Brief Life History of Oliver
When Oliver Whitney was born on 15 April 1744, in Needham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States, his father, David Whitney, was 28 and his mother, Mehitable Parker, was 25. He married Hannah Chase on 9 June 1779, in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 8 daughters. He died on 29 December 1813, in Cavendish, Windsor, Vermont, United States, at the age of 69, and was buried in Twenty Mile Stream Cemetery, Cavendish, Windsor, Vermont, United States.
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Family Time Line
Sources (27)
- 1790 United States Federal Census
- Oliver Whitney, "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915"
- Massachusetts, Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850
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Children (11)
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World Events (6)
1776
Thomas Jefferson's American Declaration of Independence endorsed by Congress. Colonies declare independence.
1776 · The Declaration to the King
"At the end of the Second Continental Congress the 13 colonies came together to petition independence from King George III. With no opposing votes, the Declaration of Independence was drafted and ready for all delegates to sign on the Fourth of July 1776. While many think the Declaration was to tell the King that they were becoming independent, its true purpose was to be a formal explanation of why the Congress voted together to declare their independence from Britain. The Declaration also is home to one of the best-known sentences in the English language, stating, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."""
1781 · The First Constitution
Serving the newly created United States of America as the first constitution, the Articles of Confederation were an agreement among the 13 original states preserving the independence and sovereignty of the states. But with a limited central government, the Constitutional Convention came together to replace the Articles of Confederation with a more established Constitution and central government on where the states can be represented and voice their concerns and comments to build up the nation.
Name Meaning
English: habitational name from Whitney in Herefordshire, the etymology of which is uncertain. The second element is Old English ēg ‘island, piece of higher ground in a low-lying area’; the first appears to be hwītan, which is either the genitive singular of an Old English byname Hwīta (meaning ‘white’), or the weak dative case (originally used after a preposition and article) of the adjective hwīt ‘white’. The name may also derive from Whitney (now Whitney Wood) in Stevenage (Hertfordshire), probably named from Old English hwītan ‘white’ + (ge)hæge ‘enclosure’.
History: John Whitney came from London, England, to Watertown, MA, in 1635, and had numerous prominent descendents.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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