William Whiting

Father of Joseph Whiting, and the first of three generations of Whitings to keep the Connecticut treasury. Morse’s Genealogiae (1925): Treasurer of the Colony “from 1641 until 1647, chosen Magistrate of Connecticut in 1641 and continued in office until his death in 1647; Commissioner of the United Colonies for Connecticut in 1646. In 1638 he was allowed to trade with the Indians; and he was appointed with Major Mason and others to erect fortifications in 1641, and the same year he was appointed with Mason to collect tribute of the Indians on Long Island.” In 1646 “a plot was laid by Sequasson, Sachem of the Naticks, to kill Governors Haynes and Hopkins and Mr. Whiting on account of the just and faithful protection which these gentlemen had afforded Uncas. The plot was disclosed by a friendly Indian and the danger averted” (source).

“He begins his Will, dated March 20, 1643, by stating that he intends ‘a voyage presently unto sea’. The last addition to his Will was made July 24, 1647, and he probably died soon after, leaving widow Susanna.” His children were William (who died in London in 1699), John (1635-1689), Samuel, Sarah (Mrs. Jacob Mygatt, then Mrs. John King), Mary and Joseph (1640-1717). The Hitchcock genealogy gives him “thirty-seven years” in the treasurer’s office; Morse’s dates allow six (source).

Research: research/hatten/Browne_Chapin_Cumins.md.

Open questions

• His English origin and the identity of his wife Susanna are not researched here.