GenMassachusetts-L Archives

From:
Subject: [GM-L] John White of Salem & Lancaster, MA with an antique from England ca 1638
Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 22:39:50 EDT

Subject: John White & his antique sideboard ca 1638 still in Lancaster
Source: History of Lancaster, Mass by Rev. Abijah P. Marvin 1879

p.64

John White of Salem, Mass, 1638, had grant of land in 1639; joined the church
in 1643. He, with his son, was one of the first planters of Lancaster. He
had
children:

1. Josiah White, his executor
2. Thomas White
3. Joan White
4. Elizabeth White m. Henry Kerley
5. Mary White m. Rev. Rowlandson - inherited 1638 antique from England see
below
6. Sarah White
7. Hannah White who lived with her father until after his decease and then
married
Ensign Divoll.

There is an entry in the Records of the town in March, 1658, which it is not
easy to
understand, but seems to indicate that he was a man who stood up for his
rights.
The record reads as follows: "all the orders of the selectmen passed, except
that
of goodman White, which was rejected "because he feared not to speak in his
own
cause."

p.98

Rev. Mr. Rowlandson was surrounded by many relatives and friends. By his
marriage to Mary White he became connected with an important family, since
Capt. John White, Sr. was the largest property holder in the town and the
father of
several children. Another of his daughters, Elizabeth, was the wife of Henry
Kerley.
Two other daughters of Capt John White, Mrs. Drew and Mrs Divoll were married
and settled in town. In short, about seventeen (some say nineteen) persons
(not
including old Mr. White who died the year before) were related to Mrs.
Rowlandson
were murdered or taken captive at the time of the massacre.

p.155

In 1688 Josiah White was allowed by the county, twenty shillings for "killing
one
growne wolf" in Lancaster.

p.169

At a Town Meeting March 2, 1718/19, John White was the person chosen to
serve on the grand jury for the year ensuing.

Also at the same Meeting, Josiah White was chosen Selectman.

p.188
Selectmen for 1724 were Josiah White, Joseph Wilder, Jonathan Houghton,
Ebenezer Wilder and Samuel Carter.

p.252

The Crown Point Expedition of 1755 included Nathaniel White in the Regt of
Col.
Josiah Brown. In Capt Benjamin Ballard's company was Elisha White.

p.761
The John White place No. 13, where Edward Houghton now (1879) resides had
been the property of the White family from 1653 to the decease of the late
Deacon
Samuel F. White. His widow married the late Deacon Peter Osgood, whose
daughter was the wife of Mr. Houghton. The present house is recent, the
former
one having been destroyed by fire, as the earliest one was, by the Indians.
Here
the first John White lived till two or three years before the destruction of
the town.

His son Josiah White, deacon and captain, probably succeeded his father,
though
his son, Josiah White Jr. also a deacon, was on the south side in 1705, and
joined
in the petition to the general court in favor of locating the third meeting
house on the
old site.

John White, the famous captain, who died in 1725, was the brother or son of
the
preceding, and occupied the homestead of the family. He died in the prime of
life,
leaving several children. In 1724 he purchased a lot of land at the north
end of Pine
Hill of John Goodman of Hadley. He was a blacksmith as well as a farmer and
a man of energy and character. A road extended from the White place over
Wheelock
hill, and the whole length of Pine hill, to the Dyer place. Doubtless one of
the sons
of Capt. John White took up his abode on the south side of the road, nearly
opposite Dyer's, where the old cellar is still to be seen, because in later
times there
were in that neighborhood, three Whites, styled John, John Jr. and John White
3d.
I find in 1788 one John White bought a small parcel of intervale of Dorothy,
the
wife of Phinehas Ward. She was grandaughter of Eunice White, widow of Capt.
John White, who died in 1725.

p.762
The Church at Lancaster.
Deacon Josiah White, last mentioned, resigned in 1749 on account of age, but
continued in the office of treasurer till 1766, when Deacon Joseph White was
chosen treasurer of the church. His son Joseph White became deacon in 1802,
though modestly reluctant. In 1839 his son Samuel F. White was elected to the
same office, and held it worthily about a quarter of a century. The latter
had two
brothers in the ministry: the former, Rev. William H. White, Unitarian pastor
of
Littleton, Mass., deceased, and Rev. James C. White, Orthodox
Congregationalist
still living (1897).

The family of the original John White of Lancaster is scattered abroad in the
land,
far and wide, and a full genealogy of it would fill a respectable volume.
His descendants have almost uniformly held a respectable position in society
and in the
church. Some have risen to distinction in military and civil life. The
Honorable
Joseph White, late Secretary of the Baord of Education, is in the line of
succession.

The only living male representative of the family, bearing the name in
Lancaster in
1897 is Emery H. White. The late deacon Samuel White had several sons and
daughters, none of whom reside in Lancaster.

p.115
Early in the year 1876 the Postmaster of Lancaster, Mr. Humphrey Barrett,
received a letter from J. W. Dunlap of South Hadley saying that he had in his
possession an article of furniture that once belonged to the Rev. Joseph
Rowlandson
and that he would sell it for the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars,
though re-
luctant to part with it on account of its history. The Lancaster Library
Committee
on learning the facts, requested one of their number, Horatio D. Humphrey to
visit the owner, see what he had to sell, and learn, if possible, its
descent; or in
other words, its connection with the first settled minister of Lancaster.

The quest was successful. The article, whether bureau, buffet, sideboard or
locker,
was of solid English oak. It was four feet and seven inches high, four feet
and one
inch long, and nineteen inches deep. It had drawers, and a closet or
cupboard, and
other capabilities of a useful piece of household furniture. There was
considerable
carving on the doors, and it was adorned with egg-shaped balls made of a
softer
wood. The ownership was traced directly to Mr. Rowlandson. Mr. Humphrey
being
authorized to give one hundred dollars, made the offer which was accepted.

Happily the committee did not have to draw from the annual income of the
Library.
Miss Mary Whitney, in her will, had left one hundred dollars to the library,
to be used
according to the discretion of the committee. It had been their intention to
purchase
some costly, illustrated work, and inscribe her name upon it in lasting
honor. It now
seemed that the best use to which the money could be applied, would be to
exchange it for the antique sideboard or locker. This was done. The
article was
covered with a coat of paint, and two of varnish. An ingenious painter
removed
the covering and brought out the real surface. It stands now in the cabinet
in
Memorial Hall, with a suitable inscription in reference to Miss Whitney. The
chairman of the committee, Rev. Mr. Bartol, with great felicity, selected
the following
motto for the plate which is fastened to the furniture - "Sic siti Lares
Laetantur."

p.117 However!

One interesting question remained to be decided, if it were admitted that Mr.
Rowlandson was formerly the owner, the question was this. Was the article
ever
in Lancaster? It was the general opinion that the furniture was burned in the
universal conflagration., Therefore the probability was that the locker, if
such it may
be called, was bought when Mr. Rowlandson began housekeeping in Wethersfield.

But inquiry elicited the fact that it had belonged to John White, who brought
it from
England. He came over in the early years of the colony. The minister
married Mary
White, the daughter of John White. The latter died not long before the
massacre.

Hence it follows that the article was brought to Lancaster, and at the
division of
John White's personal estate probably fell to the Rowlandsons. The
connection
was complex. It is supposed that the sideboard had valuables in it and that
the
Indians, after getting possession of the burning garrison hastily carried it
out, in
order to save its contents from the fire, and then rifled it at their
leisure. These
things being so, Memorial Hall, Lancaster, is the fittest depository for it
in all the
earth, and truly as well as classically may it be said to rejoice in being so
placed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth
Question
Is the relic with.....does anyone know?

Lancaster Historical Society
Public Library
Main St.
Lancaster, MA 01523
(508) 368-8928

This thread:

• [GM-L] John White of Salem & Lancaster, MA with an antique from England ca 1638 by