Nicholas WHITFORD

Notes:

Some information on the Whitford family can be found in Beaman's Vital Records, Vol. 7, Washington County, pp. 408 - 414. This includes the marriage record of Nicholas and Susannah, as well as the births of several of their children.

The 1774 census shows Nicholas with 4 males over 16, 3 under 16, 3 females over 16, and 1 under 16, living in West Greenwich. The 1777 military census shows Nicholas of West Greenwich as 16-50 and able to bear arms. The 1782 census shows Nicholas Whitford of West Greenwich with 1 male over 50, 2 males and 2 females 22-49, 1 boy and 1 girl 16-21, and 2 boys under 16. (While there is a possibility that some or all of these records were for another Nicholas Whitford, most likely they pertain to this particular Nicholas.)

See his will dated 29 Oct 1785, proved last Mon Aug 1790, West Greenwich pp. 348-350. I have made an assumption that Nicholas died in West Greenwich.

In 1769 Nicholas Whitford bought from Thomas Comstock some property on Weaver Hill Road in West Greenwich. This became the Whitford farm and stayed in the family until 1866. Nicholas passed on the farm to his son Levi, and from him it went to Levi's sons Ezekiel & Nicholas. Ezekiel bought the rights from his brother Nicholas in 1814. In 1866 James A. Whitford, grandson of Ezekiel, sold the farm to Rhodes Greene & Ephraim B. Harrington; in 1884 Greene & Harrington sold it to Burrill Andrews. Along the way sections of it were sold to other individuals. In 1886 Andrews sold his portion, consisting of 70 acres and the house, to George W. Fish. Thereafter it stayed in the Fish family until 1979 when it was sold to John Searle. The house is still standing and occupied; the family grave plot is adjoining. (source: historical collections at the Louttit Library, 274 Victory Highway, West Greenwich, RI)

In recent years, descendant Ray Whitford and family of North Attleboro, MA, spent much time and effort cleaning up this family burial plot.

Nicholas married Mary Jenkins Abt 1747. Mary died 29 Apr 1752, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI. [Group Sheet]

1. Reuben Whitford was born 16 Jun 1748, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI; died 12 Aug 1831; was buried , Historical Cemetery 27, Burnt Sawmill Rd., West Greenwich, RI.
2. Simeon Whitford was born 28 Apr 1750, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI; died 5 Mar 1831, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI; was buried , Historical Cemetery 27, West Greenwich, RI.

Nicholas married Susannah CARR 18 Nov 1752, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI. Susannah (daughter of Caleb CARR and Sarah RICHMOND) was born 3 Feb 1733/34, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI; died 1802, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

I have a photocopy of the original marriage entry in the Town of West Greenwich. They were married by Samuel Hopkins, Justice of the Peace.

1. Levi Whitford was born 21 Oct 1753, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI; died 10 Sep 1813, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI; was buried , Levi Whitford Lot, Weaver Hill Rd., West Greenwich, RI.
2. Jesse Whitford was born 19 Jun 1755, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI; died 16 Jul 1755, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI.
3. Mary Whitford was born 10 Mar 1757, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI; died 4 Aug 1832.
4. Asa Whitford was born 30 Dec 1761, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI; died 18 Jan 1843.
5. Meribah Whitford was born Abt 1763, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI; died 5 Sep 1849; was buried , Job Harrington Lot, Division St., West Greenwich, RI.
6. Carmi WHITFORD was born 13 Feb 1766, West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI; died 9 Dec 1842; was buried , Maple Root Cemetery, Harkney Hill Rd., Coventry, RI.

Notes:

Pasco lived in East and West Greenwich, and in Coventry, RI. The first three children were born in East Greenwich (Vital Records of Kent Co. p. 171). The rest of the children were born in West Greenwich (Vital Records of Kent Co. p. 102).

On 2 May 1727, by vote of the RI Colonial Assembly, Pasco Whitford of East Greenwich was admitted freeman of the colony (RI Colonial Records, vol. 4, p. 386).

In 1751 Pasco Whitford bought 80 acres of land from Gideon Brayton at Tarbox Corner in East Greenwich, RI. This land was originally granted to the Knight family in 1677, sold to Gideon Freeborn 1688, deeded to his daughter Mary and her husband Thomas Brayton and then passed on to their son Gideon Brayton in 1721. The house on this property has been dated at 1738 and is still standing, having been refurbished. The property passed from the Whitfords to the Tarbox family possibly through an inheritance to Pasco's granddaughter Easter (Esther?) who married Joseph Tarbox in 1788. Source: The East Greenwich Packet - Fall 1971 Vol 1 no 2.

There is a Pasco Whitford listed in the Rhode Island Colonial Census of 1 June 1774, where he is shown as head of a West Greenwich family consisting of 1 male and 1 female over 16, and 1 male under 16, and 1 black, total 4. This may be for this Pasco.

The 1777 RI Military Census shows Paskeo Whitford of West Greenwich as "60 yrs. and up."

The 1782 Census shows Pasqua Whitford's household of West Greenwich as having one male 50 and up, 2 males and 2 females 22-49, 2 boys and 2 girls 0-15. This may be for this Pasco.

He was a member of the Maple Root Church of Coventry, RI. This church was organized in 1762. His son David and David's wife, Lydia (Sweet), were also members (Arnold's Vital Records of RI, vol. 10, p. 275).

His grave site was quite challenging to find. It is located off Carr's Pond Rd. near Middle Rd., near the East Greenwich/West Greenwich border. One must trek a ways through the woods to get to it, and then it is hard to find because it is so well hidden by trees and briers. The marker is a simple rough-hewn granite stone, with a simple and rough inscription: P W 1700 - 1788. There are several other similar Whitford stones nearby, as well as quite a few Tarbox family stones. (Historical Cemetery WG 029)

Pasco married Hannah HILL Abt 1720. Hannah was born Abt 1700; died Abt 1735. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

It has been suggested that only the oldest child, Nicholas, was born to Hannah Hill, and that the next two were born to the second wife, Hannah Matteson. The age differences may indicate this. On the other hand, Reuben Whitford (son of Nicholas) mentions his Uncle Solomon Whitford in his will of 1830, which might indicate that Solomon was born of the first wife, as Nicholas was.

Notes:

It is believed that Nicholas lived in Portsmouth, West Greenwich, and North Kingstown, RI. He was reportedly a weaver by occupation. His name is found in several legal documents:
On 13 March 1683 he received a legacy of a loom from Orpheus Pomeroy of Portsmouth.
On 21 January 1697 he bought land in East Greenwich from David Shippee for 6 pounds.
On 29 November 1703 he sold a house and 30 acres of land in East Greenwich to William Underwood for 15 pounds (witnessed by John and Elizabeth Pearse and John Heath, Vol. 3 p. 96).
On 3 February 1709/10 he was granted a "quarter right" in the vacant lands of Narragansett, apportioned by the 13 original proprietors as per Act of the RI Assembly (Narra. Hist. Reg., Vol.3, p. 3); this land comprised the present town of West Greenwich.
On 14 August 1721 he and his wife, Mary, mortgaged 25 1/2 acres and a house, for 30 pounds.
On 12 March 1733 he deeded his son Pasco 20 acres.
On 7 November 1733 the mortgage of 1721 was discharged.

In his will, dated 3 December 1743, proved 28 March 1748 W. G., Nicholas mentions:
his eldest son, Pasco, second son Robert, son David, youngest son Ezekiel, eldest daughter Catherine Peckham, and daughters Dinah Weaver, Mary Greene, Ruth Summers, grandsons Jonathan Hill and Thomas Jackwaise, and great-grandson Henry Jackwaise son of granddaughter Elizabeth Jackwaise.

(for additional info see Carl Stone's notes [Dutton family] at Rootsweb's Worldconnect)

Nicholas — Mary CARR. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

It is known that Nicholas's wife was Mary. It is believed she was Mary Carr because some of the male given names of Nicholas's sons and grandsons are names found among male relatives of Mary Carr, possibly indicating that they were named after these relatives. Alden Beaman says she was Mary Casey, born ca. 1674.

If she was Mary Carr, born about 1676-1678, her parents may have been Caleb and Phillip/Phillis Carr, and her paternal grandparents were Robert and Elizabeth Carr. These are our ancestors through the Carr/Kerr line.

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.