WHITNEY-L Archives

Archiver > WHITNEY > 2001-02 > 0981087757


From: "Robert L. Ward" <>
Subject: Re: [WHITNEY-L] John & Elinor Whitney
Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2001 23:22:37 -0500
References: <3A784ADB.207832BC@vcn.com>
In-Reply-To: <OE27Dpyuqr60g1XbIv100000f09@hotmail.com>


Steven,

At 07:04 PM 2/1/01 -0500, Steven Wallace wrote:
>Though I am only a distant cousin of most (and MANY) American Whitneys, I
>accepted an invitation to join this list because my Whitney connection is
>much better documented than the others -- even to the 1700s -- and I figured
>it might be interesting to explore this line further. No regrets. I seem
>to have Whitney cousins everywhere but my only direct/blood link to the
>Whitney family is through John & Ruth Reynolds Whitney. Until yesterday,
>this was my "brick wall" on the Whitney line, but I didn't really have any
>big reason to research it as I am still hunting for my Wallaces, Wilsons,
>(immediate family names), etc.... until yesterday.
>
>Until yesterday, I had no clue why everybody was making such a big deal
>about "John & Elinor" but now I get it -- I think. My late father (Richard
>Wallace, 1934-2000) kept very good records, as did my grandpa (Donald
>Wallace, 1905-1987), but they never told me anything about our ancestry
>beyond the American patriots and such (i.e. nothing about our old roots in
>the UK). Yesterday, I opened one of my Dad's OLD (i.e. pre-Internet) files,
>and saw a reference to Whitney.
>
>My Dad's file shows that we are related, through John & Ruth Reynolds
>Whitney, to a SIR John Whitney who married an Eleanor (not Elinor). The SIR
>got my attention. So, I went to the WRG web site, and found a link to the
>name Ruth Reynolds .... but the dates did not match. My Dad's file shows:
>
>Sir John Whitney 1589-1673
>Eleanor (not Elinor) 1599-1659
>
> .... as being the parents of John Whitney (who married Ruth Reynolds).

The parents of John WHITNEY who m. Ruth REYNOLDS are John WHITNEY of Watertown,
MA, and his wife Elinor/Ellin -----. Their birth dates you give above are
computed from their ages on the ship-list of the "Elizabeth and Ann", on which
they came to America in 1635. These ages are believed to be unreliable. Their
death dates which you give are correct as to year.

For data on John and Elinor (-----) WHITNEY of Watertown, see the following two
web pages:
<http://www.whitneygen.org/archives/extracts/pierce/p016-020.htm>;, starting
on page 19, and
<http://www.whitneygen.org/families/johnw/john01.html>;.
For data on his probable English origins and ancestry, see this one:
<http://www.whitneygen.org/families/johnw/ancestry.html>;.

As to the Elinor versus Eleanor versus Ellin business, be aware that spelling
in colonial times was very fluid. Generally, any spelling which could be
pronounced right was acceptable. Thus, since Elinor and Eleanor are pronounced
identically, either is a correct spelling. The only records we have of her
use Elinor or Ellin (a shortened form), never Eleanor.

>The citation is handwritten and a bit hard to read. But, appaarently, the
>reference is to a book entitled "Cutters Genealogies of Eastern
>Massachusetts Families" ... no date listed. I did a web search on "Cutters
>..." and found nothing. Does anybody have a clue on this? Any help will be
>appreciated.

This was undoubtedly one of those books published by William Richard Cutter.
These books were compiled by having families send in their ancestries to Cutter
to be compiled into books and published by him with no checking for accuracy.
Some of the lineages in Cutter's books are fine. Others are really egregiously
bad. These books should be used as clue material only. Probably your search
on "Cutters" should have been on "Cutter," and that is why it failed.

Probably this is the reference you seek:
GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS Relating to the Families
of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts - William Richard Cutter (1908),
4 vols., 2207 pp.

This one can be seen in many genealogical libraries, and is now available in
reprint for about US$200.00.

>Is this is correct, why was he SIR John Whitney - sounds fascinating.
>Thanks! Steven

No credible evidence has ever been found giving him that title. I strongly
recommend you drop this from your records.

If you haven't visited the Whitney Research Group Website yet, I strongly
recommend that you do so. It may be found at
<http://www.whitneygen.org/home2.html>;.

What is your line of descent from John-2 and Ruth (REYNOLDS) WHITNEY?

Regards,

Robert

Robert L. Ward

<http://users.erols.com/rlward1/>;
12236 Shadetree Lane, Laurel, MD 20708-2832
301-776-1659

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