William White
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM WHITE, OF HAVERHILL, MASS. GENEALOGICAL NOTICE·S BY HON. DANIEL APPLETON WHITE. ADDITIONAL GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES BY ANNIE FRANCES RICHARDS. TOGETHER WITH PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. AMERICAN PRINTING AND ENGRAVING COMPANY, BOSTON, MASS. BY THE N.,.~l\1E OF \/\'HITE. INTRODUCTORY NOTE. JUDGE WHITE warmly loved the memory of his pious ancestry, and spared no pains to gather whatever information could be obtained co~cerning them and their descendants. Among his papers was one entitled "William White· of Haverhitl, Mass., and Descendants, 1640-1853." Of this, with some additions from his copies, for the use of such members of the family as may be inter ested in the subject. In explanation of the fact that much of the genealogical matter contained in the following pages is similar in form to portions of the "Genealogies and History of Watertown," by Henry Bond, M. D., of Philadelphia, published in 1855, it should be s~ated that the materials for those portions of Dr. Bond's valuable work were furnished by Judge White, from the abundant material which he had collected during his researches concerning his family history. H. W. F. [ 1863.J PREFACE. In 1887 Mr. Joseph C. White, of Bangor, Me., the only surviv ing grandchild of Timothy White, a " book-seller of Boston " and a descendant of William White, of Haverhill, deplored the meagre information possessed by his generation in regard to the family history. His niece, whom he was visiting, having a copy of the "Genealogies and History of Watertown," promised to have re printed, for the benefit of Timothy's numerous descendants, that part of the work relating to William White. For this purpose, Rev. William Orne White and Rev. Henry Wilder Foote, son and grandson of Judge Daniel Appleton White, generously allowed a reprint of his valuable work "The Descendants of William White," published after his death in 1863, and which had furnished the material to Dr. Bond, as mentioned in the introductory note. Upon this groundwork, material has been laid which brings the record of Timothy's branch of the family to date, with such infor mation of the collateral bran-ches of William White's descendants as could be easily obtained. Some pains has been taken to make the present work something more than a bare record of genealog ical facts, by adding portraits and other prints, with !terns of his torical or personal interest. Chase's " History of Haverhill" has furnished abundant material, also "The History of Exeter" (N. H.), by Hon. C.H. Bell, for that part relating to the Gilman family, and Bond's "History of Watertown," for items regarding the Phillips family. EX PLAN A'"fION. Ordinal numbers are placed in the left margin of the page, next to the per pendicular line, beginning with 1, opposite to the first name in the genealogy, and continuing the numbers to the end of it. When another number occurs in the margin, opposite to the ordinal number, it refers the reader to that ordinal number where information may be found. If it be less than the opposite ordinal number, it will refer back to the individual parentage; if it be larger, ii will refer forward to his or her marriage and distinct family. · , ,n,r,.,..,.-,,.,....!',~ .. , :/·ii:;){<3~;{// :. .' DOSTON1 MAS$, Hl:LIOT YPE PRINTING CO 1 FAG-SIMILE OF THE INDIAN DEED OF THE TOWNSHIP OF HAVERHILL. NOW IN POSSESSION OF MR, SAMUEL WHITE, HAVERHILL, HAVERHILL. The town of Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts, is situated on the northerly side of the Merrimack, the fourth in size, but perhaps the most beautiful river in New England. The township, as originally purchased of the Indians, was fourteen miles in length and six in breadth. As first laid out, by the General Court, in 1667, it was nearly in the form of a triangle, and then included a large portion of the territory now forming the townships of Salem, Atkinson, Hampstead, and Plaistow, N. H., and Methuen, Mass. The Indian name of the region included in the present bounds of the town was Pentuckett. It was under the jurisdiction of Passaconnaway, Chief of the Pennacooks, who was a firm friend to the English, and the Great Sachem of all the tribes that dwelt in the valley of the Merrimack. He was the most noted sorcerer of all the country, and exerted an almost boundless influ ence over his people. H.e lived to a very great old age, as Gookin saw him at Pawtuckett [Lowell] when he was about 120 years old. The large immigration into Massachusetts immediately preced ing 1638 led to the settlement of many new plantations, as well as the rapid enlargement of those already settled by large. numbers of en1igrants from the vicinity of Ipswich, Newbury, Haverhill, Lynn, and other towns in the easterly part of England. Among the n·ew places settled was Pentuckett, or Haverhill, in 1640, by a company of settlers, twelve in number, from Ipswich and Newbury. Though the town was settled and homes erected in 1640, it was not until Nov. 15, 1642, that a title of the land was purchased of the Indian owners, and the Indian name of Pen tuckett [Haverhill] was apparently extinguished. On that day Passaquo and Saggahew, with the consent of Passaconnaway, sold to the inhabitants, in consideration of three pounds and ten shillings, all the lands they had there, and placed their mark of bow and arrow in the deed. This instrument was, it is said, both written and witnessed by William White, who was one of the first settlers. - Chase's History of Haverhill. HELIOTYPE PRINTING CO 1 BOSTON, J.IASS, HOUSE" HAVEHHILL. ' BlJ 1 LT ABOUT 1U80. GENEALOGY -OF- WILLIAM WHITE. (I.) WILLIAM WHITE, b. 1610; landed at Ipswich 1635. Tradition says that he came from Co. Norfolk, England, but this has,~tbeen ascer tained. "In 1635, the year he landed, the General: Court_ -ordered the · bounds of Ipswich and Q1:1ascacunquen [ now Newbury] to b~ '. laid ou4 when some of the chief [people]_of Ipswich desired leave .to remove to Quascacunquen, to begin a settlement, which was granted them. Among-' those who removed to Newbury were Rev. Thomas Park.er,. Nicholas Noyes, Henry Sewell, William White, William Moody, and ·ruchard Kent." In 1640 William White removed to Haverhill,.of. wh~ch he was one of the first settlers, and was one of the grantees of th~ . Indian deed of Haverhill, dated Nov. 15, 164:i; which instrument was,_it is said, both written and witnessed by him. His first wife, MARY, the mother of his only child, d. Sept. 22, 1681. He m. · (2d), Sept. 21,. 1682, SARAH FOSTER, '"the widow and second wife of Reginald Foster,_w:ho came to America in one of the vessels embargoed by King Charles 1·.,:~~companied by his ~ife Judith, five sons and two daughters, and se_ttle~ in Ipswich, Mass., about 1638." He d. Sept. 28, 1690. His widow:SQQ:q after removed to Ipswich, where she died in 16g3. Monuments were erected to William and Mary White, by Charles White, Esq., of Haverhill,. ,bearing the following inscriptions, copied from the monuments originally erected to their memory: - " Here were deposited the remains of Mr. William W~ite, who d. Sept. 28, 16go, aged 80, one of the first settlers of Haverhill." "In memory of Mrs. Mary White, who d. Feb. 22, 1681, in= the 75th year of her age." The original tombstone stands, in 1889, at the foot of the grave, and bears the inscription: "Mary White dyed February ye 22, 1681, in ye 75 yeare of heare age." Mr. White settled on the farm now owned by Mr. Samuel White, and upon which the "White House " stood in 1636. A new house was built on or near the old site about 1680, which is still standing in excellent preservation. Until _within a few years it was occupied by Mr. James Davis White, brother of Mr. Samuel White, the present owner. Only since 1874·has the house ever been occupied by others than the direct descendants of the first William and Mary. The farm was situated on what is ·now known as 8 WHITE GENEALOGY. Mill Street, and which for more than a century was known as "The Great Road " from the village. It was westerly of the burying-ground, near i:he fulling mill, and the estate included a large tract of land adjoining, extending to the northward. He also owned a farm at Newbury as late as 1650. The estate of \\i.,.illiam White in 1643 was valued at £50; he was a landholder in 1645; he received from the town, June 7, 1652, seven acres of plough land, and in 1659 he had nine acres on the great river; in I 667 he received five acres as his share of the "accommodation " land. On Dec. 15, 1651, the town granted William White, with others, to build a mill ; and "in I 6 52 a lot of land, not exceeding fourscore acres, was granted to the proprietors of the saw mill, as long as they kept it in use." The first regular deed of real estate, recorded in the town, is that of Thomas Sleeper and wife to William White, Oct. 11, 1659"' The town records show that William White held a very respect able social position among the earlier settlers. He was a steady citizen, and, soon after the church was gathered, he became a zealous church member and one of its firmest pillars. He had the honor of the town much at heart, and was esteemed by all its citizens, and was frequently entrusted with its most important business.