Jeremiah White

Two Hundred and Forty Three years ago, my 6th great grandfather, Jeremiah White, married his second wife, Sarah. (He would eventually marry a third time after Sarah's death in 1769.) According to the Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 on newenglandancestors.org, Jeremiah and Sarah Thayer were married in Abington, MA on February 5, 1767. I thought it would be interesting to find some information on courtship in New England for this time frame (middle to late 18th century). Doing a quick search, I came across the Digital History website from University of Houston. They have a section on Courtship in New England, which suggests that around the time of Jeremiah's marriage, children had more of a choice than in the past as to who their spouses would be. They also mention the notion that "romance and love" had more to do with choice of spouse as the eighteenth century came to an end. Although, as Sarah was Jeremiah's second wife, perhaps he was looking for a spouse to care for the 9 children he already had with his first wife. I will have to see what connection he had with Sarah before they were married to better understand their relationship.

I also wanted to look a little bit into Jeremiah's parentage, as he is my direct line. After searching on Google books, I came across the following book : The Vinton memorial, comprising a genealogy of the descendants of John Vinton of Lynn, 1648: also, genealogical sketches of several allied families ... , which states on page 372, that Jeremiah was the son of Deacon Samuel White and Anna Pratt.



I love these old family history books, but I can never find the source of their information. I assume they got most of their information from probate records, which is where I will start to prove their relationship. Chamberlain's History of Weymouth book usually states the probate numbers, I will have to see if the White family is covered in this book the next time I obtain it.

To Do:
1. look in History of Weymouth book for White family
2. obtain probate information on Deacon Samuel White (of weymouth)
3. find land records for Deacon Samuel White and Jeremiah White
4. obtain Descendants of Thomas White of Weymouth, Mass., 1630-1907 By C. S. Williams
5. find more information on Sarah Thayer and relationship with Jeremiah - was there a connection between Thayer family and White family.