David Whitford, Jr.

Notes:

Alice Whitford, who married Nathan Dawley and named two sons David, may be a daughter of David & Mercy. Some genealogies show her as a daughter of David's brother Joseph, but that is uncertain. Nathan & Alice Dawley signed Exeter land deeds on 22 Nov 1755, 18 Aug 1758, and 20 Feb 1759.

David & Marcy had several children, according to Whitford descendant Matthew Schmidt. Unfortunately, their names were burned off the records in the fires at the North Kingstown Town Hall. Other records have shown that they had at least three sons: Joshua, David, & John, probably all born in the 1720s and 1730s.

David married Mercy Wells 5 Apr 1722, North Kingstown, RI. Mercy (daughter of John Wells and Elizabeth Congdon) was born Abt 1705. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

She is mentioned as Mercy Whitford in the will of her father, John Wells of North Kingstown. I have estimated her year of birth.

Notes:

David & Mary were married by Elisha Cole, Asst.

Notes:

Alden Beaman's "RI Genealogical Register," Vol. 1, No. 3 shows Pasco as the younger brother, being born in 1674; he gives the year of birth for Nicholas as 1670. Town historian Martha R. McPartland, in the book "The History Of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, 1677-1960, with Related Genealogy," p. 270, states that the wife of Pasco, Jr. was Mary Stafford. It is known that she married a Mr. Whitford.

Pasco — Lydia Bly. Lydia was born 1679, North Kingstown, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

See will of Daniel Bly dated 28 Jan 1723/24 which mentions a daughter Lydia.

John — Elizabeth Congdon. Elizabeth (daughter of Benjamin Congdon and Elizabeth Albro) was born Abt 1682; died Aft 1732. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Paraphrased summary of information for Pasco Whitford:
Family tradition says that Pasco was born about 1640 in England. Details of this family tradition were written down by William Whitford of Addison, VT (son of Peleg, Pasco, Nicholas, Pasco). He states that Pasco and his two sons, Pasco Jr. and Nicholas, came to Rhode Island from the West Indies, having been driven out of that location by the French during the naval warfare between England and France. They fled to Rhode Island, settling first in Portsmouth, then in East and West Greenwich (see William Whitford's "Narrative of the Whitford Family" in the Vermont Historical Society Collection). William Whitford reports that Pasco is said to have come from Bedfordshire, England, because of a record of his paying taxes there in 1680. However, according to Austin's "Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island," he was taxed in Newport, RI, in 1680. Another possibility, stated in a letter dated 3 June 1911 from George N. Whitford to Walter John Coates, is that Pasco may have been from Truro, Cornwall, England, since Whitfords have been numerous there for the last 400 years. There was also an old Cornish family of the surname Pascoe, who were plentiful in that area. Possibly the maiden name of Pasco Whitford's mother or grandmother was Pascoe, although the LDS Family History Library records of marriages prior to 1640 in Cornwall do not show any matches between a Pascoe and a Whitford. During the 1690 proceedings of the General Assembly of the colony of Rhode Island, presided over by Governor Henry Bull, Mr. Pasco Whitford (among others) was voted a freeman of the colony (see p.270, Records of the Colony of Rhode Island, compiled by John Russell Bartlett, Vol.3, Providence, RI). Pasco was living in East Greenwich at that time. On 13 April 1697 he is recorded as a witness on a deed from Samuel Eldred, Sr. to his son John in Kings Town. Pasco is also mentioned in a will dated 1682, of Charles Martin of East Greenwich (see History of East Greenwich, 1960, by M. R. McPartland, pp. 25-28 for a deciphering of this will). However, some of these references to Pasco Whitford may actually be about his son, also named Pasco Whitford.

Ref: Marcel Beaudet [mbeaudet@tampabay.rr.com]

All that being said, J. R. Cole, in his "History of Washington and Kent Counties" pub. by W. W. Preston & Co. in 1889, states on p. 1343 that "the family is said to be of Welsh descent," and, "Nicholas Whitford came from Wales."

According to Alden Beaman's "RI Genealogical Register," Vol. 1 No. 3, Pasco's gravestone with the inscription PW 1690 is in the East Greenwich Historical Cemetery #29, near Tarbox Corners. It is actually in West Greenwich #29, located in the woods near Tarbox Corners, off Carrs Pond Rd. His gravestone has been photographed and will be posted at our family website.

His name is written variously as Pasque, Paskee, Pasco, and Paskeo. How was it really pronounced and written?

An online source for Whitford family tree information is Craig Rice's data:
http://www.gencircles.com/users/craigjrice/1 (or do a google search for "Ancestors and Cousins of Craig Rice")
But beware -- his information is not all accurate. It is just a possible source of connections for research.

Pasco — Mary STANTON. Mary was born Abt 1650. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

It is not certain that her name was Mary Stanton.

It is possible that Mary was a descendant of, or relative of, Robert Stanton, our ancestor through the Tibbetts line (Henry Tibbetts was married to Sarah Stanton). Some online genealogies show Pasco's wife as a daughter of Robert & Avis, but I have not seen any documentation of this.

Notes:

Benjamin settled at Portsmouth, RI, before 6 June 1670, when he applied to be a freeman there. He bought land at Narragansett in 1671, and probably moved there about 1679.

Benjamin married Elizabeth Albro Abt 1671. Elizabeth (daughter of John Albro and Dorothy Unknown) was born Between 1646 and 1647, Portsmouth, RI; died 15 Nov 1720; was buried , Congdon Hill, North Kingstown, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Elizabeth was the widow of Nathaniel Potter.