Friday, January 22, 2016

52 Ancestors - Week 108: #131 Abigail (Fletcher) Whitney (1720-1783)

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post Challenge:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I am extending this theme in 2016 to 156 Ancestors in 156 Weeks. Here is my ancestor biography for week #108:

Abigail (Fletcher) Whitney is #131 on my Ahnentafel list, my 5th great-grandmother who married #130 Samuel Whitney (1719-1782)  in 1741.


I am descended through:


*  their daughter, #65 Martha Whitney, who married #64 Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816), in 1783.
*  their son, #32 Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825), who married  #33 Abigail Gates (1797-1867) in 1817.
*  their son, #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901), who married #17 Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884) in 1852.
*  their son, #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922), who married #9 Hattie Louise Hildreth (1847-1920) in 1874. 
*  their son, #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942), who married Alma Bessie richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.
* their son, #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983), who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) in 1942.
*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

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1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):


*  Name:                          Abigail Fletcher[1–2]   

*  Alternate Name:          Abigail Whitney[3–5]
*  Sex:                              Female   

*  Father:                         John Fletcher (1692-1749)   
*  Mother:                       Mary Goble (1693-1734)   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                           2 July 1720, Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[1]   
*  Miscellaneous:            1742–1767 (about age 22–about 47), list of children; Westminster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[3]   
*  Administration:           21 February 1783 (age 62), appointed administratrix of husband's estate; Westminster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[4]   
*  Death:                         after 20 May 1783 (after age 62), Westminster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[4]   
*  Burial:                        after 20 May 1783 (after age 62), Woodside Cemetery, Westminster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[5]    
  
3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Spouse 1:                    Samuel Whitney (1719-1782)   
*  Marriage 1:                 20 October 1741 (age 21), Weston, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[2]   
*  Child 1:                       Abigail Whitney (1742-    )   
*  Child 2:                       Mary Whitney (1744-    )   
*  Child 3:                       Samuel Whitney (1746-1812)   
*  Child 4:                       Abner Whitney (1748-1811)   
*  Child 5:                       Achsah Whitney (1750-1772)   
*  Child 6:                       Silas Whitney (1752-1798)   
*  Child 7:                       Martha Whitney (1755-1755)   
*  Child 8:                       Elisha Whitney (1757-1810)   
*  Child 9:                       Alpheus Whitney (1759-1821)   
*  Child 10:                     Phinehas Whitney (1761-1832)   
*  Child 11:                     Hananiah Whitney (1762-1835)   
*  Child 12:                     Martha Whitney (1764-1832)   
*  Child 13:                     Susannah Whitney (1767-1767)   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

Abigail Fletcher was born 2 July 1720 in Concord, Massachusetts, the third child and second daughter of John and Mary (Goble) Fletcher[1].  The birth record in the Concord vital records book says:

"Abigail Fletcher, the daughter of John Fletcher and Mary his wife was born July the 2d day 1720"

The marriage record of Samuel Whitney and Abigail Fletcher in Weston, Massachusetts records  says[2]:

Sam'l Whitney jun'r & Abigail Fletcher both of Weston were         
Married in Sd Town Oct'r 20'th 1741 W'm. Williams Min-
ist'r of the Gospel there."

Samuel and Abigail (Fletcher) Whitney had 13 children, and all were recorded in the Westminster town record book.  The list of Children in the Westminster, Massachusetts town record book[3]:

Births                                                     and                     Deaths
Leuit Samuel Whitney and Wife                             Mr Samuel Whitney           
Abigail Whitney famely                                           Deceased Jan^y the 1st Recorded                                                      viz                                                   1782 

August 27th 1742 Abigail Whitney Borne 
May the 29 1744 Mary Whitney Borne 
February the 11th 1746 Samuel Whitney Borne 
May 18 1648  Abner Whitney Borne
September 30 1750  Achsa Whitney Borne             Deceased 14th May 1772
October 20 1752  Silas Whitney Born                      Dec^d Nov. 14^th 1798
November 26 1755 Martha Whitney Borne            Deceased 
July 2^d 1757 Alpheus Whitney Borne                   Died 7th March 1821 aged 54 years
January the 16 1761 Phenias Whitney Borne
December the 1762  Hananiah Whitney Borne
September 18 1764 Martha Whitney Borne
February 9 1767 Susanah Whitney Borne
                 Amen

Abigail's husband, Samuel Whitney died intestate; his probate records are in Worcester County [MA] Probate Records, Probate Packet 65,123.  His widow, Abigail, was appointed administratrix of his estate on 21 February 1783, with bond in the amount of 800 pounds[4].

An inventory was taken by Abner Holden, Nathan Howard and Thomas Stearns, all of Westminster, on 20 May 1783;  the inventory of the personal estate amounted to 83 pounds, 14 shillings and 11 pence; there was no real estate listed.

Abigail's account was allowed 20 May 1783, with a balance of over 35 pounds. This was ordered distributed, after certain debts were paid, to the children.  On 15 June 1785, the heirs submitted a receipt[4]:


"We the subscribers do hereby acknowledge that we have each of us severally and for our selves received of our honoured mother, Abigail Whitney, Adx on the estate of our honoured father - Samuel Whitney late of said Westminster deceased the sum of two pounds three shillings in full of our part of the household furniture belonging to the estate of said deceased and we do severally acquit and discharge the said administratrix for our selves and heirs of all demands or rights or Chalange we or our heirs have or may have to the same & that this shall be a full and final acquittance for our selves and heirs to the above said household furniture forever by these presents.  In witness whereof we have hereunto severally set our hands the day and year aforesaid  Alpheus Whitney, Elisha Whitney, Benjamin Sever, Hananiah Whitney, Mary Scott, Silas Whitney, Job Whitcomb, Hannah Whitney."

There is no death record for Abigail (Fletcher) Whitney in the Westminster, Massachusetts vital record book.  She died after 20 May 1783, probably in Westminster, when her account on her husband's intestate estate was approved by the probate court[4]

The Find A Grave memorial indicates that Abigail (Fletcher) Whitney died in 1783 and is buried in Woodside Cemetery in Westminster[5].  No photograph of the gravestone is provided.

There were no probate records for Abigail (Fletcher) Whitney found in the Worcester County [Mass.] Probate Records index.  

5)  SOURCES
 
1. George Tolman (compiler), Concord, Massachusetts Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850 (Concord, Mass. : Committee on Printing, 1894), page 99, Abigail Fletcher birth record.

2. Mary Frances Peirce, Town of Weston. Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1707-1850. Gravestones-, 1703-1900. Church Records, 1709-1825. Appendix and Addenda, Centennial Society (Boston, Mass. : McIncloe Bros., Printers, 1901), page 55, Samuel Whitney and Abigail Fletcher entry.

3. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), "Westminster, Births, marriages and deaths," page 91 (penned), image 142 of 1195, Family of Samuel and Abigail Whitney.

4. "Worcester County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1731-1881," digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org), Probate Packet 65,123, Samuel Whitney of Westminster, 1783.


5. Jim Tipton, indexed database, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com), Woodside Cemetery, Westminster, Mass., Abigail Fletcher Whitney memorial #88187649.


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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

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