WHITNEY-L Archives

Archiver > WHITNEY > 1998-10 > 0908556171


From: "J. Michael Poston" <>
Subject: Re: Joanna (Whitney) Sylvester/Micah Whitney
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 12:42:51 -0400


Hugh D. McLellan, "History of Gorham, ME.," compiled and edited by his
daughter, Katharine B. Lewis, Smith & Sale, Printers, Portalnd, 1903, pp
833-834.

"Michah Whitney, son of Abel, was a blacksmith. He served in the war of
the Revolution, and was sergeant in the War of 1812. He married Hannah,
daughter of Andrew and Hannah Cobb.

Children:

Sally, b. Jan 11, 1781, m. James Humphrey
William P., b. May 3 1783, m. Nancy I Carlton
Lydia, b. Feb 8, 1785.
Joel, b. May 7, 1787, m. Sally Dyer; 2d, Sarah Crompton; 3d Betsey Chase
Ebenezer, b.____, m. Dorcas Parlin; l'd in Freeman, Me.
Joanna, b. ____, m. Caleb Sylvester.
Andrew, b. May 5, 1795, m. Huldah Sweetsir, 1816; l'd in Phillips.
Charlotte, b. ____
Mary, b. ____, m. Reuben Smith
Happy, b. ____, m. Samuel W. Phoenix of Phillips.
Benjamin, b 1806, m. Susan Wells.
Nahum, b. ____, l'd down east; unm.

Micah Whitney died June 19, 1829, and his wife, in 1834."

Page 829. Micah-5 (Abel-4, Nathaniel-3, Benjamin-2, John-1) was born in
York, Dec. 11, 1752. the son of Abel and Mary (Cane) Whitney.

On Fri, 16 Oct 1998 wrote:

> In the Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock,
> Greene, Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette, Wisconsin is a short biographical
> sketch of Caleb Sylvester and his wife Joanna Whitney. It contains the
> following sentence: "She was born at Otisfield, Maine, a daughter of
> Micah Whitney, who spent seven years in the Continental Army." I would
> like to make two comments on this sentence.
>
> In the vital records of Phillips, Franklin Co., Maine are registered the
> dates of birth of Micah Whitney, his wife Hannah Cobb, and all twelve of
> their children. Unfortunately, the places of their births is unrecorded
> there. The vital records of Gorham, Cumberland Co., Maine contain the
> records of the births of the first six children, all born in Gorham, The
> last child was born in Gray, Maine. However, the birthplaces of the
> remaining five children are, I believe, still unknown. Joanna Whitney is
> one of those five children. It is very interesting to me that this sketch
> attributes her birthplace to Otisfield, Oxford Co., Maine, especially
> since her sister Mary was married there to Reubin Smith, and lived there
> quite a few years. However, Jean Hankins, the Archivist of the Otisfield
> Historical Society, has searched the Otisfield records both there and in
> Augusta and can find no record of the birth of any children to Micah and
> Hannah Whitney in Otisfield. Of course, they may have been born there
> without being recorded. I wonder what the source was for Joanna's
> birthplace in the Wisconsin resource.
>
> The reference to Micah Whitney being in the Continental Army for seven
> years is incorrect. Micah Whitney enlisted in Colonel James Scammon's
> Massachusetts regiment in April of 1775 and served in it until December
> of that year. He re-enlisted in the 24th Massachusetts Regiment of the
> Continental Army in January of 1776, and served until January 1, 1777,
> when he was discharged, and in his own words, "came home."
>
> Ken Whitney
> Silver Spring, MD
>

This thread: