I received copies of these letters from Ted Whiting in 2001. John Whiting of Philadelphia was a surveyor and world traveler. He regretted spending several Christmases away from his children. He was a genealogist of his time in 1857-58, relating many details of the family then and previous generations. These letters also reveal the strong religious orientation of these descendants of Reverend Samuel Whiting. It takes a bit of deciphering as the writing style of that time period was quite complex. Here are the letters which I published on the Whiting-L@rootsweb email reflector:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Barber"
To: <WHITING-L@rootsweb.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 6:51 PM
Subject: [WHITING] Fw: #1: The John Whiting Letters, November 8, 1857
I will attempt to transcribe the six letters which Ted Whiting recently
found and put them out on email for Whiting Family historians. They have
revealed some interesting names, dates, places and relationships. They
are all from John Whiting to his cousin, David S. Whiting of Hartsville, NY. David
was the father of Welcome Riley Whiting of Hornell, NY.
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Philadelphia, November 8th, 1857
Dear Cousin David,
Your favor Nov. 3d inst, with the precious old relic of gone by days came
safe to hand. I must return you more than ten thousand thanks on my part
for this gift from your son, cousin Oliver. I shall keep and look on this
sacred piece of paper with affection and veneration. One hundred and
forty-two years have rolled into the great gulf of Eternity and Oblivion.
The Turbid Stream of "Lethe" has swallowed up millions of living beings
who have had their day in the busy scenes and bitter turmoil of life and are
now among the things that were, and any object brought forth to the memory of
those scenes wherein our ancestors figured, how sacred they should be to
us. Those venerable hands that received this piece of paper as a commission
from royalty during the reign of George the first in 1715 have long ago
withered and returned from whence they came, to their Original Mother Earth, within
whose lap and cold embrace we must all soon fall. Still, the good old man
Oliver, our great great grandsire is not, and shall never be forgotten.
Those heirlooms and sacred relics which any of his descendants may hold
should be religiously preserved and handed down from father to son to the
end of time. Yes! Cousin David, the course of human events admonishes us
that you not I can expect to wear this frail tenement many years longer,
and we too, with all that is dear and near around usk must also follow. Then
is it not our duty and obligation to transmit from sire to son those sacred
relics and heirlooms left in our midst by our ancestors?
A gentleman of New York City named William Henry Whiting, a bank note
engraver by profession, furnished me with a copy of the seal and coat of
arms used by our great ancestor, Lord Bishop Abbott Richard Whiting, who
was head superior of the Abbey of Glastonbury in Lincolnshire, England. When
the Reformation of Martin Luther spread into England during the reign of
King Henry the 8th, our ancestor Richard Whiting suffered martyrdom from
the cruel satraps and serviles of that blood thirsty monarch who seized all he
had, then imprisoned him and finallyh was taken to a place of execution,
beheaded and quartered and his remains placed for exhibition to the view
of the curious in public places. Richard Whiting was born in 1460 and
suffered death in 1520.
Dear cousin I must digress in order to have room to talk about something
else. Your son, Xury, has not sent me the list of his family as you
remarked. I wrote to cousin Oepah to send me hers, but as yet received no
answer. I received a long letter from cousin Welcome at Buckland a few
days ago in which he sent me a full record of Uncle Jacob's family and their
children. I also received one from the widow of cousin William, Junior
with
a long record of his family. We must not despair of uncle Teba's family.
I would like to learn something about thm. I inten to write to Mr. Seth
Travis who may learn something as he lives in the neighborhood.
I must conclude. God bless you, my dear cousin, and believe me ever,
Yours affectionately,
John Whiting
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Barber"
To: <WHITING-L@rootsweb.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 9:36 PM
Subject: [WHITING] #2 John Whiting Letters, Nov. 30, 1857
And we thought genealogy was tough in the year 2001!
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Dear Cousin David,
Your letter was received and I was glad to hear from you. I note what you
say about the mistake made of uncle Teba's son not living in New Albany,
Indiana, but in Vixburg, Miss. I have written to Messrs Brown and Johnson,
bankers of that place to send me a list of all the Whitings living in that
neighborhood. If I find any of our names in, or near that place, I shall
write them. I feel more anxious than ever to find out something of the
descendants of uncle Teba's and I shall not leave one stone unturned until I
discover some clue to him. Do you know the name of the place where uncle
Teba married because there might be a chance of obtaining from the records
of the place the names of some of the children which might lead to some
further discovery. If you know anything about this please let me hear as
early as possible.
I received a letter a few days ago from Paulina Sulting. She does not
give any account of her family with the exception of herself. I have had a
great deal of trouble to find out anything about our connections, but so
far, I am more than amply repaid by the pleasant and greatful intelligence I
have received in my arduous labors.
I shall begin very soon to institute a search for the descendants of the
children of our great grand father, Oliver, who had six children born as
follows: Sarah born Oct 6th. 1721; Jonathan born Aug 1st, 1723 (This is our
grandfather), Elizabeth born May 4th, 1725; Joseph born June 16th, 1727;
William born July 24, 1729; Olivia born July 28th, 1732. All of these
children mentioned here are our grand uncles and aunts with the exception of
Jonathan who was our grandfather. I have already written again to Dudley
Foster, the town clerk of Billerica for further information on the subject.
Sometime ago he sent me a list of the children born of Oliver Whiting,
Senior. There is quite a stir among the Whitings in different parts of the
country on the history of their ancestors. I have some papers proving they
have all sprung from five brothers, James, John, William, Nathaniel, and the
Rev. Samuel from whom we have descended. I have letters from several
Whitings, descendants of these other brothers.
Don't forget that old book you promised me. Let me hear from you soon.
God bless you my dear cousin David.
Your affectionate cousin,
John Whiting
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Barber"
To: <WHITING-L@rootsweb.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 11:16 PM
Subject: [WHITING] #3 John Whiting Letters, December 24, 1857
Philadelphia, December 24, 1857
Dear Cousin David,
Tomorrow will be Christmas, a general jubilee and holiday in every
Christian land. Our little ones, Andrew, Mary, Willie and Eliza are at this
moment chatting and playing around eagerly looking forward for the morning
to dawn to see what old "Kris Kringle" has put into their little stockings
in his nocturnal visit to the juvenile community.
Ah! I well remember those by gone happy days on the farm at Greensborough,
Caroline County, Maryland where my honored father, David patted me on the
cheek and called me a good child and gave me a sixpence to pull out my
decayed front teeth. Forth two years have rolled into the gulf of Oblivion.
The waters of the dark stream of "Leth" somce that period have swallowed up
milllions of Mortals and millions have been ushered into life filled with
buoyant life and hopes to be in their turn swept away eventually, and others
in turn to appear and fill their places. We old folks who have had our day
of pleasure in our youth and manhood must now in turn content ourselves to
see those around us enjoy the same pleasures in which we once participated.
As tomorrow will be merry and happy Christmas and it will be past ere you
will have received this letter, I hope you will, with all your children, and
their children enjoy yourselves and have a pleasant time. When you are,
perchance, separated at the table with your family passing each other the compliments of
the season, don't forget to bestow a passing thought to us all, the children
and descendants of your uncle David. What would I not give to be able to
seat myself with you on this festive day, or have you at my right hand to
help you with a choice morsel in commemoration of the meeting and the day.
But I am afraid neither of us will have this pleasure. If we cannot, then,
we can only send our best wishes to each other. On the 19th of this month,
two years ago, I arrived home from Central America, where I had been on a
surveying expedition. I traveled hard to reach home and arrived safe a few
days previous to the great joy of our little youngsters, who thought their
papa would not be home in time to give them their presents. In 1854 I spent
the Christmas among the Spaniards and Indians of Central America, but I did
not enjoy myself at all, I can assure you. In 1850 and 1852 I was abroad
during Christmas. I have traveled thousands of miles in foreign lands. I have made
thirty one voyages on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and have seen many
countries and people of strange habits and language. I have participated in
pleasures of various kinds among the rich and poor, high and low degree but
never found any place like "Home Sweet Home" after all.
What is life, I ask, cousin David? 'Tis only a fitful dream made up of
turmoil and strife during our short career here. Then we sink into the
yawning gulf and are no more! I first began to write....end of page 1.
Note: Unfortunately, the 2nd page was lost
Bill Barber
Hudson, New Hampshire
U.S.A.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Barber"
To: <WHITING-L@rootsweb.com>
Sent: Friday, June 08, 2001 1:55 PM
Subject: [WHITING] #4 John Whiting Letters, December 28th, 1857
Philadelphia, Dec. 28th, 1857
Dear Cousin,
I received the old book you sent. It is, indeed, a relic of days gone by
and worthy to be treasured up and preserved by the Whiting race.
I need not tell you, my dear David, how highly I prize the gift, suffice
it to say. I will guard and keep the time honored volume and assure you,
although it has changed ownership, still it remains in the family and shall
be handed down from father to son. My hopes and prayers are that my
children and their children's children may keep it safely and venerate it,
nay, longer than the time it has been in the hands of its original
possessors. And now I want to ask you a few questions concerning that book.
Who was the original owner of it? When did your family receive it and how
long since?
In looking over the pages I find the name of John Whiting (1664-? note by
WJB) written on the margin of a leaf. Can you tell me who this John was?
Also on the back of the cover there has been some writing. All that I can
decypher is indistinctly the name of Whiting but not the first name. Can
you tell me what it was?
I intend to have the old volume rebound and will add a short history of
the book. I cannot find any clue to its age but think it must have been
printed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603 note by WJB). Let me
know all the history you can of the book.
If this book was brought to this country by the Rev. Samuel Whiting, first
minister of Lynn in 1640, it must then have been printed during the reign of
King James (1603-1625, note by WJB). Do you know whether the sermons in the
work were the production of the above mentioned Rev. Samuel of Lynn or of
the Rev. Samuel, Jr. , first minister of Billerica (1660, note by WJB)? I
must conclude. Give my best regards to all your family-
Yours affectionately,
John Whiting
P.S. In looking over the old books I have, I find one- a Spanish work
called, "Relaciones de Antonio Perey" and in comparing the letters they
appear to be the typography as the book you sent me. My Spanish book was
published MDCXXV (1625). Then it, in reason, must be as old as the Spanish
book.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Barber"
To: <WHITING-L@rootsweb.com>
Sent: Friday, June 08, 2001 7:37 PM
Subject: [WHITING] #5 John Whiting Letters, January 24th, 1858
Philadelphia, January 24th, 1858
Dear Cousin David,
Your favor of the 14th inst. is at hand with note enclosed. I have
written to the parties mentioned in yours at Tyngsborough. I hope we may be
successful in our endeavors to find some of the family of uncle Teba
somewhere. Your son, Xury, wrote me a few days ago and sent me the names of
some of the Whitings in his neighborhood. They are some of the sons of our
great-grand fathers, Oliver Senior or Oliver Junior. If so, I am very glad
of it. I also received a long letter from your sister Oepah and one from
her son, Robert. The old lady tells me they the Bible of grandfather,
Jonathan, and the wheel of grandmother. Anything you may near about uncle
Teba's family you must not fail to let me know. Xury tells me there is a
Danforth Whiting in, or about twenty miles southeast from Elmira, Chemung
Co., New York. This Danforth Whiting must be a descendant of some of our
grand uncles.
I am busy in getting together materials for my work, but they come in
rather slow. However, I do not despair. I must conclude. God bless you
dear cousin David--Adieu--
Yours affectionately,
John Whiting
____________________________________________________________
I must conclude that the original typewritten transcription that I have
used has misinterpreted the script for the given name Teba from what should
have been Ziba Whiting (1764-?). The last letter, #6, is a photocopy of
the original script, in it I clearly read the word Ziba. I have never found
a Teba Whiting in any of my research. Bill Barber (2001)