Family:Whiting, Samuel (1597-1679)

Rev. Samuel¹ Whiting, son of John^A and Sarah (Smith) Whiting, was baptized 20 Nov 1596, St. Botolph’s, Boston, Lincolnshire,^[1] and died 11 Dec 1679, Lynn, MA.^[2]

He married, 6 Aug 1629, Boston, Lincolnshire, Elizabeth St. John,^[3] daughter of Sir Oliver and Sarah (Bulkley) St. John, of Cayshoe, Bedfordshire. She was baptized 12 Jan 1605/6, Bletsoe, Bedfordshire,^[4] and died 3 Mar 1676/7, Lynn, MA.^[5]

Samuel Whiting received B.A. and M.A. degrees from Emmanuel College, Cambridge University. He received holy orders as a priest in the Church of England, and served as a family chaplain and as associate pastor in King's Lynn. His Puritan practices led to parishioners raising complaints about his ministry, and he subsequently moved to the Parish of Skirbeck, near Boston, Lincolnshire. Again, parishioners complained of his Puritan practices. He ultimately chose to emigrate with his family to Massachusetts Bay Colony, arriving in (new) Boston on 26 May 1636.

Rev. Whiting became a prominent minister and theologian in the colony, who had treatises and sermons published in both English and Latin. He was a colleague of Rev. John Cotton, a preeminent religious leader in Massachusetts Bay who had previously been Samuel Whiting's parish priest in Boston, Lincolnshire. Rev. Whiting was also a colleague of Rev. Increase Mather and his son Rev. Cotton Mather, who included an elegy of Samuel Whiting in his major work, "Magnalia Christi Americana." In 1654, Rev. Samuel Whiting was appointed as overseer of Harvard College (predecessor of Harvard University).

Three of Samuel Whiting's sons graduated from Harvard College and also became ministers. Eldest son Samuel Whiting Jr. became the minister of the Congregationalist Church in Billerica, MA. Second son John Whiting chose to emigrate to England and became the Anglican pastor of Butterwick Parish in Lincolnshire. Third son Joseph Whiting succeeded his father as pastor in Lynn, MA. In 1682, Joseph Whiting accepted an invitation to leave Massachusetts and become the pastor in Southampton, Long Island, New York, where he lived the rest of his life.

Children of Samuel¹ and Elizabeth (St. John) Whiting:

i.	Dorothy² Whiting, b. ca. 1631, England; d. 31 Jul 1694, Roxbury, MA, in the 66th year of her age;^[6] m. 4 Jun 1650, Roxbury, MA, Thomas Weld.^[7]
ii.	Rev. Samuel Whiting, bapt. said 25 Mar 1633, Skirbeck, Lincolnshire; d. 28 Feb 1712/3, Billerica, MA;^[8] bur. Old South Burying Ground, Billerica, MA;^[9] m. 12 Nov 1656, Billerica, MA, Dorcas Chester.^[10]
iii.	Rev. John Whiting, b. ca. 1637, Lynn, MA; d. said 16 Oct 1689, Leaverton, Lincolnshire; m. ca. 1662, England, Esther Brown.
iv.	Elizabeth Whiting, b. ca. 1638; d. said 1717, Hartford, CT; m. said 6 Apr 1659, Topsfield, MA, Rev. Jeremiah Hobart.
v.	Rev. Joseph Whiting, b. 6 Apr 1641, Lynn, MA; d. 9 Apr 1723, Southampton, NY; bur. Old Southampton Cemetery, Southampton, NY;^[11] m.(1) ca. 1661, Sarah Danforth; m.(2) 28 Oct 1684, Stamford, CT, Rebecca Bishop.