| Notes |
- RESEARCH_NOTES;
1. Citation Information: "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633," Volumes I-III:
"JOHN WHITE
Origin: Messing, Essex
Migration: 1632 on Lyon [Hotten 150] First Residence: Cambridge Removes: Hartford 1635, Hadley 1659, Hartford by 1671 Church Membership: Admission to a Massachusetts Bay church prior to 4 March 1632/3 implied by freemanship. He presumably became a member of the church at Cambridge, and retained membership in that church when it moved to Hartford. He would then have become a member of Hadley church when that was formed, and in 1671 was dismissed from Hadley church to the Second Church at Hartford, of which he became ruling elder [Goodwin Anc 2:404-05, citing Second Church records]. Freeman: 4 March 1632/3 [MBCR 1:367]. Education: He signed his will by mark. His inventory included "one book" valued at 7s. and "more by books" valued at 17s. Offices: Surveyor of highways, Cambridge, 3 November 1634 [CaTR 10]; Cambridge selectman, 3 February 1634/5 [CaTR 11]. Grand jury, 7 December 1654 [RPCC 132]. Jury, 6 April 1643, 6 June 1644, December 1644, 4 September 1645, 2 December 1647, May? 1648, 28 December 1648, 6 September 1649, 5 September 1650, 20 February 1650[/1], 2 December 1652, May 1657, 3 November 1657, 3 June 1658 [RPCC 19, 25, 30, 36, 49, 50, 57, 69, 87, 93, 112, 176, 183, 191]. Coroner's jury, on the body of Henry Stiles, December 1651 [RPCC 106]. Arbiter, 6 June 1644 [RPCC 27]. Deputy for Hadley to Massachusetts Bay General Court, 3 August 1664, 19 May 1669 [MBCR 4:2:117, 418]. Estate: Granted three roods for cowyard in Cambridge, 5 August 1633 [CaTR 5]; received proportional share of 2½ in undivided meadow [CaTR 13]; granted two acres in ground between Charlestown path and common pales, 8 February 1635/6 [CaTR 16]. In the Cambridge land inventory on 1 May 1635 John White held eleven parcels: one dwelling house in Cowyard Row, three roods; three roods in Cowyard Row; two acres and a half in Old Field; one acre and a rood in Old Field; one acre and a rood in Old Field; one acre on Long Marsh; thirteen acres and a half in the Neck of Land; eleven acres in the Great Marsh; three acres and a rood in the Long Marsh; one acre (and a rood?) in the Ox Marsh; and half a rood in Cowyard Row [CaBOP 4-5]. On 20 October 1635 John White "of the Newtowne" sold to Nicholas Danforth "those several parcels of land as they are recorded in this book in folio 3" [in other words, the eleven parcels listed immediately above] [CaBOP 36]. On 30 May 1636 John White of "the New Towne upon Quinetucquet River" sold to Nicholas Danforth twelve and a half acres in "Aylwife Meaddow" and two acres in the Ox Pasture [CaBOP 36]. In the Hartford land inventory in February 1639/40 John White held sixteen parcels: "one parcel on which his dwelling house now standeth with other outhouses, yards, or gardens ... two acres ... part whereof he received in exchange with Mr. Hopkins for part of his houselot"; "one parcel lying in the south meadow ... eleven acres & one rood"; "one parcel lying in the forty acres of meadow & swampe ... nine acres & two roods"; "one parcel lying in the oxpasture ... six acres"; "one parcel lying in the oxpasture ... twenty-seven acres"; "one parcel of meadow lying in Hockanum ... eight acres one rood"; "one parcel lying in the little meadow ... two acres"; "one parcel lying in the little meadow which he bought of Nathaniel Ward ... two acres"; "one parcel lying in the Little Meadow which he bought of Andrew Warnor ... two acres & two roods"; "one parcel of land lying in the forty acres which he bought of Andrew Warnor ... seven acres"; "one parcel of swamp ... ten acres"; "one parcel lying in the Little Meadow ... two acres & two roods ... part whereof he bought of Mr. Webster & another part he bought of John Mode [Moody]"; "one parcel of meadow & swamp ... ten acres ... part whereof he bought of Andrew Warnor"; "one parcel lying in the Little Meadow which he bought of William Pantree .... three acres"; "one parcel lying in the South Meadow which he received of Nathaniel Ward ... one acre"; and "one parcel of upland lying on the east side of the Great River at Hockanum being his division of upland ... one hundred & fifty acres" (annotated "sold to Andrew Warner") [HaBOP 273-76]. On 4 March 1651/2 the court confirmed the bargain between John White and John Skinner's widow for land [RPCC 108]. In 1659 John White paid some of the highest mill rates in Hartford [HaBOP 497]. In February 1671[/2] John White paid a modest proportion for the purchase of undivided lands in Hartford [HaBOP 549]. On 30 January 1672[/3] John White drew lot #27 in the lands next to Windsor [HaBOP 552, 565]. In his will, dated 17 December 1683 and proved 6 March 1683/4, "Mr. John White of Hartford" bequeathed to son Nathaniel £30, movables, and part of "my oxpasture"; to son Daniel White £20; to son Jacob White part of "my oxpasture" and moveables; "I empower my executor to give to my daughter Hixton according to his discretion as he shall see her need calls for"; "and whereas formerly I intended to give one parcel of meadow land in great Ponset to Stephen Taylor, yet now being forced to pay a great sum of money for the redemption of his house & homelot, I now see cause to dispose of that land for payment of that debt, and shall leave it to my executor with the advice of the overseers to give either to him or the rest of my daughter Hixton's children as he shall see cause"; to "my grandchild Stephen Taylor" various moveables; to "Sarah White the daughter of my son Nathanaell" £5; to "the Reverend Mr. John Whiting my honored pastor" £5; residue to be divided "among my grandchildren (viz) Jonathan Gilbert son of my daughter Mary, my son Nathaniell's children, my son John's children, my son Daniell's children & my daughter Sarah['s] Children, their sons to have as much more as their daughters"; "my wearing apparel be divided amongst my sons"; "my son Nathaniell White" to be sole executor and "my beloved friends Ensign Nathaniell Stanly and Stephen Hosmer" to be overseers [Hartford PD Case #5928; Goodwin Anc 2:406-07; Manwaring 1:385-86]. The inventory of the estate of Elder John White deceased 23 January 1683[/4]" totalled £190 9s., of which £48 was real estate: "his lots in the west division," £12; "his oxpasture lying on the east side of the highway leading to Wathersfeld," £18; and "his oxpasture lying on the west side of the highway leading to Wathersfeld" [Hartford PD Case #5928; Manwaring 1:385]. Birth: About 1597, son of Robert and Bridget (Allgar) White of Messing, Essex [NEHGR 55:22-31]. Death: Hartford 23 January 1683/4 (from inventory). Marriage: Messing, Essex, 26 December 1622, Mary (Lev)it [NEHGR 55:29]; she apparently predeceased her husband. Children:
i John, bp. Messing 28 December 1623 [NEHGR 55:29]; no further record.
ii Mary, bp. Messing 16 July 1626 [NEHGR 55:29]; m. 29 January 1645/6 Jonathan Gilbert [HaVR 606].
iii PHILIP (daughter), bp. Messing 21 December 1628 [NEHGR 55:29]; no further record.
iv Nathaniel, b. say 1630 (sworn for Middletown 1656 [RPCC 174]); m. (1) by 1653 Elizabeth ____ (daughter Elizabeth aged four and a half on 29 March 1658 [WMJ 297, 384]); (2) after 1692 Martha (Coit) Mould, daughter of John Coit and widow of Hugh Mould [Goodwin Anc 2:408; MacDonough-Hackstaff 248-51].
v John, b. about 1636 (aged twenty-one, November 1657 [WMJ 61]); m. by 1659 Sarah Bunce, daughter of Thomas Bunce (John Winthrop Jr. treated "White, Joh: his wife" on 15 March 1659[/60] and "White, Sarah, about 17 y." on 7 May 1660 [WMJ 425]; on 2 April 1666 he treated "White [blank] widow daughter of Tho[mas] Buns" [WMJ 638]).
vi Daniel, b. say 1638; m. Hadley 1 November 1661 Sarah Crow [Pynchon VR 223]
vii Sarah b. about 1641 (aged sixteen years 17 March 1657/8 [WMJ 94]); m. (1) by about 1664 Stephen Taylor; m. (2) Hadley 15 October 1666 Barnabas Hinsdale [Pynchon VR 223 (bride's name given as "Mary")]; m. (3) Hatfield [blank] February 1678 Walter Hickson [Goodwin Anc 2:409, citing Hatfield VR 1:80].
viii Jacob, b. Hartford 8 October 1645 [HaBOP 576]; m. by 1669 Elizabeth Bunce (on 8 July 1669 John Winthrop Jr. treated "White, Elis[abeth], wife of Jacob of Hartford" [WMJ 935]; in his undated will (but about 1683) Thomas Bunce bequeathed to "my daughter Elizabeth White" [Manwaring 1:283]).
Associations: Three of John White's sisters came to New England with their husbands: Mary, wife of Joseph Loomis; Elizabeth, wife of William Goodwin; and Anne, wife of John Porter [NEHGR 55:22-31]. Comments: John White may have resided briefly in Middletown [Goodwin Anc 2:402-03]. On 7 March 1660/1 Connecticut court heard a case of Edward Stebbin and John White as overseers for Mr. Haines's children against John Deming Jr. for debt [RPCC 223]. Bibliographic Note: In 1901 "A Descendant" published an excellent article on the White family in England, and the connections to other New England immigrants [NEHGR 55:22-31]. In 1915 Frank Farnsworth Starr prepared the best account in print of the immigrant and his children [Goodwin Anc 2:395-419]."
2. Mentioned in father's will of 17 Jun 1617:
Daniel, co-administrator of will with Robert's wife Bridget.
Sarah, eldest dau. and wife of James Bowtell of "little Salinge."
"Marie, wife of Joseph Lummis of Branetree."
Elizabeth, wife of "Willm Goodinge or Goodings of Bockinge."
Bridgett, unmarried.
Anna, unmarried.
Nathaniel
John, minor under age 20.
Also mentions a kinsman: Ralph Bett, the younger.
3. NEHGS Register, Vol. 55, pages 22-31, 1901, see notes of Robert White for full transcript of article from which the following partial excerpt is taken:
"The children of Robert White of Messing, Co. Essex, England, Who Settled in Hartford and Windsor. By a Descendant.
Robert White of Messing, yeoman, died in 1617. He was a rich man. He seems to have lived in Shalford in Essex most of the time from June 24th, 1585, the date of his marriage to Bridget Allgar, until a few months before his death. The baptisms of nearly all his children are there recorded, and also the marriage of his daughters - Mary in 1614 and Elizabeth in 1616. It was the home of his wife, where she was baptized March 11, 1562, and where her father, William Allgar the elder, was buried Aug. 2, 1575. Shalford is about two miles south of Wethersfield...
According to his will, hereinafter given, he left surviving a wife Bridget; three sons - Daniel, Nathaniel and John who was his youngest Child; three married daughters - Sarah, Mary and Elizabeth; and two unmarried daughters-Bridget and Anna. As he makes his son Daniel joint executor with his wife, it may be inferred he was his eldest son, and possibly by a former wife. His wife Bridget was the mother of his other children, of whom Sarah, wife of James Bowtell of Little Sailinge in Essex, was the first born...
The home lots of Joseph Loomis and John Porter in Windsor were adjacent, and these two sisters, Mary (White) Loomis and Anna (White) Porter, began in 1639 new homes side by side, in which they lived the rest of their days. Three years before, in 1636, their brother John White, and their sister Elizabeth (White) Goodwin, had settled in Hartford...
It is very plausibly supposed that the John White who came over in the "Lion" in 1632 and settled first in Newtown, now Cambridge, in Massachusetts, and then came with the Rev. Thomas Hooker and his church to Hartford in 1636, was the son of Robert White of Messing. The record of his baptism has not been found. He was not of age in 1617, when his father made his will, in which it was provided that if should marry without the approbation and consent of his mother, and of Joseph Loomis of Braintree and William Goodwin of Bocking, his legacy of 200 pounds should be reduced to 100 pounds. In the list of thirty-three passengers of the "Lion," given in Drake's Founders of New England, page 12, his name follows next after the name of William Goodwin. [Footnote included after the work "Lion": "We know the name of the vessel from Gov. Winthrop's Hist. N.E., vol. I, p. 107."] His wife's name was Mary, as appears from an unexecuted lease in the handwriting of his son Nathaniel White (now in the possession of one of his descendants), dated March 28, 1666, the lessors being John White and Mary his wife, the lessee their son Nathaniel; the premises, his house and garden, etc., in Hartford, reserving the use of two rooms therein for the term of the lives of said John and Mary, and of the longest liver, whether said John or said Mary.
The Parish Register of Messing gives the marriage, December 26, 1622, of John White and Mary (Lev)it. A facsimile of a tracing made by Mr. William Brigg of this entry is here given. [A reproduction is included in the article; Mary's last name seems a bit faded and an L then space then it can be made out.]
At the request of Mr. Frank F. Starr, of Middletown, Mr. William Brigg, editor of the Herts Genealogist and Antiquary, very kindly made a careful examination of this entry. His great experience and skill in deciphering old records make his suggestions and conclusions on difficult words in such records of great value. He writes to Mr. Starr as follows:
"In reference to this entry: all I need say is that it is a most difficult one to read so far as the surname of the wife is concerned. In the tracing you will notice faint lines where the initial letter of the name ought to appear. These lines were only visible under a very strong magnifying glass, and the letters following are totally illegible until we come to the last two, viz. 'it,' which are clear enough. It struck me at once that the initial letter was 'L,' and I immediately searched the portions of the register in the same handwriting for a capital L, but failed to find one. Then I searched through the baptisms to see if there was any name ending in 'it,' during the period in which it might be supposed she was born, and again I failed to find anything satisfactory. Later on in the register, however, in the years 1633 and 1635 respectively, I came across the baptism of two children of Isaac Levit and Mary his wife, and I have very little hesitation in suggesting that the name of John White's wife was Levit. On my return home I looked again at the will of Robert White, printed in Mr. Goodwin's book, and found that a certain William Levett was one of the witnesses. I think you will agree with me that my suggestion is a very probable one."
Mr. Brigg found among the Filed Wills, Archdeaconry of Colchester, the will of William Levett, yeoman of Messing, dated 9th October, 1626, proved 15th December, 1626, at Fering. He left an estate of about five hundred pounds. Mentions wife Margaret, sons Isaac, Richard and John. Mr. Brigg also found the nuncupative will of his widow Margaret, dated February 16 [bad print in the book and it may be 15], 1633, proved 9 March 1633. Mentions sons Isaac, John and Richard, also a son William not mentioned in her husband's will. No daughter is mentioned in either will. William Levett's will is valuable because the name of one of the witnesses is "John Whit." The following is a facsimile of a tracing made by Mr. Brigg of this signature, and under it is a facsimile of the signature of Elder John White of Hartford, to the recommendation of the Council in 1677, of which he was a member, called to heal the difficulty which had long troubled the ancient church in Windsor. [Both facsimiles as described are included; the second one includes an "e" at the end of it.]
The variation in the spelling of these names is not considered important. Autograph signatures of the same person are often found where the spelling is not precisely the same, especially when the difference consists of the final "e." Persons familiar with the handwriting of those times have examined these facsimiles and considering that one signature was written in 1626 and the other fifty-one years afterwards, when the writer was about 76 years old, have expressed the opinion that they are sufficiently alike to have been written by the same hand.
Of Elder John White's children, Mary and Nathaniel were born in England, but only the baptism, July 16, 1626, of Mary has been found. The rest of his children named in his will were born here...
It deserves to be mentioned that family genealogies have been printed of all the members of Robert White's family who are known to have emigrated to New England, namely:
Elder John White and his descendants, in 1860.
The Loomis Genealogy, in 1875.
Loomis Genealogy, female branches, in 1880.
The Goodwin's of Hartford, Conn., in 1891.
John Porter and his descendants, in 1893.
Memorials of Roderick White and descendants, in 1892.
From these books some of the preceding facts have been taken, and to these genealogies the reader is referred for full and interesting memorials of these families...
Extracts from Parish Registers of Shalford and Messing, Co. Essex, transcribed by Mr. Frank Farnsworth Starr...
From the Parish Register of Messing.
Marriages...
1622, Dec. 26, John White and Mary (Lev)it.
Baptisms...
1623, Dec. 28, John White son of John White and Mary his wife.
1626, July 16, Mary White dau. of John White and Mary his wife.
1628, Dec. 21, Philip White dau. of John White and Mary his wife.
1633, Dec. 1, John Levit son of Isaac Levit and Mary his wife.
1635, July 5, Sarah dau. of Isaac Levit and Mary his wife..."
4. I looked up Henry R. Stiles, "The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut," 1892, v. 2, for the biography of Elder John White. There was none because of his residency in Hartford.
5. FHL book "Ancestors & Descendants of Clark Proctor Nichols and Sarah (Sally) Stoughton in England and America, 1620-2001," by Clara Pierce Olson Overbo, 2002, pp. 163-64; I question the birth date of John White, which I do not believe has a documented source:
"John White, born at Shalford 13 July 1600; died at Hartford, Connecticut 23 January 1683/84; married at Messing 26 December 1622, Mary Levitt.
John and his wife and two oldest children, probably Mary and Nathaniel, came to New England on the Lion in 1632. They lived at Newtown. John was admitted a Freeman in March of 1633. In 1635 he was chosen as a Selectman which means he was a member of the board which conducted the business of the town of Cambridge, as Newtown came to be known.
In 1636, many of the congregation left Newtown to find a place to live where they could enjoy more religious freedom. The Whites were among the group who suffered many hardships as they traveled to reach their destination on the Connecticut River. That settlement became known as Hartford.
John was one of the Original Proprietors of Hartford and was granted a home lot of two acres and thirty-two acres of upland for farming. Sometime later he also acquired 150 acres of land east of the river. He was chosen a Selectman at Hartford at least four different times.
After the death of Thomas Hooker in 1647, dissension began in the church. Samuel Stone had become the minister and many were most dissatisfied. This unrest continued until April of 1659, when sixty settlers of Hartford signed an agreement and moved up the river to a place where the town of Hadley was established. John was one of the first settlers there.
John became a Selectman in this settlement and also served as Deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts, as they now were back in Massachusetts. John also became an elder in the church in Hadley. This may be where he acquired the title of Elder John White.
By 1670, dissension was again rampant in the Hartford church, and its membership again was divided with many forming another church in South Hartford. Shortly thereafter, John and his wife moved back to South Hartford and joined the church there. He became an elder. Records also mention that he was an arbitrator and counselor in church matters.
Mary died before her husband.
Children of John and Mary (Levitt) White... [lists 8 children b./bap. 1623-1645]"
6. FHL book "Various Ancestral Lines … Goodwin and … Morgan …," by Frank Farnsworth Starr (1915; Hartford), pp. 399-409:
"John White, youngest son of Robert and Bridget (Allgar) White of Shalford and Messing, Essex County, England, was presumably born in the former parish, but there does not appear to have been any record of his baptism on the church books. Whether or not he preceded his father in the removal to Messing will probably never be known.
He married at Messing, December 26, 1622, Mary whose surname it is difficult to read, owing to the damaged condition of the register. The name is thought to have been "Levit", and she may have been a relative of William Levett, who was one of the witnesses to Robert White's will. The Messing Register contains the record of the baptisms of three of John's children: John, Mary and Philip, a "daughter", the latter being baptized December 21, 1628.
Whether John White continued to reside in the parish or lived elsewhere before his emigration to America, is not known.
He and his brother-in-law, William Goodwin, were two of the passengers on the "Lion" which in June 1632, sailed for America and arrived at Boston on the 16th of September. (New Eng. Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 14 p. 300-1, Hotten's Lists of Emigrants to America, p. 150, Winthrop's History of New England, 1853, vol. I, p. 107, and Mass. Historical Society Collections, series 4, vol. I, p. 94.)
On page 4 of the first volume of Cambridge Town Records, under date of January 7, 1632, are several votes regarding the houses of the inhabitants, fixing their distance, the kind of covering and other matters of importance to the new settlement. Immediately following these votes and supposedly of the same date, is an entry showing the proportion of the common pale or fence that each of the inhabitants was to build.
Among the names, forty-two in number, we find that of "John White", who was assigned "15 Rod", (Records of the Town and Selectmen of Cambridge, 1630-1703, p. 5) showing that he had already become a resident of that town.
He is supposed to have been the John White who was made one of the "Freemen of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England", on "March 4th, 1632." (Records of Massachusetts, vol. I, pp. 366-367.)
On page 3 of the first volume of Land Records of Cambridge (Proprietors' Records of the Town of Cambridge, 1635-1829, p. 4) is an entry of John White's lands under date of "May the first 1635", the first entry reading thus:
"John Whitte in Cowyard row one dwellinge house wth other out houses wth bake sides and garden about three roods William goodwin on the northeast William Wadsworth on the southeast backe Lane on the southwest [___] Hopkins on the north West." (According to the map of early Cambridge in Paige's History of that town, and p. 15 of the text, this was located on what is now known as Bow street.)
There are also recorded to him, two and one-half acres in the Old Field, three roods in Cow Yard Row, two more pieces in the Old Field of one and one-quarter acres each, one acre at Long Marsh Hill, thirteen and one-half acres in the Neck, eleven acres in the Great Marsh, three and a quarter acres in Long Marsh, one acre in Ox Marsh and one-half a rood in Cow Yard Row. (Proprietors' Records of the Town of Cambridge, 1635-1829, pp. 4-5.)
"The 3rd of November 1634" he was "Chossen sueveior to see the highways and streete kept cleane and in repair for the yeare followeinge." (Records of the Town and Selectmen of Cambridge, 1630-1703, p. 10.)
February 3, following, be was one of seven men chosen "to doe the whole bussines of the Towne and soe to Continew vntell the ffirst Monday in November next." (Ibid, p. 11.)
In 1635 steps were being taken by a large number of the Cambridge inhabitants to remove out of the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and in the fall of that year, part of the number, and in the following spring, the remainder did so remove to what was at first known as Newtown, and later as Hartford, Connecticut.
As one of the sympathizers of this movement, "John White of the Newtowne" sold to Nicholas Danforth on October 20, 1635 his house and lands, as recorded to him on page 3 of the first volume of Proprietors' Records." (Proprietors' Records of the Town of Cambridge, 1635-1829, p. 36.)
He is believed to have removed soon after, and on May 30, 1636, he sold to Danforth additional lands in Alewife Meadow and the Ox Pasture, when he was described as "John white of the New Town vppo Quinetucquet River". (Proprietors' Records of the Town of Cambridge, 1635-1829, p. 36.)
His homestead of two acres in Hartford was located on the north side of what is now Charter Oak avenue, with the present Governor street for its western boundary.
The description of this property is entered on page 301 of the Book of Distributions:
"Febr: Anna dom: 1639"
"Severall parcels of Land in Hertford vpon the River of Conecticott belonging to John White & to his heires forever"
"viz One parcell on which his dwelling house now standeth wth other outhouses, yards, or gardens, therein being Contayning by Estimation two acres more or lesse pt whereof he received in Exchang wth Mr Hopkins for pt of his house lott Abuttinge on the high way leading from John Moodyes into the South meadow on the South & on the high way leading from Willm Hillses to the Ox pasture on the west & on Mr Hopkins his yards & other land of his on the North & on the East"
Mr. Hopkins, his neighbor on the east, later become Governor of the colony.
Mr. White had also eleven and a quarter acres in the South Meadow, two acres in the Little Meadow, six acres in the Ox Pasture, eight and a quarter acres on the east side of the river at Hockanum, besides other tracts in various parts of the town. (Hartford, Conn., Land Records, "Book of Distributions", pp. 301-304, and Connecticut Colonial Land Records, vol. I, section 2, p. 12.)
His name appears among the "Names of (such Inhabitants as haue) Right in v[ndivded Lands."] (Hartford Town Votes, Conn. Historical Society Collections, vol.6, p. 16.)
At a town meeting held in January 1640, be was one of a committee appointed to apportion among the inhabitants the land on "ye east sid of ye greate River." (Ibid.,vol. 6, p. 39.)
In January 1641, February 1645 and 1650, he was chosen one of the Townsmen, later called Selectmen, and in February 1649 he was appointed one of the Fenceviewers. (Ibid., vol. 6, pp. 58, 79, 95, 91.)
The earliest entry in the first volume of the Land Records of Middletown, Connecticut, is dated "the last of May 1654." It is unfortunate that no record was kept of the transfer of lands for the first four years of the settlement, as a study of the first volume of Town Votes reveals the fact that various parties, not residents there after 1654, owned lands prior to that date, and possibly resided there for a short time.
The following entries in the record of Town Votes would seem to indicate that John White was for a short time resident there.
"Aprell the 11th 1653"
"John halle senior condescended: to exchange with John whit senior so that hee: may lye next vnto him in the medow as them twayn shalle agree: or as tow indeferent men chosen by themselves shalle judg met and so to sit down satisfyed theire with". (Middletown, Conn., Town Votes, vol. I, folio 6.)
"may the 24th 1653"
"It was granted by the town that John see shall haue 30 acors of upland joyning to his home lote part being his proportyon of sowbegs felde and In case at deuiding of the parcells any one com short of their answerable proportyons It is agreed that any such shalle haue their shars made up in the next felde that be taken in goodman white abating so mu[ch] of his other deuision in yt felde as hee hath more then his share in this." (Middletown, Conn., Town Votes, vol. I, p. 7.)
In March 1654, the town took action regarding the building of the meadow fence to be erected by the persons owning land in the meadow, "the proportyons of men in the ffence comes to a dayes worke and a quarter to an acre." (Ibid., p. 7-1/2.)
Following this vote is a list of the persons who were to build the fence, with the amount of time they were to give thereto. Among these names is that of "Jo White". His time was "2 Days" indicating that he owned about two acres in the meadow. Whether he conveyed his lands to his son Nathaniel or sold them to other parties will probably never be known.
In 1655 he had evidently returned to Hartford, for at the annual town meeting held February 15, be was given his old position as one of the Townsmen. (Hartford Town Votes, Conn. Historical Society Collections, vol. 6, p. 110.)
Soon after the death of Thomas Hooker, the beloved pastor of the Hartford Church, differences of opinion regarding matters of church government arose between Mr. Stone, Hooker's successor, and a number of the congregation. These differences created great uneasiness in the town and were the cause of various appeals to the General Court and to the ministers of the neighboring plantations and colonies. The differences continued so long and such strong feelings were developed, that on April 18, 1659, fifty-nine persons met together in Hartford, at least thirty of whom resided there, and agreed to remove into the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, "to the plantation, purchased on the east side of the river of Connecticut beside Northampton therein to inhabit and dwell by the 29th of September come 12 months which will be In the year 1660."
One of the signers us John White. One week later, he was one of five persons chosen by the whole body to proceed to the new plantation and to lay out fifty-nine home-lots of eight acres each.
The plantation was started in the summer of 1659, and as a result of meetings held the following November in Hartford, Wethersfield and Hadley, seven men including John White were chosen "to order all public occasions, that concern the good of that plantation the year ensuing. (Judd's History of Hadley, Mass., 1863, pp. 19-20.)
The records further show that on the 22d of the same month, this body of men called Townsmen laid a rate or tax to raise funds for the purchase of the plantation and maintenance of the minister. (Ibid., p. 20.)
According to the map in Judd's History of Hadley, John White's homelot was on the east side of the main street ahout fifty rods south of "the middle highway to the woods," now the road leading to Amherst. (Ibid., p. 20.)
As early as March 16, 1661 he was a juror of the County Court. (Hampshire County, Mass., Probate Records, vol. 1, p. 4.) He was again Townsman or Selectman in 1662, 1663, 1665 (Hadley, Mass., Town Votes, vol. 1, pp. 6, 25, 35) and a Deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts in August 1664 and in May 1669. (Records of Massachusetts, vol. 4, part 2, pp. 117, 418.)
In 1671 he had again become a resident of Hartford and on the 9th of April that year, he and his wife, who is not named in the record, having been dismissed from the church at Hadley, were admitted to full communion in the Second Church of Hartford. (History of the Second Church of Christ in Hartford, p. 291.)
He retained the title to his Hartford homestead of 1639 until December 5, 1667, when he conveyed it to his son Jacob. (Hartford, Conn., Land Records, vol. 1, p. 85.) On his return to Hartford he presumably spent the last years of his life with Jacob on this property.
For several years prior to 1677 the residents of Windsor, Connecticut were torn into two factions over ecclesiastical matters, each body worshipping by itself under a separate minister.
Various attempts were made to compose their differences and in January 1677, a council consisting of John Talcott, Colonial Treasurer, John Allyn, Colonial Secretary, five ministers and seven laymen from the neighboring towns, drew up a letter of advice recommending a course of action in order to unite the opposing parties and heal all differences. Among the signatures appended to this document, that of John White is the first of the laymen.
This letter with the autographs of the members of the council is preserved in the Connecticut State Library, volume 1 of "Ecclesiastical," document 63.
Wise as this advice was, it was not followed and not until 1684 did the quarrel come to an end.
The following entry on the records of the Second Church in Hartford shows the high esteem in which he was held by the church members:
"March 28, 1677, the church having before chose Mr. John White to the office of Ruling Elder, and he accepted it, he was accordingly, this day, ordained to be in that office, in the presence with the approbation of the elders and messengers of some neighbor churches.
"This holy man, having faithfully served the Lord in his place and that also with good success through grace (he was a good man, and God was with him), fell asleep in Christ, and went to receive his reward, January, 1683." (History of the Second Church of Christ in Hartford, p. 60.)
The original inventory of his property still on file at the Hartford Probate Office states that "elder John white – deceased Janiuare th 23, '83"
Doubtless he was laid to rest in the graveyard adjoining the First Church of Hartford, but there is no stone to mark his grave or that of his wife.
She is supposed to have died before him as no provision for her was made in his will.
This will dated December 17, 1683, was presented to the Hartford County Court, March 6, following. The original is on file and reads as follows:
"For as much as my time Vncertaine, and j know not the day of my death, j Account it my dutie, to make my last will and testament which is as followeth.
"j Resigne and give up my selfe, soul snd bodie to my soveraigne Lord & maker, my God and father in my Lord & saviour Jesus Christ: and to prevent trouble to those that shall survive mee, j do dispose of that portion of outward estate which the Lord hath in mercy blessed me with, in manner following (viz)
"j give & bequeath to my son Nathanaell White thirtie pounds, and my best broad Cloath Coate & j also give him my iron bound Chest in my Chamber, & my Cob irons in my parlour, & that part of my ox pasture which lyeth on the Left hand of the way as wego to wethersfield
"j give to him & his heirs for ever, bounded upon the high way west, Henery Grimes land North, Mr Niccolls his Land South, the South meadow east.
"j give to my son Daniell White twentie pounds.
"j give to my son Jacob White & his heires for ever that part of my Ox pasture in Hartford which lyeth on the right hand of the way Leading to wethersfield, bounded by the high way East, by Jonathan Bigaloes land South by Henery Grimes his Land North. & Leut: Websters land West. j also give him my feather bed in the Chamber with a boolstar & pillow & the best blancket upon it, & the bed sted & Curtains belonging to it:
"j impower my Executor to give to my daughter Hixton according to his discretion as he shall see her her need Calls ffor.
"And whereas fformerlie j intended to give one parcell of meadow land in great Ponset, to Stephen Taylor, yet now being forced to pay a great summe of Money ffor the Redemption of his house & houselott j now see cause to dispose of that land for payment of that debt, and shall leave it to my Executor with the advice of the overseers to give either to him or the rest of my daughter Hixtons children as he shall see Cause.
"j give to my grand Child, Stephen Taylor a flock bed & truckle bedsted at Nathanaell Whites at Hadly and an old blancket vpon my bed in my Chamer, and a Linze-woolsie Coverlid at the feet of my bed in the parlour, and piece of dutch searge now at the tailors to make me a paire of breeches & ajacket, j give to the said Stephen Taylor.
"j give to Sarah White the daughter of my son Nathanaell five pounds.
"I give to the Reved Mr. John Whiting my honored pastor five pounds in silver.
"my will is that due debts being discharged, and the above mentioned legacies payd, the remainder of my estate shall be devided among my grand children (viz) Jonathan Gilbert son of my daughter Mary, my son Nathaniells Children, my son Johns Children, my son Daniells children & my Daughter Sarah children their sons to have as much more as their daughters, & if any of their sons shall dye before they Come to age of one & twentie years then his or their portion to be divided equally among the survivors, and in like manner among the daughters, if any of them shall dye before the age of Eighteen years
"My will is that my wearing apparrell be divided amongst my sonns, my will also is that my Executor shall have four years time after my decease for the payment of the Legacies mentioned, only my will is that my moveable goods be payd to them that are readie to receive them presently. and j do give my said Executor full power to sell my land lying in the last out division in Hartford being about eightie acrees, and my share in the mill for the payment of the legacies as aforesaid, & what ever time or expence he shall be at, in managing these affaires, he shall fully satisfie him selfe out of the estate before division be made.
"j do Constitute and ordaine my son Nathaniell White the sole Executor of this my Last will and testament; and j do desire my bloved friends Ensign Nathaniell Stanly, and Stephen Hosmer as Overseers to assist in performance of this my last will. and j do give them twentie skillings: a peice for their paines there in.
"John (his W Mark) White senr"
"This was declared by John White Senior to be his last will & Testament the Seventeenth day of December. 1683, a in presence of. Caleb Watson, Mary watson"
The total value of his property was £190-09-00 of which his real estate amounted to £51-00-00.
A debt owing him by his son Nathaniel was valued at 90-00-00.
The original inventory of his property still on file discloses that he had disposed of most of his real estate before his death, but interesting item: "By His Intrest in Harford mell," ₤-00-00 shows that he was past owner of the grist mill of the town located on Little river near the Main street.
[Lists eight children bap. 1623-1645.]"
7. The book, "Ancestors & Descendants of Clark Proctor Nichols and Sarah (Sally) Stoughton in England and America, 1620-2001, by Clara Pierce Olson Overbo (2002), p. 163:
"ROBERT WHITE, born at Shalford, co. Essex in 1588; buried at Messing, co. Essex June 1617; married at Shalford 24 June 1585, BRIDGET ALGAR, born at Shalford, co. Essex, England 11 March 1562.
Robert was a yeoman and lived most of his life in Shalford, but moved to Messing before his death. He left a long and complete will at Shalford.
Children of Robert and Bridget (Algar) White:
i. Sarah White, born at Shalford 8 March 1585/6.
ii. Nathaniel White, baptized at Shalford 30 April 1587.
iii. Mary White, born at Shalford, co Essex, England, 24 August 1590; died at Windsor, Connecticut 21 August 1652; married at Messing, co. Essex 30 June 1614, Joseph Loomis.
iv. Bridget White, baptized at Shalford 18 August 1594.
v Anna White, baptized at Shalford 13 July 1600.
vi. ELIZABETH WHITE (Lineal Ancestor See #1a below)
vii. JOHN WHITE (Lineal Ancestor See #1b below)
ELIZABETH WHITE, baptized at Shalford 13 July 1600 [an apparent typo by the author]; died at Windsor Connecticut; married in England, WILLIAM GOODWIN (See Goodwin Family.)"
8. The book, "Ancestors & Descendants of Clark Proctor Nichols and Sarah (Sally) Stoughton in England and America, 1620-2001, by Clara Pierce Olson Overbo (2002), pp. 163-64:
"JOHN WHITE, born at Shalford 13 July 1600; died at Hartford, Connecticut 23 January 1683/84; married at Messing 26 December 1622, MARY LEVITT.
John and his wife and two oldest children, probably Mary and Nathaniel, came to New England on the Lion in 1632. They lived at Newtown. John was admitted a Freeman in March of 1633. In 1635 he was chosen as a Selectman which means he was a member of the board which conducted the business of the town of Cambridge, as Newtown came to be known.
In 1636, many of the congregation left Newtown to find a place to live where they could enjoy more religious freedom. The Whites were among the group who suffered many hardships as they traveled to reach their destination on the Connecticut River. That settlement became known as Hartford.
John was one of the Original Proprietors of Hartford and was granted a home lot of two acres and thirty-two acres of upland for farming. Sometime later he also acquired 150 acres of land east of the river. He was chosen a Selectman at Hartford at least four different times.
After the death of Thomas Hooker in 1647, dissention began in the church. Samuel Stone had become the minister and many were most dissatisfied. This unrest continued until April of 1659, when sixty settlers of Hartford signed an agreement and moved up the river to a place where the town of Hadley was established. John was one of the first settlers there.
John became a Selectman in this settlement and also served, as Deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts, as they now were back in Massachusetts. John also became an elder in the church in Hadley. This may be where he acquired the title of Elder John White.
By 1670, dissention was again rampant in the Hartford church, and its membership again was divided with many forming another church in South Hartford. Shortly thereafter, John and his wife moved back to South Hartford and joined the church there. He became an elder. Records also mention that he was an arbitrator and counselor in church matters.
Mary died before her husband.
Children of John and Mary (Levitt) White:
i. John White, baptized at Messing 28 December 1623 (perhaps died young).
ii. Mary White, born at Messing 1626; died at Hatfield, Massachusetts 1650; married 29 January 1645/46, Jonathan Gilbert.
iii. Philip White, baptized at Messing 21 December 1628 (perhaps died young).
iv. Nathaniel White, born about 1630, perhaps in Cambridge or on ship,
v. John White, born about 1636; married by 1659, Sarah Bunce.
vi. DANIEL WHITE (Lineal Ancestor See 3 below.)
vii. Sarah White, born about 1641; married (1) by 1664, Stephen Taylor; (2) at Hadley 15 October 1666, Barnabas Hinsdale; (3) at Hatfield February 1678, Walter Hickson.
viii. Jacob White, born at Hartford 8 October 1645; marrie4 by 1669, Elizabeth Bunce.
LIEUTENANT DANIEL WHITE, born at Hartford, Connecticut about 1639; died at Hatfield, Massachusetts 1713; married at Hadley, Massachusetts 1 November 1661, SARAH CROW. (See Crow Family)"
9. The book "Colonial Ancestors. Four lineal genealogies of eastern Connecticut families…," by Bernice Andrews (Livingston) Rieg (Camden, Maine; Penobscot Press, 1991), pp. 183-87 [Note: I neglected to copy the source list.]:
"Some productive inquiries into the English origins of John White were made by one of his descendants around the year 1900. John is understood to be the youngest child of ROBERTA WHITE, yeoman, well-to-do, born possibly in Messing, county Essex; he died there in 1617. Robert married in Shalford, county Essex, 24 Jun 1585, BRIDGET ALLGAR, where also she had been baptized on 11 Mch 1562, the daughter of William Allgar. Robert and Bridget seem to have lived in her native town or parish, Shalford, most of their married life.[1]
Robert White was buried at Messing, 17 Jun 1617, less than three weeks after making his will, which provided for daughters Sarah (called the eldest; mar. James Bowtell), Mary (mar. Joseph Loomis), Elizabeth (mar. William Goodwin), Bridget White and Anna White, in that order; he then names sons Nathaniel and John, the latter being a minor and believed to be the youngest child; finally, he names his wife, Bridget, and his son, Daniel as joint executors.[2]
Subsequently, Anna White married at Messing, 18 Oct 1620, John Porter; and John White married at the same place, 26 Dec 1622, Mary (Lev).[3]
A sizeable portion of the White family moved from the Old World to New England in the Great Migration, and stayed near to one another in the new land.[4] Moreover, there clearly existed within the family, and with its in-laws, a sense of closeness, mutual support, and common interest. This is apparent from the respect and trust implied in assigned responsibilities, as illustrated in several legal instruments in which members of the family partook. For example, Robert White, wishing to assure sensible marriages for his children, Bridget, Anna and John, by his will conditioned receipt of their full inheritance upon approval of the intended spouse not only by his wife Bridget, but also by his "sonnes in law" Joseph Loomis and William Goodwin.[5] The father's high opinion of these two young men was well substantiated by their later careers as leaders in Windsor and Hartford in Connecticut.
In the same vein, it is worth noting that the White children tried to stay together when they settled across the Altantic: when Joseph Loomis and John Porter occupied adjacent home lots in Windsor in 1639, their wives, Mary (White) Loomis and Anna (White) Porter, became next door neighbors.[6]
The English shire of Essex was one of the prime centers for nonconformist preachers, and of course most of those who came to New England in the two decades after Robert White's death were following their inspiring preachers, often making the move as congregations. It's not surprising, then, to find in Robert White's will an early bequest for "...Mr. Richard Rogers preacher of gods word at Withersfield in Essex...,"[7] and study of the ecclesiastical jurisdictions of Essex discloses that the parish of Wethersfield adjoins that of Shalford, in the north central part of Essex. For Robert White to attend a lecture by Mr. Rogers, he may have had to travel no more than ten miles.
Out of this moderately wealthy English family, comfortably settled in the shire of Essex, but imbued with nonconformist fervor, came the hard working, well liked and increasingly respected man who was to become an early, founding settler of no less than three new towns: Newtown (later Cambridge, Mass.), Hartford, and Hadley.
1. JOHN1 WHITE was not yet of age when his father wrote his will and died in 1617;[8] assuming an approximate age of twenty-two years upon his marriage in Messing, county Essex, England, on 26 Dec 1622, to MARY (LEV)IT,[9] he could have been born around the year 1600. If so, his age at his death would have been about eighty-three, for his will was dated 17 Dec 1683, and the inventory of his estate was dated 23 Jan 1683/4.[10] His son Nathaniel, active, successful and respected like his father, was to live to about this same age.[11]
In the parish register of Messing, the name of John's wife is given as Mary, but the first letters of the surname are illegible; the last two letters, however, are "it." A search for names found locally and so ending produced the surname, "Levit;" additional support for a tie between the two families occurs when a John White is found to have been a witness to the will of a William Levett, yeoman, of Messing, dated 09 Oct 1626 and proved 15 Dec 1626. From such evidence, Mary's maiden name is believed to be "Levit," or "Levett," and the William who died before 15 Dec 1626, leaving an estate of around £500, to be her father.[12]
John and Mary White lived in England about ten years before departing for America. In company with William Goodwin and others who would later found Hartford, they sailed on the Lyon on about 22 June, and arrived in Boston on 16 Sep 1632.[13] Joining Hooker followers who had earlier located at Braintree, they settled into their first home across the sea at Newton. In less than a year, on 04 Mch 1633/4, John White was admitted a freeman of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; and in February, 1635, when Newton held its first local elections, John was one of the seven men chosen as "townsmen," or "selectmen."[14]
Then, in the general removal of the Cambridge people to Hartford, John and his young family are believed to have come over to the Connecticut River with Thomas Hooker in June, 1636. He was one of the original proprietors, and his homelot was located next to that of Edward Hopkins, second governor (in 1640) of the Connecticut Colony. By 1642, he had been elected an "orderer," or selectman at Hartford, holding that office again in 1646, 1651 and 1656. He often served also as a juror, or arbitrator in the adjudication of private differences.[15]
After Thomas Hooker's death in 1647, problems developed within the Hartford Church, centering around personal and doctrinal differences between the Rev. Samuel Stone and Elder William Goodwin. This resulted in attempts to establish a second church in Hartford,["'/ and that effort repeatedly failing, a large contingent of Hartford settlers decided to remove and resettle elsewhere. On 18 Apl 1659, having received permission from the Massachusetts General Court, some fifty-nine persons "engaged" to remove and resettle at Hadley in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.[17] In this wrenching situation, at about age sixty, John White held firmly with his brother-in-law, William Goodwin, and actually made the move to Hadley in about 1660. It meant, of course, breaking new ground and building all over again.
By this time strong in experience and wisdom, John White was even more a prominent leader than he had been before in Hartford. Informally a selectman at Hadley at the outset, he was formally confirmed as such in 1662, 1663 and 1665. In the years 1664 and 1669, he was Deputy from Hadley to the General Court in Boston.[18]
After 1670, John White's name no longer appears on the records of Hadley. What happened was that the people of Hartford who had sought to establish a new church had finally prevailed, withdrawing with the Reverend John Whiting as their minister. Located on the south side of the Little River, this church became known as the "South Church." More or less coincidental with this event, John White returned to Hartford and rejoined the old friends who espoused the same congregational principles which he embraced. Probably, he was then elected to be the Elder of South Church, today an uncommon office, but indicative in that earlier time of enormous respect and love. At length, on 28 March 1677, he was elected to the office of Ruling Elder, and having accepted, he was then formally ordained and installed, just as would be a called minister. It was in this way, during his final years of life, that he took on forever the worthy title of "Elder" John White.
Children of Elder John and Mary (Levit) White:
i. John2 White, bp Messing, co. Essex, England, 28 Dec 1623; bur. Hatfield, Mass., 15 Sep 1665; m. Sarah, dau. of Thomas and Sarah Bunce of Hartford. [20] [21] [22]
ii. Mary White, bp Messing, 16 Jul 1626; d. prob. Hartford, 16 Dec 1649, or 1650; m. at Hartford, 29 Jan 1645/6, as his first wife, Jonathan Gilbert. [23] [24]
iii. Nathaniel White, b. England, c. 1629; d. Middletown, Conn., 27 Aug 1711, aged about 82; he m. 1st, Elizabeth (___); m. 2nd, Martha (Coit) Mould. [25] [26]
iv. Daniel White, res. in Hatfield, d. 27 Jul 1713; m. 01 Nov 1661, Sarah, who d. 26 Jun 1719, aged 72, dau. of John and Elizabeth (Goodwin) Crow. [27] [28]
v. Sarah White, res. Hatfield, d. 10 Aug 1702; m. 1st, Stephen Taylor of Hatfield, who was bur. 03 Sep 1665; m. 2nd, 15 Oct 1666, Barnabas Hindsale of Hatfield, later of Deerfield, slain at Bloody Brook, 18 Sep 1675, during King Philip's War, m. 3rd, 03 Feb 1679, Walter Hickson of Hatfield, who d. 03 Apl 1696. [29]
vi. Jacob White, b. Hartford, 08 Oct 1645; d. 1701; m. Elizabeth, d. 1716, dau. of Thomas and Sarah Bunce of Hartford. [30] [31]"
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Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy
Aft 1597 - 1683 (< 84 years)