Joanna (Wakeman) Whittaker (1638 - aft. 1695)

Born 1638 in Hartford, Connecticut

Ancestors

Wife of Francis Hackleton — married about 1662 in Hartford County, Connecticut [uncertain]

Wife of Edward Whittaker — married 1672 in Esopus, Ulster, New York

Descendants

Died after 21 Jan 1695 after age 57 in Esopus, Ulster County, New York

Problems/Questions Profile manager: K C [send private message]

Biography

Hannah (Wakeman) Whittaker was involved in Hartford CT Witch Panic, 1662-1664, & the Esopus NY witch inquiry,1675

Hannah (Wakeman) Whittaker has English ancestors.

Hannah Wakeman was born about 1638, probably in Hartford, Connecticut. She was 18 or 20 years old 18 March 1656/7 when she was treated by John Winthrop ^[1].

Joanna (Hannah) Wakeman b. abt. 1638-40, Newtowne, Connecticut Colony, daughter of Samuel Wakeman & Elizabeth (Unk) Wakeman Willett. Originally of Bewdley, England, the Wakeman's were among the first Puritan settlers of Massachusetts Bay Colony and the first proprietors of Newtowne, later renamed Hartford, in Connecticut Colony.

• Samuel Wakeman died while Joanna, commonly called Hannah, was a small girl. Hannah's mother remarried to Nathaniel Willett who received Wakeman's Hartford estate, including property, following the marriage providing he released cash legacies to Hannah and her siblings when they came of age. ^[2] The family remained on this lot during Hannah's formative years.
• Although Hannah was due to receive the legacy upon her 18th birthday, (abt 1653), her step-father did not pay it until 06 Sept. 1662 when a court proceeding shows proper distribution occurred. ^[2]

By this time, Hannah was married and much had transpired in the Wakeman family.

Timeline

bef. July 1658: Hannah married Francis Hackleton of Northampton, Massachusetts. Hackleton was the first brick artisan in Massachusetts, residing in Northampton from abt. 1654 - Sept 1661.

• A common source of confusion arises from Northampton Town Records that state Hackleton, single, moved from Northhampton to Hartford in 1661/2 to marry ^[3][4]; yet, Hartford records indicate the couple was already married during this time. ^[5]

Children: ^[5]

1. William: born abt.1659 Hartford
2. Johanna/Anna: born abt. 1661 Hartford

1662: The fateful illness and death of Hannah's 8-year-old niece Elizabeth, child of Bethia Wakeman and John Kelly, occurred, feared to be witchcraft induced by the mother. The witch trial that ensued set off the Hartford Witch Panic of 1662-1664. While neither Hannah nor her husband was directly involved, the Wakeman extended family would certainly have experienced local tensions.

1663: Sometime during Hartford's witch troubles the Hackletons moved to Long Island where they lived on Oyster Bay. ^[6][7]

In 1663, with her husband reportedly out of town, Hannah had an untimely affair with Henry Frost and became pregnant. Her husband left her alone, according to Hannah's testimony, to remove the illegitimate, un-"quickened" pregnancy. After taking an herbal remedy, Hannah miscarried in Dec 1663.^[8][9][5]

1. Child: Male b. Dec 1663, pre-term d. within 48 hour(s)

Hannah lay delirious for two days, too weak or fearful to summon assistance. Afterward, a local man, Mathias Dingle, came inquiring for her husband and she asked for help, the truth spilling out in her desperate plea. The man refused her and departed. Later that week, Hannah or her husband buried the fetal remains in the frozen woods nearby as was commonly done in this era. But, as rumors took hold, probably started by Dingle (although he denied ever having been to the Hackleton home), fears of witchery began to stir. Hannah was imprisoned in Hartford, where she told of her affair and subsequent events. ^[7]

1664/66: Averting suspicions of witchcraft, Hannah was indicted for murder, blasphemy, and adultery in Jan 1664. After lengthy testimony, which included taking magistrates in search of fetal remains, she was acquitted of the former charge but found guilty of the latter two. Sentenced to death by hanging, Hannah remained imprisoned along with a former Hartford neighbor, Elizabeth Seager, who, in an unrelated case had been found guilty of witchcraft and adultery. In 1666, Gov. John Winthrop acquitted Seager and commuted Hannah's sentence to 30 lashes and an hour standing on public steps, a noose around her neck.^[9][7]

1667: Hannah fled Hartford for New York City with her daughter where, in November, she was arrested for residing in the city w/o a license. Court-ordered to leave, she went with former British soldier Edward Whittaker to his land grant at Hussey Hill, near Esopus, NY, ostensibly as a servant, where the two lived together as husband and wife. ^[7]

Whittaker had an unpredictable and often violent temperament. Court records relate many instances of his abuses against locals and acquaintances, including threats made against Hannah and her dau.. Kingston records show he beat Hanna, threatened to burn her and her child, cast them out into freezing weather, and to kill them.^[7]

1670: Following the death of their first child due to "convulsions," Hannah appeared before Esopus officials to explain the infant's death. Since there were witnesses, she was not held culpable for its demise. Still, the child was illegitimate, so Whittaker was court-ordered to care for Hannah as his wife and marry her if she became pregnant a second time. ^[7]

1671: Hannah had Whittaker in court again for abuse charges.^[7] Moreover, with nowhere else to go, she stayed with Whittaker.

1672: The couple married in 1672. ^[1][10]

Children:

1. Infant: b. 1670 d. 48 hrs of "convulsion"
2. Infant: b. 1672 d. infancy (inferred, due to court-ordered marriage, no record)
3. James: b.1675 bapt. Kingston ^[11]
4. Edward: b. abt. 1677/68, Kingston, (record gap: no record avail.)

1675: The couple faced allegations of consorting with a witch and were under suspicion of practicing witchcraft on their property. Documents pertaining to the trial are sparse, the only one remaining shows that after a local inquisition, the charges were dismissed. ^[12]

1682: Court testimony in a slander case brought by a neighbor against her husband quotes Hannah as saying she was "weary of life." ^[7]. Still, she remained stoic in her troubled marriage.

1694/95: Whittaker died abt. 21 Jan, leaving a standard will - Hannah rcv'd one-third of his possessions, the remaining two-thirds divided equally between their two sons and a small legacy to his step-daughter's children. ^[13]

Died: Unknown, but after Jan 1694/95 presumably at her home.

Research Notes

LNAB: Wakeman. FNAB: Joanna

Name Variations:

Hanna/Hannah/Anna

Hackleton/Hackelton/Haclton

Whittaker/Whitaker/Wittiker/Widdeger

Birth and Death Dates:

• Birthdate is an estimate provided by early chroniclers and may be incorrect.
• No death record, gravesite or cemetery interment has been found.
• An estimated death of 1700 found in many online trees appears to be a purely arbitrary repetition and has no basis in records.

Records

• 1645: Her father's estate was settled on Nathaniel Willette, Hannah's step-father. ^[14]
• 1662: Hannah Hackleton acknowledged receipt of her share in her father, Samuel Wakeman's estate on 6 Sep 1662. Her husband, Francis Hackleton, is also mentioned. ^[15][14]
• 1665+: Various Court Records can be obtained from Connecticut State Library ($) and State of New York Archives ($); additional records referenced in this profile are generally quoted from transcriptions and/or secondary sources citing these court records.

Additional Notes

Re: Francis Hackleton: No specific records have been found for Hackleton after his wife's 1665 trial. There is no divorce proceeding found in Hartford CT records. Since Hannah was unlikely to engage in another adulterous relationship following her original sentence in 1666, it is more likely Hackleton died before Hannah's subsequent involvement with Whittaker. See Hackleton's Wiki Tree profile for more theory on his "disappearance."

Re: Henry Frost: Sometimes referred to as Henry Fraesser. While Hannah was found guilty of adultery, it is unknown what consequences, if any, Henry Frost faced for his part in the extramarital affair. ^[16]

Addendum: Notes on Puritan Laws:

• Abortion: Termination of pregnancy: The common practice of taking abortifacients before "quickening" was legal, socially, and medically accepted in British Colonies of America, including Puritan New England. Quickening: term applied to the first kicking of a fetus in the womb which generally occurs between 14 and 26 weeks. Abortifacient use after quickening was illegal ^[17].
  
• Adultery: a capital offense in Connecticut until 1667, but most often commuted to public whipping and stockades followed by banishment of the adulterer. Additionally, it was illegal for married couples to live apart.
• Divorce: "It was the New England colonial courts...that made proof of marital fault (meaning one spouse had committed adultery or desertion) a requirement for obtaining a divorce. If both spouses committed marital faults, a divorce would not be granted" ^[18][19].

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633. Vol III pp 1899-1901. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995 (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) p. 1901
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} A digest of the early Connecticut probate records, vol I. Charles W. Manwaring, compiler. Hartford: RS Peck, 1904. Internet Archive. archive.org. p40
3. ↑ Third Supplement to Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Sanborn, M., compiler. Baltimore: Genealogical Publ. Co., 1985. Pg. 122.
4. ↑ Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers of America. Whittemore, Henry, editor/compiler. New York: New York, 1892. Internet Archive, nd. archive.org. p67
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Harris, Gale Ion, citing John Winthrop Jr. in "The Earlier Career of Hannah (Wakeman) Hackleton, Edward Whittaker's Wife in the Esopus." New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. Vol. 127, no. 2, (1996), pages 65-75. print.
6. ↑ Note: Long Island residency implied by a 1665 trial record wherein Hannah states the site of her deceased infant's burial. Record qtd. in Prall
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7} Prall, Terry D. Tumultuous Story of Edward Whittaker, Wakeman Family Chronicles, Parts I-III. TDP Genealogy, 2015. Weblog. (Kingston Court Records, various.)
8. ↑ See Addendum Notes on Puritan Laws regarding the term "quickening"
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Crimes and misdemeanors, 1662/1663-1789: six volumes and index: Connecticut Archives index: no. 10, 1913. Prickett, Effie Mae, indexer. Connecticut State Library Digital Collection. Hackleton, Hannah, accusation of Henry Frost & trial of Hannah, 1664-1665 v I: 6,7,10- 15; Hackleton, Hannah, tried for expressions uttered the Lord’s Day that Mr. Hains admonished her, 1564 [sic - s/b 1664], no vol or pg noted. (Manuscript available on FamilySearch.)
10. ↑ Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700. CA Torrey, compiler. Baltimore: Genealogical Publ. Co., 1985. Pg. 272. Print. It read as follows: Whitaker, Edward ( _-1694) & Hannah2 (WAKEMAN) (HACKLETON) m1Francis HACKLETON; m 1672 Ulster Co. NYGBR 127:73].
11. ↑ Baptismal and Marriage Registers of the Old Dutch Church of Kingston, Ulster County, New York. New York: De Vinne Press, 1891. Roswell Randall Hoes, ed.. Internet Archives, n.d.. archive.org. p9 #136
12. ↑ Zimm, Louise H. "Whittaker, Whitaker, Whitiker." Schoonmaker record (2d supplement). William L.L. Peltz, compiler. NY: American Historical Society, 1953. Internet Archive. archive.org. p390-91 (biographical essay, not fully accurate; however, quotes court record verbatim)
13. ↑ Will of Wittaker, Edward, of Kingstown. Ulster County, N.Y. probate records in the office of the surrogate, and in the county clerk's office at Kingston, N.Y. : a careful abstract and translation of the Dutch and english wills, letters of administration after intestates, and inventories from l665, with genealogical and historical notes, vol. 1., Gustave Anjou, transcriber. NY: Anjou, 1906. Internet Archive, nd. archive.org. p50.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut Prior to the Union with New Haven Colony May 1665. J. Hammond Trumball, transcriber. Hartford: Brown and Parsons, 1850. AKA Colonial Records of Connecticut. Volume I. 1636-1665. Google Books. googlebooks.com. Wakeman Estate p135
15. ↑ A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records. Vol1. Hartford District 1635-1700. Manwaring, Charles William, compiler. Hartford, Conn., R.S. Peck & Co., Printers, 1904. Internet Archive, n.d. archive.org. p39-40
16. ↑ Crimes and misdemeanors, 1662/1663-1789: six volumes and index; Hackleton, Hannah, accusation of Henry Frost & trial of Hannah, 1664-1665, v I.
17. ↑ Dayton, Cornelia Hughes. "Taking the Trade: Abortion and Gender Relations in an Eighteenth-Century New England Village." The William and Mary Quarterly Vol. 48, No. 1 (Jan., 1991), pp. 19-49.
18. ↑ Areen, Judith. Uncovering the Reformation Roots of American Marriage and Divorce Law, 26 Yale J.L. & Feminism (2014). Introduction. pdf link
19. ↑ "Grounds for divorce-Who knew?" Connecticut Humanities Project, Jun 2019. connecticuthistory.org.article

Acknowledgements

• Family Tree - Landreth Web Site - MyHeritage
• Thank you David Olson for original Wakeman-18 profile
• Thank you Joan Landreth for creating Hackleton-3 profile
• Bio -- Kc