* Alternate Name: Martha Whitney[5–8]
* Sex: Female
* Father: Joseph Peirce (1647-1713)
* Mother: Martha --?-- (1647-1698)
2) INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
* Birth: 24 December 1681, Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[1–2]
* Administration: 4 July 1720 (age 38), named administrator of husband's estate; Weston, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[5]
* Deed: 13 May 1723 (age 41), Martha Whitney and Nathaniel Whitney Jr. sold 20 acres of land in Weston to Ebenezer Chadwick for 80 pounds; Weston, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[6]
* Deed: 10 November 1727 (age 45), Martha Whitney and Nathaniel Whitney Jr. sold 5 acres of meadow land in Weston to Shubael Child for 20 pounds, 10 shillings; Weston, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[7]
* Death: 15 September 1759 (age 77), Weston, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[8]
3) SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
* Spouse 1: William Whitney (1683-1720)
* Marriage 1: 17 May 1706 (age 24), Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[3–4]
* Child 1: William Whitney (1707-1789)
* Child 2: Judith Whitney (1708- )
* Child 3: Amity Whitney (1712-1760)
* Child 4: Martha Whitney (1716-1801)
* Child 5: Samuel Whitney (1719-1782)
4) NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
Martha Peirce was born 24 December 1681 in Watertown, Massachusetts, the seventh child of ten and the daughter of Joseph and Martha (--?--) Peirce[1-2] of Watertown.
She married William Whitney on 17 May 1706 in Watertown, and the marriage record appears in both Watertown and Weston records[3-4]. The Whitney family moved to Weston shortly after the marriage, and they had five children between 1707 and 1719; all of the births were recorded in Watertown and Weston town records.
William Whitney died 24 June 1720 in Weston, leaving an intestate estate. Martha was selected as one of the administrators along with Nathaniel Whitney, Junior of Watertown, who was the brother of William Whitney. Martha was also granted guardianship of her five young children on 15 August 1720 by the Middlesex County probate court[5].
On 13 May 1723, as administrators of William Whitney's estate, Martha Whitney, relict widow, and Nathaniel Whitney Jr. sold 20 acres of upland and meadow land in Weston for 80 pounds to Ebenezer Chadwick. The deed was recorded in Middlesex County, Mass. Deed records on 27 August 1723[6].
On 10 November 1727, administrators Martha Whitney and Nathaniel Whitney, Jr. sold 5 acres of meadow land in Weston for 20 pounds, 10 shillings to Shubael Child. The deed was recorded on 20 May 1728[7].
Martha (Peirce) Whitney died 15 September 1759 in Weston, Massachusetts[8]. There is no known burial location for her or her husband.
There is no probate record in Middlesex County, Massachusetts for Martha (Peirce) Whitney.
5) SOURCES
1. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), "Watertown Births, Marriages and Deaths," Page 91, image 164 of 3991, Martha Peirce birth entry.
2. Henry Bond, M.D., Family Memorials: Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts (Boston, Mass. : Little, Brown & Co., 1855), Volume 1, page 50, birth of Martha Peirce.
3. Watertown Records, Comprising the First and Second Book of Town Proceedings, with the Land Grants and Possessions. etc. (Watertown, Mass. : Watertown Historical Society, 1894), Volume 2, page 23, William Whitney and Martha Pierce marriage entry.
4. 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 580, William Whitney and Martha Peirce marriage entry.
5. "Probate Records 1648-1924 (Middlesex County, Massachusetts)," 886 FHL US/CAN Microfilms, Probate Packet 24,763, William Whitney of Weston, 1720, accessed on FHL Microfilm US/CAN 0,432,082.
6. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org :, Volume 23, page 237, Martha Whitney and Nathaniel Whitney Jr. to Ebenezer Chadwick, recorded 27 August 1723.
7. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Volume 28, page 96, Martha Whitney and Nathaniel Whitney Jr. to Shubael Child, recorded 20 May 1728.
8. Mary Frances Peirce, Town of Weston. Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1707-1850. Gravestones-, 1703-1900. Church Records, 1709-1825. Appendix and Addenda, Centennial Society, page 301, Martha Whitney death entry.
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