Genealogical & Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts by William Richard Cutter, William Frederick Adams. WHITNEY. Page Ii MASSACHUSETTS. The surname Whitney was originally a place name. The parish from which the family takes its name is located in county Hereford, England, upon the extreme western border adjoining Wales and is traversed by the lovely Wye River. The name of the place doubtless comes from the appearance of the river, meaning in Saxon, white water, from hwit, white, and ey, water. The coat-of-arms of the Whitney family of Whitney is: Azure, a cross chequy or and gules. Crest: A bull's head couped sable, armed argent, the points gules. The English ancestry of John Whitney, the immigrant who settled at Watertown, Mass., has been established by Henry Melville and presented in an exquisitely printed and illustrated volume. Very few American families have their English genealogy in such well authenticated and satisfactory form. An abstract of the English ancestry is given below: (I) Turstin, "the Fleming," otherwise known as Turstin de Wigmore, probably also as Turstin, son of Rolf, and Turstin "the White," was a follower of William the Conqueror. He was mentioned in the Domesday book as an extensive land holder in Herefordshire and the Marches of Wales. He married Agnes, daughter of Alured de Merleberge, a Norman baron of Ewias Castle, in the Marches of Wales. (II) Eustace, son of Turstin, was a benefactor of the monestary of St. Peter in Gloucester. He or one of his immediate descendants took the surname De Whitney from Whitney of the Wye, in the Marches of Wales, where his principal castle was located. The estate comprised over two thousand acres, and remained in the family until 1893, when it was sold, there being no member of the family to hold it. The castle has entirely disappeared, but it is believed to be in ruins under the Wye, which has in the course of years changed its path. The castle was probably built on an artificial mound, surrounded by a moat fed by the river, which gradually undermined the castle, which was at last disintegrated. (III) Sir Robert de Whitney, a direct descendant of Eustace, was living in 1242 and was mentioned in the "Testa de Nevill." Three or four intervening generations cannot be stated with certainty. (IV) Sir Eustace de Whitney, son of Sir Robert, gave deed to the monastery of St. Peter in 1280, referring to and confirming the deed of his ancestors above mentioned. He was Lord of Pencombe, Little Cowarn and Whitney in 1281; was granted free warren by Edward Ist ; summoned to wars beyond the seas in 1297; tenant of part of the manor of Huntington in 1299; in the Scotch war in 1301. He was possibley grandson instead of son of Sir Robert. (V) Sir Eustace de Whitney, son of Sir Eustace, was knighted by King Edward I in 1306, and was a member of parliament for Herefordshire in 1313 and 1352. (VI) Sir Robert de Whitney, son of Sir Eustace, was one of two hundred gentlemen who went to Milan in the retinue of the Duke of Clarence on the occasion of the latter's marriage in 1368. He was a member of Parliament for Herefordshire in 1377, 1379 and 1380 and Sheriff in 1377. (VII) Sir Robert Whitney, son of Sir Robert, was sent abroad to negotiate treaty with the Count of Flanders in 1388; member of Parliament for Herefordshire in 1391. He was sent to France to deliver the castle and town of Cherbourg to the King of Navarre. Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth The full Whitney file from Bond's Watertown - sent on request to me farns10th@aol.com Whitney Family of Massachusetts - Continued in the full book online with Google Books Online - use the full title to access: Genealogical & Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts by William Richard Cutter, William Frederick Adams. ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

All, At 01:15 PM 3/31/2007, Farns10th@aol.com wrote: >Genealogical & Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of >Massachusetts >by William Richard Cutter, William Frederick Adams. > >WHITNEY. > >Page Ii MASSACHUSETTS. >... Thanks for the "heads-up" on this article. >The full Whitney file from Bond's Watertown - sent on request to me >farns10th@aol.com Transcripts of the Whitney parts of Bond's Watertown are on the WRG web site. See this URL: http://wiki.whitneygen.org/wrg/index.php/Archive:Early_Settlers_of_Watertown%2C_Massachusetts Regards, Robert Mr. Robert L. Ward http://wiki.whitneygen.org/wrg/index.php/User:Rlward