Individual Details
Joseph Whiton Sr.
(10 Mar 1686 - 8 May 1777)
Joseph and his brother Samuel married Tower sisters. Joseph's first wife was Martha Tower.
The following was taken from the book "The Whiton Family in America: The Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas Whiton (1635)," compiled by Augustus Sherrill Whiton of New York, published 1932 by The Whiton Family Association, Inc., pages 28-29.
Joseph was a farmer and a cooper. He also served as the Hingham town constable. In about 1718 he moved to Palmer's River, later called Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where he continued his business as a cooper for about ten years. In 1726 he moved to Ashford, Connecticut, where he lived until his death in 1777. He was buried in the cemetery in nearby Westford, CT, a cemetery that he and two other men established.
In 1727 Joseph and his 2nd wife Rebecca Wilson (whom he married in Rehoboth, MA sometime after 1721) and his son Elijah were received as members of the Congregational Church in Ashford, from which they were dismissed in 1768. At that time there was trouble in that church. A new minister had been called. At his ordination he was asked: "Do you believe that when a child is born into the world he brings enough sin to damn him forever?" On his replying, "No," ordination was refused and many left the church, among them Joseph and his son Elijah, from whose grandson these facts were obtained. (On which side of the dispute were they?) In 1769 Rebecca Wilson Whiton, his second wife, was dismissed from the same church to the new church in Westford, and their graves are in the Westford Cemetery. Joseph was a member of the committee of three who established that cemetery.
The History of Hingham describes Joseph as a conscientious, unobtrusive and hard-working man. He must have thought very much of his second wife, for in his will he provided that if she married again she should, in addition to her share of his estate, have an additional 100 pounds!
The following was provided by Sheron Smith-Savage in May 2018:
“Joseph Whiton, sixth child and fifth son of James Whiton, was born March 23, 1687, at Hingham, Mass., and died at Ashford, Conn., in 1777. Joseph Whiton married (first) at Hingham, Mass., Dec. 10, 1713, Martha, daughter of Samuel and Silence (Damon) Tower, born July 20, 1693, at Hingham, Mass., who died at Rehoboth, Sept. 19, 1719. He married (second) in 1720, at Rehoboth, Rebecca Willson, who died March 17, 1776, at Ashford, Conn. Joseph Whiton in his youth learned the trade of cooper, which he combined with farming. Soon after the birth of his third child, in 1719, he removed from Hingham to Rehoboth, and his first wife died there the same year. Early in 1720 he married his second wife, and two children were born to them in Rehoboth. About 1726-27 he settled in Ashford, Conn.; the church records there show the admission to membership, early in 1727, of ‘Joseph Whiton and wife.’ In 1734 he was one of the committee appointed ‘to lay out a quarter-acre of land for a burying place’ (now a part of Westford cemetery), ‘at ye west end of ye town,’ and in this plat rests the body of Joseph Whiton, who died at the advanced age of ninety years. The inscription on his tombstone reads: ‘They that live longest die at last.’”
——Commemorative Biographical Record of Tolland and Windham Counties Connecticut Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of the Early Settled Families, Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1903, p. 91.
Parents:
James Whiton 1651–1725
Abigail Rickard Whiton 1655–1740
The following was taken from the book "The Whiton Family in America: The Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas Whiton (1635)," compiled by Augustus Sherrill Whiton of New York, published 1932 by The Whiton Family Association, Inc., pages 28-29.
Joseph was a farmer and a cooper. He also served as the Hingham town constable. In about 1718 he moved to Palmer's River, later called Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where he continued his business as a cooper for about ten years. In 1726 he moved to Ashford, Connecticut, where he lived until his death in 1777. He was buried in the cemetery in nearby Westford, CT, a cemetery that he and two other men established.
In 1727 Joseph and his 2nd wife Rebecca Wilson (whom he married in Rehoboth, MA sometime after 1721) and his son Elijah were received as members of the Congregational Church in Ashford, from which they were dismissed in 1768. At that time there was trouble in that church. A new minister had been called. At his ordination he was asked: "Do you believe that when a child is born into the world he brings enough sin to damn him forever?" On his replying, "No," ordination was refused and many left the church, among them Joseph and his son Elijah, from whose grandson these facts were obtained. (On which side of the dispute were they?) In 1769 Rebecca Wilson Whiton, his second wife, was dismissed from the same church to the new church in Westford, and their graves are in the Westford Cemetery. Joseph was a member of the committee of three who established that cemetery.
The History of Hingham describes Joseph as a conscientious, unobtrusive and hard-working man. He must have thought very much of his second wife, for in his will he provided that if she married again she should, in addition to her share of his estate, have an additional 100 pounds!
The following was provided by Sheron Smith-Savage in May 2018:
“Joseph Whiton, sixth child and fifth son of James Whiton, was born March 23, 1687, at Hingham, Mass., and died at Ashford, Conn., in 1777. Joseph Whiton married (first) at Hingham, Mass., Dec. 10, 1713, Martha, daughter of Samuel and Silence (Damon) Tower, born July 20, 1693, at Hingham, Mass., who died at Rehoboth, Sept. 19, 1719. He married (second) in 1720, at Rehoboth, Rebecca Willson, who died March 17, 1776, at Ashford, Conn. Joseph Whiton in his youth learned the trade of cooper, which he combined with farming. Soon after the birth of his third child, in 1719, he removed from Hingham to Rehoboth, and his first wife died there the same year. Early in 1720 he married his second wife, and two children were born to them in Rehoboth. About 1726-27 he settled in Ashford, Conn.; the church records there show the admission to membership, early in 1727, of ‘Joseph Whiton and wife.’ In 1734 he was one of the committee appointed ‘to lay out a quarter-acre of land for a burying place’ (now a part of Westford cemetery), ‘at ye west end of ye town,’ and in this plat rests the body of Joseph Whiton, who died at the advanced age of ninety years. The inscription on his tombstone reads: ‘They that live longest die at last.’”
——Commemorative Biographical Record of Tolland and Windham Counties Connecticut Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of the Early Settled Families, Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1903, p. 91.
Parents:
James Whiton 1651–1725
Abigail Rickard Whiton 1655–1740
Events
| Birth | 10 Mar 1686 | Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts | |||
| Marriage | 9 Apr 1720 | Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts - Rebekah Wilson | |||
| Death | 8 May 1777 | Ashford, Windham County, Connecticut | |||
| Burial | Westford Hill Cemetery, Ashford, Windham County, Connecticut |  |
Families
| Spouse | Rebekah Wilson (1701 - 1776) |
| Child | Huldah Whiton (1733 - 1828) |
Endnotes
1. Find A Grave Memorial 6648161.