Family Group Record for John White Jr. *********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/copyright.html *********************************************** Submitter: Frank Bouley Email Address: FBouley@prodigy.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Husband: John White Jr. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Birthdate: 13 Mar 1702 - Mendon, , Massachusetts Death date: Buried: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Father: John White Sr. (1663-Aft 1709) Mother: Sarah ( -Aft 1725) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Married: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Spouse: Rachel Benson (1708- ) - 6 Jun 1728 - Providence, , Rhode Island -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wife: Sarah ??? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Birthdate: Death date: Buried: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Children -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 M Noah White -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Born: 1 Oct 1724 - Providence, , Rhode Island Died: Buried: Spouse: Rebecca Trask ( - ) Marr: 2 Aug 1740 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 F Mary White -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Born: 13 Oct 1726 - Providence, , Rhode Island Died: Buried: Spouse: Nathan Shippee ( - ) Marr: 1743 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Husband's General Notes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOURCES: The American Genealogist Vol.17 PP196-199 "Parentage of William White. Thomas W. Baldwin, VR of Uxbridge, Ma. to the year 1850 Married by Velentine Whiteman, Justice, in Providence FROM NEHGR Oct 1999 pp.443-447 WHEN THE VITAL RECORDS ARE MISLEADING: John4- WHITE AND His WIFE RACHEL BENSON OF UXBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS by Frank G. Leshure Genealogical researchers in New England are blessed with an abundance of recorded vital records, both published and unpublshed, but some of these records can be misleading. The published Vital Records of Uxbridge, Massachusetts credit John White and his wife Rachel with twelve children born between 1724 and 1753.[1] John's birth is also given, 13 March 1701/2, but without the names of his parents, as is that of his wife, Rachel, 25 December 1708. Vital records of the adjacent town of Providence, Rhode Island, list the marriage of a John White and Rachel Benson, but not until 6 June 1778.[2] Are they a different John White and Rachel? Two of the children of John and Rachel of Uxbridge were born before 1728: Noah, I October 1724, and Mary, 13 October 1726.[3] A trail of land records, beginning in Mendon, Massachusetts, moving to Providence, Rhode Island, then to Uxbridge, Massachusetts, and finally to Douglas, Massachusetts, proves that they are the same John and Rachel, and that Rachel was a second wife. Mendon Vital Records show the birth on 13 March 1701/2 of John White, son of John White and Sarah his wife, who was undoubtedly the John4 White later of Uxbridge.[41 The earlier generations of the White family of Mendon have recently been compiled by Dean Crawford Smith and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, who showed that Sarah White, the widow of John3 White, married Joseph Chilson in Mendon on 4 June 1718.[5] In a deed signed 15 December 1724, John White, late of Mendon but now of Providence, husbandman, sold for £50 all of his inheritance from his father John White of Mendon, dec'd, being his eldest son, ho his honored father-in-law (i.e. stepfather) Joseph Chilson, and John and his wife Sarah signed by mark [6] On 5 February 1724/5 John White of Providence, yeoman, bought 37 acres in Providence for £40 from Edward Inman, Jr., of Providence, yeoman.[7] On 14 November 1726 Jacob Benson and John White valued a stray horse in Providence.[8] John, then, had a first wife, Sarah, who must have died sometime after 13 March 1726, when their daughter Mary was born, and before 6 June 1728, when John White and Rachel Benson were married by Valentine Whiteman, Justice, in Providence. Rachel Benson was probably the daughter of Isaac3 Benson and his wife, Mary Bumpas, and the Jacob Benson who helped value the horse may have been Rachel's younger brother.[9] John White of Providence, yeoman, sold the 37 acres of land in Providence on 11 April 1729, and both John and his wife Rachel signed the deed by mark [10] On 24 November 1729 John White, of Mendon, bought 74 acres of land Iying partly in Mendon and partly in Uxbridge for £55 fromJoseph Chilson.[11] On 13 January 1731/2 John White of Mendon, husband-man, for £34 sold to Benjamin Taft of Uxbridge, husbandman, 30 acres in Uxbridge, a part of his home lot.[12] Joseph Chillion [Chilson?] was one ofthe witnesses. No dower release was recorded, and John again signed by mark On 25 December 1734 John White of Mendon, yeoman, sold 51 acres of land partly in Mendon and partly in Uxbridge for £200 to Benjamin Taft; John and his wife Rachel signed by mark [13] On the same day John White bought from Benjamin Taft for "eight score pounds" four score acres of land in Uxbridge "beginning at a forked stump commonly called Jennies his corner which now is Seth Aldrich's corner"[14] The same witnesses, John Johnson, John Watson, and Sarah Johnson (by mark) signed both deeds. For the next 30 years John White and his family lived in Uxbridge and became part of the community. At an Uxbridge Town meeting held 7 March 1743/4 John White was elected one of four hogreaves.[l5] On 22 November 1748 John White of Uxbridge, husbandman, bought from Samuel Thayer for £180 old tenor 40 acres of Land in the southerly part of Uxbridge that "boundeth on ye Land which ye Said John White now liveth upon."[16] On the same day John White bought from Solomon Wood for fifty (?) and six pounds old tenor 14 acres in the southerly part of Uxbridge and bounded on the east by land of Benjamm Archer.[17] At an Uxbridge Town Meetmg held 4 March 1751/2 John White was elected one of several surveyors of highways.ll8] On 10 November 1755 John White of Uxbridge, husbandman, sold to Noah White of Uxbridge, husbandman, for £20, 40 acres, being the west part of John's farm; John signed by mark and no dower release was recorded.ll9l We learn from a later deed for the same land from Noah to Enoch White that Noah was the son of John White.[20] Enoch was probably Noah's brother. On 30 October 1761, the commitlee to-divide the Town of Uxbridge into school districts submitted their report; the second district of 46 children included the children of John White, Noah White, and Enoch White along with children from 12 other families.[2l] Several of these families owned land adjacent to John White as shown by his deeds mentioned above. Late in life John White decided to move again, trading land in Uxbridge for land in Douglas District (now the town of Douglas). in two deeds dated 19 April 1764, John White of Uxbridge, yeoman, sold to John Jenne of Smithfield, Rhode island, yeoman, two tracts of land in the southerly part of Uxbridge. The larger tract began "at the forked stump commonly called Jenke's Comer" and was described as "being the whole farm I now live on." Both John White and his wife Rachel signed the deed by mark.[22] The other deed, which was for 14 acres bounded on the east by the Land of Benjamin Archer, states that Rachel his wife yielded her rights of thirds, but the clerk only recorded John's signature on the deed, agaim by mark [23] John White acknowledged both deeds on 13 March 1769 but they were not recorded until 5 May lm. On the same day as the sale of these two tracts, l9 April 1764, John Jenne of Smithfield, yeoman, sold to John White of Uxbridge, yeoman,60 acres and 64 rods, Lot 39 and the north part of Lot 40 in Douglas District, Worcester County; the deed was acknowledged I April 1769 but not recorded until 16 September 1772.[24] On 16 March 1769 John White of Douglas District, husbandman, sold to Paul White of Douglas, husbandman, for £9, seven acres and 98 rods of the north end of Lott 40. John signed by mark and acknowledged the deed 16 March 1769; it was recorded I December l - .[25] Finally, in two deeds dated 24 February 1770, John White of Douglas District, yeoman, sold some land in Douglas, acreage not specified, to Nathan White of Douglas, husbandman, and 28 1/2 acres there to Paul White of Douglas, husbandman; John White and his wife Rachel White signed both deeds by mark. Nathan and Paul were probably their sons. On I December 1772, Robert Smith, one of the wimesses to the two deeds, took oath that he had seen John White, the grantor named in the deeds now dec'd, sign seal and freely execute the same as his act and deed 1261 John White and possibly his wife Rachel were dead by this time. How could the Uxbridge vital records attribute all the children of John White to his second wife? In the town records for 7 March 1753 it was voted "that Josiah Taft Nocholas Baylies with Edmund Rawson ye Town Clerk should be a Committee for to Transfer ye Records into ye New Town Book out of the old Book," and on 18 May 1767, it was voted to transcribe the "loos papers of the births, marriages and deaths into a bound book."[27] The Uxbridge anual town meeting held 5 March 1888 voted that "the selectmen be authorized to cause what old evaluation Books and such other Town Records to be copied, as in their Judgement they shall deem necessary." The Town Clerk was instructed to copy the Births, Publishments, Marriages, and Deaths contained in the two earliest volumes of the Records, comprising the time from 25 July 1727 to I June 1844.[25] This transcribed copy, which is the one that was microfilmed, contains the information organized by family, but when it was organized by family is not known. The published Uxbridge Vital Records are alphabetical. There is no way to tell now when Rachel White was credited with all twelve children; maybe the list was on one or more of those "loos" papers copied in 1767. It was not uncommon in New England for families to present the town derk with all their records at once, in "Family Bible" fashion, for copying, and if this was done after the birth of the younger children, chances are that the stepmother was thought of as mother of all, which she was in a pracdcal if not a biological sense. The White famiIy entry bears all the marks of such an origin. including the recording of birthdates for the parents. The town clerk who copied the record may have had no idea that Rachel was not mother of all the children listed. To summarize the data on John White and his family, using the births and nrarriages from the published Uxbridge Vital Records and information from the deeds cited above, we have: Children of John4 White with his first wife, Sarah _ i.NOAH5 WHITE, b.l Oct 1724, probably in Providence, R.l., m. 2 Aug. 1750 REBECCAH TRASK, dau. of NichoLas of Mendon. Four children recorded in Uxbridge: 1. Wealthe, b. 27July 1756. 2. Abi, b. 29 Aug. 1762 3. Noah, b. 5 Dec. 1767. 4. william' b. 2 Feb. 1772. Noah sold land to his brother Ichabod in 1756 and to his brother Enoch in 1761 [29] ii. MARY WHITE, b. 13 March 1726, probably in Providenre, R.l.; not further traced. Children with his second wife, Rachel Benson: iii. ICHABOD WHITE, b. 28 Feb. 1729, probably in Providence, m. REBECCAH _____ who signed a deed with him in 1759.[30] iv. JQHN WHITE, b. 11 Jan 1731; not further traced. v. ENOCH WHITE, b. 22 Nov. 1732, probably married and had children in Uxbridge School District 2 in 1761. vi. PAUL WHITE, b. 25 Dec. 1736, alive in 1770 when he probably bought land from his father in DougLas; not further traced. vii.Rachel WHITE, b. 10 March 1738; d. 15 Dec. 1824 in her 86th year;[3l] m. 14 May 1757, WILLIAM DARING of Mendon. viii. SILAS WHITE, b. 4 May 1742; not further traced. ix. JESSE WHlTE, b. 2 Sept. 1744; not further traced. x NATHAN WHITE, b. 21 Oct. 1748; m. 16 March 1770, MARTHA COOMBS. Hepnobably bought land from his father in 1770 in Douglas. xi. DORCAS WHITE, b. 9 Sept. 1750; not furthertraced. xii. LYDIA WHITE, b. 20 Feb. 1753; not furnher traced. Frank G. lesure is a retired government geologist who has been researching his New England ancestors for more than twenty years. He resides at 304 Upper College terrace, Frederick, MD 21701-4869. ---------------------------- Notes: I. Thomas w Baldwin, Vital Records of Uxbridge, Maassachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston NEHGS, 1916) [herinaftar Uxbride VRs], 179-182 2 James N Amold, Vital Records of Rhode IsLand, 1636-l850, 2l vols.. (Providence Narraganset Historical Press, 1891-1912 3 Uxbridge VR's, 181 4 Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Mendon, Mass., to the Year 1850 (Boston NEHGS, 1920), 2lO. 5. Dean Crawford Smith (Melinde Lutz Sanborn, ed.), The Ancestry of Eva Bell Kempton, 1878-1908, The Ancestry of Warren Francis Kempton, 1817-1879. (Boston, NEHGS,1996) 492-521, and Dean Crawford Smith and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, "The Family of John White of Mendon, Mass." Register 152 {1998}, 184-185 6. Suffolk County Deeds, 38:241-242 (FHL microfilm 493,945) 7. Providence Deeds and Mortgages, 6: 341-342 (FHL microfilm 901,255) 8.Early Records of Town of Providence, RI, 21 Vol. (Providence 1895), 9:138 (FHL microfilm 496, 575) 9. Grace Hildy Croft, "The Benson Family, Descendants of Isaac Benson and Mary Bumpas" (Provo, Ut, 1972), 7 10. Providence Deeds and Mortgages [Note 7} 11. Worchester county Deeds, 11:79 (FHL microfilm 843,217) 12. Ibid: (FHL microfilm 843,212)4:70 13. Ibid: (FHL microfilm 843,217)11:58 14. Ibid. (FHL microfilm 843 2t8), 14 :133 134. I5. Uxbridge Town Records, vol. I (FHL microfilm 867-875). 16. Worchester County Deeds, 45 :142 (FHL microfilm 843,178). 17. ibid., 45:160 18. Uxbridge Town Records [note 15]. 19 Worchester county Deeds(FHL microfilm8433,177)43 : 452 20 Ibid. (FHL microfilm 843,178), 45 :163 21. Uxbridge Town Records [note 15], 1 :134-136. 22 Worcester County records (FHLmicrofilms 843:36l), 78:94. 23. Ibid., 78: 92 24.ibid. (FHL miicrofilm 843, 356), 68: 205 25. Ibid., 325 26. Ibid, 324, 334 27. Uxbridge Toown Records [note 15], 1 :165 -166 28. Uxbridge Vital Records, 1717-1844, Introduction (FHL microfilm 758,485, 29 a Wonester County Deeds (FHL microfilm 813,174), 37: 302, ibid. (843,178), 45:163. 30. Ibid (FHL microfilm 843,177), 43:63. 31 Gravestone in Darling Cemetery, sutton, Ma.. FBouley@prodigy.net For my Domain http://bouleybowmanfamily.com or for my home pages: http://pages.prodigy.net/fbouley/index.html Master Tree (Updated Periodically): http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=bouley