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HEZEKIAH WHITCOMB (1681–1732), son of Josiah Whitcomb and Rebecca Waters

HANNAH GREEN (1683–1761), daughter of William Green and Mary Crispe

Hezekiah, the son of Josiah and Rebecca (Waters) Whitcomb, was born on 14 September 1681 in Lancaster.1,2 Mr. Hezekiah Whitcomb died on 6 May 1732, age 50, and is buried in the Old Common Burial Ground in Lancaster.3 The cause of his death was a kick by his stallion.4 He married Hannah Green.5

Hannah, the daughter of William and Mary (Crispe) Green was born on 10 April 1683 in Groton.5,7 She died in 1761.5

Hannah is referred to as Hannah Whitcomb in the 13 July 1713 will of her father.

After Hezekiah Whitcomb's death, the court decided on guardians for his children. On 7 November 1732 Hannah Whitcomb was appointed the guardian of her children Sarah, age 12, Eleazar, age nine and Dinah, age about five. Bonds of 200 pounds were posted by Hannah, Hezekiah Whitcomb, husbandman, and Jonas Houghton, gentleman, all of Lancaster. On 26 and 9 November, respectively, Jonas Priest was chosen as the guardian of Israel, age 18, and Elizabeth (Betty), age 15. Bonds of 200 pounds were posted by Jonas Priest, Hezekiah Whitcomb and William Whitcomb, all of Lancaster.6

Children of Hezekiah Whitcomb and Hannah Green:

i. Hezekiah Whitcomb was born on 22 December 1707 in Groton.1,8 He probably died in the expedition against Montreal in 1755 or 1760.1 He married Rachael Priest on 3 April 1729 in Lancaster.2,9

Speaking of the men lost at the reduction of Montreal, on 9 October 1760 the pastor of the west parish in Lancaster said, "All the rest [including Hezekiah], I think, were lost by Sickness abroad or Indisposition they brought home with them from the camp."10

Hezekiah was admitted to the Second Church in Lancaster on 13 January 1744/5.9

ii. William Whitcomb was baptized on 24 December 1710.1 He married Hephzibah Sawyer on 25 February 1729/30.2 Hephzibah was probably the daughter of William and Mary Sawyer, baptized on 1 July 1711 in Lancaster,9 and the granddaughter of John Houghton. She was, thus, probably the first cousin of her brother-in-law Israel's wife Azubah.

iii. Hannah Whitcomb was baptized on 30 May 1713.1 She married William Sawyer on 25 August 1732.1 William is probably the brother Hannah's brother William's wife, baptized on 18 November 1711 in Lancaster.9

iv. Israel Whitcomb was born about 1714. He was baptized on 22 April 1716 in Lancaster. He died between 16 November 1790 and 26 May 1795. He married Azubah Houghton.

vi. Elizabeth (Betty) Whitcomb was born about 1717. She was baptized on 1 June 1718.1

vii. Sarah Whitcomb was born about 1720. She was baptized on 26 March 1720 or 1721.1 She died in 1817, age 96, and is buried in the Westminster West Cemetery in Westminster West, Windham County, Vermont.3 She married William Wilder.3 William died on 27 September 1807, age 90, and is buried next to his wife in the Westminster West Cemetery.3

viii. Eleazar Whitcomb was born about 1723. He was baptized on 18 October 1724.1 He died on 13 May 1776 in Bolton.1 He married Mary Putnam on 5 October 1749.1

Eleazar made his will on 19 April 1776.1

viii. Dinah Whitcomb was born on 9 January 1727 or 1728.1 She is probably the Dinah Whitcomb who married Jonas Moor on 24 Nov 1747 in Bolton.7 Jonas was probably the son of Fairbank and Judith Moor, baptized on 6 October 1725 in Lancaster.8

Endnotes:

1. Charlotte Whitcomb, The Whitcomb Family in America: A Biographical Genealogy With a Chapter on Our English Forbears "by the name of Whetcombe" (Minneapolis: C. Whitcomb?, c1904), 397, 400–6.

2. Andrew H. Ward, "Lancaster Records," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 17 (1863), 70 (Hezekiah's birth) says that Hezekiah is the son of Joseph[!] and Rebecca; 74 (Hezekiah, Jr.'s and William's marriages).

3. "Hezekiah Whitcomb," Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/30124944/hezekiah-whitcomb), photograph of his grave with inscription, "Here Lyes Buried Ye Body of Mr. Hezekiah Whetcomb Who Died May 6th, 1732 in ye 51st Year of His Age." "Sarah Whitcomb Wilder," Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116624224/sarah-wilder), photograph of her grave with inscription "Wife of William Wilder died 1817 age 96." "William Wilder," Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116624231/william-wilder), photograph of his grave but the inscription is hard to read.

4. "U.S., Newspaper Extractions from the Northeast, 1704–1930," database with images, Ancestry (2014: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/50015). The newspaper article also gives the date of his death.

5. Mary E. Mayo, ed., Lineages of Members of the National Society of Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, vol. 3 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996), 509.

6. Shirley M. (Robinson) Pizziferri, "Early Worcestor County Probate Records," Mayflower Descendant 38 (1988): 168, citing cases 64004, 64007, 64013, 64050, 64142.

7. Vital Records of Bolton, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849 (Worcester, MA: Franklin P. Rice, 1910).

8. "Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1700–1800," database with images, Ancestry (2018, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61401) > Groton, image 250.

9. Henry S. Nourse, Birth, Marriage and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643–1850 (Clinton, MA: W. J. Coulter, Printer, 1890), 24 (marriage), 374 (admission).

10. John Mellon, "Men of Lancaster Lost at the Reduction of Montreal," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 22 (1868), 282.

Last revised: 15-Dec-2023