My Thanksgiving Genealogy - The Mayflower White Family

Posted on Tuesday 14 November 2006 at 3:13 PM - Post Comment

Thanksgiving has always been a special time for my family. It's not just a time to get together and enjoy good food, but a time to remember where my family came from. My family traces it's roots back to the Mayflower and the mysterious White family. While we may not know about the White's themselves before the Mayflower, it's been interesting learning what I can about them, the time that they lived and the generations that came after. Here is just a snapshot:

There were 102 passengers on the Mayflower. Among them were William and Susanna White, their son Resolved and their two servants William Holbeck and Edward Thompson. Many people have tried to trace the history of William and Susanna White before they boarded the Mayflower without much success. Most have him listed as a woolcomber from Leyden (Leiden), Holland because there is a marriage record of a William White and an Anna Fuller. That theory and the theory that Susuanna is Susanna Tilley have both been proven inaccurate. Susanna was pregnant and gave birth to a second son, Peregrine, in November or December of 1621. He is considered the first child born in the new colony. William White died on February 21, 1621 during the first winter. May 12, 1621 Susanna remarried Widower Edward Winslow. Their marriage is considered the first to occur at Plymouth. Susanna died somewhere between 1654 and 1675.

In November 1640, Resolved White married Judith Vassall, the daughter of William and Ann (King) Vassall. According to mayflowerhistory.com, "Resolved White's stepfather Edward Winslow wrote a pamphlet in 1647 entitled New England's Salamander Discovered, where the notorious and slanderous "salamander" was apparently William Vassall the father of his daughter-in-law." Resolved and Judith had 8 children, William, John, Samuel, Resolved, Anna, Elizabeth, Josiah, and Susanna. Judith died in April 1670 and Resolved remarried Abigail Lord in 1674. Resolved died around 1687.

Around 1648-49, Peregrine White married Sarah Bassett, the daughter of William and Elizabeth (Tilden) Bassett. Peregrine and Sarah had 7 children, Daniel, an unnamed child, Jonathan, Peregrine, Sarah, Sylvanus and Mercy. Peregrine died in July of 1704. Sarah died around 1711-12.

Elizabeth White, the daughter of Resolved and Judith White, married Obadiah Wheeler in July of 1672. They had 9 children, Obadiah, Josiah, Uriah, Samuel, Jonathan, Elizabeth, Joseph, Benjamin and Joshua. Elizabeth died in October 1735.

Joseph Wheeler, son of Obadiah and Elizabeth Wheeler, married Abigail Butterfield in March of 1726. They had 5 children, Phoebe, Reuben, Rachel, Joseph and Abigail. Abigail died in October 1764. Joseph died in 1780.

Phoebe Wheeler, daughter of Joseph and Abigail Wheeler, married Jotham (or Jothan) Wilder in October 1746.  (Note: I believe Almonzo Wilder, husband of author Laura Ingalls Wilder, is a decendant of John Wilder, Jotham Wilder's brother.)  They had 8 children, Stephen, Titus, Phoebe, Susannah, Jotham (or Jothan), Reuben, Abigail and Sarah. Jotham died May of 1801. Pheobe died in 1806.

Abigail Wilder, daughter of Jotham and Phoebe Wilder, married Thomas Akley in 1783. They had 14 children. The children I know of are Thomas, Phebe, Abigail, Sally, Jotham, Joseph and Levi.  Thomas, a private in the Revolutionary War, died in February 1850.

I cant

Posted by kimmie on Sunday 26 November 2006 at 12:46 PM - Link

I cant trace my family tree back but a few generations, how wonderful it is to know where you come from, as you do!

God bless,
Kim