Greene Whitford (1759 - abt. 1816)

Ancestors Descendants

Biography

Greene Whitford was the son of Thomas Whitford (1734–1818) and Alice Matteson (1734–1818).^[1]

According to unsourced family trees, he was born on 1 July 1759 in Coventry, Kent, Rhode Island Colony. (His family did reside in West Greenwich and East Greenwich, Kent County, at that time.) He married Anna Clothier Pierce (1760-1808) in 1783, most likely in Shaftsbury, Bennington County, Vermont. This story of their meeting was recorded by Greene's cousin, William Whitford, in 1862, when he was 81 years of age.^[2]

(note: this section is paraphrased from William's original words for clarity)
"In 1781, my cousin, Green Whitford, came to my father’s house in Shaftesbury, Vermont, from Rhode Island. Green and his traveling companion passed by the house of Clothier Pierce, a close neighbor. Mrs. Pierce and her daughter Anna saw them and Anna said, “There goes my husband.” Her mother asked which one, and Anna indicated Green by saying, “The one with [the] red plush jacket.” As she predicted, they were married in less than two years."
~original version is on page 4

William Whitford also recorded his memory of Greene's children on page 4 of his book:^[2]

"My cousin Green had a large family of children, went to Puts Creek, New York, near his brother Constant, where he was quite a bear hunter; was treed by one on one of his hunting excursions, and had to remain out on the tree all night. Had some ten children by his first wife. Their names, as far as I now recollect them, were Jimima, Clothier, Hiram, Thomas, Sylvenus, Alden, Dimmas, Celia, and Anna. The others have slipped my mind."

"Puts Creek" is also known as Putnam's Creek, which is located north of Ticonderoga.

Greene Whitford and Anna Clothier Pierce had the following children:

• Jimima (Whitford) Conelly (b. 1784)
• Hiram Whitford (1792–1875)
• Thomas Whitford (1799–1846)
• Cyrena (Whitford) Wells (1800–1855)
• Anna (Whitford) Sherman (1804–1876)
• Alden Whitford
• Sylvenus Whitford
• Clothier Whitford

Greene lived in Brandon, Rutland County, Vermont, in 1788. By 1799, the family lived in Hampton, Washington County, New York, where they remained through 1801. By 1803 they resided in Crown Point, Essex County, New York, where Anna died after 1804.^[3][4][5][6]

Greene married Hannah (Gray) Lewis (1772–) on 28 Feb 1808 in Bridport, Addison, Vermont.^[7]

William Whitford recalled the following about Greene's second marriage:^[2]

"His second wife was Colonel Gray's sister of Bridgeport [sic], Vt., by whom he had four children...
"Cousin Green started for the West with his second wife and children; died on the way. His wife and family returned to her friends in Bridgeport [sic]; then moved to Moriah, where some of them now live. I believe the widow is dead."

Greene Whitford and Hannah Gray Lewis had the following children:

• James Gray Whitford (1810–1900)
• Malvina Lovina (Whitford) Crane (1808-1882)

Greene's family did appear in Crown Point on the 1810 Census. There is no record of his death, but Hannah appears in the 1820 Census as a head of household in Bridport, Addison County, Vermont, suggesting that he died in the 1810s.^[8][9]

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry.com; Rhode Island, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1582-1932, extract from East Greenwich, R.I. Wills, Book 5, page 502; membership may be required to view; Lehi, UT, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Whitford, William; A Narrative of the Whitford Family, written June 1862; published by Donald E. Schafer, Shaefer Graphics, Fayettesville, Arkansas, 1998; login to FamilySearch.org required.
3. ↑ Vermont, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1778-1840; Page number 025; Lehi, UT, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
4. ↑ New York, U.S., Tax Assessment Rolls of Real and Personal Estates, 1799-1804; Original data:New York (State), Comptroller's Office. Tax Assessment Rolls of Real and Personal Estates, 1799–1804. Series B0950 (26 reels). Microfilm. New York State Archives, Albany, New York; Provo, UT, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
5. ↑ New York, Genealogical Records, 1675-1920; Reel 26, 1800 Federal Census of New York, Microfilm Series M32; Publisher: National Archives, Washington, DC.; Page Number: 287; Provo, UT, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH5B-FCP : accessed 30 January 2021), Green Whitford, Hampton, Washington, New York, United States; citing p. 287, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 26; FHL microfilm 193,714.
7. ↑ "Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q28Q-ZG64 : 17 February 2020), Green Whitford and Hannah Lewis, 28 Feb 1808; citing Marriage, Addison, Vermont, United States, various town clerks and records divisions, Vermont; FHL microfilm 007725146.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH2P-KLR : accessed 30 January 2021), Green Whitford, Essex, New York, United States; citing p. 51, NARA microfilm publication M252 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 27; FHL microfilm 181,381.
9. ↑ 1820 United States Federal Census; Place: Bridport, Addison, Vermont; Page: 79A; NARA Roll: M33_126; Image: 91; Provo, UT, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

• "Wisconsin, Death Records, 1867-1907," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLNV-Z6K : 10 March 2018), Green Whitford in entry for Anna Whitford Sherman, 1876; citing Death, Ft Atkinson, Jefferson, Wisconsin, Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison; FHL microfilm 1,310,189.