John Whipple (Captain)

• BIRTH: ABT 1617, , , England
• DEATH: 16 May 1685, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island
• BURIAL: 1685, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island
• View descendants in the Whipple One-Name Study

• TITLE: Captain

• MARRIAGE: 1638, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts

1. +John Whipple (1639 - 15 Dec 1700)
2. +Sarah Whipple (2 Feb 1641/1642 - AFT 12 May 1710)
3. +Samuel Whipple (CHR 17 Mar 1643/1644 - 12 Mar 1710/1711)
4. +Eleazer Whipple (CHR 8 Mar 1645/1646 - 25 Aug 1719)
5. +Mary Whipple (CHR 9 Apr 1648 - 12 Jul 1698)
6. +William Whipple (CHR 16 May 1652 - 9 Mar 1711/1712)
7. +Benjamin Whipple (CHR 4 Jun 1654 - 11 Mar 1703/1704)
8. +David Whipple (CHR 28 Sep 1656 - 18 Dec 1710)
9. +Abigail Whipple (ABT 1657/1658 - 19 Aug 1725)
10. +Joseph Whipple (ABT 1662 - 28 Apr 1746)
11. +Jonathan Whipple (ABT 1664 - 8 Sep 1721)

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Notes

!SOURCE: Email from Charles Whipple (email hidden) to Weldon Whipple, 20 Sep 2008. John was "buried in 1685 [in his home gravelot and reburied in the North Burial Ground] in about 1750."

!SOURCE: The following primary sources of information were supplied by Charles Whipple (email hidden) to the Whipple Website, 1 Aug 2008:

Place of birth of John Whipple: According to his gravestone, John was born circa 1617/18. There is absolutely no published primary research data that proves that John Whipple was born in Milford, Wales--or anywhere else. As quoted in: Charles Whipple, A History of Captain John and Sarah Whipple of Dorchester, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island: A Multigenerational Study of the First Whipple Family in America (Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing Company, 2007) 2 & 34.

First evidence of John Whipple's presence in America: "September 16, 1632, being the Lord's Day. In the Evening, Mr. Pierce, in the ship Lyon arrived and came to an anchor before Boston...." [James K. Hosmer, ed., Governor Winthrop's Journal. 1630-1649 (New York: Scribner and Sons, 1908) 1:92. As quoted in: Charles Whipple, A History of Captain John and Sarah Whipple... 2 & 33.

First record of public activity in America: "3 October 1632, John Wipple and Alex Miller were ordered to pay fines of 3s, 4d to their master Israel Stoughton, for wasteful expenditure of powder and shot." [Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed. Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, 6 volumes in 5 (Boston: W. White, 1853-54) 1974] [John O. Austin, Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island (Albany, NY: 1887; Reprint ed, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1978) 221.] As quoted in: Charles Whipple, A History of Captain John and Sarah Whipple...1 & 33.

Church membership at Dorchester: Sarah Whipple, on 29 October 1641, addressed as "Goodwife Whipple," one of the lowest social class distinctions, was admitted to the Dorchester church. [Records of the First Church at Dorchester in New England, 1636-1734 (Boston: George H. Ellis, 1891) 6.] John would have had to be a member by then, as freemen were required to be members of the church. It is believed that the record of John's admittance to membership was taken to Connecticut in 1635/36. "There is little hope of finding these ancient records either in Windsor or in Dorchester." [Records of First Church, iv & xi]. As quoted in: Charles Whipple, A History of Captain John and Sarah Whipple... 6.

Record of John Whipple's public life in Dorchester: "Astonishingly, only twice in almost two decades does John's name appear in public records." John Whiplle was the last proprietor to sign a fencing agreement [Dorchester Town Records, City Document 9, report 4, 1880, p. 27]. He was mentioned in an estate in 1656. [New England Historical and Genealogical Society Record, Vol. 6, 1852, p. 41.] [Robert C. Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, Immigrants to New England, 1632-1633, 3 vols. (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1995) 3:1974.]. As quoted in: Charles Whipple, A History of Captain John and Sarah Whipple... 9.

John Whipple sold his 45 acre Dorchester property, 15 November 1658: "John Whipple, carpenter...his now dwelling house and housements scituate and being in Dorchester near the river Naponset together with thirty-seven acres of upland more or less thereto adjoining, also eight acres of salt marsh more or less lying near the place commonly called the penny ferry." Suffolk Land Records, Deeds, 14 vols. (Boston: 1880-1906) 3:204-05. As quoted in: Charles Whipple, A History of Captain John and Sarah Whipple... 16.

Church membership at Providence: "Was it coincidence that one month after the proclamation of the death penalty for Quakers, 19 October 1658, John sold his property...and began preparation to leave for Rhode Island, the only safe haven in New England for members of that sect? However, it is just as conceivable that Captain John could have become disenthralled with religion in general." Irvin Richman, Rhode Island, Its Making and Meaning (New York: B.P. Putnam Sons, 1908) 292.

"He was received as a preacher at Providence in 1659." This quote, which appears only in [Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island, 3 vols (Chicago: J.H.J. Beers and Company, 1908) III:1639] is an apparent miss-reading, by the compiler or editor, of the well known statement that appeared in earlier histories, "He was received as a proprietor at Providence in 1659." There is no record that Captain John Whipple or his children were members of the clergy. As quoted in: Charles Whipple, A History of Captain John and Sarah Whipple... 15-16.

Captain John Whipple's tavern: John's short lived, one room, Inn was not "staid or sober," nor was it a particularly popular meeting place as chronicled in previous histories. That honor belongs to John Whipple Junior's tavern. At least three of John's children and four grandsons owned more popular taverns. However, John's was the best known of the two earliest taverns. [Gertrude Kimball, Providence in Colonial Times (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1912) 126. As quoted in: Charles Whipple, A History of Captain John and Sarah Whipple... 23.

John Whipple's military title: His title of "Captain" was strictly honorary. There is no record that he or his compatriots, including Roger Williams, used a weapon against the warring Indians of 1675/76 (the Indians refused to take up arms against Williams), or ever led a group of men into battle as an officer. [Early Records of the Town of Providence, 21 vols, collected and compiled by the Record Commissioners (Providence: Snow and Farnham, city printers, 1892-1915). XV:153.] As quoted in: Charles Whipple, A History of Captain John and Sarah Whipple... 25.

Last Will and Testament: John's last Will and Testament was flawed, which allowed his grandson, John Whipple III, to win a law suit against four of his Whipple uncles. They had to pay him hundreds of dollars to retain their inherited properties. [The Early Records of the Town of Providence, 21 vols, collected and compiled by the Records Commissioners (Providence: Snow and Farnham, city printers, 1892-1915) XX:274-75.] As quoted in: Charles Whipple, A History of Captain John and Sarah Whipple... 25-27.

The deaths of John and Sarah Whipple: John and Sarah's gravestones were carved around the year 1750, subsequent to the removal of their remains to the North Burial Grounds. Sarah died in 1666, being dead then for approximately 85 years before her gravestone was carved. Moreover, John would have been dead for approximately 65 years in 1750. A lack of accurate and complete cemetery information was the result. Those who had access to the truth were long since deceased themselves. Well-meaning descendants, likely their grandsons, Deputy Governor Joseph Junior and his brother, John, were insufficiently prepared to carry out Captain John's 1682 directive to their father to see to it that "I be decently buried." It must be pointed out that John and Sarah's gravestones are recognized to be the earliest dated in the cemetery. [John E. Sterling, North Burial Ground, Old Section, 1700-1848, Special Publication #5 (Providence: Rhode Island Genealogical Society, 2000) xii. As quoted in: Charles Whipple, A History of Captain John and Sarah Whipple... 28-31.

SOURCE: Dr. Charles M. Whipple, in an email to the Whipple Website dated 11 Mar 2021, cites Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island (Chicago: J.H. Beers, 1908), 3:1676-1677 as the only known source that gives Sarah's maiden name They. Suggesting that evidence to positively identify Sarah's maiden name is as yet inconclusive, he writes:

Three hundred years of anecdotal and theoretical primary research attempts have proven to be of no use whatsoever in explicating the mystery of Sarah's wayward surname that appears on the Whipple marriage certificate of 1638. I therefore undertook an empirical attempt, using the above-cited 1908 secondary source--the only known source that gives her name as "They"--to determine Sarah's maiden name once and for all. I advanced the possibility of the standalone name "They," or a proximate variant of the name, "Theyer," having conceivably been Sarahus name. The evidence proved encouraging yet indeterminate. (See my post Sarah Theyer Whipple, Putative Wife of Captain John Whipple, 25 February 2021, on the Whipple Website blog).

!SOURCE: Abby Isabel Brown Bulkley, The Chad Browne Memorial, Consisting of Genealogical Memoirs of a Portion of the Descendants of Chad and Elizabeth Browne (Brooklyn, N.Y., 1888), p. 44.

!IMMIGRATION: "Banks lists John Whipple of Bocking, Essex County, England, in 1632, as a passenger on a ship called 'The Lyon.' This ship: with Mr. William Peirce as Master, sailed from London, June 22, and arrived September 16th at Boston." Charles M. Whipple, Jr., Sons and Daughters of Jesse: A 360 Year History of the Whipple Family (Oklahoma City: Southwestern Press, 1976), p. 10. The same reference says he married Sarah They? or Darling? about 1639. (The quotation might actually refer to RIN 5890 or 5933 [father and son John Whipple, who were born in Bocking, Essex, England]? Neither 5890 or 5933 had a wife named Sarah They or Darling.)

!BIRTH: Variant place: Milford, Pembroke, Wales. --Brenda Bova (email hidden), in a post to the Whipple Mailing List (email hidden) 5 Oct 1997. Records of the Edson Whipple Family family Organization list Milford, Surrey, England. (We probably don't know where Captain. John was born ... --Weldon Whipple)

!BIRTH: Philip Currier, The Currier Family Records, v.4, p. 12, shows Captain John born in Bocking, Essex, England, on 19 Dec. 1588. (Being born in Bocking would seem to refer to one of the Ipswich Whipples. -- Weldon Whipple)

!DEATH: Age at death: 68.

!BIRTH: Date from John Osborne Austin, _Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island_ (Albany, N.Y., 1887; reprint ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1978.

!DEATH: Date from Austin, _Dictionary_, p. 221.

!RESIDENCES: Dorchester, Mass., and Providence, R.I. (Austin, _Dictionary_, p. 221.)

!RESIDENCES: In 1658, John sold his house and some 40 or 50 acres of land in Dorchester, Mass., to James Minot, and soon after moved with his family to Providence, R.I. Land was granted to him in Providence in July 1659, and he was admitted as an inhabitant. --Nancy Cluff Siders (email hidden) to the Whipple Family discussion list (email hidden.edu), 5 Apr 1997, citing "The Steere Genealogy" by James P. Root, 1890.

!NOTE: 3 Oct 1632 ordered to give 3s. 4d. to his master Israel Stoughton for wasteful expenditure of powder and shot. (Austin, p. 221)

!SOURCE: Reprint of the "Brown genealogy of 1851," submitted to the Whipple Website by Ian Mackie, 20 Oct 2003.

!OCCUPATION: Carpenter by trade. --Brown genealogy of 1851.

!SOURCE: Mail from Charles M. Whipple, Jr., to Weldon Whipple, 8 Dec 2006. Estimates marriage in 1638 or earlier (previously entered as 1639/40) based on the Early Records of the Town of Providence, XVII:53-4: "On 24 Nov 1684, John junior made a declaration that he was 45 years old at the time, making his date of birth 1639." Thus his parents likely married in 1638 or earlier.

Headstone of Captain John Whipple

In Memory of Capt. John Whipple who was Born in England & Died in Providence-Town ye 16th day of May. Anno Dona[?] 1685 About 68  Years of age Captain John Whipple is buried in the Whipple family plot in the North Burial Ground on Main Street in Providence, R.I. Secondary sources indicate that John and his wife Sarah were initially buried in the garden burial site near their home. Their bodies were moved to the North Burial Ground when it was established in 1700. The headstones of John and his wife Sarah are located approximately 48 feet  WSW (west-south-west) of the "Dahlia Path" sign in the cemetery. Read John's name on two versions of the Lyon passenger list. Compare this John with his contemporary (also named John) who arrived in America about six years later and settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

RIN 366. Quick link to this page: https://genweb.whipple.org/366
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