Elizabeth Whitmore Biography

Biography for Elizabeth Whitmore (7th Great Grandmother)

Elizabeth was born May 1, 1649 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts.[1]  She was baptized at the First Church at Cambridge.[2]  She died May 10, 1676 in Cambridge, and is buried in the Old Burying Ground.  This burial location is an assumption as there is no grave stone or identified source record.  But she was a full member of the church, and this was the only cemetery in Cambridge at this time.

Her parents were Francis Whitmore and Isabella Parke.[3]  Francis was born about 1623 possibly in Tring, Dacorum Borough, Hertfordshire, England.  His birth information is uncertain.  It has been ascertained that his father was John Whitmore (but not proven conclusively with primary sources).  Francis died on October 12, 1685 at about age 62 in Cambridge and he was buried at the Old Burying Ground in Cambridge.[4]  Isabella was born Nov 2, 1628 in England and died March 31, 1665 in Cambridge;[5] she was also buried in the Old Burying Ground.  She was the daughter of Richard and Margery (Crane) Parke.  Francis and Isabella were married in 1648 in Cambridge.[6]

[Note: to avoid the confusion of the Old Style, Julian dates (that were used in England and the Colonies until 1752) versus New Style, Gregorian dates, for this biography dates are shown with the New Style version of the year which matches what we would use today]

Elizabeth married Daniel Markham on November 3, 1669, at the First Church of Cambridge.[7]  He was the son of James Markham and Martha Collins, both of Earls Colne, Essex, England.

Elizabeth and Daniel had the following children:[8]

  • Daniel Markham II (6th Great Grandfather), born November 1, 1671, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Deborah Meacham, April 2, 1703, Enfield, Hartford, Connecticut; died May 6, 1761, Enfield, Hartford, Connecticut.
  • Elizabeth Markham, born July 13, 1673, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married John Clement Bates, 1700; died before 1734, Haddam, Connecticut.
  • James Markham, born March 16, 1675, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Elizabeth Locke, October 14, 1699; died June 8, 1731, Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut.

Narrative

Elizabeth is my 7th Great Grandmother.  She was born in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, and was the eldest of six children born by her mother, Isabella.  Isabella died in 1665 when Elizabeth was 16.  After the death of her mother, Elizabeth would likely have had a lot of responsibility to help her father both around the household and with the other children.  Her youngest sister would have been three years old at that time.

Elizabeth’s father, Francis, was a tailor and she probably helped him with his work.  But a year after Isabella’s death, on November 10, 1666, Francis remarried to Margaret Harty.  Now Elizabeth, at 17, had a stepmother.  It must not have been a problem for Elizabeth, she didn’t get married until three years later, to Daniel Markham in 1669. 

After getting married the new family had three children in 1671, 1673 and 1675.  They probably lived somewhere in Cambridge for a while, perhaps with either Daniel’s Uncle, Edward Collins, or with her parents.  Then sometime by 1673 they moved to Medford, just a little north.  Daniel acquired land there from his uncle in 1675, and in March of that year he is shown to be “now in possession” of land there, this from an Edward Collins land transaction.[9]   This comment means he was already in possession of land in Medford, but apparently didn’t own it, which probably means it was something arranged by Edward Collins.  In a 1673 court case, Daniel signed a Medford petition as an inhabitant.[10]  They must have been there by 1673.

Also, in 1673 they had a servant, Elizabeth Miles.  This is from a court case where Miles was disputing her service with Daniel.[11]  Elizabeth Miles would have helped Elizabeth around the house, especially when she was pregnant.  This also meant they had the means to pay for a servant.  Or perhaps knowing now that Elizabeth would pass away a few years later, maybe she wasn’t healthy (but she did have their third child in 1675).

Daniel became a Freeman in 1675.[12]  The young family was established.  They had a home and children, and were contributing members of the community.  They were members of the First Church of Cambridge.  Elizabeth was baptized there and Daniel was later admitted to the Church at Middletown as being “recommended to us from ye ch [Church] of xt (Christ) at Cambridge” (meaning that he was a member at Cambridge and was transferring to Middletown, this being after Elizabeth’s death).[13]  Elizabeth’s family was nearby, as was Daniel’s uncle, Edward Collins.

Elizabeth died on May 10, 1676, at the age of 27.  She left three young children, Daniel Junior was 4 years old, daughter Elizabeth was 3 and youngest son James was 2.  Her death may have been due to health issues following the birth of James a year earlier.  This had to be a very difficult time for the young family.  Elizabeth is buried at the Old Burying Ground in Cambridge, as are both of her parents.

Funerals were very important in the early colonies.  The funeral service would have been held at the church.  Then there would have been a procession where pall bearers would carry the coffin to the gravesite at the cemetery.  Often the family would give mourning gloves to the people attending the funeral.  These were white, cloth gloves.  Sometimes a wealthier family would have commemorative rings made for their family, close friends and ministers.  These rings were cherished by the family and they were handed down through generations, they were cheerful reminders of their reunion with the deceased family member in the afterlife. 

There weren’t sermons or eulogies, it was mostly silent.  Puritans didn’t want an appearance of papistry and conducted minimalist funerals.  Mourners would attach notes of praise to the bier (the stand that the coffin sits on).  Liquor was provided at the funeral; this could be expensive but was pretty common.  In the house of the family, they would cover some items with black cloth.  This mourning practice could last up to a year.[14]

Richard Parke

The father of Elizabeth’s mother, Isabella, was Richard Parke.  This was Elizabeth’s grandfather.  Richard and his wife, Margery (Crane), and their children (including Isabella) came to the colonies from London, England in July of 1635 on the ship Defence.[15]  This was the same ship as Thomas Shepard, the famous minister who was the pastor at the First Church of Cambridge from 1636 to 1649.  Richard and his family settled at Cambridge, where he purchased land.  Part of this land is now the property of Harvard University.[16]  Francis Whitmore would acquire land next to him.  Richard would have been a farmer and was also a miller.  This is his occupation as listed on the ship’s manifest, but there is no record of him owning a mill in the Cambridge area.

Richard had a few pieces of land around Cambridge, a few smaller ones for his homestead and farming, a 100 acre lot and a 600 acre lot that he acquired of Thomas Shepard (or perhaps Shepard’s heirs).  In 1656 Richard was chosen to be a Constable, along with Edward Shepard and Robert Parker.  This position also was part of the Selectmen group (basically the town council).  In 1657 he was appointed to a committee to lay out and settle highways in the area south of the Charles River.

Some of Richard’s land was south of the Charles River, and he moved his home there from Cambridge in 1647.[17]  In 1661 he sent a petition to the General Court “praying to retain his membership in the Cambridge Church”.  Despite living south of the river, he wanted to remain in the First Church of Cambridge.  This could have been a monetary decision, anyone who left the Cambridge Church would not benefit from any future land grants.  But then a few years later he is listed in the group of first members of the Church at Cambridge Village, and as being from Cambridge Church.[18]  Richard is shown to be a founder of this new town, first called Cambridge Village, then Newtown.[19]  Today it is Newton.  The new town was officially established in 1691, after a lengthy court process with several steps along the way.

Richard died in 1665, after writing his will on July 5th and before his probate inventory was taken on October 19th.  His total inventory was valued at 972 Pounds, much of which was the value of the 600 acres which contained a house, barn and other out-buildings.  This is a substantial estate and would be worth millions today.

Francis Whitmore

Signatures of Francis Whitmore & Isabelle (Parke) Whitmore

The exact birth date and location for Francis is not known.  He would have come to the colonies as a young boy with his father, John, sometime in the 1630’s.  That John is the father of Francis is not proven with primary sources, but is assumed based upon circumstantial evidence. The name of John’s wife, Francis’ mother, is also not known and she is thought to have passed away in England.  John was in Wethersfield, Connecticut by 1640, and presumably Francis was with him.  In 1641 John moved from Wethersfield to Stamford, Connecticut.  Francis would have been about 18 at this time.  The first record for Francis is in 1648, when he would have been about 25.  In this year he got married to Isabelle Parke, daughter of Richard and Margery (Crane) Parke, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  He is also listed as being a landowner in Cambridge in this same year.  He likely acquired this land before 1649, but there is no record of this (Note: deed records were kept in Middlesex County, Massachusetts beginning in 1649, before that they were apparently kept in Boston and it appears that they were not complete).  So sometime before 1648 he left his father in Connecticut and went to Cambridge. 

There is mention on some websites (such as the Find a Grave memorial for Francis Whitmore) that at some point Francis received land from John, his father, who was in the New Haven Colony.  But no source records have been found to prove this, and there is no information as to when and where this would have been.  More research may uncover something on this, and it may shed new light on Francis’ life before he went to Cambridge.

Francis was a tailor (and a farmer as most men were), and lived in the Cambridge town area before moving to northwest Cambridge in the area called “The Farms” (today’s Lexington) and Menotomy (Arlington).[20]  He and Isabella attended the First Church of Cambridge where they were in full communion.  All their children were baptized there.  Francis was made a Freeman of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1654.  He was a town surveyor in 1663 and was chosen Constable in 1668 and 1682. 

In 1660 Francis and his wife, Isabella, signed a petition in favor of the widow Winifret Holman.  Winifret was accused of being a witch and the petitioners were touting her good character.  The witchcraft case did not go to trial, but Holman took her accuser to court with a charge of slander and eventually won the case.  A summary of the case and a transcription of the petition Francis and others signed is in The History of Cambridge by Lucius Paige.[21]  This case had to be a big event in Cambridge and proceeded the witchcraft mania in Salem by 30 years.

Isabella died in 1665.  Francis was left with six children, the eldest being Elizabeth at 16.  The next year he married for his second wife Margaret Hardy.  Margaret and Francis had four more children.[22]

In 1676 Francis served in King Phillips War.  This war was from 1675-1677 and was between the Wampanoag Indians, along with some other ally tribes, and the colonists.  The Mohegans, Pequots and Mohawks sided with the colonists.  The chief of the Wampanoag was Metacom, who adopted the name King Phillip.  He wanted to stop the colonist from spreading into their Indian territory and did not like having to follow English law.  After many battles across several of the colonies, the colonists were victorious.  There was not a battle really close to where Francis lived but there were several in Massachusetts and Francis was certainly involved.  His company was commanded by Major Willard.

Willard was commander of the Middlesex Regiment of Massachusetts troops.  Major Willard led a group of militiamen to Brookfield, Massachusetts in August of 1675.  The Quabaugs, who had allied with the Wampanoags, had attacked a group of colony militia who were going to have a peace talk with them.  Several of the colonists were killed and the remainder retreated to Brookfield.  The town was being attacked by the Indians.  Major Willard brought his company and was able to force the enemy to retreat.[23]  It is quite likely that Francis was involved in this and possibly other skirmishes in the Massachusetts area.

In 1682 Francis was one of eight to sign a petition to the Massachusetts Bay Colony General Court to establish a separate church parish in “The Farms” area.  This petition was the start of what would eventually lead to the forming of Lexington, Massachusetts.  A basis for their argument was that the distance to the church in Cambridge was so far away (about 5 or 6 miles) that it was difficult to get to church.  Having their own parish and preacher would be much more convenient and better for the families in the area.[24]  The home of Francis is used in the description of the new boundary line; the line was drawn using his homestead as a landmark on the north side.

Francis died on October 12, 1685.  He was buried in the Old Burying Ground in Cambridge.[25]  However, by the middle 1800’s his remains and stone were moved to the Salem Street Burial Ground in Medford, Massachusetts.[26]  This was done by William H. Whitmore (1836-1900).  William was a descendant of Francis and a noted genealogist.  The Cambridge cemetery had been neglected and William apparently wanted the remains of his ancestor to be respectfully cared for.  This was a very thoughtful thing to do.

In his will, dated October 8, 1685, Francis gave his estate to his wife for the duration of her widowhood or lifetime – “for the bringing up of my three youngest children, and for the expending of what learning she shall be able upon them”.  He was obviously concerned about the well being of his young children, and of their education.  After that, he gave “my part of the new mill” to his two youngest sons.  This was a saw mill that he had a partial interest in.  He states that he has already given land to his son Samuel.  He also willed 20 shillings each to his three grandchildren had by Daniel and Elizabeth (his daughter) Markham.[27]

The total value of his inventory is 305 Pounds.  But this is after he had already given some of his land away, which we do not know the value of.  It contains many typical items of the times – clothes, a musket and sword, cooking utensils, bedding, furniture, some cattle, swine and horses, corn and other provisions, a cart, his homestead, and his interest in the saw mill.  This shows that Francis was not a wealthy man, but did quite well in his subsistence lifestyle.  He had what he needed to take care of his family in a comfortable way.[28]

There are a number of records for Francis that give a picture of the events in his life.

  • Married to Isabelle Parke in 1648, Elizabeth, 1st child, born in 1649.  He had 10 children with two wives, the last being Joseph born in 1675.
  • February 23, 1648 – At a general meeting of the proprietors of the lands at the west field, they made a list of the landowners for the purpose of building a fence.  Francis is listed as having 6 acres.[29]
  • 1652, land in Bellerica (originally was called Shawshine, separated from Cambridge starting in 1655), Francis had 50 acres granted to him, next to Richard Parke who had 100.[30]
  • Dec 28, 1653 – Town records, received land grant of ¾ acre near Spy Pond (in today’s Arlington)[31]
  • 1654, Feb 3 – Sold land in Cambridge, 18 acres on the Cambridge – Lexington line.[32] [33]  The purchase record of this land cannot be found.  It must have been before 1649, when Middlesex County began the first Middlesex County Registry of Deeds in Cambridge.
  • 1654 – made a Freeman, May 3.[34] [35]
  • Church members in full communion (before 1658 per Cambridge Church book), all children baptized there.[36]
  • September 17, 1657 – Town records, Francis is on a list of men “for breach of the town orders, whose fines according to the town order are”, his is nine pence.[37]
  • 1660 (no specific date shown) court case, signed a document along with others in favor of Winifret Holman, Isabelle also signed.[38]  This was the witchcraft case.
  • November 12, 1660 – Town records, he is listed twice;  “ffr. Whitmore have all of them libty to take timb. for repair of fences & reparaccon of yr houses” and “Francis whitmore hath leave granted him to take some pines in the Swamp to build him a barne”.[39]
  • Dec 18, 1660 – Testified in case, had to do with cloth bought of Dunster, there was a summons to Elizabeth Dunster the day before to appear in court.[40]
  • December 20, 1660 – Francis buys 3 ½ acres in Cambridge next to the land he already owns, between the Cow Commons and the borderline with Charlestown, in an area called Menotomy Field.[41]
  • Dec 9, 1661 – Juror in court case, Benjamin Blackman for abuse to Abraham Smith.[42]
  • Dec 22, 1662 – Town records, “The Names of such as are returned by Lt. Winship for defect in yoaking & Ringing their Swine”, Francis is fined two shillings, 3 pence.[43]
  • 1662 (no specific date) – Francis received a grant of two acres of land on the north side of Charles River.[44]  It appears that all of the current Cambridge landowners received land in this grant.
  • March 9, 1663 – Town records, “Francis Whitmore & Wm Dixon are appointed to See ye orders concerning swine executed, on the west side Menottime (meaning east of today’s Arlington)”, they are to report the names of anyone with swine not ringed and yoaked to the Town’s Selectmen.[45]
  • November 9, 1663 – Town meeting, Francis was chosen Surveyor along with three others.[46]
  • November 9, 1663 – At a meeting of the Selectmen, Francis was allowed the right to cut timber for his fence.[47]
  • November 25, 1663 – Bought 20 acres in Cambridge from Richard Champney.[48]
  • March 14, 1664 – At a meeting of the Selectmen, Francis and others were given “liberty to take fencing stuffe on the comon for yr out fences, orchards 7 reparaccons of yr houses”.[49]
  • March 24, 1664 – At a town meeting, Frances and William Bull are appointed to execute the town’s orders concerning swine on the west side of the river of Winottime (This is Menotomy, today’s Arlington).[50]
  • February 16, 1664 – At a town meeting, Francis and several others are granted two acres of swamp land on the north side of Mennotteme (Menotomy) River on the condition that they clear it for meadow within five years.[51]
  • February 27, 1665 – Francis received a grant of 12 ½ acres of land in Cambridge, and a 1.5 interest in the cow commons (there were 238.5 total interests in the cow commons; the town owned this land, not the persons, but town landowners had the right to use it).[52]
  • Feb 12, 1666 – Town records, “single men in this town” were required by the Selectmen to connect themselves with a family, Jacob Cole was identified as living out of family government.  A month later he submitted himself to the family government of Francis.[53]
  • April 13, 1668 – At a town meeting, Francis and Joseph Russell were chosen to clear out the cattle at Menottime field.[54]
  • December 14, 1668 – At a meeting of the Selectmen, Francis is “granted liberty for a clapboard tree”.[55]  Clapboard is the wood siding placed on the exterior of a house, usually oak, pine or spruce.
  • February 8, 1669 – At a meeting of the Selectmen, Francis, Lt. Winship and William Dixon are appointed “for Katechiseing (catechizing) the youth of this Towne”.[56]  This was an important role, to teach the young the principles of Puritan Christianity and preparing them to be good members of the Church and community.
  • November 8, 1668 – At a town meeting, Francis and two others were chosen Constables for the town of Cambridge.[57]  This also meant he would join the Selectmen group.
  • October 11, 1669 – At a meeting of the Selectmen, Francis was granted liberty to fell some timber for a “leantoe”.[58]  This was for a lean-to, a type of simple structure added to an existing building with the rafters leaning against the existing building’s wall.  He was probably adding on to his house to make more space, most likely for bedrooms.
  • January 16, 1670 – At a meeting of the Selectmen, “Mr. Edward Collins, Lt. Winship and Francis Whitmore are to Catishise the youth beyound menotime”.[59]  This is his second time in this role.  (As a note, Edward Collins is the uncle of Daniel Markham, who is the husband of Francis’ daughter Elizabeth.)
  • December 10, 1671 – At a town meeting, Francis and several others were fined 20 shilling for “felling of wood and timber on the common without liberty”.[60]
  • December 18, 1672 – testified in court case involving Thomas Parks vs Robert Man, also has “his father Parkes and his son John Whitmore”.[61]
  • November 8, 1675 – At a meeting of the Selectmen, Francis was granted liberty to “fell some timber upon the Rockes to ground sill his house”.[62]  A ground sill is the horizontal piece of wood on the ground in the frame of a house.  He basically needed some foundation work done.
  • Served in King Phillips War – 9/23/1676 was the date of accounting, was a trooper, his commander was Major Simon Willard.[63]  He was about 53 years old at this time.
  • December 22, 1676 – Francis trades some swamp land on the south side of Charles River with his brother-in-law Thomas Parke (Richard Parke’s son & brother of Elizabeth).  Francis and Elizabeth got their original portion of this from Richard’s estate.[64]
  • March 10, 1679 – At a meeting of the Selectmen, “the five trees felled by francis whitmore upon a grant to himself and to Nathanill hancok in the yeere 1677 the select men doe alow of It”.[65]  Trees became an issue as so many had been cut down around the town.  Cut trees were sawn at a saw mill to make lumber which was used for building houses, buildings and fences.  Lumber was also sent to England; this was an important product produced by the Colonies.  And of course, the people needed wood for their fireplaces, which they burnt continuously.
  • Tithingman for Cambridge Church in 1680.[66]
  • 1682 – Signer of petition to separate Lexington (The Farms) from Cambridge, Francis was one of 8 signers.[67]
  • 1682 – Francis was chosen constable again (also would join selectmen)[68]
  • 1683 (no specific date mentioned) – Francis is granted 12 acres of land, along with all the other landowners.  This land is towards Concord.[69]

John Whitmore

Elizabeth’s father was Francis, whose father was John Whitmore, thus John was Elizabeth’s grandfather (again, assumed).  John’s birth date and location are unknown.  He was born somewhere in England around 1589.  There are various locations shown as his birth location, but none have been proven with a viable source document.  Nonetheless, he was in the Colonies in the 1630’s.  There is reason to think he was in Watertown, Massachusetts after his arrival.[70]  But there aren’t primary sources for this either, and no land purchases or sales have been found.  He does show up in Wethersfield, Connecticut by 1640, when he acquired a home lot.[71]  Many of the first settlers of Wethersfield were from Watertown. 

Land transactions in Connecticut Colony were not always recorded before 1640, when the General Court of Connecticut ordered that all land transactions be recorded by the Town Recorder.[72]  So, a person might have bought land and lived in a town for some time before this without having a deed recorded.  It appears that Wethersfield addressed this in 1640 by conducting an inventory of each inhabitant’s land holdings, which is reprinted in “The History of Ancient Wethersfield”, by Henry R. Stiles, which I have sourced in the biography below.  John did acquire several pieces of land in Wethersfield.[73]  The date of these acquisitions is not known, but it likely puts him there in the late 1630’s.

It appears that his wife was deceased, either in England or possibly in the Colonies, and that he had five children.  Francis would have been the third born.  No record of his first wife’s name or death has been found.  Who she was is unknown. 

In 1640, John was in a court case in Hartford County (the county Wethersfield was in).  Richard Westcoat was fined ten shillings for “misleading” him.[74]

In 1641 John sold his Wethersfield home lot to Richard Treat.[75]  This is when he moved to Stamford.  There was a group of families that had come from Watertown to Wethersfield, then moved on to Stamford.  Reverend Richard Denton was their leader.  John was an early settler of Stamford[76], and received 10 acres of land in the first distribution to the first company of settlers.[77]  Also in 1641 John was made a townsman (selectman, a town council member) for Stamford.[78]

John married the widow Joanna (Kerrich) Jessup in about 1640.[79]  Her husband, John Jessup, died in Wethersfield about 1638.[80]  John and the Jessup’s lived close to each other in the north part of town.  They had no children together.

On April 6, 1641, John is accepted from Rippowam (which was the original name for Stamford) as a Member (also referred to as a Deputy) of the New Haven Court, along with Matthew Mitchell, and also was made a freeman.[81]  This same court session is when the name of Stamford was established for the new town.

In October of 1648 John Whitmore was killed by Indians.  He went out to check his cattle and never returned.  His body was not found for three months, and then only with the help of Indians.  Uncas, the great tribal chief of the Mohicans led this effort.  This caused much concern for the colonists in Connecticut, especially those in the smaller towns and outlying areas. 

The General Court of Connecticut in September of 1649 declared war against Indians as a result of this.  The case against a particular Indian named Taphanse went to court on October 15, 1662 (14 years after the murder).  It was an elongated process.  He was eventually found not guilty of the murder, but was considered an accessory and was fined 10 Pounds and ordered to go find the Indian named Torquattoes that was believed to have committed the murder.  This was not done and the case was not finalized.  There is much written about this from the court and colony records.[82] [83]

John’s probate inventory was taken on December 8, 1648 by Robert Hustis and Jeffery Ferris.  It was appraised at 217 Pounds, 4 Shillings and two Pence.[84]  Some of the items in his inventory include 3 fat cattle, 2 cows, 4 heifers, 2 yearlings, 2 oxen, 4 calves, 3 swine, a sow, 13 young swine, 4 pigs, 2 hogs, an old mare, a colt, a number of bushels of Indian corn, 40 bushels of peas, barley, oats, 17 loads of hay, some pewter platers, kitchen and fireplace utensils, bedding, furniture, tools, tools, a musket, a sword, a bible, a hive of bees and his homestead.

John was not a wealthy man, but this size of estate meant he would have been comfortable.  He died without a will, probably because of his sudden death at age 59.  It is believed that his remains were buried on his farm.

Suggested reading:    

“Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony”, by George Francis Dow, published by Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1988.

“History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, with a Genealogical Register”, by Lucius R. Paige, Published by H. O. Houghton and Company, New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1877.

“A History of Cambridge, Massachusetts (1630-1913)”, by Samuel Atkins Eliot, Published by The Cambridge Tribune, Cambridge, MA, 1913.

“History of the Town of Medford”, by Charles Brooks, Published by James M. Usher, Boston, 1855.

“The Whitmores of Medford and some of Their Descendants”, by Alice C. Ayres, begins on Page 64, in “The Medford Historical Register”, Volume VIII, July, 1905, Number 3.

“Record of the Descendants of Francis Whitmore, of Cambridge, Mass.”, Compiled by W. H Whitmore, Boston, printed for private circulation only, by John Wilson and Son, 1855.

“The Whitmore Genealogy, A Record of the Descendants of Francis Whitmore of Cambridge”, Massachusetts (1625-1685), by Jessie Whitmore Patten Purdy, 1907.

“Genealogy of the Parke Families of Massachusetts, Including Richard Parke, of Cambridge, William Park, of Groton, and Others”, Compiled by Frank Sylvester Parks, Washington, D.C., 1909.

“The History of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut”, by Henry R. Stiles, The Grafton Press, New York, 1904, Volume I and II.

“History of Stamford, Connecticut, From its Settlement in 1641, to the Present Time”, by Reverend Elijah Baldwin Huntington, Published by the Author, Stamford, 1868.

Biography written by Kem & Becky Marcum; January, 2023.

[1] Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the year 1850, by Thomas W. Baldwin, Published by Wright & Potter, Boston, Massachusetts, 1914, Volume I, Cambridge Births, Page 754.

[2] Records of the Church of Christ at Cambridge in New England, 1632-1830, Page 16; accessed at Familysearch.org.

[3] Ibid, Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Page 754.

[4] Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Cambridge, by William Thaddeus Harris, Published by Cambridge: Metcalf and Company, 1845, Page 11.

[5] Ibid, Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Cambridge, Page 169.

[6] New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Page 810; accessed at Ancestry.com.

[7] Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the year of 1850, by Thomas W. Baldwin, Published by Wright & Potter, Boston, Massachusetts, 1914, Volume 2, Page 256.

[8] Massachusetts, Compiled Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1700-1850, Cambridge Births, Page 464; accessed at Ancestry.com.

[9] History of the Town of Medford, by Charles Brooks, Published by James M. Usher, Boston, 1855, Page 42.

[10] Middlesex County, Mass: Abstracts of Court Records, 1643-1674, Volume 2, Page 171; accessed on Americanancestor.com.

[11] Middlesex County (Mass) Court records, Colonial County Court Papers, 1648-1798, Folio 62; accessed at Familysearch.org (slides 50 & 52).

[12] Ibid, Middlesex County (Mass) Court records, Folio 76 (slide 556).

[13] Middletown, Connecticut, First Congregational Church, Records 1668-1871, Volume 1, Page 12; accessed at Familysearch.org.

[14] Seven Strange Facts about Colonial Funerals”, accessed at Newenglandhistorialsociety.com.

[15] Genealogy of the Parke Families of Massachusetts, Including Richard Parke, of Cambridge, William Park, of Groton, and Others, Compiled by Frank Sylvester Parks, Washington, D.C., 1909, Page 25.

[16] The Whitmore Genealogy, A Record of the Descendants of Francis Whitmore of Cambridge, Massachusetts (1625-1685), by Jessie Whitmore Patten Purdy, 1907, Page 141.

[17] A History of the Early Settlement of Newton, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts, by Francis Jackson, Printed by Stacy and Richardson, Boston, MA, originally published in 1854, Page 9.

[18] Ibid, A History of the Early Settlement of Newton, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts, Page 118.

[19] History of Newton, Massachusetts, Town and City, by S. F. Smith, Published by The American Logotype Company, 1880, Page 40.

[20] History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, with a Genealogical Register, by Lucius R. Paige, Published by H. O. Houghton and Company, New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1877, Page 685.

[21] Ibid, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, Page 363 (this page is Francis Whitmore’s statement, a description of the case starts on page 356).

[22] Ibid, The Whitmore Genealogy, Page 13.

[23] Brief History of King Philip’s War, by George M. Bodge, Printed Privately at Boston, 1891.

[24] Ibid, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Page 119.

[25] Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Cambridge, with notes by William Thaddeus Harris, Published by John Owen, Cambridge, 1854, Page 11.

[26] The Whitmores of Medford and Some of Their Descendants, by Alice C. Ayres, Contained in “The Medford Historical Register”, Published by the Medford Historical Society, Medford, Massachusetts, Vol VIII, 1905, No. 3, July 1905, Page 74.

[27] Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991, Middlesex, Probate Paper 24580; accessed on Ancestry.com.

[28] Ibid, Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records.

[29] The Registere Booke of the Lands and Houses in the Newtowne, 1635 (referred to as the “Old Proprietors’ Records”); Printed by order of the City Council, Cambridge, 1896, Page 336.

[30] Ibid, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, Page 59.

[31] Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Titled in 1901 as “The Records of the Town of Cambridge Massachusetts, 1630-1703, printed by order of the City Council, Cambridge, 1901, Page 65.

[32] The Whitmores of Medford and Some of Their Descendants, by Alice C. Ayres,  Contained in “The Medford Historical Register”, Published by the Medford Historical Society, Medford, Massachusetts, Vol VIII, 1905,  No. 3, July 1905, Page 65.

[33] Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1649-1900; indexes: grantee (1639-1905) and grantor (1639-1950), Volume 3, Page 61; accessed at Familysearch.org.

[34] Family Memorials: Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, by Henry Bond, Published by Little, Brown & Company, Boston, 1855, Volume 2, Page 967.

[35] List of Freemen of Massachusetts, 1630-1691, by Lucius R. Paige, Published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, Baltimore, 1978, 1980, 1988, Page 23.

[36] Records of The Church of Christ at Cambridge in New England, 1632-1830, copied and edited by Stephen Paschall Sharples, Published by Eben Putnam, Boston, 1906, Page 16.

[37] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 119.

[38] Ibid, Middlesex County, Mass: Abstracts of Court Records, Volume 1, Page 114.

[39] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 133.

[40] Ibid, Middlesex County, Mass: Abstracts of Court Records, Volume 1,  Page 124.

[41] Ibid, Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusett, Volume 6, Page 227.

[42] Ibid, Middlesex County, Mass: Abstracts of Court Records, Volume 1, Page 135.

[43] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 140.

[44] Ibid, The Registere Booke of the Lands and Houses in the Newtowne, 1635, Page 141.

[45] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 143.

[46] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 147.

[47] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 147.

[48] Ibid, Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume 3, Page 44.

[49] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 150.

[50] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 151.

[51] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 154.

[52] Ibid, The Registere Booke of the Lands and Houses in the Newtowne, 1635, Page 148.

[53] Ibid, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, Page 511.

[54] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 169.

[55] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 172.

[56] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 175.

[57] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 175.

[58] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 180.

[59] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 188.

[60] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 198.

[61] Ibid, Middlesex County, Mass: Abstracts of Court Records, Volume 2, Page 155.

[62] Ibid, Middlesex County, Mass: Abstracts of Court Records, Volume 2, Page 225.

[63] Colonial Soldiers and Officers in New England, 1620-1775. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013); Massachusetts Officers and Soldiers in the Seventeenth Century Conflicts, Page 251.

[64] Ibid, Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume 6, Page 50.

[65] Ibid, Town and Selectmen’s Records – Newtowne and Cambridge, 1630-1703, Page 245.

[66] Vital Records from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (Compiled from articles originally published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register); Volume 5 (1851), Page 172.

[67] Ibid, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Page 119.

[68] Ibid, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, Page 464.

[69] Ibid, The Registere Booke of the Lands and Houses in the Newtowne, 1635, Page 162.

[70] The Great Migration Directory, by Robert Charles Anderson, (2015), Page 371.

[71] The History of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut, by Henry R. Stiles, The Grafton Press, New York, 1904, Volume 2, Page 785.

[72] Ibid, The History of Ancient Wethersfield, Volume 1, Page 246.

[73] Record of the Descendants of Francis Whitmore, of Cambridge, Mass., Compiled by W. H Whitmore, Boston, printed for private circulation only, by John Wilson and Son, 1855, Page 21.

[74] Ibid, Record of the Descendants of Francis Whitmore, Page 21.

[75] Ibid, The History of Ancient Wethersfield, Volume 2, Page 785.

[76] History of Stamford, Connecticut, from its Settlement in 1641, to the Present Time, by Reverend Elijah Baldwin Huntington, Published by the Author, Stamford, 1868, Page 25.

[77] Ibid, History of Stamford, Connecticut, Page 46.

[78] Ibid, History of Stamford, Connecticut, Page 470.

[79] U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700, by Clarence Almon Torrey, Published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1985, Page 810; accessed at Ancestry.com.

[80] Fairfield, CT; Families of Old Fairfield, Online Database at AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008, Page 336.  Originally published as “History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield”, by Donald Lines Jacobus, 2 volumes, The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company, New Haven, 1930-1932.

[81] Ibid, History of Stamford, Connecticut, Page 68.

[82] Records of the Colony or Jurisdiction of New Haven, From May, 1653 to the Union, Together with the New Haven Code of 1656, Published by Case, Lockwood and Company, Hartford, 1858, Page 458.

[83] Historical Collection Consisting of State Papers, and Other Authentic Documents Intended as Materials for an History of the United States of America, Volume 2, by Ebenezer Hazard, First Published 1792-1794, Page 127.

[84] Ibid, The History of Ancient Wethersfield, Volume 2, Page 785.

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