Individual Details

Samuel Whiting
WHITING, Samuel, clergyman, born in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, 20 November, 1597; died in Lynn, Massachusetts, 11 December, 1679. His father, John, was mayor of his native city. The son was graduated at Cambridge in 1616, entered the ministry, and officiated at Lynn, in Norfolk, and in Skirbeck, near his native place, but, after two prosecutions for nonconformity, he emigrated to this country, where he was the first minister of Lynn, Massachusetts, serving from 8 November, 1636, till his death. He was a close student and an accomplished Hebrew and Latin scholar. " In his preaching," says Cotton Mather, "his design was not to please but to profit ; to bring forth, not high things, but fit things." He published "Oratio quam Comitiis Cantab. Americanis" (1649) ; "Treatise on the Last Judgment" (1664) ; and a volume of sermons on " Abraham Interceding for Sodom" (1666). His second wife was the daughter of Oliver St. John, chief justice of England under Cromwell, and their son, SAMUEL (1633--1713), was graduated at Harvard in 1653 and became the first minister of Billerica, Massachusetts An " Elegy on the Reverend Samuel Whiting, of Lynn," by Benjamin Tompson, "ye renowned poet of New England," is printed in Cotton Mather's "Magnalia." See also " Memoirs of Reverend Samuel Whiting and of his Wife, Elizabeth St. John, with Reference to some of their English Ancestors and American Descendants," by William Whiting, LL. D. (printed privately, Boston, 1871).--His descendant William, lawyer, born in Concord, Massachusetts, 3 March, 1813; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 29 June, 1873, was graduated at Harvard in 1833, and, after teaching at Plymouth and Concord, studied law in Boston and at Harvard law-school, where he was graduated in 1838. He then began practice in Boston, where he soon attained eminence at the bar, and was engaged in many important cases. In 1862 he became solicitor of the war department in Washington, where he served three years. In 1868 he was a presidential elector, and in 1872 he was elected to congress as a Republican, but he died before he could take his seat. Colby university gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1872. He left $5,000 to Harvard for a scholarship. Mr. Whiting was for five years president of the New England historic-genealogical society. His principal work is " The War Powers of the President and the Legislative Powers of Congress in Relation to Rebellion, Treason, and Slavery" (Boston, 1862; 10th ed., with large additions, 1863: 43d ed., 1871). In this he formulated views that he had urged at the opening of the civil war, namely, that the United States government had full belligerent rights against the inhabitants of seceded states, and without going beyond the constitution could confiscate their property, emancipate their slaves, and treat them as public enemies. These opinions were at first received with caution by most public men, but they were finally sanctioned and adopted by the government. The book had a large sale in this country and abroad. Besides this, he published various pamphlets, chiefly legal arguments before the United States courts, and a "Memoir of Reverend Joseph Harrington," prefixed to a volume of his sermons (Boston, 1854), and was the author of the privately printed memoir of his ancestor, Samuel, mentioned above.

Rev. Samuel Whiting - While in England, King James passed a law that required all clergy to pray from the same prayer book and hold to a certain style of service and pre-approved bible text , communion etc. When Rev. Whiting decided this was "too popish" (meaning too Catholic) he was labeled a non-conformist and set up for prosecution. By God's providence, King James died before Samuel appeared before the High Commission Court. Instead of losing most of his estate, the "Earl of Lincolnshire afterwards interceeding for him, the Bishop was willing to to promise that he would no farther worry (Whiting)" as long as he removed himself from the Bishop's diocese. So Whiting left Lyn, and went to Skirbeck England, near Boston Lincolnshire for quite awhile and saw a great fruitfulness. He then married his second wife, (the first one having died leaving him with one living daughter) the daughter "of Mr. Oliver St. John, a Bedfordshire gentleman, of an honorable family, (closely) related to Lord St. John of Bletso. "This Mr. St. John was one of the compleatest gentlemen, without affectation, that he ever knew." (For information on Elizabeth St. John see p. 503 in Magnalia Christi Americana or The History of New-England by Cotton Mather. ) But Samuel Whiting got into more trouble with the government by his non-conformity and Elizabeth and he sailed to America in April of 1636 and "arrived in May 26 after he had been so very sick all the way that he could but preach one sermon all the while: and he would say 'that he would much rather have undergone six weeks imprisonment for a good cause, than to undergo six weeks of such terrible sea-sickness as he had been now tried withal.' " pp. 503, 505, of the above text by Cotton Mather. .

He was the son of John Whiting, who for several years was the mayor of Boston, England.

He entered the Emmanuel College, Cambridge, England, March 27, 1613 and took his A.B. 1616, and his A.M. 1620. He subsequently recieved the degree of D.D. (Doctor of Divinity). He was twice married. He had two sons and one daughter by his first wife. His wife and sons died in England, his daughter was subsequently married (1650) to Mr. Thomas Welde, son of Rev. Thomas Welde of Roxbury. His second marriage at Boston, England, August 6, 1629 to Elizabeth, only daughter of the Rt. Hon. Sir Oliver St. John of Cayshoe Kent, Devonshire, England. They emigrated to Boston, MA., May 26, 1636. He became the pastor of the first church at Lynn (formerly Saugust), MA., November 8, 1636, where he remained 43 years until his death. He set up residence opposite the meeting house on Shepard St. He was appointed overseer of the Harvard College 1654. He gave all four sons a College education.

Biography of the Nineteenth Century, Chicago, IL: American Publisher's Assoc., 1902: "Samuel Whiting, clergyman, author, was born Nov. 20, 1597, in England. He was a puritan clergyman, pastor at Lynn, MA. in 1639-79; and the author of Oratio quam Cormitijs Cantab, Americanis, etc.; The Last Judgment; and Abraham Interceding for Sodom. He died Dec., 11, 1679 in Lynn, MA."

1636 was a minister in New England. (Horseneck Founders of NJ.)

Probate records of Essex Co., MA. 1635-1681, Vol. 1, pg. 346;


He was mentioned as Pastor Mr. Whiting in a will by Richard Rooton, dated June 12, 1663 and was given forty shillings in this will, pg. 430.

The most noted of the Whiting Immigrants was Rev. Samuel Whiting, who was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, England in 1597, son of John Whiting, once Mayor of that city. Rev. Samuel Whiting was graduated from Emmanuel College, was Rector of the Parish of Skirbeck, adjoining Boston, until 1636, when he came to Lynn, Massachussets, and was chosen Pastor of the church there. His son Samuel, became minister of the church at Billerica. Genealogies of the families of Rev. Samuel Whiting have been published.
New England families, Genealogical and memorial; New England Families, Vol.4.

From: Memoir of Rev. Samuel Whiting, D.D., and of his wife, Elizabeth St. John: with reference to some of their English ancestors and American Descendants.
The city of Boston, Lincolshire, England has been the chief place of residence of the Whiting family since the sixth year of the reign of Edward III (1333), and probably from a much earlier date.
Savage's Genealogical Dictionary (vol. iv, p. 520) is the following statement in relation to the Rev, Samuel Whiting, which is quoted in order to call attention to his remarks upon Rev. Cotton Mather, the learned author of the Magnalia:
"Samuel, Lynn, b. at Boston, co. Linc., 20 Nov., 1597, s. of John Whiting, the mayor of the borough, was matric. 1613, at Emanuel, the Puritan Coll. of the Univ. of Cambridge, as it was then stigmatized, had his degrees 1616 and 1620, preach, as chaplain three years in private fams., if Mather be correct, after his master's degree, and then went to Lynn Regis, co. Norfolk, spent ano. three yrs. as collea. or curator of the rector, and being disturb. by his diocesan, rem. to Skirbeck, close to his native place. After bur. his first wife by wh. he had two s. who d. in Eng. and one d. brot. to our country, Mather says he m. a d. of Oliver St. John, a Bedfordsh. man of fam. nearly related to the Lord St. John of Bletsho, which may all be true, but the writer confuses the time very cruelly, when he should tell the date of her m. or d. by saying she 'stayed with her worthy consort forty-seven years, went in the seventy-third of his age unto him to whom her soul had been' (some scores of years espoused). Taking the pains to extract meaning out of this gabble, by commor. arithmetic, we find reason to see that Mather need not be believed literally; as thus, W. was in his 73rd year in 1669, and the union having existed forty-seven years, of course it began in 1622; which is rather early for him who had obtained his master's degree in 1620, m. one wife, had three children and lost her. I have learned to distrust the author of the Magnalia in all cases where he employs round-about instead of direct phraseology, and even in this is sometimes careless," &c.

Soon after recieving his A.B & A.M. degrees, he soon recieved orders, and became chaplian in a family which was connected with the Bacons and townsends of norfolk (England), and continued in that position for three years. He was afterward settled as a collegue with Mr. Price at King's Lynn, in the same county. He remained three years at Lynn; but complaints being made to the Bishop of Norwich, of his nonconformity in administering the services of the Church, he removed to the rectory of Skirbeck, near Boston, where his nonconformity was also complained of, and led subsequently to his emigration to the American colonies. He was married to his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Rt. Hon. Sir Oliver St. John, own cousin of Oliver Cromwell, and afterwards chief justice of England, at Boston, on 6th of August, 1629. His brother John was Mayor of Boston in 1626, 1633, 1644 and 1645 (the only instance of any person, previous to the Municipal Act of 1835, having been Mayor four times). James, another brother was Mayor in 1640. The Rev. Samuel Whiting resigned the rectory of Skirbeck in 1636, and emigrated to America. He arrived in Boston (N.E.) May 26, and in the following November removed to Lynn, in Massachusetts, where he officiated as minister until his death there, 11 December, 1679, when he was eighty-two years of age; his wife died in Lynn, in 1677, aged seventy-two. Mr. Whiting's second son was a gradate of Harvard College/University. He returned to England, and was appointed rector near Leverton; he died in 1689. It is believed the male line of the Whitings in this neighborhood became extinct by the death of the Rev. Samuel Whiting, rector of Fishtoft, in 1781 (May 31, 1781). His sister married James Yorke: their son, James Whiting Yorke, a colonel in the British Army, inferited Rev. Samuel Whiting's property. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham and Martha Sheath of Boston.

www.billericahistorical.org/Samuel%20Whiting%20Genology.ht
A genealogy was done on the family of the Rev. Samuel Whiting of Lynn in 1873 by William Whiting (Memoir of Rev. Samuel Whiting, D.D. [Boston]) which will be used as the basis of this study arranging it in Register form with documentation added (with thanks to the Town Historian of Billerica, Margaret Ingraham, for the loan of this book). An article "The Rev. Samuel Whiting, 1597-1679," in New England Historical and Genealogical Register (John Roger Scott Whiting, [1969] 161-169) indicated the diary of Obadiah Turner (from which extracts were used in above book) was a forgery and that there is no evidence he was ever awarded a D.D.
No relationship was found between Rev. Samuel Whiting of Lynn and Nathaniel Whiting who married at Dedham in 1643 and Col. William Whiting of Hartford, CT.
The residence of the Lincolnshire Whitings of this family from the year 1333 and probably from a much earlier date, was at Boston, where William Whytynge was at that date taxed as a citizen. John Whiting, father of Samuel, was mayor of Boston in 1600 and 1608. Samuel Whiting was entered of Emanuel College, Cambridge, 1613, and took his degrees of A.B. and A.M. in 1616 (1616/7 per article) and 1620 respectively. He soon after received orders, and became chaplain in a family which was connected with the Bacons and Townsends of Norfolk, and continued in that position three years. He was afterwards settled as a colleague with Mr. Price at King's Lynn, in the same county. He remained three years at Lynn; but complaints being made to the bishop of Norwich, of his nonconformity in administering the services of the Church, he removed to the rectory of Skirbeck, near Boston, where his nonconformity was also complained of, and led subsequently to his emigration to the American colonies. The will of John Whiting, father of Samuel, recorded in the parish register of St. Botolph, in Boston, is dated 20 Oct 1617, two days before his burial, and names wife Isabel, daughters Margaret, wife of Richard Carter, and Audrey, wife of Robert Wright, and sons James, John and Samuel. The parish register of baptisms of St. Botolph contains entries of baptisms for children named in will plus daughter Isabel who died 1602. The will of brother James in 1648 left 5 pounds to brother Samuel Whiting in New England.
John Whiting, Esq., mayor of Boston, in England, and brother of Rev. Samuel Whiting, of Lynn, advanced 50 pounds in aid of the Massachusetts colony. In return, the General Court granted him 500 acres of land which he transferred to his American brother, who gave it to his son, the Billerica pastor. The grant was located on Salmon brook, in Dunstable, and passed into the possession of Samuel Whiting, Jr., who became one of the first settlers of Dunstable, and a leading man in that town (Henry A. Hazen, History of Billerica… [Boston 1883 reprint Cambridge 1973] 156].

1. SAMUEL1 WHITING was born at Boston, Lincolnshire, England, 20 November 1597 and died at Lynn, MA, 11 December 1679 a. 82y. (gravestone record Old or Western Cemetery cited as G. R. 1 VRs). He married ___ who died in England, and he married (2) at Boston, England, 6 August 1629 ELIZABETH ST. JOHN, born 1605, died at Lynn, 3 March 1676-7 (VRs), daughter of the Rt. Hon. Sir Oliver and Sarah (Bulkeley) St. John of Keysoe, co. Bedford, England (Donald Lines Jacobus, The Bulkeley Genealogy… [New Haven, CT 1933] 30-1).
He arrived in New England 26 May 1636 at Boston and was settled as pastor of the first church at Lynn 8 November 1636 and remained 43 years until the time of his death.
The will of Samuel Whiting of Lynn dated 25 February 1678 was proved 30 March 1680. Eldest son Samuel, living at Billerica, received farm of 400 acres of upland and meadow at Dunstable and 14 acres of marsh in Rumney Marsh in Lynn. Second son John, living in England, at Leverton in Lincolneshire, received 30 pounds in addition to what he already received with 10 pounds of it in money. Third son Joseph, "Liveing now with mee at Lynn," received dwelling house with orchard and lot adjoining and 8 acres of meadow or salt marsh. Daughter Weld of Roxbury received 20 pounds in addition to what she had received 10 pounds of it in money and daughter Hubbard of Topsfield received 30 pounds in addition to what she had received 10 pounds of it in money. Son-in-law Jeremiah Hubbard received a parcel of books for his son Samuel. Remainder was to be divided between executors, Samuel and Joseph (The Probate Records of Essex County [Salem 1920] 3:352).

Children:
by first wife:
i. ___ a son; d. in England.

ii. ___ a son; d. in England.
iii. DOROTHY b. about 1629 (age at death); d. at Roxbury, 31 Jul 1694 in her 66th y. (gravestone record Eliot Cemetery cited as G. R. 1. VRs); m. at Roxbury, 4 June 1650 THOMAS WELD(E) (VRs), bp. at Terling, England, 26 Jul 1627; d. at Roxbury, 17 Jan 1682-3 a. 56 y. (VRs), son of Rev. Thomas and Margaret (Deresleye) Weld of Roxbury. Children surname Weld (Roxbury VRs): 1. Samuel bp. 20 Jul 1651; bur. Roxbury, 26 Aug 1653 (VRs). 2. Thomas bp. 12 June 1653; m. Elizabeth Wilson; m. (2) Mary Savage. 3. Samuel b. 10 Aug 1655; m. Susanna Polley. 4. John b. 9 Oct 1657; d. 25 Jul 1686 a. 29 y. (G. R. 1 cited VRs). 5. Edmund b. 29 Sep 1659; d. bef. 14 Apr 1747 when his will was proved; m. Elizabeth White. 6. Daniel bp. 16:1m:1661-2 (church record, First Religious Society Unitarian cited as C. R. 1. VRs); bur. Roxbury, 25 June 1663 (VRs). 7. Dorithy/Dorothy b. 28 Apr 1664; bp. 24:2m. (C. R. 1. Cited); m. 12 May 1686 William Dennison; m. (2) Samuel Williams. 8. Joseph b. 3 May 1666; d. bef. 11 Mar 1695 when his will was probated. 9. Margreat b. 29 Nov 1669; m. 17 Mar 1690 Nathaniel Brewer. Information on this family from Descendants of Edmund Weld of Sudbury, England (William Addison Weld [1992 privately printed]).

www.newenglandancestors.org/research/database/genealogies/whiting/default.asp
Samuel Whiting was born at Boston in 1597, received degrees from Emanuel College in Cambridge, and became chaplain in the villages of Norfolk and King's Lynn. Complaints of nonconformist behavior forced him to move to the rectory of Skirbeck, where the grievances against him continued. He resigned the rectory in 1636 and emigrated to America, arriving in Boston, Massachusetts, and shortly thereafter moved to Lynn, where he officiated as minister until his death in 1679.

aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr02/rr02_174.html
According to Mather, Samuel Whiting preached as chaplain three years in private families after his master's degree, and then went to Lynn Regis, Norfolk, England where he spent another three years as colleague or curate of the rector, and being disturbed by his diocesan, removed to Skirbeck, close to his native place. After burying his first wife by which he had two sons who died in England and one daughter brought to New England, Mather says he married a daughter of Oliver St. John, a Bedfordshire man. Samuel , his wife and son Samuel, came in the same ship with Wheelwright, who had been his neighbor in Lincolnshire, arriving 26 May 1636 and settled 8 Nov in Lynn, freeman 7 Dec. Samuel died not on 11 Nov as in the Lynn records, but 11 Dec 1679.

Biography & Genealogy Master Index Publications:
* Allibone's Critical Dictionary of English Literature. British and American authors living and deceased from the earliest accounts to the latter half of the Nineteenth Century. Three volumes. By S. Austin Allibone. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1858-1871. (Alli)
* American Writers before 1800. A biographical and critical dictionary. Three volumes. Edited by James A. Levernier and Douglas R. Wilmes. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1983. (AmWrBE)
* Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Six volumes. Edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1888- 1889. (ApCAB)
* Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 14: September, 1984-August, 1986. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1986. (BioIn 14)
* A Dictionary of American Authors. Fifth edition, revised and enlarged. By Oscar Fay Adams. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1904. Biographies are found in the 'Dictionary of American Authors' section which begins on page 1 and in the 'Supplement' which begins on page 441. (DcAmAu)
* Dictionary of Literary Biography. Volume 24: American Colonial Writers, 1606-1734. Edited by Emory Elliott. Detroit: Gale Research, 1984. (DcLB 24)
* Drake's Dictionary of American Biography. Including men of the time, containing nearly 10,000 notices of persons of both sexes, of native and foreign birth, who have been remarkable, or prominently connected with the arts, sciences, literature, politics, or history, of the American continent. By Francis S. Drake. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., 1872. (Drake)
* The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Volume 10. New York: James T. White & Co., 1900. Use the Index to locate biographies. (NatCAB 10)
* Who Was Who in America. A component volume of Who's Who in American History. Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Revised Edition. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1967. (WhAm HS)

The History of New England Vol. I pg. 501
"Whiting left England in April, arrived 26 May, in one of the fifteen great ships in all the harbor together."

Christen	20 Nov 1597	Boston, Lincolnshire, England
Marriage	6 Aug 1629	Boston, Lincolnshire, England - Elizabeth St John
Immigration	26 May 1636	Arrived at Boston, New England
Death	11 Dec 1679	Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America
Burial		Western Burial Ground, Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts

Spouse	Elizabeth St John ( - 1677)
Child	Samuel Whiting Jr. (1633 - 1713)
Child	Rev. John Whiting ( - 1689)
Child	Joseph Whiting (1641 - 1723)
Child	Elizabeth Whiting (1645 - 1717)

Father	John W. Whiting Sr. (1561 - 1617)
Mother	Margaret Bonner (1564 - 1602)

Notes