Whitmore Surname Project: Hal Whitmore Notes

Notes by Hal Whitmore: The probability of a relationship between Thomas Whitmore of Middletown, CT (d. ), ancestor of the Wetmores and Francis Whitmore of Cambridge (d. ) has long been considered by descendants of both these men, and the possibility that they were brothers and sons of John Whitmore (d ) was advanced by the genealogist William Henry Whitmore more than 100 years ago.

Several descendants of Thomas Whittemore of Cambridge and Malden, MA (b. Hitchin, Herts, 1593, d. Malden, MA 1661) have suggested a common ancestry with the Whitmores and Wetmores as well. Ebenezer Stowell Whittemore made this suggestion in an article in the NEHG Register in 1878 and was sternly rebuked for his temerity in doing so by William H. Whitmore in an article in the same journal in 1879. This has not prevented other Whittemore genealogists from making the same claim.

Jeanette Allen Whittemore Ramsay in an article titled "The Whittemore Genealogy" in the Proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, 2 March 1909, is one of these. She presents a lineage that shows Thomas Whitamore (d. Hitchin 1649), as the father of Thomas Whittemore of Malden (d. 1661) and shows a brother of Thomas Whitamore named Roger Whitamore, as below:

1-WHITAMORE 
   1.1-Thomas WHITAMORE d. 1649, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England
      1.1.1-Thomas WHITTEMORE d. 1661, Malden, Middlesex Co, MA
   1.2-Roger WHITAMORE 
      1.2.1-Nicholas WHITAMORE d. 1650, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England
         1.2.1.1-Thomas WHITAMORE b. , Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England
         1.2.1.2-Francis WHITAMORE b. , Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England

She goes on to claim that Thomas Whitamore christened Hitchin 1624 is Thomas of Middletown, b. 1615, d. 1681, and Francis Whitamore christened Hitchin 1629 is Francis of Cambridge, b. 1625, d. 1685. Other Whittemores have made the same claim, and I know of descendants of Francis who are inclined to accept this. My own research in Hertford confirms the relationship of Roger, Nicholas, Thomas (ch 1624) and Francis and their dates and the probable relationship to Thomas of Malden. I do, however find a delay of nine years between birth and christening for Thomas and four for Francis to be improbable. If DNA proved a likely close relationship we would have to look again at the birth dates assigned to Thomas of Middletown and Francis of Cambridge.

A few male descendants of Thomas of Malden would be invaluable to this project.