John White

Elder John White (d. 1683/4)

Mary Levitt

John White, the son of Robert and Bridget (Algar) White of Messing, Essex, was born about 1597. [1] Elder John White died on 23 January 1683/4 in Hartford. [1] He married Mary Levitt on 26 December 1622 in Messing. [1][2][3]

John was the brother of Anne White, who married John Porter. See her entry for his English ancestry.

John came to New England with Elder William Goodwin in the Lyon, arriving on 16 September 1632. [1][2][4] Elder William Goodwin was the husband of John's sister Elizabeth.

John settled in Cambridge. He was admitted to a church in the Massachusetts Bay colony prior to 4 March 1632/3, when he was admitted a freeman. [1][2]

He was a surveyor of highways in Cambridge on 3 November 1634 and a selectman on 3 February 1634/5. He was an arbiter on 6 June 1644. He was on a cornorers jury in December 1651. He was on the grand jury on 7 December 1654. He was on a jury 14 times between 6 April 1643 and 3 June 1658. He was a deputy for Hadley to the Massachusetts Bay general court on 3 August 1664 and 19 May 1669. [1]

John sold his homestead and other lands, and went to Hartford in 1636. [2] He was a townsman there in 1642, 1646, 1651, and 1653. [2]

In 1653 John was granted land in Middletown. [2]

In 1659 John was a founder of Hadley, Massachusetts. [2] He was a representative for Hadley in 1664 and 1669. [5]

In 1670 John returned to Hartford, joined the south church and became an Elder. [2]

Mr. John White of Hartford made his will on 17 December 1683. It was proved on 6 March 1683/4. He left bequests to son Nathaniel; son Daniel White; son Jacob White; daughter Hixton; Stephen Taylor, son of his daughter Hixton, Sarah, the daughter of his son Nathaniel; Reverend Mr. John Whiting, his pastor; Jonathan Gilbert, the son of his daughter Mary; his son Nathaniel's children; his son John's children; his son Daniel's children; his daughter Sarah's children. He named his son Nathaniel White his sole executor. Inventory was taken on 23 January 1683/4. [1]

Children of John and Mary White:

i. John White was baptized on 28 December 1623 in Messing. [1] He apparently died young.

ii. Mary White was baptized on 16 July 1626 in Messing. [1] She married Jonathan Gilbert on 29 January 1645/6. [1][5]

iii. Philip White (daughter!) was baptized on 21 December 1628 in Messing. [1] There is no further record of her.

ii. Captain Nathaniel White was born about 1629. He died in August 1711, age 82. He married first Elizabeth Unknown. He married second Martha Mould

iii. Sergeant John White was born about 1636. He was buried on 15 September 1665 in Hatfield. He married Sarah Bunce.

iv. Daniel White was born say 1638. He married Sarah Crow on 1 November 1661 in Hadley. [1][5]

v. Sarah White was born about 1641. [1] She died on 10 August 1702 in Hatfield. [5] She married first Stephen Taylor. [1][5] He was buried on 8 September 1665 in Hatfield. [5] She married second Barnabas Hinsdale of Hatfield. [1][5] He was killed by Indians on 18 September 1675 at Bloody Brook. [5] She married third Walter Hickson of Hatfield. [1][5]

vi. Jacob White was born on 8 October 1645 in Hartford. [1][5] He married Elizabeth Bunce. [1][5]

Endnotes:

1. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Volumes I-III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 1976–9.

2. Charles Collard Adams, Middletown Upper Houses: A History of the North Society of Middletown, Connecticut (New York: Grafton Press, 1908), 713–4.

3. A Descendant, "The Children of Robert White of Messing, co. Essex, who Settled in Hartford and Windsor," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 55 (1909): 22–31.

4. John Camden Hotten, The Original Lists of Persons of Quality ... who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600–1700, reprinted (New York: Empire State Book Co., n.d.), 150.

5. Daniel White Wells and Reuben Field Wells, History of Hatfield, Massachusetts (Springfield: F.C.H. Gibbons, c. 1910).

Last revised: 10-Aug-2023