America, 15 July 1635, d. in Groton 1719.
- Caleb Whitney (1640-1640) - buried in Watertown, 12 July 1640
- Benjamin Whitney (1643-1723) - b. 6 Jun 1643 in Watertown, d. in Sherburne.
2nd Marriage: Judith Clement
John's first wife died 11 May 1659, aged 54 and he married Judith Clement (1628-1662), who was not living at the date of his will, 03 Apr 1673.
Children
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Margaret Whitney (1584-1604) | |||
| Thomas Whitney (1587-1587) | |||
| Henry Whitney (1588-1589) | |||
| Arnwaye Whitney (1590-1591) | |||
| John Whitney (1592-1673) | 20 July 1583 St. Margarets Church, Westminister, London, England | 1 June 1673 Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States | Elinor Bray (1599-1659) Judith Clement (1628-1662) |
| Nowell Whitney (1594-1597) | |||
| Francis Whitney (1599-) | |||
| Mary Whitney (1600-1600) | |||
| Robert Whitney (1605-1606) | |||
| Thomas Whitney (1608-1637) | |||
| Robert Whitney (1610-1667) | |||
References
- A Brief Account of the Descendants of John and Elinor Whitney of Watertown MA - by Henry A Whitney, publ 1857. Free lookup on Google Books.
- John Whitney 1592 List of Famous Descendants
- Royal Ancestry of John Whitney -
- Ancestry of John Whitney
Footnotes (including sources)
| ‡ General |
Elinor Bray is on a lot of information on this website and should be taken off. Elinor has been spelled many different ways |
| Ω Birth |
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