Whitmore Surname Project: Secondary Sources for Link Between Francis and Thomas Whitmore

Notes by Kevin Wetmore:

1. James Carnahan Wetmore in his book The Wetmore Family of America and its Collateral Branches published in 1861 states in his introduction

"Our Thomas Whitmore was living at Hartford at that time, and had children baptized there in 1646, and 1648. Wm. S. Porter in his Historical Notes of Connecticut, p. 41, says, that a John and Thomas Whitmore owned land in Hartford in 1646.
There was a Francis Whitmore of Cambridge, Mass., who married previous to 1649, and became the progenitor of a family which has always preserved this spelling, and whose record has been published in a pamphlet form, by William H. Whitmore, Esq., of Boston. There is no evidence to show any connection between him and Thomas, except that his eldest son Francis Jun. moved to Middletown, Ct. where Thomas had settled, and their descendants intermarried. As several other families moved at the same time from Cambridge farms (now Lexington) to Middletown, where Thomas was living, we must not lay too much stress upon the circumstance.^3
3Among the descendants of the family at Middletown, there has always been a tradition that our ancestor, Thomas Whitmore was accompanied to this country by two brothers, Francis and John. While we are not disposed to reject this tradition wholly, from the fact that it was received truth among those of the 4th generation, we are nevertheless not disposed to offer it as evidence for the reason that genealogists, generally, attach little importance to such testimony."

James Carnahan Wetmore also stated that "the Wetmore family of America is descended from Thomas Whitmore, who came from the west of England to Boston, Mass., in 1635, being the eleventh year of the reign of Charles the First; and was among the early settlers in the Connecticut colonial."

2. In 1903 a commemorative Biographical Record of Middlesex County Connecticut was published. Part 1, page 220, provides biographical data on Chauncey B. Whitmore who was one of the most substantial and respected resident of the Maromas District of Middletown CT. In the write-up of Chauncey it states:

"The Whitmores of Middlesex County, Conn., are descended from John Whitmore of Stamford, who was living in Wethersfield, in 1639 and who was killed by Indians in 1648…. He was the father of 5 children, namely: Thomas, born in 1615, was the ancestor of the "Wetmores;" Ann born in 1621, married George Farrar February 16, 1644; Mary, born 1623, married John Brewer; Francis will be spoken of in the following paragraph; and John, born in 1627, lived in Stamford in 1650.
Francis Whitmore, of the above family, was born in 1625, and he located in Cambridge, Mass." Then it goes on to list his wives ( Isabel Parke and Margaret Hartly) and their children. The 2nd born of Francis and Isabel was also named Francis and settled in Middletown Conn. and married Hannah Harris, daughter of William and Edith Harris, February 8,1674."

3. At the New Haven Colony Historical Society they have on file a "Record of the Descendants of Francis Whitmore Cambridge Mass.", compiled by W. H. Whitmore Boston - Printed for Private Circulation Only by John Wilson and Son 1855. It states

"The earliest mentioned person by the name of Whitmore I have yet met with is John of Stamford, who was living in Wethersfield in 1639. He was killed by Indians in 1648, leaving a son John. I have some reason to suspect that he was the father of all of the names here, and that the following will give the record of his children's births:-
Thomas, b. 1615; the ancestor of the Wetmores.
Ann, " (?) 1621; m. George Farrar, Feb. 16, 1644.
Mary, " (?) 1623; m. John Brewer, Oct. 23, 1647
Francis " 1625: of Cambridge
John " 1627: of Stamford, 1650"

This same pamphlet also states " Francis Whitmore (No. 1) died Oct. 12 1685; his birth is ascertained, by two affidavits on file at Cambridge, to have been in 1925."

4. From the History of Wethersfield, Vol. II, Surnames, V-Z, page 785: "Whitmore (Whittemore, Whetmore, Wetmore), John, came to Weth., 1639 or earlier, and took a home-lot. (See Chapt. VII, Vol. I) which he sold in 1641, having previously rem. To Stamford, where he is found on the 2nd and 3rd lists of sett. and in the 1st distrib. Of ld. He was murdered by Inds. At Stamford in 1648, acc. To Huntington, or in Sept. 1649 acc. To S.W.A. His invent. Of est. am't'g to L217.04.02, presented to Ct., at New Haven, 26 May, 1656: he rep. S. in N.H. Col. Ct.; was prob. Related to Thomas of Midd. See Hazard's "State Papers", 127, and there is an affid. In "St. Rec" in which Goodwife Whitemore, wife of John, affirms thet (sic) he sold a certain piece of ld to his son John.

The above are just some additional data points. Also, if you would like to read about the murder of John by the Indians in 1648 there is a write-up on it in History of the Indians of Connecticut from the Earliest known Period to 1850 by John W. De Forest, Hartford Wm. Jas. Hamersley 1852 which has been reprinted by the Native American Book Publishers 5884 Winans Lake Road Brighton, Michigan 48166.

The people in my family line, of those I have information on, either lived and died in the Middlesex or New Haven County of Connecticut or Lewis County of New York. A little background may be in order to provide perspective.

Our early years were lived along the Connecticut River. The Connecticut River is the largest river in the state and goes from the Mass. boarder to Long Island Sound. The river and associated valley separates the eastern 1/3 of Ct. from the western 2/3 rds. The Ct. coast line was first explored by the Dutch sailor Adrian Block in 1613, he was also the first to sail up the Connecticut River to what is now Hartford. In June 1633 the Dutch bought a strip of land from the Indians and set up a small fort (House of Hope) to trade furs with them in what is now Hartford. Very soon after this, the English, from Plymouth Colony sailed up the river with a frame house, which became the first house in Ct., near what is now Windsor Ct. which is north of the Dutch fort. Other Englishmen from the Massachusetts Bay, hearing of the fertile land, friendly Indians and profitable fur trade, came in such numbers that the Dutch were driven out of Connecticut. By 1636 there were three towns in Connecticut all along the Connecticut River towns (north to south) Windsor, Hartford and We(a)thersfield.

In 1641 John Whitmore owned land in Wethersfield which he sold and moved to Stamford. A John and Thomas Whitmore were at Wethersfield together in 1640-1 and John Jun. and Thomas were together in Hartford in 1646. In 1650, Thomas and other families from Hartford and Wethersfield settled what was called Mattabesett then and Middletown now. Middletown is on the Connecticut River halfway between Hartford and Saybrook on the coast. Today the Godfrey Genealogy Library in Middletown Ct. (Middlesex County) has a plaque with the names of Middletown's founders on it. Included with the names are Thomas Whitmore and his wife Sarah Hall.

Thomas Wetmore - lived the remaining years from 1650 until 1681 in Middletown where he died.

Beriah Wetmore (deacon) - lived and died in Middletown

Beriah Wetmore - lived and died in Middletown

Samuel Bowman Wetmore - Lived in Middletown until he married and then moved down the Connecticut River to Haddam (Middlesex County). Where he is buried.

Next Bit of History: In 1791 William Constable, Sr along with Alexander Macomb and Daniel McCormack bought 4 million acres of land in upper N.Y. State (just about the upper third of New York). This was referred to as the Macomb purchase. Mr Constable took over land in the present Lewis County and through Nathaniel Shaler brought in settlers. This area was called Constable's Four Towns (about 20 miles north of present day Rome New York. Mr. Shaler bought one-half of Township 3 and 4 and became Mr. Constable's agent for the undivided remainder. Shaler was a prominent merchant of Middletown Ct. Through his influence and a Mr. Ward, who worked for him, a good class of citizens emigrated to the new country from the Middletown area.

Included, as a land owner in the new territory, was Asher Wetmore - son of Samuel Bowman Wetmore.

Asher Wetmore - lived and died in Constableville N.Y.

Samuel Wetmore - lived in Constableville N.Y. , I will have to go through my old records to find out where he died.

Thomas S. Wetmore - lived in Constableville - do not know where he died

Last bit of History. The upper New Your area was hard hit by the financial panics (what we now call depressions) of the late 1800's. In search of work 3 Wetmore boys Jess, Clinton and Edgar moved to Connecticut and settled in Hamden Ct. (its just north of New Haven) where they all married and raised families.

Jess (Jesse) Hiram Wetmore - lived and died in Hamden

Forest Kevin Wetmore - The finest man I knew, lived and recently died in Hamden

Kevin Jess Wetmore - grew up in Hamden, married and broke his mothers heart (she thought she would never see him again) because he moved to Cheshire Ct. (the next town north of Hamden - about 10 miles from home), and like a Timex watch is still ticking , but my grave site is right around the corner from my house when the clock runs down