RI Family Group Sheet for the John White, Jr. Family

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Husband: John WHITE , Jr.
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  Birthdate: 13 Mar 1702 - Mendon, , Massachusetts
 Death date:
     Buried:
     Father: John White Sr. (1663-Aft 1709)
     Mother: Sarah (    -Aft 1725)
    Married:                                     Place:
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Other Spouse: Rachel Benson (1708-    ) - 6 Jun 1728 - Providence, , Rhode Island
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Wife: Sarah ???
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  Birthdate:
 Death date:
     Buried:
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Children
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1 M Noah WHITE
  Birthdate: 1 Oct 1724 - Providence, , Rhode Island
 Death date:
     Buried:
     Spouse: Rebecca TRASK (    -    )
       Marr: 2 Aug 1740
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2 F Mary WHITE
  Birthdate: 13 Oct 1726 - Providence, , Rhode Island
 Death date:
     Buried:
     Spouse: Nathan SHIPPEE (    -    )
       Marr: 1743
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Husband's General Notes
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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
marriages 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. He probably
   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.

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Sources
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1. 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..

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May Notes
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