Samuel, Eleazer, & William, Sons of Captain John Whipple
by Dr. Charles Whipple, Jr., Edmond, Oklahoma, and
Barbara R. Carroll, Exeter, Rhode Island
10 June
2003
This treatise reviews documentation sources and historical literature on the second through fourth sons of Captain John Whipple of Providence, Rhode Island and their immediate Rhode Island descendants. The western movement across the American frontier by later representative descendants of each brother chronicles the continued influence of these three families on subsequent generations. This is the first in a series of articles included in a book presently being written by the authors on the life of Captain John Whipple and his descendants. As such, it is a work in progress. Comments, additions, and documented corrections are solicited. Send to brcgenealogy@yahoo.com or charles@whipple.net. The next article in the series will feature Benjamin and David, Captain John's fifth and sixth sons.
"September 16, 1632, being the Lord's day. In the evening
Mr. Pierce, in the ship Lyon, arrived and came to an anchor before
Boston. He brought 123 passengers including 50 children all in
health. He lost not one passenger, save his carpenter, who fell
overboard as he was caulking a port. They were 12 weeks abroad. He
had five days east wind and thick fog, so as he was forced to come,
all that time by the lead, and the first land he made was Cape
Ann."
This entry in the journal of John Winthrop, Governor of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, attendant to a list of passengers, included
15-year old John Whipple as one of the 123 Lyon immigrants. Thus began
the continuing saga of the Whipple surname in the new world. The John
Whipple of 1632 must not be confused with two Whipple brothers, John
and Mathew, who arrived in Ipswich Massachusetts in 1638. Virtually
all Whipples in North America descend from these three men. There is
no known relationship between the teenager John Whipple and the two
brothers who arrived six years later.
Nine days after the above entry, Winthrop again wrote in his
journal, "September 25, 1632. The Governor, and Mr. Wilson, Pastor of
Boston, went aboard the Lyon and sailed to Plymouth. They were
greeted by Governor Bradford (a very discrete and grave man) with
Mr. Brewster, the Elder ... and they were entertained. On the Lord's
day Mr. Roger Williams (according to their custom) propounded a
question to which the Pastor, Mr. Smith, spoke briefly, then
Mr. Williams prophesied."
It is interesting to speculate as to whether John Whipple and the Reverend Roger Williams were acquainted during the years 1632 to 1636, at which time Williams left Massachusetts to settle, and found, Providence, Rhode Island. The Bay Colony was not large in terms of area or population. It would be reasonable to assume that John had witnessed, at least, some of the fervor and religious dissention that surrounded Williams. Did he agree with Williams' social and religious principles? Whatever the reasons, 23 years later the John Whipple family followed him to Rhode Island. John held several elected positions of power and influence in the neophyte town and colony and amassed a considerable fortune, which he in turn bequeathed to his children. His 11 children eventually produced 73 offspring, 34 granddaughters and 39 grandsons. Of the grandsons, 26 bore the name Whipple making his descendants the most numerous to carry the surname.
Captain John Whipple declared in his last Will and Testament that
... "I having formerly given to three of my sons, all of my lands and
meadows in Louquisset, namely, --Samuel, Eleazer, and William, equally
to be divided among them three only; excepting thirty-acres which I
gave to my son John, at the northwest end."
By the time of his death, 16 May 1685, John had acquired considerable real estate. Besides the original home lot purchased from Francis Wickes in 1659, he had purchased the home lots--on the north end of Providence's one major street--of at least four of his nearest neighbors: Edward Manton, John Green Jr., William Arnold, and Thomas James. Each home lot was 10 acres in size. Additionally, along with about 100 other "proprietors," he obtained large tracts of property as the native Indian inhabitants were cleared off the land in the 1660s and 1670s. By some estimates he had acquired at least 1000 acres of land during his stay in the colony.
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Louquisset, an Indian name for a place or brook in the northeast section of the soon to be named township of Smithfield, was located at the headwaters of the Moshassuck River about two miles west of the Blackstone River, the east border of the township. The Moshassuck River emptied into the Atlantic Ocean at Providence about one block west of Captain John's house. In the 1670s, when, as young men in their late 20s and early 30s, the Louquisset brothers settled on to their new lands, they likely traveled by horse and oxcart up this meandering river to its headwaters called the meadows, a distance of some eight to nine miles north. A notable natural feature of the area, for Whipple history, was an area called the lime rocks. Roughly the eastern half of Smithfield, including Louquisset, was made into the township of Lincoln in the year 1871.
"The land which now forms the town(ship) of Lincoln was included in Roger Williams' original purchase. A year after Williams' arrival a verbal agreement was confirmed by a written deed, through which the white settlers acquired the 'meadows upon two rivers.' With this deed the Providence proprietors got title to the land which is now, 'upland from the water, most of it rocky and barren without meadow.' But only a few settlers ventured into the interior reaches purchased from the Indians. The area remained a wilderness, designated in their records as 'Louquisset' or the north woods, an apt description since the land was heavily forested. After decisive battles of King Philips War in the 1670s, settlement began in earnest."
"The opening of the 'North Woods' for settlement by
Providence's second generation was encouraged by the laying out of
a road north through the region from Providence to Mendon,
Massachusetts. One of the earliest of colonial roads, the Great Road
was blazed through the wilderness and opened in 1683; it probably
followed footpaths and the Indian's Shawomet Trail for some of its
length and was designed to connect the growing town of Providence with
its agricultural hinterland. The village of Lime Rock was eventually
located along this road. It is eight miles north of Providence, seven
miles south of Woonsocket, and forty miles from Boston. Traffic along
this route sustained a number of early taverns which provided bed and
board for travelers. In 1710 Eleazer Arnold was licensed to serve
travelers at his house on Great road and by the mid 1700s Jeremiah
Mowrey operated a tavern in the old Eleazer Whipple House at Lime
Rock."
"Even today, Rhode Island is full of tiny villages and hamlets,
some consisting of only a few houses. Lime Rock is one of those
places. The Lime Rock School is now a residence. There is a Baptist
church and a volunteer fire station, and some beautifully restored
homes on a few rural roads in a lovely rural setting. As late as one
hundred years ago, it had a general store and a post office. For
generations, the lives of the people of Lime Rock revolved around the
church, the Mt. Moriah Lodge of the Masons, and the Lime Rock
Grange."
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Among those whose farms were located along the Great Road were the sons of Captain John Whipple. Numerous references to this road are recorded in the land deeds of these men. This highway, referred to as Lime Rock Road as it passed through the village, cut directly through the inherited properties of the Whipple brothers. The photo opposite, taken looking southwest from the Great Road in Lime Rock, shows part of the original Whipple property.
Although John Junior inherited a small tract of Smithfield land, it is believed that he, and his descendants, never resided on the property. It is also clear that few of the immediate descendants of Samuel, Eleazer, or William stayed on their inherited properties. Between these men and their wives 18 children were born including at least nine sons, of which only four sons lived out their lives in the Louquisset meadows.
As is shown herein, by the end of the third generation, Samuel
Junior and his brother Thomas had moved out of state, and Noah, the
third brother, died in Rhode Island several years before his
father. Job, the second son of Eleazer, lived and died in
Smithfield. His brother Daniel moved out of the township at an early
age. Eleazer's other sons, Eleazer Junior and James, died in
Smithfield but without passing their farms on to a descendant. Seth,
William Senior's son, who moved to Providence, also died young without
issue. This left the opportunity to carry on the Whipple name in early
Louquisset meadows history to the heirs of William Junior and
Job.
Samuel Whipple, the second son of Captain John, was christened at
Dorchester, Massachusetts 17 March 1644/45 and died at Providence,
Rhode Island 12 March 1710. He married Mary Harris in 1667. She was
born in 1639 and died 14 December 1722. They had five children.
There is no indication that Samuel ever moved to the Louquisset meadows area or to any other tract of inherited or purchased land outside of Providence. This included large tracts east and west of the "7 mile line," and on both sides of the Moshassuck River. He lived on Abbott's Lane near north Main Street in a house (willed to his daughters), known for many years as the "Whipple-Abbott House."
Samuel Whipple appeared in Providence Town records on numerous occasions. The following is a summary of a chronological listing as extracted from The Early Records of the Town of Providence, 21 Volumes, (Providence: Snow & Farnum 1893-1903). Individual entries are noted with the volume number and page. As much as possible, original wording, spelling, and punctuation are retained.
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Here followeth the Record of the last Will & Testament of Samuell Whipple who dyed March ye 12th 1710: as followeth. I Samuell Whipple of the Towne of Providence, in the Collony of Rhode Island & Providence Plantations in the Narraganset Bay in New England being sick & weake of Boddy, but yet (through mercy) of sound & Perfect memory, Do make, Ordaine & appoint this to be my last Will & Testament; Revokeing making Null & voyd all & Every former Will at any time by me made Either by Word or Writeing & this Will only to stand & be in force.
Imprimis, I Do Give & yield up my spirit unto God who gave it & my body to the Earth to be decently Buried.
Jtem. I do give & devise unto my tow sons (as Namely) Samuell Whipple and Thomas Whipple my hundred & fifty acres of land being on the west side of ye seven mile line in said Providence Towneship, together with the Right or to say share of Meaddow unto the said hundred & fifty acres of land belonging as also one quarter part of a Right of Commons on the west side of ye said line to be all Equally divided betweene them two; & to be unto them & their heirs & Assignes for ever.
Jtem. I Do Give & Devise unto my tow sons (as namely) Samuell Whipple & Thomas Whipple my share of Meaddow Which I bought of James Ashton lieing & being in the great Meaddow (so Called) and my Twenty acres of land lieing by ye Pond Called the broad Pond, & my seven Acres of land lyeing by hye southeasterne part of the hill called the Windmill hill to be Equally divided, and also Each of them one Right in the Thatch Bedds, all to be unto them their Heirs and Assigned for ever./
Jtem. I Do Give & Devise unto my son Thomas Whipple my seven acres of land lieing in that Tract of land Called the Neck, & is betweene the swampe Called the Great Swampe & the land which did belong unto Mr. Dexter, to be unto my son his Heiars & assignes for Ever: And I do also Give & Devise untomy sd son Thomas Whipple, dor and duireing the terme of his Naturall life, my warehouse lott of land lieing in said Providence Town by the water side; & after his dicease the the said Wasrehouse lott of land to revert and be unto his Male Heir begotten of his body, & so successively to procccede and be./
Jtem. I Do Give & bequeath unto my son Thomas Whipple & unto my Grandson Noah Whipple, I do Give and Devise all my Commons on ye East side of the seven mile line in sd Providence Towneshipp, equally to be divided betweene them, to be unto them, their Heirs & Assignes forever.
Jtem. I Do Give & Devise unto my son Thomas Whipple all my lands on which he now dwelleth which lieth on both sides of the River Called Moshausuck River, both vpland, lowland, Meaddow & swamp land together with the house theron to be unto him his heirs & Assignes forever:
Jtem. I Do Give & Devise unto my two Grandsons (as namely), Enoch Whipple & Daniel Whipple, Three quarters of all my lands & Commons on the west side of ye seven mile line in said Providence Towneshipp, which is not yet laid out to be Equally divided betweene them two to be unto them their Heirs & their assignes forever.
Jtem. My home stedd or to say my dwelling place & out housing withal my land & Orchards thereunto adjoyneing Reaching from the Towne Street & Extending Eastward to the land which belong to the deceased Daniell Browne. I Give & bequeath unto my beloved wife Mary Whipple to be for her use & improvement for & duireing the Whole term of her Naturall life; and at her decease the said dwelling house, out houseing & all said lands and Orchards to Revert & be unto my two Daughters (namely) Abigaill Whipple, & Hope Whipple, and after their decease to Revert & be unto their Heirs begotten of their Boddyes; the which said house lands & orchards shall with what out housen there are shall be Equally divided betweene my said two daughters; But in case it shall so be that my said daughters neither of them have any children, then shall the said house & lands be Equally devided amongst all my Children; But if Either of them have Children or a child then shall the said House & lands Revert & be to that daughters Heir.
Jtem. I Do Give & bequeath unto my two daughters Abigaill Whipple and Hope Whipple Each of them a bedd & bedding & all the furniture to a bedd belonging; Each of them to Receive the same at my said wife her decease; And I do give also unto my said two daughters Each of them a Cow, to receive them also at my said wife her decease;
Jtem. I Do Give & bequeath unto my sd loving wife for her vse & improvement all my Goods and Cattell duireing her Natural life, & at her decease to be unto my two sons Samuell Whipple & Thomas Whipple Equally to be divided betweene them, Except what I have before disposed of.
And I do make & appoint my son Samuell Whipple to be my Executor of this my last Will & Testament; to 'receive all my debts & to pay all my debts & to see my body decently buried; and to Execute & performe this my will according to the true meaneing & intent thereof: In witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seale the Ninth day of March Annoq: Domini, one Thousand Seven hundred & Tenn: 1710. Signed Sealed & Proclaimed, The mark of Samuell Whipple. In the presence of us, John Sayles, Henry Adams, and James Olney. Samuel's extensive inventory of moveable property, in numerated a few days later, included such items as: cowes, steeres one old horse, twenty six sheepe, hay, tenn bushels of Indian corne, grinding stone, a beetle & 4 wedges, plough sledge, two bells, three hoes, sithes porringers dreinging boule, pepper bowl, spoones trentchers & Earthen waare, warmeing pan, ffether beds, guns, pair of stilliards, porke & biefe, etc. His son, Samuel Junior, who was by then "dwelling within the prescinkes of New London in the Collony of Conitekut," was granted a letter of full power of Administration by the Providence Towne Councill on March 22, 1711.[ 9 ]
As seen above, Samuel's sons, Samuel Junior and Thomas, were willed the land that he had inherited from Captain John Whipple in what was to become the townships of Glocester (west side of the 7 mile line), and Smithfield (east side of the 7 mile line), and in and around the town of Providence. Thomas was also given the Louquisset meadows property, "all my land on which he now dwells, which lies on both sides of the river called Moshassuck River, upland meadows ... . together with the house ... " As to when Thomas built this house or to whom he eventually sold it to in about the year 1717, is unknown. Thus, after only 60 years, the proprietor's share in the meadowlands of the Moshassuck River originally willed to his father Samuel, passed out of the Whipple name. Samuel's grandsons, Noah, Enoch, and Daniel (Noah Senior was already deceased) were willed their father's share on the west side of the 7-mile line in Glocester. Enoch died without issue, and Daniel lived out his life in Glocester.
Noah Junior joined his uncles in Connecticut during the 1730s. Of his children, the most remembered in American history is Commodore Abraham Whipple.
Commodore Abraham Whipple5 (Noah4, Noah3, Samuel2, John1) was born in Providence, Rhode Island 26 September 1733 and died in Marietta, Ohio 29 May 1819. He married Sarah Hopkins 2 August 1761. She was born in 1739 and died 14 October 1818. To this couple three children were born.
The most notable pioneer descendant of Samuel was his great
grandson, Commodore Abraham Whipple, of Cranston, Rhode Island. This
property was located approximately four miles south of the town of
Providence and was not part of the Louquisset bequest. Sarah Whipple
was a niece (daughter of a brother William) of Stephen Hopkins, an
often Governor of Rhode Island and signer of the Declaration of
Independence. Their son John Hopkins Whipple continued to follow the
sea after leaving Marietta, Ohio, and never married. Mary had three
daughters, after marrying Dr. Ezekiel Comstock of Smithfield, all of
whom were married in Smithfield Township. Catherine's grandson was
Henry H. Sibley the first Governor of the state of Minnesota. Several
descendants of the female branches are living in the states of
Michigan, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts under the names of Sibley,
Comstock, and Fisher. Catherine was the only child mentioned in
Abraham's Last Will and Testament.
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Abraham Whipple led the American colonies' first open, armed opposition to British forces in the burning of the Gaspee on 10 June 1772. He subsequently was appointed Commodore of the American Navy 15 June 1775. He fought in the cause of the revolution until being made a prisoner of war in 1780, remaining so until 1782.
Hospital care was not made available during Abraham's long imprisonment. He, with characteristic generosity, provided suitable accommodations for his fellow prisoners at his own expense. During all this period, he was deprived of the means of earning a living, so that at the declaration of peace he was left in a destitute financial condition at 50 years of age. In person, Commodore Whipple was rather short, thickset and stout, with great muscular strength in his younger years; eyes dark gray, with manly, strong marked features, indicating firmness and intrepidity. After the war, it was Whipple who as a merchant marine captain first unfurled the American flag in London. Home once more in Rhode Island, he was honored as one of the members of the first State Legislatures.
After the declaration of peace, Abraham petitioned Congress for a redress of back pay. The amount owed to him was over $16,000. The fledgling Congress was not able to pay the full financial debt it owed to thousands of veterans like Abraham. Thus, after years of distinguished service to his nation, a service that left him penurious, he was forced to sell his Rhode Island property, in 1788, and move west shortly after the Ohio Company was formed. He emigrated with his wife and son, in company with the family of Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, who had married his daughter Catherine. He was then 55 years old when he left the land of his forefathers, to seek a new home in the valley of the Ohio. In 1811, Commodore Whipple finally received from Congress the half pay of a Captain in service, or thirty dollars a month. This relieved him from any further anxiety as to support in the last days of life, and rendered the remaining years free from care.
Abraham died after a short illness, on the 29th day of May 1819, aged 85 years, at a small farm three miles from Marietta, near his widowed daughter Catherine Sproat. Sarah, his wife, died October 1818, aged 79 years. They were buried side by side in the town square in Marietta.
It is difficult to comprehend as to why Abraham Whipple, one
America's greatest patriots is honored with but two modest memorials,
a Providence street that bears his name, and his grave headstone some
700 miles from his native home. No citizen of any state could claim as
many "firsts" in the war for independence as he. Truly, he might be
called the forgotten man of the Continental Navy. No man in the
Continental Navy ever excelled Whipple. His accomplishments warrant
his being ranked with the illustrious John Paul Jones and the
redoubtable Captain John Barry.
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Edson Whipple7 (John6, Timothy5, Samuel4,
Samuel3, Samuel2, John1)
was born 5 February 1805 at Dummerston, Windham County, Vermont. He
was one of the original Utah pioneers of 1847. He wrote, "I was called
at the general conference held in Nauvoo in April, 1844, to go on a
mission to Pennsylvania to canvass that state and present to the
people Joseph Smith's view on government and to advocate his candidacy
for the president of the United States. During my absence, he was
murdered in Carthage. I assisted in building the city of Nauvoo and
the Temple and was among the defenders of our homes against the mob
... I crossed the Mississippi River May 15, 1846, on my way to the
Rocky Mountains with a family of four, consisting of myself, wife and
child and my mother ... On our arrival on the Missouri River we were
counseled to locate for the winter on Pony Creek ... but on our
arrival there we found the place very unhealthy and thus unfit for
habitation. My mother Basmath Hutchens Whipple died Sept. 9, 1846. A
few days later, Sept. 13, 1846, my wife died ... Of the whole camp
consisting of 14 families all but two persons were sick, and while
there were buried some whole families. My little girl, Maria Blanch,
died Dec.8, 1846 ... Driven from our comfortable homes in Nauvoo to be
exposed as we were to the heat and storms and deprived of all comforts
of life, was more than the people could endure. Thus my whole family
died as martyrs for the cause of Christ. In the spring of 1847, I was
called, in company with 142 others, to lead the way to the wilderness
in search for a new home ... I left winter quarters April 9, 1847,
and traveled in the firs ten of the second division. I took my turn to
guard the camp every third night ... I was a member of the first High
Council organized in Salt Lake City. I next traveled back to the
States for several months ... I had then been absent from the valley
over two years. Soon after I arrived I married again, having remained
single from the time I buried my companion in the Pottawattamie lands
in 1846. I was then called to settle Iron County. Consequently, I left
Salt Lake City Dec.9, 1850, with about a hundred wagons and we all
arrived at the place where Parowan now stands in Jan, 1851. When Iron
County was organized ... I was appointed associate justice. In the
military organizations I was chosen as captain of the company
organized to do home guard duty. George A. Smith requested the
brethren to present plans for laying off a fort and for building our
houses. I, among others, presented a plan, and mine was accepted and
adopted, and Parowan was built up according to my plan ... When
President Young and company visited Parowan in 1851, I was advised to
move north, and consequently I settled in Provo."
In summary of those mentioned in Samuel's Last Will and Testament, only his grandson Daniel (as noted, his daughters lived out their lives in Providence) lived and died in Rhode Island, in this case Glocester and BurrillvilleTownships. Burrillville Township was set off from northern Glocester and incorporated as a separate entity in 1806. Consequently, the sole opportunity to contribute to the history of the Louquisset meadows was left to the descendants of Eleazer and William, Captain John's third and fourth sons.
Eleazer Whipple, the third son of Captain John, was christened 8 March 1745/46 in Dorchester, Massachusetts and died in Smithfield, Rhode Island 25 August 1719. He married Alice Angell 26 January 1669. She was born in 1649 and died 13 August 1743. They were parents to 10 children.
Alice Angell was the daughter of Thomas Angell who came to Providence with Roger Williams when still a boy and was one of William's associates at the planting of the settlement around the spring where the Moshassuck emptied into the salt water. He was by trade a housewright.
Eleazer Whipple appeared in Providence Township records on several occasions. The following is a chronological listing of a summary of these taken from The Early Records of the Town of Providence, 21 Volumes, (Providence: Snow & Farnum 1893-1903). Individual entries are noted with the volume number and page. Original wording, spelling, and punctuation have been retained.
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The sum total of Eleazer's moveable estate was over 495 pounds, a considerable sum in early 18th century rural Rhode Island, and included such items as: sheetes, pillo bears, powder horns, cissers, egg turner, chamber pott, linen whele, wool cards, ax & old plaines, hatchet, silver pint pott spoones, old lanthron, iron potts & copper kettle, mettle skillets, driping pan, trammel fire shovel & tongs, etc. (XVI:114-122).
Eleazer, as seen above, was an injured veteran of the King Phillip's War of 1675-76, and the first to receive a war pension of 10 English pounds per year (the first pension granted in the American colonies for military service). He was the only one of Captain John's sons to participate in that war, and was, so it would appear, a hero to his fellow townspeople. Eleazer was a widely known housewright who built his own long-standing home in about 1680. This house was deeded to his second son James.
James Whipple was born about 1686 and died 3 October 1731.He and his
wife Mary Williams are known to have had at least one son,
Eleazer. Eleazer owned a large tract of land at Warwick, Rhode Island
and engaged in the mercantile business. He was also a sea captain and
died at sea in 1760. He and Deliverance Rhodes, whom he married
in1744, had eight children.
In 1733, James' widow and her second husband, John Rhodes, were
awarded the administration of the estate. Eleazer's widow was still
residing on the property and after her death, in 1743, it was sold to
Jeremiah Mowrey.
Eleazer's homestead, as stated in the 1743 deed of conveyance, was
"land that lieth on both sides of the highway from Providence towards
Wensoket at Louisquesset brook near Lime Rock."
Eleazer Junior, Eleazer's oldest son, was born about the year 1682
and died 17 December 1734 in Smithfield. He married Mary Sprague 12
June 1719. She was born 1 October 1692 and died, as a widow, in
Smithfield 26 July 1784. They were parents to Eleazer, who died 2
March 1733 without issue.
Eleazer's youngest son, Daniel, left the Louquisset meadows about 1716. He and his descendants are also discussed later.
Eleazer was buried on his own farm, which is now near an area
called Molasses Hill. " ... Eleazer Whipple died, being then
seventy-three years of age. A life of hardship and sufferings was
ended, and he was laid away in the grave down in his meadow in front
of his house." At present, this burial lot is called the
"Whippple-Mowrey Cemetery." His wife, sons Job and James, plus several
others of his Whipple and Mowrey descendants were buried beside
him.
Captain Job Whipple3 (Eleazer2, John1) was born about 1684 in Rhode Island and died in Smithfield, Rhode Island 19 April 1750. He married Silence, daughter of Ephraim Pray, about 1703. She was born in 1682 and died 7 January 1757. Job and Silence had 12 children according to cemetery records and his Last Will and Testament.
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Job Whipple lived and died on his farm in the Louquisset
meadows. He was born about 25 years after his grandfather Whipple
emigrated to the Providence Plantations, and shortly after his father
rebuilt their house near Lime Rock, about one mile west of the
Blackstone River. Job was mentioned in Smithfield township records of
1733 when the town built a road (likely what is now called the Old
River Road) next to his house. Also in 1733, Job filed a paternity
case against his daughter Alice's lover as father of her newborn
child. The courts denied the suit and Alice named her son Job
Whipple. Nevertheless, in his will of 1750, Captain Job referred to
Alice's son as "Abraham Angell." Captain Job was mentioned a third
time in town records of 1748. He and his youngest son Stephen and
grandson Ephraim (Job Junior's son) were listed in District 5 of the
Smithfield "Highway Act" in which every able bodied man, at least 21
years of age, was required to work six days each year on the
township's right-of-ways.
Eleazer Whipple, on 27 April 1710, transferred by deed of gift, "
... for and in consideration of the well being and settlement of my
son Job Whipple of the Town of Providence, aforesaid, and for good
affection which to him I bear ... give 120 acres in the district of
Louisquisset Woods and from part of the land bought from my cousin,
John Whipple."
Job Whipple Junior was born in 1703 and died 25 February 1730, perhaps as a consequence of an epidemic since he and his brother Simon and sister Abigail died within a month of each other. He was the father of Ephraim (1725 - 1805), who in turn had 11 children. It is estimated that Ephraim moved to central Cumberland Township about 1768. His cousins, Moses and Eleazer, sons of William Junior, in a move eastward across to the other side of the Blackstone River, joined him about the same time. His first cousin Stephen Junior joined them about five years later.
Captain Job's youngest son, Stephen Whipple, born in 1726, died 27
May 1795, the only son whose children stayed in Smithfield, lived out
his life in the Louquisset, as did his sons, Major Simon (1760-1829),
and Arnold (1769-1804). His oldest son Stephen Junior (1750 - 1822)
moved to Cumberland Township about the year 1773. A 1774 Smithfield
census revealed that Stephen Senior's household consisted of 14
persons: four adult men, three adult women, along with two boys, four
girls, and one slave.
As noted, Eleazer's youngest son, Daniel, moved to Cumberland early in the 18th century. Several of his descendants subsequently left Rhode Island between the years 1790 and 1810 including Preserved (1746-1813), who moved to New Hampshire. However, his son Colonel Stephen (1772-1844) did not migrate when his father moved north in 1794. He was a Colonel in the Militia of the state of Rhode Island. Stephen died November 7, 1844 and was buried with Masonic honors as a High Mason. He and Olive Bennett were parents to eleven children, including Stephen.
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Stephen Whipple6 (Stephen5, Preserved4, Daniel3, Eleazer2, John1) moved to the state of Georgia in 1820 when he was 21 years old where he taught school in Dekalb County. He removed to Wilkinson county and while there teaching lived with Squire Benjamin Mitchell, whose daughter, Ruth, Stephen married October 17,1824. A few years later he took up farming, buying the homestead farm of his father-in-law.
The following letter that he wrote to his half-sister Abigail Jencks of Cumberland, Rhode Island, in 1842, evidences the growing problem that was to soon split the nation and lead to the Civil war, a war in which one of his own sons was killed. "As for myself, I am still making corn and cotton and have stood the change of the times pretty well, so many in this county have failed; yet I had to pay $1000 security money and lost as much on cotton ... I have 30 slaves and pay tax for about 1700 acres of land. I keep about 12 or 15 head of horses and 100 to 150 head of hogs. I shall house this year 2500 or 3000 bushels of corn and make about 60 bales of cotton ... This account may appear very strange to your abolition neighbors, but no less strange than true."
Stephen and Ruth had seven children, born to them on their plantation in Wilkinson County, of which only Ruth and Stephen B. bore them grandchildren. His wife died in 1840 and Stephen married Eliza Knight of Providence, Rhode Island. They had one son, Knight Whipple, who was killed in the Civil War, without issue. She died in 1881 and he on February 13, 1848.
Stephen Bennett Whipple7 ( Stephen6, Stephen5, Preserved4, Daniel3, Eleazer2, John1) was born November 16, 1833 in Cook's Town and a few years later moved with his parents to the Squire Benjamin Mitchell homestead, now known as the Henry Rutland place. He was educated in nearby schools than enrolled at Mercer University in 1852. He began farming on the Maiden Creek Plantation in 1858 and while there married Ann Holliman on February 7, 1859.
Stephen Bennett served as a Lieutenant in the Confederate Army from October 4, 1861 until April 4, 1862. Thereafter he and his brother, Allen, were awarded a contract to produce salt for the Confederacy. This contract continued until the end of the war.
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Having decided to sell his farm and relocate, the top soil washing from hill sides into the creeks, he bought the Whitehead Plantation on Turkey Creek, in 1871. This property was located in Laurens County some ten miles west of Dublin. Later a railroad line was built through this farm and a station was established about one mile north of Whipple's Crossing. In order to secure educational advantages for his large family of boys, he moved one more time, in 1886, to Cochran, then in Pulaski County. Previously, in 1883, a church association had built a college at that location. There the sons of Stephen Bennett began their education.
Shortly after coming to Cochran, Stephen retired from business life, but became one of the original founders of the Cochran Mill and Ginnery, the First National Bank, and was a stockholder in three railroads. In addition, he acquired several pieces of real estate. He built four brick storehouses, known as the Whipple Block, and fourteen tenant houses for colored people, known as Whipple Town. His civic activities included long service on the Board of Education, and as an exofficio Justice of the Peace.
Stephen Bennett Whipple died after a short illness on 28 July
1915. His eight sons served as active pallbearers at his burial at the
Cedar Hill Cemetery in Cochran. His wife died in 1913. His children
remember him as fair and just in his dealing with men, but stern in
matters of principle, and quiet, gentle, and unassuming in manner. As
were most of his Whipple ancestors before him, he was a lifetime
member of the Baptist church.
William Whipple, the fourth son of Captain John, was christened 16 May 1652 in Dorchester, Mass., and died 9 March 1711/12. He married Mary. Her birth and death dates are unknown. He lived and died on his farm in the Louquisset meadows, took the Oath of Allegiance to King Charles II in 1671, and was taxed in 1684 and 1687. His Last Will and Testament included the names of three children.
William is the least recorded of the Louquisset brothers. In addition to his Last Will and Testament, the following is a listing of a summary of these records, inclusive of the years 1678 to 1707, taken from The Early Records of the Town of Providence, 21 Volumes, (Providence: Snow & Farnum, 1893-1903). Individual entries are noted with the volume number and page. Original spelling and punctuation have been retained.
Upon the 25th day of March 1712 the last will & Testament of William Whipple of this town of Providence (deceased) was Exhibbitted to the Towne Concill & was by them Examined & Proved; The Record of sd will is as followeth.
In the name of God amen, I William Whipple of the Towne of Providence in her Majestyes Coloney of Road Island & Providence Plantations in new England, being weake in body yet by the Blessing of God of sound & perfect memory; And I knowing that all men are subject to Mortallitye, and not knowing how soone it may please god to Remove me out of this life, I do make this my lat Will & Testament, hereby making voyd all former Wills by me mad either by Word or writeing & this only to stand in force as my last will & Testament./
Ffirst, I bequeth my spirit to god that gave it and my body to the Earth to be decently buried at the descretion of my Executor hereafter Named,
Secondly. I Give to my loveing son william whipple all my lands & house & improvements whatsoever; hee paying such Legacies as I shall obleidge him to; Thirdly. I give to my loveing son Seth Whipple Thirty Pounds, to be paid to him after he shall attaine to the age of one & twenty yeares, to be payd by my Executor as he shall be able. Ffourthly, I give to my loveing Daughter Mary Sprague Ten pounds to be paid to her by my Executor as my Executor shall be able, which Ten Pounds is besides what I have already given to her, which is one Cow & Calf & Eight Sheepe & Eight lambs, besides what household stuff I have already given to her:
Ffiftly, my Will is that my son william whipple shall maintaine his loveing Mother mary whiple my wife with all such nessecary things as shee shall have Ocation for duireing her Narurall life; And if shee se cause to dwell with Either of my other Children then my said son William shall allow to his sister or brother where my loveing wife shall make her aboad according to her Nessesity, & his ability. Sixthly, I Constitute & Appoynt my loveing son William Whipple my Executor to Execute my last will & Testament, to pay all my just Debts, & Receive all my just debts, and to se my Body decently buried; And in Confirmation of this my last Will & Testament I have hereunto set my hand & seale this Twenty & Seventh day of ffebruarey in the yeare of our Lord one Thousand Seven hundred & Eleven or Twelve And Eleventh yeare of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lady Anne, by the Grace of God Quene of Great Brittan./ Signed, Sealed, published and declared in the presence of us Job Whipple, Thomas Hopkins, & William Hopkins. William Whipple, his mark. (VII:94-99)
An inventory of his movable estate was submitted by the Town Subscribers on 15 March 1712, and included such items as: two gunns, beds and furniture, thirty pounds of wollen yarne, cotton & wooll cloath, one chest, ten pounds of fethers, saddles & pannell, old iron tooles, cart & wheeles, grindstone, beetle & wedges, old lumber meat & butter, Indian corn, two oxen, five cowes, hefers, yearelings, 3 maares, four swine, twenty seven sheepe, looking glass, etc. The sum total of his movable estate was over 110 pounds, which was about average for a Rhode Island farmer at that time. (VII: 94-99).
Considering that much is known about his Louquisset brothers, it is surprising that so little of his life is preserved in written records. Unlike his brothers, pre-1675 Indian War accounts of him are unavailable. As seen above, the town council rejected his claim that he fought in that war. The earliest recorded activity in the colony was 1671, when as a teenager he was forced to take an oath of fealty to the king, and in 1678 when he found a stray cow. Even then, it is not clear as to whether he was still living in Providence town, with or near his father, or had moved to the Louquisset. Not until March 13, 1681 is it clear that he had done so.
It would appear that William lived a rather uneventful, bucolic life. He was not a formally educated man and, like his Louquisset brothers, could not read or write. He apparently paid his taxes on time, was respected by his neighbors, and in the end, willed a modest estate to his children. His brothers continually bought and sold land, took an active part in town and colony politics, and assumed positions of public responsibility, but not William--- what history did record was that William was "a good neighbor."
The record of his marriage has never been found. His wife Mary is not mentioned in town records until the year 1699, and although most unusual for the seventeenth century, it may be that he married rather late in life. It may even be that he married more than once. It is known that his sons, William and Seth, were not born until he was about 40 years of age and older. The birth date of his daughter is unknown.
William Senior's youngest son, Seth, a minor at the time of his
father's death in 1712, died intestate in 1724, without known
issue. On 24 June 1734, William Whipple Junior, brother of Seth
Whipple, sold to Philip Smith of Providence, a plot of land in
Providence on the east side of the Mill River.
A controversy as to the identities of two William Whipple cousins has been ongoing for several years. This 1734 deed, plus William Junior's recently discovered nativity and necrology dates, is compelling evidence that he was the son of William, not David, Captain John's sixth son. He would not have appeared on the 1734 document as Junior, or signed his name William Whipple Junior were he David's son. The fact that Elizabeth's name and mark appeared on the deed, and that he clearly was stated to be the brother of Seth, plus other facts considered herein, is crucial evidence as to his identity.
Only one other William Whipple was born in the 1680s or 1690s in the New England Colonies. He was Captain William Whipple, born in Ipswich, Mass. 28 February 1696, and died in Kittery, Maine, 17 August 1751. His eldest son was General William Whipple, a signatory to the Declaration of Independence from New Hampshire. No proven relationship exists between the early Ipswich, Maine, and New Hampshire Whipples and the Rhode Island Whipples. The only other known Rhode Island William Whipple to be born before 1710 was William (1704) son of William, and grandson of David.
Captain William Whipple3 (William2, John1) was born about 1691 in Rhode Island and died in Smithfield, Rhode Island 16 November 1776. He married Elizabeth Sprague about 1713. She was born 26 May 1694 and died after 1735. William and Elizabeth had 17 children.
William Whipple Junior was buried in the "Whipple Burial Lot, on
the Whipple farm on Lime Rock Road"
George Hawkins, of unknown relationship, died as a child "by
falling on the ice at Lime Rock," in 1831; accordingly, if the markers
were moved immediately thereafter, William Junior would have already
been deceased for 55 years. The uncertain date of 1697 could indicate
that those responsible for the removal, one or more generations later,
were even less aware of the facts than those who had the marker
inscribed sometime after 1776. The inscription on his headstone read,
"Captain William Whipple, Died 16 Nov 1776, aged 79 years."
It is assumed that the headstones of William's wife and sons
Anthony and Joseph, who died young, had disappeared before the
removal. It seems logical that William Senior, his wife Mary, and
others of their children and grandchildren would have been buried in
this family burial plot, but this question likely will not be answered
because the plot was "plowed up" after removal of the stones. The
headstones removed to Moshassuck Cemetery no longer stand having been
replaced by a communal monument.
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It is, indeed, probable that the headstones of more of the William
Senior and William Junior families were moved at that time. It
appears that the 'list' supplied by L.A.Sayles was corrupted or
otherwise inaccurately transferred to cemetery records. The headstones
of at least two other family members, not on the Sayles' list, are
known to have been removed at that time.
William Whipple Junior lived and died on the Louquisset estate
handed down to him by his father in 1712. "This property was located
in Smithfield Township (now the town of Lincoln) on the road that
leads from Providence to Worcester, Massachusetts. William lived in a
small house that stood a little east of the road not far from a place
called Lime Rock. He had the largest family of any of the Whipples on
record."
William Junior married Elizabeth Sprague about the year 1713. She
was the daughter of Anthony and Mary (Tilden) Sprague of Cumberland
Township. "They (the Spragues) lived in the west central part of the
Cumberland on the Blackstone River. Smithfield was just on the other
side of the river. Apparently when Elizabeth married William Whipple
Junior she moved to Smithfield, but obviously kept close ties with her
parent's family. Two other daughters of Anthony and Mary married
Whipples. Mary Sprague was married at Providence (probably Smithfield)
to Eleazer, son of Eleazer (Captain John's third son). Phebe Sprague
married Peter Whipple, son of William, who was the son of David
(Captain John's sixth son). Peter and Phebe lived in
Cumberland."
William and three of his oldest sons were listed in Smithfield
records of 1748. The town had earlier passed a "Highway Act." This act
provided for, "surveyors who made it their duty to inspect the roads
within the limits of their respective districts, and enough were
appointed to care for the highways ... specific provision was made,
and every male inhabitant of the town, twenty-one years or older and
able bodied, was required to work on the highways six days per year."
It is thus seen that by the year 1748, 63 years after the death of Captain John, only seven adult (16 years or older) Whipple men resided in the Louquisset meadows, each a descendant of either William or Eleazer, Captain's John's third and fourth sons. By the time of the Smithfield census of 1774, the Whipple population had decreased to five male heads-of-household: Benjamin, John, William, Joseph, and Stephen. The first three were sons of William Junior, and he, at an age in the mid to late 80s, was apparently living with one of them. Stephen, William Junior's second cousin, was the youngest son of Job.
The Joseph Whipple in this census ostensibly was the grandson of
Colonel Joseph Whipple, the seventh son of Captain John. Joseph
(1734-1816) moved to south Smithfield (not the Louquisset meadows)
about the year 1750, and had four sons, William, John, Samuel, and
George. The only other known descendant of a non-Louquisset brother in
Smithfield Township before the mid 1800s was Ephraim, the great-great
grandson of Benjamin Whipple, the fifth son of Captain John. Ephraim
(1800-1875), who moved to Greenville, in southwest Smithfield Township
in about 1825, had three sons, Andrew, William, and John.
Elizabeth Whipple was a documented descendant of a Mayflower family. Her great great grandfather, Richard Warren, was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact. Elizabeth and William's 17 children, all of whom were born on their Louquisset farm, including eight sons, claimed the Mayflower as their heritage. It is unusual that so few of their Smithfield sons produced offspring.
Jeremiah apparently died as a child or left home at an early
age. Anthony died at the age of 27, Joseph at 29. Both died intestate
with their father serving as administrator; neither fathered children.
In summary of the descendants of the Louquisset brothers, the sons of William Junior who lived and died in Louquisset, Anthony, Joseph, John, Benjamin, and William, (and perhaps Jeremiah), fathered only one daughter and one son among them, and even that son died childless. As previously noted, none of Samuel's (second son of Captain John), descendants stayed in Smithfield. Thus, with the possible exception of Scott, the great great grandson of Eleazer, after two centuries the surname inherited from the original Louquisset brothers, was no longer heard in the meadows of the Louquisset. As noted herein, in time Whipples from other than the three original families eventually moved into both the southern and northern sections of Smithfield-Lincoln. These later descendants of Captain John's other sons, plus a few descendants of those families described below have lived for centuries even in the environs of Lime Rock.
This eventual state of affairs was quite unlike earlier days in the
Louquisset settlement. "Below is a tax record levied by the town of
Providence, 16 June 1713. The source is E. Richardson, The History of
Woonsocket, 1641-1876, 51-53. Whipples in the list of taxpayers on
that date were: Daniel, 116; Eleazer, 15; Eleazer Junior, 16, James,
18, Job, 17; Seth, 119; Thomas, 5; William with mother, 38. The
number behind the name was the dwelling place along the roads. Eleazer
and four of his sons, Eleazer Junior, James and Job, who lived in
dwellings 15 through 18, and Daniel who lived in dwelling 116
comprised the Eleazer Whipple family"
Jesse Whipple5 (Eleazer4, William3, William2, John1) third and youngest son of Eleazer, was born 7 February 1771 on the family farm in Cumberland, and died 3 July 1840 in Franklin County, Indiana. He married Percy Anna Streeter about 1798. She was born 21 August 1776 and died about 1860. Six children were born to this couple.
Percy Anna was the daughter of Lieutenant George Streeter5 (John4,
Stephen3, Stephen2, Stephen1). Stephen Senior was married to Ursula
Adams, the daughter of Henry, great-great-great grandfather of John
Adams, president of the United States.
Smithfield records evidence the deaths of three of William Junior's
sons in the eighteenth century, Anthony, Joseph, and William. As
stated, William Junior's oldest son, Ensign William, was the father of
only one child, a daughter. Consequently, on 4 June 1791, he deeded
his homestead to his nephew Jesse Whipple, the youngest son of his
deceased brother Eleazer. "Know all men by these presents that I
William Whipple of Smithfield ... for and in consideration of the love
and good will which I have and do bear toward my dutiful and well
beloved nephew Jesse Whipple of Cumberland but now residing in
Smithfield, son of Eleazer Whipple of Cumberland ... do freely,
clearly, and absolutely give and grant unto the said Jesse Whipple
... four separate tracts of land. The first tract containeth by
estimation forty acres be the same more or less, and is the homestead
farm whereon I now live. With two dwelling houses, one barn, one
coopers shop, one corn crib, and outhouses ... The second tract of
land is a woodlot being by estimation fourteen acres that did belong
to my honored father William Whipple deceased ... The third tract
being a two-thirds part of a boggy meadow ... I do likewise give unto
the said Jesse Whipple one -half of the lime kiln. In witness whereof
I the said William Whipple have hereunto set my hand and seal this
fourth day of June, Anno Domini, one thousand seven hundred and ninety
one."
In return, Jesse signed an affidavit affirming that "both my
honored uncle and aunt William and Mary Whipple may live on the land
for the rest of their natural lives."
As noted previously, Jesse's grandfather, William Whipple Junior,
became extensively involved in the lime mining trade in the early
eighteenth century when, "he gave a lease of a portion of his farm in
Providence (afterward Smithfield) for mining purposes to John and
James Alford (merchants) of Boston, on 10 October 1715."
"Throughout the seventeenth century and the first half of the
eighteenth century, the lime-mining industry was carried on in a
part-time and intermittent fashion, an important though small-scale
exploitation of the resource. In the hundred years following 1750,
however, lime quarrying and processing became a major industry and led
to the development of a substantial village."
"The village of Lime Rock centered around and was named for its
lime-mining industry, one of the oldest quarrying operations in North
America. The availability of such natural limestone had a significant
impact on the early building traditions of Rhode Island. If not
quarried, lime could be obtained only by the burning of shells
gathered on the beaches after a storm had washed them ashore. The
ability to make burned lime mortars allowed for the development of
strong masonry, most evident in the 'stone enders,' a form which
dominated northern Rhode Island building for centuries. As recently as
the 1960s, the Eleazer Whipple House, a fine 'stone ender' in Lime
Rock, was demolished and its material scattered to several sites. (As
earlier noted, the sons of Eleazer Whipple, William Senior's brother,
were likewise successful lime producers). Only a very few of these
dwellings still remain, less than a dozen in the entire state. They
are an architectural legacy shared by every Rhode Islander. Each
demolition and fire has made the remaining stock of
seventeenth-century houses more precious and rare."
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As previously shown, William Junior deeded away most of his mining
interests to his sons in the 1750s. It is clear that from the year
1791, when Ensign William deeded his lime rock property and business
over to him, Jesse Whipple continued in the profitable manufacturing
trade that had been established by his grandfather and carried on by
his uncles. For example, Anthony and Joseph Whipple, his uncles, died
in 1751 and 1760 respectively. Anthony's estate of over 500 English
pounds showed large sums of money owned to him by Richard Harris and
the Mowrey family. The inventory of Joseph's estate, valued at 3979
English pounds (an enormous amount of money at the time), revealed
that he was owed over 2000 pounds by such fellow mine owners as John
Dexter, Joseph and Christopher Jenckes, Richard Harris, and three of
his own brothers.
One can envision Jesse Whipple, his sons Jabez and George, and
perhaps a few hired hands, hard at work in their coopers shop around
the year 1718, as they burned lime and built barrels to store and
deliver the product. "Each stage of lime production was
labor-intensive from quarrying stone and making barrels to producing
charcoal needed for processing, loading and firing the kilns,
regulating them, packing the finished product into barrels, and
carting the casks into Providence where the lime was sold. Though Lime
Rock's glory days ended ... The slow but steady market for its product
since then has served to keep it a stable community. Its work force
and population are still virtually the same size ... The monopoly
which the Dexters, Harrises, Whipples, Jenckeses, and Mowreys held for
so long over industry and ownership, the community leadership kept
Lime rock a close-knit community; the interconnections among these
families were labyrinthine and contributed to the social and physical
stability of the village. Many of Lime Rock's handsome houses dating
from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries still stand, and,
in our age of mobility and change, a surprising number are owned by
families who trace their origins to the early settlers of the
village. The unique character of Lime Rock, and, in particular the
antiquity of its lime-producing industry have been recognized by the
village's inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
Among the 29 individual Lime Rock properties listed on the Register
is the ancient Whipple home. Part of this property dates back to the
time of William Senior and the 1670s. Its National Register
description reads: "The Jesse Whipple House. The Whipple House is a
good example of he Greek revival style---one and one half stories,
5-bays, with a center door, it has paneled pilasters, wide cornices,
and a heave Doric portico. Together with his uncle, William Whipple,
Jesse Whipple owned interests in limestone deposits, part interest in
a kiln, and a coopers shop. [NR-LRHD]."
The Jesse Whipple House is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Great Road and Simon Sayles Road (Structure 1). Next door to this (not shown) was the house (demolished in the 1960s) of Eleazer Whipple. Today, the Lincoln Central Elementary School stands in its place. Across the Great Road south is the Whipple-Mowrey cemetery, called in the Register "Lime Rock Cemetery, " noting that it is one of the oldest in the state and further the variety and good condition of the headstones. To the immediate west of the cemetery are the remains of the Nathaniel Mowrey Tavern (Structure 2). The Whipple and Mowrey families intermarried on numerous occasions across the generations. Structures 8 and 10 were Mowrey homes. Other families that claim the Whipples in their genealogies lived in structures 12, 23 24, and 19; the old Whitman, Aldrich, Harris, and Smith homes. Structure 7 is the Masonic Lodge whose membership included several Whipple men. And, for generations, the descendants of William and Eleazer Whipple attended services in the town's only worship center---the First Baptist Church (Structure 14).
Just off the map, about one fourth of a mile east on Simon Sayles Road at the intersection of the Old River Road stands the mansion house of Job Whipple, the son of Eleazer. As previously noted, this house is also on the National Register.
"The Limerock Historic District comprises twenty architecturally or
historically significant buildings, three lime quarries, and the ruins
of three lime kilns. These structures reflect the history of Limerock
during its prominence and form the center of this old village. The
district begins on the east at the intersection of Simon Sayles Road
with Great Road to include the Greek Revival house built by the
Whipple family and distinguished by a fine Doric portico, wide corner
pilasters, and heavy cornice. The district proceeds for about one mile
north and east. Within one square mile there are in the village good
examples of New England vernacular architecture from the late
seventeenth through the nineteenth century."
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Jesse sold the estate deeded to him by his uncle and moved
approximately 800 miles southwest to the town of Lawrenceburg,
Indiana, on the banks of the Ohio River. The land and buildings that
he sold, in 1817,
Two situations may have been among the deciding factors. It is the
understanding of one of Jesse's descendants that ... "The usable
limestone on the property just ran out and no one was willing to sell
him additional deposits. About that same time period, a syndicate of
local mine owners bought most all the mining rights and apparently
Jesse was excluded. Several of his wife's family, mostly farmers, were
moving west at the time, so they just packed up and joined them."
Also, by the early 19th century, the Rhode Island state
legislature, "believing that industrialization served the public
interest, allowed mill owners to take precedence over those of farmers
and fishermen. Farmers could sue for compensation when mill dams
flooded their land but they could not stop the dams from operating
... within a short time most rivers became polluted by industrial
waste ... by 1815, there were a hundred cotton spinning mills in the
state employing seven thousand workers ... the decline in the farming
and maritime trades left the common people no other source of gainful
employment ... twenty-one of the state's thirty-one towns found some
river capable of sustaining a spinning factory ... agricultural
employment declined to only about 10 percent."
Forced from their ancestral home, Jesse Whipple and family became
part of a mass migration to the wilderness territories west of the
state of Ohio, in the then recently created state of Indiana. Indiana
became a state in 1816, and by the time of its first census in 1820,
Jesse was listed as a resident of Franklin County, about 10 miles west
of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Jabez Whipple (1803-1878) oldest son of Jesse was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, 18 August 1803. He moved to Indiana as a boy of 14 or 15 years of age with his parents, and there married Susan Benton, probably in 1824 or 1825. The 1830 Indiana federal census lists this couple to be living at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Dearborn County, with one son, age 5-10, and two sons, age 4 years and younger. The town of Lawrenceburg was established as the county seat in 1803. In 1810, a two-story log cabin courthouse was built that subsequently burned down in 1826. Due to this, their marriage record is not available. Susan Benton was born in 1808 in the state of New York. Jabez, like most of his ancestors, was a farmer and member of the Baptist church. He farmed in Dearborn County, Harrison Township, adjacent to the farms of his brothers Abner and George just south of the Franklin County line, from 1825 until approximately 1868; at which time he moved to Decatur county to live with his son Murray. Jabez Whipple died 12 December 1878, and was buried in the Horseshoe Bend Cemetery, Westport, Indiana. His wife died 5 November 1883 and is buried beside him.
William Theodore Whipple7, the sixth son of (Jabez6, Jesse5, Eleazer4, William3, William2, John1), migrated to western Oklahoma Territory in 1896. He was born 10 April 1835 on the family farm in northern Dearborn County, Indiana a few miles west of Cincinnati Ohio. Highway I-74 from Cincinnati to Indianapolis presently runs through the old homestead, approximately three miles west of the Ohio border. The 1860 Indiana census indicates that he was living with his oldest brother, Levi, on a farm in Decatur County, Westport, Sand Creek Township, about 20 miles southwest of the old homestead. Eighteen months later, 16 February 1862, William married Emily O'Donnell. Nothing is known of the O'Donnell family. After her death in 1875, William married Amelia Pavy. The names of his children are given below.
William was an injured veteran of the Union Army. He entered military service a few months after the birth of his first child, entering March 7, 1864, and was honorably discharged August 25th 1865. He was injured in the line of duty at Burnt Hickory, Georgia, during General Sherman' march to Atlanta. William was 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 150 pounds, had black hair, and always wore a beard.
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On 25 September 1895 William applied for a grant of land (northeast quarter of Section 29, in Township 13W, of Range 9W, containing 160 acres) in Oklahoma Territory, approximately three miles southwest of the present town of Calumet. The final patent deed (application 10417, certificate 676) was granted March 1, 1904, and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. His Last Will and Testament reads:
This is the last will and testament of me, W.T. Whipple, made this
16th day of July 1908. I bequeath all of the land now my homestead,
and all my personal property and money on hand at the time of my death
to my wife Amelia Whipple, subject to the payment of my legal
debts. And at her death all property real and persona shall be divided
between the following heirs as follows: Mary Taylor and Ollie
Underwood my daughters and Alva Whipple and Charley Whipple my
sons. Also, Alva Reed and Laurie Reed shall have their mother's
share. I also bequeath to the heirs of William Whipple Jr., one dollar
each. I leave my wife as Executrix and guardian for Alva and Laurie
Reed and Charles Pavy (only child by a previous marriage) as her
assistant. Signed and delivered in presents of witnesses hereto
attached this 16th day of July 1908.
A monument erected over his grave at Red Rock Methodist Cemetery, Calumet, Oklahoma serves as a record of his ancestral heritage. This monument is etched from black marble, is seven feet high and 11 feet wide at its base, and reads:
This monument is erected to commemorate the life of William T. Whipple, pioneer, and first Whipple to settle the Cheyenne-Arapaho lands of western Oklahoma Territory in 1896. His homestead was 2 miles north and 2 miles west of Red Rock Cemetery. He was a farmer-rancher and one of the founders and minister of Bethany Community Church, one mile west of his home. His ancestors, likewise, were primarily Northern Baptist or Congregationalist. This narrative is taken from the book, Sons and Daughters of Jesse Whipple, by Dr. Charles Whipple, Jr.
William was the great-great-great-great grandson of Captain John Whipple, the first Whipple in America, who arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from Bocking, England in 1632. Captain John's daughter, Abigail Whipple Hopkins, was the grandmother of Stephen Hopkins, a signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. William's great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Richard Warren, was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact in 1620. Other such notables among his extended family were Abraham Whipple, the first Commodore of the American Navy, Esek Hopkins the first Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Navy, and John and Quincy Adams, presidents of the United States. His great grandfather, Eleazer Whipple, served in Captain Weatherhead's Company of the Rhode Island Militia during the Revolutionary War. William served in the Union Army during the Civil War in Company H. 123rd Regiment of the Indiana Volunteers.
William and Emily O'Donnell's children were: William, Alva, Ollie Underwood, Mary Taylor, and Charles T. After Emily's death he married Amelia Pavy. Their daughter was Emma Reed. Emma and Charles T. accompanied their parents to Oklahoma. Charles T. and Marcella Raidt had 4 children: John, Mildred Wegner, Theresa Thornberg Wahrenberger, and Charles M. Sr. The grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren of Charles T. dedicate this monument July 5, 2003.
The verso of the monument records his lineage from Captain John Whipple
The opportunity to carry on the surname of the three brothers in Rhode Island (not just Louquisset) history was left to seven non-Louquisset descendants: Daniel, the grandson of Samuel; Eleazer, the grandson of Eleazer; Moses and Eleazer, grandsons of William Junior; and, to the great grandsons of Eleazer, Ephraim and Stephen Junior. The last four cousins were preceded to Cumberland Township by their uncle Daniel, son of Eleazer. An estimation of the dates of their migrations was arrived at by utilizing the dates and places of their children's births as given by the Whipple/Gen/Web and the sources it quotes.
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Daniel Whipple4 (Noah B.3, Samuel2, John1), third and youngest son
of Noah, was born in Glocester Township in 1703, and died there about
the year 1790. He was father to eight children and had at least 24
grandchildren, of whom at least five continued the Whipple name. Of
his sons only Jonathan is known to have had children. Jonathan
(1731-1805), who lived and died in Glocester, had five sons on which
knowledge of Stephen only is available. Stephen (1756-1811) had three
children including two sons, Ziba and Smith. Stephen and Ziba were
buried in the Whipple burial lot on Gazza Road in Burrillville, as
were several other relatives. Of Ziba's eight children, at least five
sons were buried in Rhode Island. Of these sons, seven were successful
mill owners and founded the town of "Whipple" Rhode Island, which is
still shown on most maps of Rhode Island. Daniel S.8 (Ziba7,
Stephen6, Jonathan5, Daniel4, Noah3,
Samuel2, John1) owned at least
two mills. "A mill was reported started here about 1838. It burned
down in 1845 and Daniel Whipple, who purchased the site, erected a new
mill. Daniel opened another mill in nearby Mapleville in 1849, and
devoted his interests there, while the rest of the Whipple family ran
the Gazzaville mills for many years. In 1888, the mill burned and was
never rebuilt. The former mill owners' house, lived in by a Whipple
descendant until the 1960s, still stands ... Along the Clear River
and along Whipple Avenue, west of Oakland is the former mill hamlet of
Plainville, later named Whipple ... Charles H.8 (Ziba7,
Stephen6, Jonathan5, Daniel4, Noah3,
Samuel2, John1) purchased Plainview in 1856
and began the manufacture of woolen goods. The town was renamed
Whipple in 1891 when a railroad and station were constructed. However,
by 1929, most of the employed residents were employed outside of
Whipple. A description in the brochure advertising the sale of the
village in 1929, described it as a 'cozy and snug little village.' The
mill was subsequently demolished. The mill site today is not visible
from the road, but several of the old mill houses along Whipple Avenue
survive."
Eleazer Whipple4 (James3, Eleazer2, John1) only known child of
James Whipple, was a merchant in Warwick, Rhode Island. He was also a
sea captain and died at sea in November of 1760. He and Deliverance
Rhodes, whom he married 24 June 1744, had at least eight children, at
least two of whom were sons who settled on farms in Warwick and
Coventry, Rhode Island. Eleazer's son Job, whose twin brother was
Joseph, had five daughters and at least three sons including John and
Resolved. Resolved's son was Job R. who had Henry and was buried in
the Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, as were most of Job R.'s
descendants. Joseph, the twin of Job, sons of Eleazer, had two
daughters and seven sons. He settled in Coventry, Rhode Island, and
was a farmer. Thomas6 (Joseph5, Eleazer4, James3,
Eleazer2, John1) son
of Joseph, was a manufacturer, and at one time served as Lieutenant
Governor of Rhode Island. William, Joseph's fourth son, lived and died
in Coventry. Christopher, youngest son of Joseph, lived on the
homestead farm in Coventry. He had six sons and at least 10 grandsons
who lived out their lives in Rhode Island. Of Joseph's other sons,
John, the oldest, settled in Pennsylvania, and Eleazer became a
Methodist minister in Utica, New York.
Daniel3 (Eleazer2, John1), the fourth son of Eleazer, moved to
north Cumberland Township about the year 1716. He preceded his four
nephews to Cumberland by 40 to 50 years. His property near Diamond
Hill Road, north of the present Nate Whipple Highway (formerly Sneech
Pond Road) was approximately four miles north of his birthplace.
Ephraim Whipple5 (Job4, Job3, Eleazer2,
John1) followed his uncle
Daniel to Cumberland about the year 1768 then to Attleboro,
Massachusetts in 1796. He was a farmer and later a goldsmith. Ephraim
married Silvia Lapham in 1745 and had three sons, David, Job, and
Ephraim. His second marriage was to Priscilla Appleby in 1754, a
marriage that produced eight children including three sons, Marmaduke,
Barneville, and Jencks. Four of Ephraim's sons and one daughter,
Ephraim Junior, Job, Marmaduke, Barneville, and Anne Carpenter, moved
to Washington County, New York. "Union Villiage was incorporated in
1809. Heretofore it was 'Whipple City' and originally grew from the
fact that Job Whipple was the most prominent and successful among the
early settlers in 1775 ... Whipple, a Quaker, prospered and determined
that water power was able to support a cotton factory ... After his
children were grown, Job moved west ... The cotton factory founded by
him closed in the 1840s. By the 1890s, the Whipple name had
practically disappeared."
Stephen Whipple Junior5 (Stephen4, Job3, Eleazer2, John1) migrated to Cumberland about the year 1773. He was father to 11 children and had at least 19 grandchildren including four known Whipple grandsons. At least four of his children were buried in Cumberland, Olney, Nancy, James, and Betsy.
Moses Whipple4 (William3, William2, John1), the sixth son of
William Junior, was born 21 January 1729 and died 3 September 1807. It
is estimated that he left Louquisset no later than 1767 at the age of
38. He lived the last 40 years of life on his new property located
just east of the Blackstone River on the road that leads to Cumberland
Hill, about two miles from his father's farm. He and wife, Patience
Matteson, had four children. They in return produced 27 known children
of which at least 10 continued the Whipple name. Moses was buried in
the Ballou Cemetery on Mendon Road in Cumberland, as were two of his
children and at least 12 grandchildren. His oldest son, William,
inherited the family property, which he kept until his death in
1839. He had 11 children including six sons. He in turn passed the
farm on to his son William. "He resides in Cumberland, on the farm
formerly owned by his grandfather, near the Blackstone River."
Eleazer Whipple4 (William3, William2, John1), eighth and youngest
son of William Junior, was born 30 January 1733 and died 22 March
1781. He was married in about 1757 to Anna Brown, who was born 21
August 1736. To this couple nine children were born. In 1769, Eleazer
bought the property of Joseph Razee, a tract of 104 acres in east
central Cumberland Township. He, like his ancestors, was a farmer and
was well esteemed in the community. He was elected to the position of
Justice of the Peace in 1777. His sons, Eleazer, Joseph, and Jesse
inherited the farm, although, as previously noted, Jesse sold his
interest to Joseph when still a teenager and moved to Smithfield to
live with his uncle William. This tract of land was divided into
five-acre lots, each brother owning alternate fields of five acres
each.
In that most names, dates, and events alluded to in this narrative are well documented in numerous sources, only those specifically relating to the authors purposes are cited. The authors wish to extend appreciation to Weldon Whipple and Christian V. Whipple for their helpful insights and considerable computer skills. Charles Whipple's previous work, Sons and Daughters of Jesse, 1976, cites additional sources. For general information, or for other recommended sources on the Louquisset brothers, consult Whipple.Org.
The Louquisset Brothers
