| 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.
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Abt 1640 - Aft 1690 (~ 51 years)