USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Shirley > History of the town of Shirley, Massachusetts, from its early settlement to A.D. 1882 > Part 58
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1882, at Mansfield. 3. "Lyman S.," b. July 7, 1858; 4. "Leila I.," b. April 3, 1870.
(2.) Josephine M., b. Jan. 27, 1828, at Blossburg, Pa., m. Wil- liam Slingerland ; has no children.
(3.) Randolph F., b. Sept. 16, 1830, at Blossburg, m. April 19, 1855, Mary Fenetter. He is a farmer, r. Covington ; has had two children : 1. "Edie R.," b. Aug. 8, 1861, at Covington, m. Judson Burr, and had one child : 1. Herman, who died at Blossburg, Aug. 11, 1882. 2. " Mertie E.," b. April 5, 1867, at Covington.
(4.) Warren W., b. March 10, 1835, m. Jan. 1, 1857, Maryette Dond, b. in Sullivan, Pa., March 22, 1831, daughter of Alvah and Electa (Rumsey) Dond. Mr. Bloss is a painter by trade, and r. Mansfield, Pa. (1882). He has had two children, b. at Covington : 1.' "Willard W.," b. March 8, 1858, d. June 18, 1864, at Covington ; 2. "Arthur Lafayette," b. July 19, 1859.
(5.) Clara A., b. April 16, 1844, m. John Everts, has no chil- dren (1883).
10. JAMES, b. April 26, 1809, m. Sept. 1, 1833, Eliza Hazleton, b. in Townshend, Windham county, Vt., Aug. 12, 1807, daughter of John and Taphath Hazleton. Mr. Walker is a mechanic, r. Blossburg, Pa. (1882), and has had three children, all b. at Covington :
(1.) Delos Hazleton, b. Nov. 25, 1835, m. June 9, 1860, Julia A. Frost, b. in Covington, June 28, 1839, daughter of Lyman and . Hannah (Ufford) Frost. At the age of twenty Mr.
660
HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
Walker was elected clerk of Covington township, which posi- tion he held till his removal to Morris Run in 1863, from which time till 1873 he was in the employ of the Morris Run Coal Company in the capacity of weigh-master and book- keeper. In the fall of 1873 he was appointed deputy-sheriff for Tioga county, and removed to Wellsboro, which position he occupied till the fall of 1876, when he received the repub- lican nomination for high sheriff, to which office he was elected by a majority of thirty-three hundred,-eight thousand three hundred votes being cast. After holding the office for the term of three years he returned to Covington, where he now resides (1883), having resumed the occupation of his youth, that of farming. He has had five children : I. "Maud Lilian," b. April 11, 1861, at Covington, d. at Covington, June 21, 1862 ; 2. "Bertie Roswell," b. May 19, 1864, at Morris Run, Pa., d. Aug. 31, 1864, at Covington ; 3. " Houston Frost," b. Sept. 6, 1868, at Morris Run, Pa. ; 4. "Bertha May," b. May 3, 1873, at Morris Run, Pa. ; 5. "Lyman James," b. Dec. 24, 1880, at Covington.
(2.) Roswell Amzi, b. July 19, 1840, d. Dec. 9, 1862, at Belle Plains, Va. He was a member of the 152nd Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers.
(3.) Mary Adelaide, b. Nov. 6, 1845, m. Feb. 25, 1875, Alfred T. James. Has no children (1882).
11. CYNTHIA O., b. May 22, 1812, m. May 1, 1834, Moses Wheeler, Jr., b. in Troy, Bradford county, Pa., Sept. 27, 1810. She d. May 4, 1880, at Elba, Knox county, Ill., where Mr. Wheeler still r. (1882.) They had six children :
(1.) Fulia E., b. Jan. 19, 1835, at Charleston, Tioga county, Pa., m. June 7, 1854, H. H. Potts of Litchfield, Bradford county, Pa. They r. at Elba, Knox county, Ill., and have had nine children,-five boys and four girls, all of whom are living (1882).
(2.) Lydia M., b. July 27, 1837, in Charleston, Pa., m. Feb. 26, 1857, W. P. Kinyon, of Litchfield, Pa. They have five chil- dren, all boys, and r. in Woodson county, Kansas.
(3.) Charlotte M., b. Jan. 4, 1841, at Charleston, Pa., m. Dec. 29, 1859, Demetrius H. Baird. They have had one child.
(4.) Fane, b. Sept. 5, 1842, at Charleston, Pa., m. Nov. 24, 1864, Jerome B. Curtis. She d. at Creston, Union county, Iowa, March 26, 1878 ; had seven children, of whom five are living (1882).
(5.) Norris S., b. Nov. 10, 1845, at Charleston, Pa., m. Feb. 22, 1871, Jerusha G. Baird of Elba, Ill. He d. at Elba, Nov. 8, 1880, leaving a widow, and three children, all boys.
(6.) Laura A., b. Sept. 15, 1849, at Litchfield, Bradford county, Pa., m. Oct. 28, 1869, J. M. Oberholtzer of Elba, Ill. They have five children, four boys and one girl (1882).
661
GENEALOGY .- WARREN.
WARREN.
This name was first borne by William de Warenne, and was derived from the name of that nobleman's manor which was called fief of Warenne, or as some have supposed, from a rabbit warren which stood near on his grounds. It has sometimes been spelled Warrene, Warrin, Warin, or Warins .- ( N. E. Genealogical Register. )
Richard Warren was the first of the name in this country. He came over in the Mayflower in 1620. His wife, Elizabeth, came over in the ship Ann, in 1623, and joined her husband at Plymouth, and from them descended a numerous posterity.
John Warren came to Watertown from England in 1630, lived and died in that town, and was followed by a numerous posterity. In October, 1651, he was fined 20s. for an offence against the law con- cerning baptism. In 1654, April 4, he was fined for a neglect of public worship fourteen sabbaths, £3 10s. He died Dec., 13, 1667.
Joseph Warren was one of the Virginia Colony, came from England in the ship Alice in 1635, and afterward became an inhabitant of New England.
Jacob Warren lived in Chelmsford as early as 1674, and is sup- posed to be the ancestor of the Littleton and Shirley families of the name. The pioneer settler in Shirley was
Warren, Ephraim. He was b. at Littleton, May 3, 1737. He was a son of Jacob and Ruth Warren, and probably a grandson of Ephraim Warren of Chelmsford. He was twice m., (first) to Sarah Kezer, in 1762, who bore him ten children. She d., and he m. (second) Ruth Alexander of Lunenburg. They were pub. Nov. 25, 1785, and had two children. He lived a few years at Townsend, and then removed to Groton. In 1767 he went to Shirley, and was established on a farm in a westerly section of the town, his dwelling standing between the Lunenburg and Shirley boundary line and the house of the late Dennis Page. Here the larger portion of his family was born, and here was the scene of his life labor. Subsequently, in old age, he was removed over the line into Lunenburg, where he passed the latter days of his life, and where he d. It was on the farm that was afterward owned by his youngest son, and where Abel Nickless now lives (1883). He was one of those hardy New England farmers who could live in a small cottage, subsist on coarse food, and yet do much towards peopling the other sections of the country, which waited for stalwart limbs and willing hands to find and secure the treasures hid in the soil of mother earth. His children were
I. JACOB, b. at Townsend, Dec. 2, 1762. At the age of twenty- one he was settled in Littleton, where he m. Lydia Robbins, in 1784. He d. at Littleton, and had no children.
II. EPHRAIM, b. [1763.] Though very young he was one of the volunteers called by the alarm of the 19th of April, 1775. The
662
HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
next year he enlisted for seventy-five days, but d. before his term of service had expired.
III. JAMES, b. at Groton, Nov. 7, 1766, m. Susanna Wheeler of Littleton, lived in Littleton, and d. there, July 15, 1845. His wife d. at Concord, Dec. 15, 1824. They had nine children :
1. MARY, b. at Littleton, Sept. 13, 1794, m. Ithamar A. Beard of Littleton, and d. Oct., 1870 ; her husband d. March 11, 1871.
2. SUSAN, b. Aug. 29, 1796, m. Joel Hoar, Esq., who d. Sept. 7, 1857. She d. Feb. 9, 1874.
3. JAMES, b. Sept. 16, 1798, m. Theresa Stearns, April, 1832. He d. Feb. 13, 1838 ; his widow d. Feb. 7, 1881.
4. EDWARD W., b. Dec. 20, 1801, d. unm.
5. ASAHEL, b. May 15, 1803, d. May 25, 1846, unm.
6. SOPHRONIA, b. July 5, 1805, d. Jan. 29, 1874, unm.
7. ABIAL, b. Aug. 30, 1807, d. April 8, 1837, unm.
8. SABRA, b. March 31, 1810, m. C. Lewis of Malden, Aug. 27, 1841.
9. ALDEN W., b. June 8, 1812.
IV. RUTH, b. at Shirley, Dec. 21, 1768, m. Henry Farewell, March 18, 1793, d. 1850.
V. BENJAMIN, b. at Shirley, Aug. 15, 1770, m. Polly Woods, March 12, 1794, d. May 26, 1795. He had one child :
1. POLLY, b. Aug. 14, 1794, d. July 5, 1795.
VI. WILLIAM, b. at Shirley, Oct. 6, 1772, m. Hannah Dickerson of Shirley, Nov. 4, 1798; she d. in Olive, Noble county, Ohio, July 29, 1853 ; he d. in the same place, March 10, 1854. They had fourteen children :
1. PRISCILLA, b. at Shirley, June 12, 1799.
2. WILLIAM, b. in Shirley, Sept. 24, 1800, m. Nancy McAllister of Colebrook, N. H., in Marietta, Ohio, Oct. 19, 1823 ; she died Feb. 1, 1857. They had eight children, all b. at Marietta :
(1.) Elbridge Gerry, b. March 19, 1825, d. at Marietta, June 24, 1825.
(2.) Monroe, b. July 1, 1826, d. Feb. 18, 1828.
(3.) Manly, b. March 12, 1829, d. June 9, 1864.
(4.) Harriet E., b. June 12, 1831, d. at Marietta, July 23, 1857.
(5.) Putnam, b. Oct. 5, 1833, d. July 1, 1835. -
(6.) Sarah R., b. Sept. 20, 1835.
(7.) Victoria J., b. May 10, 1838, d. at Marietta, Feb. 22, 1857.
(8.) Lucy L., b. July 23, 1840, d. Feb. 21, 1856.
3. NANCY, b. at Shirley, May 4, 1802.
4. SOPHIA, b. at Shirley, Jan. 31, 1804.
663
GENEALOGY .- WARREN.
5. JAMES S., b. in Maine, April 23, 1805.
6. SARAH, b. at Charlestown, Nov. 17, 1807.
7. DELIA, b. at Lunenburg, Oct. 15, 1809, d. at Cincinnati, Ohio, March 11, 1842.
8. AI, b. at Shirley, Sept. 1, 1811.
9. CAROLINE, b. at Lunenburg, May 22, 1813.
10. MARILLA, b. at Marietta, Ohio, May 20, 1815.
11. ELMIRA, b. at Marietta, June 22, 1817, d. at Olive, Ohio, Dec. 29, 1841.
12. ANDREW, b. at Olive, Sept. 23, 1820, d. at Olive, Oct. 26, 1820.
13. WESTON, b. at Olive, Aug. 5, 1822.
14. ELBRIDGE, b. at Olive, May 8, 1826.
VII. CHARLES, b. at Shirley, May 7; 1774, m. Beulah Bancroft Holden of Shirley, May 6, 1802.
VIII. SARAH, b. at Shirley, Nov. 26, 1776, m. Joseph Barns East- man of Townsend, Feb. 24, 1801 ; he d. at Townsend, Aug. 29, 1820 ; his widow d. June 7, 1843. She had seven children, all b. at Townsend :
1. WARREN, b. Sept. 5, 1802, m. Esther B. Robinson, Oct. 9, 1844, d. Dec. 26, 1878.
2. OLIVE B., b. Aug. 30, 1804, m. Levi Flagg, d. March 11, 1847.
3. SIMON D., b. June 9, 1806, d. Nov. 6, 1820.
4. JOSEPH R., b. Nov. 7, 1808, d. Jan. 7, 1866.
5. CHARLES A., b. March 29, 1812, m. Rebecca Barton, d. Dec. 24, 1858.
6. SARAH, b. Nov. 2, 1814, m. Joseph Adams, 1835.
7. ELIZA, b. July 16, 1816, m. Oliver Morse of Mason, N. H., d. at Chelsea, 1877.
IX. ELIZABETH, b. at Shirley, Sept. 18, 1778, m. Jonathan Wyeth of Townsend. She had four children, all b. in Towns- end :
1. JOSEPH, b. March 6, 1800, d. in Ohio.
2. JONATHAN, b. Jan. 30, 1802, d. at Lunenburg.
3. ELIZA, b. Oct. 17, 1806, m. Benjamin Nutting.
4. WALTER, b. Aug. 8, 1812, m. Sarah Adams, d. March, 1855.
X. JOSEPH, b. at Shirley, July 26, 1781, became a sailor, and was lost at sea.
XI. LUCY, b. at Shirley, May 26, 1786, d. at Lunenburg, unm.
664
HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
XII. EPHRAIM, b. at Shirley, Sept. 16, 1788. He was thrice m., (first) to Nancy Moors of West Boylston, April 9, 1812 ; she d. Dec. 25, 1837 ; he m. (second) Mrs. Abigail Allen of Lunenburg, Nov. 4, 1838 ; she d. Sept. 10, 1855 ; he m. (third) Eliza Edwards of Townsend, March 23, 1857 ; he d. at Townsend, Feb. 11, 1861. He had thirteen children, all b. at Lunenburg :
1. EPHRAIM LEWIS, b. Jan. 29, 1813, d. Aug. 29, 1818.
2. CHARLES, b. Sept. 10, 1814, graduated from Harvard Uni- versity, studied medicine at Harvard Medical School, and received a diploma. He was engaged for a time in teaching, and travelled in Europe, but d. June 13, 1848, unm. As a mathematician and linguist he especially excelled, and probably would have filled an important place in the world of letters had his life been continued.
3. ANN SOPHIA, b. Oct. 1, 1816, d. Sept. 11, 1818.
4. GEORGE WASHINGTON, 'b. Jan. 6, 1819. He has been twice m., (first) to Lydia L. Bigelow, Sept. 28, 1847 ; she was b. at Boyls- ton, Sept. 26, 1820, d. at West Boylston, Feb. 12, 1861 ; he m. (second) Ellen S. Flagg, April 27, 1862 ; she was b. at Boyls- ton, Dec. 24, 1837. He graduated from Amherst College, and received a medical diploma from Pittsfield Medical College. He settled in the practice of his profession at West Boylston, in 1847. He has had six children, all b. at West Boylston but one :
(I.) George H., b. June 20, 1850, d. March 1, 1867.
(2.) Helen C., b. March 14, 1852.
(3.) Charles S., b. May 27, 1856.
(4.) William F., b. Nov. 5, 1859, d. Sept. 26, 1860.
(5.) Ernest L., b. July 25, 1863, at Boylston.
(6.) Grace G., b. May 29, 1870.
5. VALERIA, b. Jan. 20, 1821, m. Asa Smith of Lunenburg, April 27, 1839 ; her husband d. Feb. 3, 1856; she is a widow, r. Worcester (1883). She has had four children, all b. at Lunen- burg :
(1.) Milton, b. Aug. 18, 1840, m. Sarah C. Smock of Indian- apolis, Ind. He has had two children : I. "Iva Valeria," b. July, 1871 ; 2. "Ruby Onner," b. April, 1873.
(2.) Peter, b. March 21, 1844, m. Annie Blood of Harvard, Sept., 1871. He has had three children : I. "Charles H.," b. Dec., 1875 ; 2. "Arthur E.," b. Sept., 1878; 3. "Georgie V.," b. Sept., 1880, d. Aug. 11, 1881.
(3.) Mary Jane, b. June 18, 1846, m. Frank Bowers of Clinton, April, 1864. She has had two children : I. "Charles Frank- lin," b. Nov., 1864; 2. "Freddie," b. Feb., 1866.
(4.) Charles Franklin, b. Dec. 2, 1853, d. July, 1870.
6. EPHRAIM LEWIS, b. Feb. 14, 1823, m. Sarah P. Ball, Aug. 14, 1852, r. Weymouth, is a practicing physician (1883) ; has one child :
(I.) Anna Ashton, b. at Weymouth, Jan. 11, 1870.
665
GENEALOGY .- WARREN.
7. ANN SOPHIA, b. May 21, 1825. She was twice m., (first) to William Sawyer Carter of Leominster, Dec. 27, 1843 ; her hus- band d. June 6, 1847; she m. (second) C. C. Field, M. D., Dec., 1858. She d. Jan. 16, 1860. She had two children, b. at Leominster :
(1.) Caroline Isabel, b. Jan. 11, 1846, m. Rev. George Leonard Chaney, Jan. 3, 1871. They have a residence in Leominster, but Mr. Chaney is most of the time abroad, engaged in pro- fessional duties. He was the minister of the Hollis Street church in Boston for several years, but is now laboring in Atlanta, Ga. (1883.) He is both a learned and able divine. They have had one child : I. "George Carter," b. at Boston, Nov. 5, 1871.
(2.) Catharine Sophia, b. Oct. 17, 1847, m. William Sinclair Blunt, April 29, 1867, r. New York, N. Y. She has had three children : 1. "William Carter," b. Feb. 20, 1868, d. Feb. 9, 1872 ; 2. "Robert Sinclair," b. Oct. 19, 1869, d. Feb. 23, 1872 ; 3. "Harry Needham," b. June 17, 1871.
8. N. LAFAYETTE, born March 21, 1827, m. Mary Barnard of Leominster, Jan. 1, 1851, r. Shirley, and has had nine children : (1.) John Henry, b. May 27, 1852, d. Jan. 13, 1855.
(2.) William Barnard, b. Nov. 16, 1853, r. Groton (1882), a physician.
(3.) John Henry, b. July 28, 1855.
(4.) An Infant, b. June 2, 1857, d. June 3, 1857.
(5.) Charles Arthur, b. Dec. 15, 1858.
(6.) George Herbert, b. Oct. 15, 1860.
(7.) Mary Emma, b. Dec. 18, 1865.
(8.) Lewis Lincoln, b. Nov. 30, 1867.
(9.) Franklin Lafayette, b. Jan. 23, 1870.
€ 9. AMANDA MARIETTA, b. April 5, 1829, m. Andrew Houghton of Harvard, June, 1847, d. at Leominster, Aug. 5, 1880. She had five children, b. in Leominster :
(I.) Ella Frances, b. Dec. 24, 1849.
(2.) Clara Amanda, b. Nov. 17, 1851.
(3.) Alice Maria, b. Dec. 11, 1856, d. March 24, 1860.
(4.) Fannie Gertrude, b. Oct. 27, 1859.
(5.) Andrew Lincoln, b. Jan. 20, 1866.
10. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, b. April 22, 1831, d. Oct. 14, 1852.
11. ANGELA STREETER, b. Aug. 28, 1833, d. May 3, 1837.
12. FRANKLIN HAMILTON, b. Aug. 9, 1836, m. Augusta Maria Kidder of "Townsend, May 9, 1858, r. Townsend (1883). He has had four children, b. at Townsend :
(I.) Edward Everett, b. Jan. 4, 1859.
(2.) Harriet Augusta, b. Jan. 25, 1861.
(3.) George Ephraim, b. Oct. 11, 1864, d. April 30, 1873.
(4.) Bertha Elizabeth, b. Feb. 16, 1877.
84
666
HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
13. EMILY VICTORIA, b. Sept. 21, 1839, m. James Page of Lunen- burg, Nov. 27, 1862, d. May 8, 1880.
Warren, Jonathan, descended from John Warren of Water- town, who came to America in 1630. Jonathan belonged to the fifth generation of the descendants of John, and was a son of Jonathan and Sarah (Whitney) Warren, b. at Weston, Feb. 26, 1748. He m. Joanna Bartlett of Shirley, pub. Dec. 5, 1773 .. He probably became a resident of Shirley at the time, and probably d. there, as his wife, or widow, was m. to Abel Chase of Shirley, pub. Jan. 9, 1779. He had two children :
I. BETTY, as the town record of Shirley declares, "daughter of Jon- athan Warren of Waltham [Weston] and Joanna Bartlett of Shirley, b. Feb. 21, 1771." This makes the daughter's birth two years previous to the wedlock of the parents. She m. Joshua Pierce of Shirley, April 13, 1794.
II. JOHN, b. Nov. 18, 1774, m. Phebe Holden, Feb. 18, 1798. He had four children :
1. BETSY, b. Sept. 1I, 1798.
2. CYMANTHA, b. July 28, 1800.
3. JOHN, b. April 9, 1802.
4. JOANNA, b. Nov. 30, 1803.
amarren, Peter, and Judith, his wife, had three children b. at Shirley, viz. :
I. DAVID, b. April 8, 1780.
II. DANIEL, b. April 8, 1780.
III. LEVI READ, b. Feb. 4, 1782.
We have found the following entry upon the records of Shirley : " Elijah Warren, son of Levi Warren and Phebe, his wife, born in Shirley, March 20, 1783."
WENTWORTH.
Wentworth, Mindwell, and her daughter, came from Harvard to reside in Shirley, in January, 1774. The selectmen refused to admit them as inhabitants, and ordered them recorded as non-residents.
WHEELER.
datheeler, Jethro, came from Groton to reside in Shirley in July, 1781, but was refused citizenship by order of the selectmen.
667
GENEALOGY .- WHITE-WHITNEY.
WHITE.
White, William, lived at Shirley at the time of its incorpo- ration, and had one child born there, namely :
I. NATHANIEL, b. Dec. 21, 1752.
WHITNEY.
Families of this name have overspread the country, and, after those who bear the name of Smith, have been found most numerous. Mr. Bond, in his History of Watertown, gives an enumeration of 293 families, and there have recently been published three massive quarto volumes of the genealogy of the Connecticut Whitneys. Bond says : "There is scarcely a single large town where they may not be found, and it is probable that most, if not all of them are descendants of John and Elinor Whitney, of Watertown." John, at the age of thirty-five years, and Elinor, at the age of thirty years, and their five. sons, viz., John, aged eleven years, Richard, aged nine years, Nathaniel, aged eight years, Thomas, aged six years, and Jonathan, aged one year, embarked at Ipswich, England, in April, 1635, for New England. He probably landed in June, and settled at Water- town, where he remained until his death, which occurred June I, 1673. His family consisted of eight sons; and, judging from the official appointments that he received, he was well respected by his fellow-townsmen.
His sixth son, Joshua, who was born a few weeks after the settle- ment of his father at Watertown, became an inhabitant of Groton, as early as 1666. He was a proprietor of Groton, but returned to Watertown after the death of his father. He had three children born at Groton. It is probable that the first settler of the name in Shirley was a descendant of the Groton Whitneys, and supposed to be of the third or fourth generation from Joshua. His name does not appear in the Groton records,-omitted with some others, from negligence.
Wathitney, John, was m. at Groton, to Hannah Sawtell, pub. Feb. 26, 1759. He lived on the farm afterward owned by Francis Dwight, situated in Mulpus valley, and more recently used by the town as a home for paupers. Mr. Whitney lived in town previous to his marriage,-was here as early as 1747, as his name heads the list of petitioners of that year for a separate town. The first town- meeting was convened at his house in 1753, he having been appointed to warn said meeting. He was a member of the board of selectmen at the organization of the town, and had the names and births of two children entered upon its records. He soon afterwards left the town for some other home, which we have been unable to trace out. His children were :
I. SOLOMON, b. June 28, 1759.
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HISTORY OF SHIRLEY.
II. JOHN, b. Feb. 29, 1761. He is supposed to have enlisted, May 2, 1775, in Col. William Prescott's regiment for a service of eight months.
Whitney, Ezra, was for a time a resident of Shirley, as the births of two children have been entered upon its records. Their names are illegible. The first was a son, b. May 17, 1756 ; the other was a daughter, b. Dec. 18, 1757.
ambitnen, Abner, resided in town for a few years, and had two children b. there :
I. ABNER, b. Oct. 22, 1755. He enlisted, May 2, 1775, into Col. Prescott's regiment, for a service of eight months.
II. ROYAL, b. Sept. 11, 1757.
Whitney, Rev. Phinehas, b. at Weston, April 23, 1740. He was a son of William and Hannah (Harrington) Whitney, and Phinehay Whitney was of the sixth generation from John and Elinor Whitney, who, as has been said, were immigrants to America in 1635. Phinehas Whit- ney was graduated from Harvard University, in the class of 1759, in which class are found the distinguished names of Jonathan Trumbull and Paine Wingate. He was settled the first minister of Shirley, (which had passed a decade of years before religious services could be permanently established,) June 23, 1762, and d. at Shirley, Dec. 13, 1819, making the period of his ministry fifty-seven years. Mr. Whitney was thrice m., (first) to Miriam Willard* of Harvard, April 28, 1762 ; she d. March 20, 1769 ; he m. (second) Lydia Bowes of Bedford, pub. March 3, 1770, who d. Oct. 11, 1805 ; he m. (third) Mrs. Jane Gaffield of Fitchburg, who d. March 4, 1824. Mr. Whit- ney had ten children, all by his second wife, and all b. in Shirley :
I. THOMAS, b. March 19, 1771, m. Henrietta, daughter of James and Sarah (Dickerson) Parker of Shirley, July 7, 1799. He d. at Shirley, Jan. 14, 1844.
Mr. Whitney held a conspicuous place among his fellow-towns- men during his life, and carried with him through the various walks of public and social intercourse, an influence which many might covet but few could attain. He held the different and progressive offices that belong to the town militia, and in civil life he had twelve elections to the office of selectman, was clerk of the town forty years, was the post-master in town, and held the office at the time of his death.
His manners were courteous, affable and easy, and his general character obliging and trustworthy. He was a distinguished mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity, to the principles of which institution
*See Appendix CC.
Autoglyph Print, W. P. ALLEN, Gardner, Mass.
THE WHITNEY RESIDENCE.
669
GENEALOGY .- WHITNEY.
he strongly adhered during all the trials through which the order was doomed to pass in the first part of the present century. And he was regarded by those who knew him best, as a "good gentle- man of the old school." Mr. Whitney had three children, all b. at Shirley :
1. THOMAS, b. April 17, 1800, m. Sally Barrett of Shirley, Oct. 10, 1822. She d. at Shirley, May 4, 1868. He d. Dec. 6, 1865. Though Thomas was the eldest of his father's family, he was the last called from life. He was the inheritor of a generous property from his father and brothers, and probably kept the same intact, yet made few personal efforts towards the en- largement of his estate. He was courteous, dignified and hos- pitable in his home, and carried abroad a gentleness of manner and cheerfulness of heart that commended him to the different classes of society in which his lot was cast. He somewhat dis- tinguished himself as a military commander in his early man- hood, rising from the lowest grade of non-commissioned offices to a colonelcy. He proved himself a master of his position by his knowledge of military tactics and discipline, and by the ease and grace of his horsemanship. He was an earnest and efficient member of the First Parish in town, constant in his at- tendance on public worship, always giving to Christian institu- tions the weight of his influence and support. The closing months of his life were embittered by a wasting and painful disease, to which the strong man bowed himself with resignation and trust ..
His widow survived him a little more than two years. She ever proved herself, at home and abroad, one of "the excellent of the earth." She devoted herself to the true interests of hu- manity, a helper of the helpless, the mourner's comforter, the assuager of grief, and a happy bearer of good tidings of good to all within the sphere of her movements. She was a sincere professor of the religion she so abundantly displayed in her example. "Blessed are, the pure in heart for they shall see God." They had one child :
(I.) Thomas Edwin, b. at Shirley, Nov. 1, 1825. (See College Graduates.)
2. JAMES PHINEHAS, b. Aug. 8, 1802, was twice m., (first) to Lydia B. P. Treadwell of Ipswich, May 31, 1836; she d. Feb. 28, 1842 ; he m. (second) Sarah Ann Treadwell, a sister of his former wife, June 10, 1846. He d. Jan. 14, 1847.
It was said by one, long a resident of the town and otherwise able to judge rationally, that James P. Whitney was the ablest business man that Shirley ever produced, and the most of his generation who knew him, would be willing to endorse this dec- laration. Any who might have doubted this could not deny that he passed his short life in the active discharge of what he re- garded duty, irrespective of consequences. He was engaged in merchandise from the time he ceased to be a minor unto the
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