Samuel Whiting Jr.

The Reverend Samuel Whiting Jr. (March 25, 1633 – February 28, 1713)^[citation needed] was the first minister of Billerica, Massachusetts,[1] from November 11, 1663, to February 28, 1713.^[citation needed]

Biography

Coat of Arms of Samuel Whiting

He was the son of the Reverend Samuel Whiting and his second wife,[1] Elizabeth St. John.[2] Elizabeth belonged to the prominent landowning family of St. John of Lydiard Tregoze; she was the sister[2] of Oliver St. John, a leading lawyer and judge who was one of the foremost opponents of King Charles I of England during the English Civil War.

When the elder Reverend Samuel Whiting arrived from King's Lynn England in 1637, the residents of Lynn, Massachusetts changed the name of their settlement in his honor.[3]

Samuel Whiting Jr. graduated from Harvard in 1653.[1] While some sources indicate he had a brother, Nathaniel,[4] this is in error. In his father's memoir[5] it is clear he had no son named Nathaniel.

References

1. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1889). "Whiting, Samuel" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
2. John Burke & John Bernard Burke (1838). "St. John of Longthorpe". A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies of England. Scott, Webster and Geary. p. 462.
3. "A BRIEF HISTORY OF LYNN". About Lynn. City of Lynn. Archived from the original on 2019-10-05. Retrieved 2021-12-01. When the first official minister, Samuel Whiting, arrived from King's Lynn, England, the new settlers were so excited that they changed the name of their community to Lynn in 1637 in honor of him.
4. Cutter, William Richard (1910). Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts. Lewis historical Publishing Company. pp. 1875–1876. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
5. Whiting, William (1873). Memoir of Rev. Samuel Whiting, D.D., and of his wife, Elizabeth St. John: with references to some of their English ancestors and American descendants. Press of Rand, Avery, & Co. pp. 195–204. OCLC 79027901.

Further reading

• “Elegy on the Rev. Samuel Whiting,[ Sr.,] of Lynn,” by Benjamin Tompson, “ye renowned poet of New England,” printed in Cotton Mather's Magnalia
• William Whiting, LL. D., Memoirs of Rev. Samuel Whiting and of his Wife, Elizabeth St. John, with Reference to some of their English Ancestors and American Descendants (printed privately, Boston, 1871)

Preceded by First Pastor

Minister 1663 – 1713

Succeeded by Samuel Ruggles^[citation needed]