THE NICHOLAS WHITE FAMILY 1648-1900 COMPILED :BY THOMAS J. LOTHROP, A. B., llllUlBBB 011' TBB NEW ENGLAND HISTORIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY. TAUNTON, l\.1.ABSAO:i-IUBETTS: 1902 COPYRIGHTED 1902 BT ·r. J, LOTHJIOP, l'RT~n:D BY C. A. HACK & SON, TAUl'ITON, MASS. PREFACE. On the 31st of August 1898, a meeting of the descendants of Nicholas White was held at Historical Hall, in Taunton, under the auspices of the Old Colony Historical Society. At this meeting an association was formed called the Nicholas White Genealogical and Historical Association. Rev. Nehemiah White, D. D., of Galesburg, Ill., was chosen president, Mrti. Clara babel Hubbard of Taunton, secretary: and Thomas J. Lothrop, historian. Mrs. J.l'anny M. Leonard of Taunto11, contributed a poem which was well received. She also contributed a poem for eacl, of the three subsequent meetings lield in the .rear,; 1899, 1900 autl 1901. At the first meeting iu 1~9ti, after remarks had beeu made by several of the descendants, it was voted unanimously that a gene­ alogy of the descendants of Nicholas White should be compiled, and the historiau soon entere<l upon tl1e work. For the compilation, the record,; of many towns and the land and probate records of several counties iu Massac,husetts were ex­ amined. Local historieil and priuted genealogies of allied families were searched and considerable material takeu from these sources. Frequent use has been made of Clark's History of Norton, Chaffin's History of Easton, aml Mitchell's Bridgewater, The "Halls of New Englarnl" tile Read Genealogy by J. W. Read, the Eddy, Guild, Drake, Hodges and Pratt ge!1ealogies have furnished much i11forrnation and some it6rnf1 have beeu supplied by Austin's One Hundred and Sixty Allied Families. In all cases, however, where a discrepanuy appeared hetweeu the printed book and the town records, tlie latter lia,; Leen followed. After tlie work was well under way the compiler learned thaL a Nicholas White genealogy hiul bee11 beguu by tlie late William R. Deane aud that his maunscript had lieeu placed i11 tl1e files of the New England Historic Genealogical Soeiety. Thi;-; manuscript was borrowed 'and compared with the result:; of the compiler's investigations; no important discrepauey wa,'I fouud. .Mr. Deane's manuscript, however, i11cluded 011ly the male liues of the first four generations ancl did JJOt claim to give a full record of tlicm. Besides the sources of iuformatiou already named individual members of the farnily were applied tu. l'i·ompt responses were usually made to these applicatiuw; a11d iu tlii~ way much valualJle assistance has beeu given. lu (,Ltaiui11g the numerous descen- dants of Mary 3 White, who married Nathauiel Wetherell, mate­ rial aid has been furnished by .Mr:-. Lucinda L. Lincoln, .Miss Catherine L. Bassett both of Taunton aJHl .l\Irs. Eliza .J. Osborne of l\Jiddleboro. all <le,:;ceJl(lants of said Marv ::l. Miss Sarah W. Copeland of Mans1iel1l contribute<l the valrni"ble record of the de­ scendants of I\lartha :, \Yhite who manied William Copeland . •T. E. Se:wer, Es,t., secretary of the Old Colony Historical So­ ciety furni,;hed the extensive record of the descendants of Mary -1 White who married \Villiam Presl>rev and from whom are descen­ ded nearly all and perhaps all of the Presbreys now living in Taunton. • For the descendauts of Nicholas f> White. I am indebted to Mr. H. Clure White of Gaines, N. Y. The important and extended record of the desceudauts of Philip 5 White is the work of his grandson Rev. Nehemiah White, D. D., of Galesburg, Ill., who has been president of Lomhard University anti is 1ww at the head of its Theological Department. In the early part of the work the compilation was much en­ couraged and assisted by Mrs. Henrietta E. V. Hayes who died in­ Sept. 19Ul. She tDok a deep interest in the matter and to her is due the credit of origi11ati11g tlie rnovernen t which has resulted in this compilation. Besides those alreacly mentioned; the follow­ ing should be named as important aiders and abettors in the work: Miss Josephine L. Hall of Boston, Miss Clara A. Avery of De­ troit, .Mich .• Mr. A. J. Turner, of Portage, Wis., :Miss Elizabeth Crafts, of Abingtou, l\fr. William P. Wetherell of Washington, D. C., Miss Elizabeth H. Leonard and Mrs. Alice B. Leonard both of Mansfield. To each and all of them, and to all who have in any way coz,tributed to the compilation, I here acknowledge my obligations and extewl m_r tlrnnks. Very few abbreviation:- are used in the hook, the letter "b" ii, used to iuclicate born in t,he li,;t of names of children. "\Vheu tl1e name of a towu situated ill .Massachusetts is used, there i:1 no abbre.iation to indicate the state, but when the town it1 in 11nother 1otate the common aH,reviations are used. 1n giving tlie names of children, the surname is omitted when it i;.; White, and tlie child i!I <lesceIHled in a male line from the pioneer. In other cases the ::mr­ z1ame is given in full. The compiler hopef\ his work will afii.n·d a btt.sis for further and more complete ancestral iovestigations. I\lnch additional material hM been collected a11<l ma v L>e L1sed for n11other v01 ume to include the cii'hth aml :rn bs~y ue u l generatio11s. XIOHOLAS WHITE OF DORCHESTER AND TAUNTON.-PIONEER. We have no knowledge of the birth and ancestry of Nicholas White, but that he belonged to the yeomaury of England we have no doubt. When, and how he came to New England, we do not know. He was a freeman in Dorchester in 1643, and about the same time married Susanna, a daughter of Jonaa and Frances Humphrey, who had also settled iu Dorchester. At this time he was probably about 25 years of age, and had won the confidence and respect of the early ~ettlfirs. In 1657 the first book of the Dorchester records was destroved by fil'e. This book is said to hav·e contained the records of "the early births, maniages and deaths, the a:,signment of lots to the settlers, and the transfers of property. \Ve have reason to believe that it contained the l'er.ord of his marriage and the births of his children, as well as many facts relating to his life and doings while in Dorchester. Many interesting and important facts were un­ doubtedly lost with the book. The knowledge we have obtained relating to NicLola.s White has come from Massachmmtts State Archives, Plymouth Colony Records, Suffolk probate and land offices, and various other sources. In 1647 he bought from Heury Woolcot a tract of land in that part of DorclJester which was then called Un0aty, and. is new the town of Milton. He cleared a part of it and built a house, but before he was able to enjoy the benefit of his labor he was sued by a Mr. Hutchinson, who claimed a prior title. Hutchinson obtn.ined judgment and ousted him from the premises. He then sul'Jd Woolcot on his warranty and obtained judgment against him. An execution was issued and Woolcot gave biHs to satisfy it, but without tlie knowledge cf ~T}ute p':ltitioned foe General Conrt for a stay of proceedings aud the annulment of the bills. Tho poti­ tiou was granted. Nic:hola::.i Y{hite theu presented to the General Court a petition in which he set forth the facto in the case and 6 PIONEER. from which we can obtain some knowledge of his family and the condition of his estate. The papers in the case may be found in the Massachusetts State Archives. Below is a copy of the order of the Court, adopted on W oolcot's petition; also a copy of the petition of White and order thereon. The petition of W oolcot was not found in the archives. ANSWER TO PETITION OF HENRY WooLCOT. In answer to the petition of Henry W oolcot of Winsor on Connecticut it is ordered that all proceedings about the thirty pounds seven shillings mentioned in the petition be suspended, and that it remain in statu quo prius as before the execution levied, until the peti­ tioner may have opportunity either jointly with Nicho­ las White or in the name and right of the said White, though his consent should be wanting, that the peti­ Vol. iv. tioner, either by himself or his attorney, may have Part i. opportunity to review or try an action as aforesaid, Page 282. for the clearing of the title of the land sold by the petitioner unto the said White, in the County Court to be held at Boston in the 5th (or 8th) month next. And if the land shall be recovered of Mr. Hutchinson for the said White, then the bills for the thirty pounds seven shillings to be null without more impleading of White ; and also that the Magistrates then shall de­ termine all damages respecting Mr. W oolcot and Nicholas White, in reference to all former proceed­ ings by their impleading each of other. Adopted May 29, 1665. l'ETITlON OF NICHOLAS WHITE A.ND ORDER THEREON. To the Right Hon. Governor, the Deputy Governor and Magistrates, with the Worthy Deputies of this Honored Court: Humbly Showeth that your petitioner in August, 1647, purchased a piece of land at the hand of Mr. Henry Woolcot, containing about 20 acres, scituate in Dor­ chester, with assurance under hand, for a firm con­ veyance to be made in due time, & in the meantime· was put in peaceable possession of tbe said land, built upon, broke, and fenced much of it; yet before any crop had thereon was molested, sned, overcome & PIONltER.