Oliver Whiting

Oliver Whiting
Born 1665-11-08 Billerica, MA
Died 1736-12-22
Select Board
In Office 1692 - 1693
1699 - 1700
1702 - 1712
1714 - 1724
Town Clerk
In Office 1705 - 1712
Preceded by John Stearns
Succeeded by John Needham
Town Clerk
In Office 1714 - 1724
Preceded by John Needham
Succeeded by Benjamin Tompson
Representative to the General Court
In Office 1719 - 1720
Preceded by John Stearns
Succeeded by George Brown
Representative to the General Court
In Office 1728 - 1728
Preceded by George Brown
Succeeded by William Patten
Children Samuel (b. 1702-09-06)


Oliver Whiting was born in Billerica on November 8, 1665, the son of Rev. Samuel Whiting, Billerica's first minister, and his wife Dorcas.

When the town's military company chose its officers on June 17, 1689, it elected Oliver Whiting ensign; the governor and council, who overruled the company on its choice of captain, let that choice stand, "though Oliver Whiting is allowed as ensign." On January 22, 1689-90 Ensign Whiting married Anna Danforth, daughter of Jonathan Danforth. Their children included Oliver; Dorcas, who married Deacon Joshua Abbot; and Samuel Whiting, born in 1702.

He served the town as selectman in 1692, 1699 and 1702, from 1704 to 1711, from 1714 to 1720 and in 1722 and 1723, and as town clerk from 1705 to 1711 and again from 1714 to 1723. The second series of town records, with its many highway descriptions, is "almost entirely in the good handwriting of Oliver Whiting," Henry Hazen noted. He was the town's Representative to the General Court in 1719 and 1720 and again in 1728. In 1711-12 he sat with the three deacons and Major Lane on the committee that regulated the new pews in the meeting house, and Hazen names him among the well-informed citizens whom neighbors called on for help in legal matters. He was also a justice of the peace, and the town record of his death styles him "Oliver Esq."; in Hazen's words he was "an active and useful citizen."

Oliver Whiting died on December 22, 1736, aged 71, and was buried in the Old South Cemetery. His widow Anna died the following August 13.



References

  1. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 157, WHITING #3 (birth, marriage, offices, justice of the peace, death, children)
  2. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 126, 1689 election of militia officers (Oliver Whiting chosen ensign)
  3. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 53, The Story as Told in the Records (town records in the handwriting of Oliver Whiting)
  4. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 176, Religious History (pew committee, 1711-12)
  5. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 303, Miscellaneous (citizens who aided neighbors in legal matters)
  6. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 304, lists of town clerks and representatives
  7. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 305, list of selectmen
  8. Vital Records of Billerica to 1850 (1908), births p. 200 (Oliver, s. Samuel and Dorcas, Nov. 8, 1665)
  9. Vital Records of Billerica to 1850 (1908), marriages p. 330 (Ens. Oliver Whiting and Anna Danforth, Jan. 22, 1689-90)
  10. Vital Records of Billerica to 1850 (1908), deaths p. 402 (Oliver Esq., Dec. 22, 1736, gravestone a. 71)