Family:Whitney, Jonathan (1737-1792)

Capt. Jonathan⁵ Whitney (Jonathan⁴, Jonathan³, Benjamin², John¹), son of Jonathan⁴ and Lydia (Jones) Whitney, was born 26 Jul 1737, Mendon, MA,^[1] and died 22 Aug 1792, Seneca Castle or Milo, NY.^[2]

He married, 6 Nov 1760, Mendon, MA, Esther Parkhurst,^[3] both "of Mendon",^[4] daughter of Jonas and Abigail (Bigelow) Parkhurst. She was born 22 Jun 1741, Weston or Mendon, MA, baptized 9 Aug 1741, Milford, MA, and died 6 Dec 1812, Milo, NY.

Jonathan Whitney was born in Mendon, in that part subsequently Milford, Mass., and soon after his marriage in 1761, moved to Conway, where he resided until 1782. With his son, Joel, he went in 1789 to Ontario Co., N.Y., cut a stock of hay on the "Old Castle" farm near Geneva and put in four or five acres of wheat, put up a log house 18 feet square and roofed it up with bark, and returned home to Conway in the fall. In 1791 with his family he moved to the "Old Castle" farm with ox teams and were some seventeen days on the road.

Jonathan was in the Revolutionary War and was at the seige of Ticonderoga. The trees around the fort had been felled to allow the guns to be used. One tree, however, remained upright, against which another had fallen in a slanting direction. He climbed into the crotch of the upright tree and fired into the fort, a party under the tree loading guns and handing them up to him. It was some time before he was discovered and driven away by the garrison."

He began his miltary career during the Lexington Alarm on 22 April 1775 as a Sergeant. In May of 1776 he was a 1st Lieutenant. In June of 1780 he was made a Captain of the 7th Co., 5th Regt. of the Hampshire County, Massachusetts militia.

"... Jonathan Whitney, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, taking a patriotic part throughout that struggle for American freedom. He married a New England lady, who died at an advanced age in one of the New England States. He died in Connecticut, where he had been for many years engaged in farming, when quite an old man. He was a Whig in politics, and was a man of fine constitution and great strength of character."^[5]

Pierce says the following:^[6]

Jonathan WHITNEY was born in Mendon, in that part subsequently Milford, Mass., and soon after his marriage in 1761 moved to Conway, where he resided until 1782. With his son, Joel, he went in 1789 to Ontario Co., NY, cut a stock of hay on the "Old Castle" farm near Geneva and put in four or five acres of wheat, put up a log house 18 feet square and roofed it up with bark, and returned home to Conway in the fall. In 1791 with his family he moved to the "Old Castle" farm with ox teams and were some seventeen days on the road. Jonathan was in the Revolutionary war and was at the siege of Ticonderoga. The trees about the fort had been felled to allow the guns to be used. One tree, however, remained upright, against which another had fallen in a slanting direction. He climbed into the crotch of the upright tree and fired into the fort, a party under the tree loading the guns and handing them up to him. It was some time before he was discovered and driven away by the garrison. His military record is as follows:

Revolutionary War Archives
---------------------
Lexington Alarm,
Vol. 13, p. 21
Jonathan WHITNEY, Sarg., Conway, No. miles 216, served 16 days
Capt. Robert OLIVER's co., in ye Regiment commanded By Samuel WILLIAMS
Who march for the Relief of the Country April 22d, 1775.
Robert OLIVER, Capt.
Vol. 28, p. 112.
List of Militia Officers 1776,
Appointed and Commissioned
5th Regt., in Hampshire Co.
Thomas FRENCH Capt. May 3, 1776, 7th Co.
Jona. WHITNEY 1st Lieut. May 3, 1776, 7th Co.
Jonathan WHITNEY Lieut. engaged July 10th, discharge Aug. 12, 1777,in Capt. Benj. PHILLIP's Co., Col. Elisha PORTER's Regt., from Hampshire Co.
Vol. 28,
Mass. Militia Officers
Hampshire Co., June 19, 1780. Jonathan WHITNEY Capt. 7th Co. 5th Regt.

Children of Capt. Jonathan⁵ and Esther (Parkhurst) Whitney:

i.	Nathan6 Whitney, b. 18 Oct 1761, Conway, MA;[7] m.(1) Olive Whitney; m.(2) Thankful Caldwell.
ii.	Abigail Whitney, b. 12 Mar 1764, Conway, MA;[8] d. 7 Jul 1853, Lodi, MI; m. (int. 2 Apr 1787, Conway, MA) Simeon Amsden, both "of Conway",[9] b. 20 Apr 1763, Norwalk, CT, d. 18 Aug 1832, Seneca Castle, NY.
iii.	Joel Whitney, b. 13 Nov 1766, Conway, MA;[10] m. Sybil Wetmore.
iv.	Esther Whitney, b. 16 Dec 1769, Conway, MA;[11] d. 16 Aug 1848; m. (int. 31 Aug 1789, Conway, MA) Solomon Gates,[12] b. 7 Oct 1761, Conway, MA, d. 21 Jan 1847.
v.	Experience Whitney, b. 6 Jun 1772, Conway, MA;[13] d. 5 Feb 1826, Geneva, NY; m. 17 Sep 1789, Conway, MA, Immor Crittenden, both "of Conway",[14] b. 17 Mar 1766, Durham, CT, d. 26 Dec 1856, Geneva, NY.
vi.	Jonas Whitney, b. 12 May 1775, Conway, MA;[15] m. Catherine Parker.
vii.	(child) Whitney, b. circa Dec 1777; calculated from age at death; d. 6 Jun 1780, Conway, MA, aged 2-1/2 years.[16]
viii.	Ami Whitney, b. 12 Jan 1781, Conway, MA;[17] m. Anna Amsden.
ix.	Parkhurst Whitney, b. 25 Sep 1784, Conway, MA; m. Celinda Cowing.

Census

• 1771, Conway, MA (tax list): Jan'th. Whitney
• 1790, Canandaigua, Ontario Co., NY: Jonathan Whitney, 5 males over 16 and 1 female.

Refereneces

• Don Worth's family records.

• DAR Lineage Book, Vol 76, 1925, 75429.

• Muster rolls from Massachusetts Archives.

1.^  "Jonathan [Whitney], s. of Jonathan and Lydia, [born] July 26, 1737," according to Thomas W. Baldwin, ed., Vital Records of Mendon, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: 1920).

2.^  Source

3.^  "Jonathan [Whitney] and Esther Parkhurst, [married] Nov. 6, 1760," according to Mendon Vital Records.

4.^  "Jonathan [Whitney] and Esther Parkhurst, both of Mendon, [married] Nov. 6, 1760. C.R.1.," according to Thomas W. Baldwin, ed., Vital Records of Milford, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: 1917).

5.^  Portrait and biographical album of Hillsdale County, Mich. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888), p. 578.

6.^  Frederick C. Pierce, The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635 (Chicago, IL: The Author, 1895), p. 122-123.

7.^  "Nathan [Whitney], ch. Jonathan and Esther, [born] Oct. 18, 1761," according to Vital Records of Conway, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1943).

8.^  "Nabby [Whitney], ch. Jonathan and Esther, [born] Mar. 12, 1764," according to Conway Vital Records.

9.^  "Amsden, Simeon and Abigail Whitney, both of C., int. Apr. 2, 1787," according to Conway Vital Records.

10.^  "Joel [Whitney], s. Jonathan and Esther, [born] Nov. 13, 1766," according to Conway Vital Records.

11.^  "Esther [Whitney], ch. Jonathan and Esther, [born] Dec. 16, 1769," according to Conway Vital Records.

12.^  "Gates, Solomon and Esther Whitney, int. Aug. 31, 1789," according to Conway Vital Records.

13.^  "Experience [Whitney], ch. Jonathan and Esther, [born] Dec. 16, 1772," according to Conway Vital Records.

14.^  "Crittendon, Immor [int Immer] and Experience Whitney, both of C., Sept. 17, 1789," according to Conway Vital Records.

15.^  "Jonas [Whitney], ch. Jonathan and Esther, [born] May 12, 1775," according to Conway Vital Records.

16.^  "_____ [Whitney], ch. Capt. Jonathan, [died] June 6, 1780, a. 2-1/2, in C. [camp distemper, C.R.]," according to Conway Vital Records.

17.^  "Ami [Whitney], s. Jonathan and Esther, [born] Jan. 12 [dup. Jan. 18], 1781," according to Conway Vital Records.

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