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Colonel David Whitney (1682–1769), son of Deacon Joshua Whitney and Abigail Tarball
Elizabeth Warren (1693–1759), daughter of Jacob Warren and Sarah Unknown
Colonel David Whitney was born in 1682 in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [1] He died between 27 October and 4 December 1769, probably in Canaan, Litchfield County, Connecticut. David, the son of Joshua of Groton, married first Elizabeth, the daughter of Jacob Warren of Plainfield, on 20 January 1712/3 in Plainfield, Windham County, Connecticut. [2] David married second Prudence (Merrills) Sedgwick on 28 July 1767. [3][4] Prudence, the daughter of Deacon Abraham Merrills of Hartford, was born on 1 February 1700. [4] She died on 1 February 1793 when "she fell into the fire." [4] She married first Ebenezer Sedgewick. [3] Ebenezer, the son of Captain Samuel and Mary (Hopkins) Sedgwick, was born on 25 February 1695 and died on 2 December 1759. [3]
Elizabeth, the daughter of Jacob and Sarah Warren, was born on 7 June 1693 in Chelmsford. [5 ] She died in 1759 in Canaan, Litchfield County, Connecticut. [1]
David and Elizabeth's marriage record refers to Elizabeth as the daughter of Jacob Warren of Plainfield.
David settled in the Quinebaug Plantation (later Plainfield) soon after 1700. [1] He was a deputy from Plainfield at the May 1732 court. [6, 7: 363] In May 1736, he was confirmed captain of the second trainband in Plainfield. [6, 8: 32] In October 1739 he was appointed a justice of the peace for Hartford County until the following June. At each of the May courts but one from 1740 to 1751, he was appointed a justice of the peace for Hartford the ensuing year. [6]
On 3 January 1738 the land in what was soon called Canaan was sold at public auction. The first meeting of the towns of Canaan and North Canaan were held in Wethersfield, Hartford County on 22 February 1737/8. Captain David Whitney of Plainfield was the moderator. It was voted that David be on a committee to layout the land that had been sold. [7]
In October 1739 Canaan was made a town. The first town meeting was to be held in December and David was to warn of the place. [6, 8: 267] At this first town meeting, David was chosen the town clerk. [7] At a meeting in April 1742, David was the moderator. He was appointed agent on the town's behalf to concur with other town agents and to appear at the Assembly when needed. [7]
David moved to Canaan in 1740 and was an innkeeper. [4] He was confirmed as captain of the Canaan trainband in October 1740. [6, 8: 514] In October 1751 he was made a justice of the peace for Litchfield county. He held this post until his death. [6] He was a deputy from Canaan twenty times between May 1757 and May 1766. [6]
David was appointed the major of the 13th Connecticut Regiment on October 1754. [PCR, 322] David Whitney, Esq. was appointed the Lieutenant Colonel of the 13th Connecticut Regiment in May 1757; he was made the Colonel of the 14th Regiment in October 1767. [6, 11: 16; 12: 609]
In May 1758 the General Assembly, having been advised that the road through Simsbury, New Hartford, Norfolk and the northwest parts of Canaan towards Albany was in poor repair, appointed a committee, including Colonel David Whitney, to observe the roads and explore whether shorter and better routes were possible. In May 1759 a new line of road from the courthouse in Hartford to Colonel David Whitney's house in Canaan was reported. The Assembly directed the committee to lay out a new road from Samuel Humphrey's house in Simsbury to David's house in Canaan. [7]
Colonel David Whitney of Canaan made his will on 27 October 1769. He left his wife Prudence the household stuff and stock she brought to the marriage and the use of his south room and ten pounds a year during her widowhood. He left land to his sons David, Tarball, Josiah and Solomon; the heirs of his deceased son Joshua—naming his grandson Joshua; the heirs of his deceased daughters Esther Kingsbury and Elizabeth Stanton. His witnesses testified on 4 December 1769. His inventory, amounting to £679-10-09 was exhibited on 13 December 1769. [8]
Children of Colonel David Whitney and Elizabeth Warren: Births, other than Joshua's and Solomon's, recorded in Plainfield. [2]
i. Esther Whitney was born on 1 May 1714. She died on 5 April 1752 in Plainfield. [9] She married John Kingsbury. [9] John was the son of Ephraim and Phebe (Main) Kingsbury and the grandson of James Kingsbury. [9] He died on 18 April 1753 in Plainfield. [9]
ii. David Whitney was born on 16 September 1716. He was alive on 27 October 1769. He married Mary Gunn on 23 September 1739 in Canaan. [2]
David was appointed second lieutenant of the Fourth company in the Fourth Connecticut Regiment, raised for the Crown Point Expedition in August 1755. [PCR, 10: 400]
iii. Joshua Whitney was born on 11 October 1718. He died on 10 February 1761. He married Amy Blodgett.
iv. Elizabeth Whitney was born on 26 February 1720/1. She died before 27 October 1769. Elizabeth Whitney of Plainfield married Elijah Stanton of Preston, New London County on 18 April 1739 in Preston. [2] Elijah, the son of Thomas and Anna (Stanton) Stanton, was born on 28 March 1714 or 1715 in Preston. [2][10] Elijah was the grandson of Thomas Stanton (Thomas) and Captain John Stanton (Thomas).
v. Jacob Whitney was born on 13 July 1723. Jacob, the son of Captain Whitney, died on 20 September 1738 in Plainfield. [2]
vi. Captain Tarball Whitney was born on 1 November 1725. He was alive in May 1770.
Tarball Whitney of Canaan was appointed a second lieutenant in March 1755. He was appointed a first lieutenant in March 1758. In March 1759 he was appointed Captain of the Tenth Company of the Third Regiment. [6]
In May 1770 Tarball was a deputy to the General Assembly from Canaan. [6]
vii. Mary Whitney was born on 13 March 1727/8. Mary, the daughter of David and Elizabeth, died on 28 June 1729 in Plainfield. [2]
viii. Josiah Whitney was born on 11 August 1731. He was alive on 27 October 1769. He married first Lois Breck on 1 September 1756. [1] Lois, the daughter of Robert and Eunice (Brewer) Breck of Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, was born on 11 December 1738 in Springfield. [1] Josiah married second Anne (Paine) Chandler. [1] Anne was the daughter of Daniel and Leah (Smith) Paine. [1] She married first Samuel Chandler of Woodstock, Windham County, Connecticut on 17 July 1760. [1] He died in 1824 in Brooklyn, Windham County. [1]
Josiah graduated from Yale in 1752. [1] He received his D.D. from Harvard in 1802. [1] He was the pastor of the Congregational Church in Brooklyn from 1756 to 1820. [1]
ix. Solomon Whitney died on 29 July 1772 in Canaan. [2] He married Sarah Robarts on 27 November 1755 in Canaan. [2]
Map: Google Maps
References:
1. Warren Wooden, Some Descendants of Arthur Warren of Weymouth (Washington, D.C.: Judd and Detweiler, 1982).
2. "Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630–1870," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Plainfield, images, 135 (Warren), 142 (Whitney); Canaan, image 75 (Whitney); Preston,images 186–90 (Stanton), image 212 (Whitney).
3. Samuel Merrill, A Merrill Memorial (Cambridge, MA: unknown, 1917–1928).
4. Frederick Clifton Pierce, Whitney: The Descendants of John Whitney (Chicago: F.C. Pierce 1895).
5. Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849 (Salem: Essex Institute, 1914), 1: 161–2.
6. Charles J. Hoadley, The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, vols. 4–12 (Hartford: Press of the Case, Lockwood and Brainard Co., 1868–1890), vol. 7; vol. 8, vol. 9, vol. 10, vol. 11, vol. 12. Appointment as justice of the peace for Hartford: 8 8: 264, 288, 367, 447, 514; 9: 5, 105, 196, 352. 416, 503; 10: 5. Appointment as justice of the peace for Litchfield: 10: 57, 74, 155, 247, 358, 493; 11: 8, 121, 250, 373, 499; 12: 8, 127, 347, 459, 552. Deputy: 11: 2, 57, 91, 173, 213, 220, 302, 347, 367, 435, 478, 568, 612; 12: 2, 73, 121, 190, 232, 294, 453.
7. History of Litchfield County, Connecticut (Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis L& Co., 1881).
8. "Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609–1999," database with images, Ancestry (2015 : https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9049) > Hartford > Probate Packets, Warrups–Woodward, D, 1755–1880, images 476–84.
9. Frederick John Kingsbury, Genealogy of the Descendants of Henry Kingsbury of Ipswich and Haverhill, Massachusetts (Hartford: Case, Lockwood and Brainard, 1905).
10. William A. Stanton, A Record, Genealogical, Biographical, Statistical, of Thomas Stanton, of Connecticut, and His Descendants, 1635–1891 (Albany: J. Munsell, 1891).
25-Feb-2023