Today’s family sketch about Eleazer Whipple, son of immigrants John and Sarah (MNU) Whipple of Dorchester, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island – NO KNOWN RELATION to John and Matthew Whipple who lived in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts – will be somewhat short, simply because Eleazer left few primary records in his lifetime.

Eleazer Whipple was baptized on 8 March 1645/46 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts. He married Alice Angell, daughter of Thomas and Alice (MNU) Angell on 26 January 1669/70 in Providence, Rhode Island. Alice was born c1649 and died 13 August 1743, also in Providence.

Eleazer died on 25 August 1719, intestate, In Providence.

I am reluctantly sharing a list of the purported children. I say purported because with Eleazer dying without a will and most of his children having no known recorded date of birth, I have to rely information that was originally published in the mid-to-late 1800s.

Much, although not all, of that information has stood the test of time. For example, a daughter Harriet is placed as a child of Eleazer and Alice. However, Harriet is very much an 1800s girl’s name and there isn’t a single Harriet born in the 1600s, or even 1700s, anywhere in the American Ancestors database. Lastly, if you look at the shape of the letters in Harriet, compare them to Hannah and add either a bit of faded or blurred ink and some hard to read cursive, it is easy to see that someone misread Hannah in years gone by. However, the error was never corrected and a likely non-existent person has remained in the family.

Likewise, some give Eleazer and Mary daughters named Mary, born 1692, and Hannah, born 5 March 1695. Those birth years are stretching the child bearing capabilities of Alice (Angell) Whipple, who was born c1649. She would have been 43 when Mary was born – not impossible, but less likely – and 46 years old when Hannah was born – again not impossible, but unlikely.

Some have even conflated these girls into other persons with a given and middle name to account for lack of records that mention these girls as part of Eleazer’s and Alice’s children.

The names of Eleazer’s sons are proven by a 1722 land deed whereby Eleazer Jr., Job and James sell their portion of land inherited from their father to their brother, Daniel.

As already mentioned, proving Eleazer’s daughters is trickier. Deborah is placed in the family with a birth year of 1670. John and Samuel, Eleazer’s two older brothers, were of an age where they could be Deborah’s father. However, both John and Samuel have children’s births just before and just after 1670, leaving no room for Deborah (unless she was a twin, which has never been mentioned).

Margery who married John Mowry, 18 April 1701, is called “of Eleazer,” so she belongs in this family and probably was born c1679.

Alice, who married Joseph Mowry, 3 June 1695, was likely named for her mother and grandmother and the Mowry family was well enough liked to have two of Eleazer’s children marry into it.

There is an Elizabeth Whipple placed in this family. One Elizabeth Whipple married Gabriel Peacock on 10 December 1723. That means Elizabeth, born c1681, didn’t marry until she was 47 years old. Elizabeth Peacock died on 15 April 1776 and is buried in the Whipple-Mowry Cemetery in Lincoln, Rhode Island, where Eleazer, Alice and some of her siblings are also buried. No children are ascribed to her and she likely had none. Gabriel Peacock is not buried with her, unless his gravestone has been lost to time.

Little seems to be known about Gabriel Peacock, including when he was born, so whether or not Eleazer’s possible daughter married him is an open question.

Therefore, we have the following children most likely to have been born to Eleazer and Alice:

Children:

1. Deborah, born c1670; died 24 June 1748, with her estate administration on 8 November 1748; married John Wilkinson, 16 April 1689.
2. Eleazer, born c1672; died 17 December 1734; married Mary Sprague. This is a Mayflower line.
3. Alice, born 3 June 1675; died after 19 May 1746; married Joseph Mowry, 3 June 1695. Joseph died in 1755.
4. Margery, born c1679; married John Mowry, 18 April 1701.
5. Elizabeth, born c1681; died 15 April 1776; married Gabriel Peacock, 10 December 1723. She apparently had no children.
6. Job, born c1684; died 19 April 1750, Lincoln, Providence, Rhode Island; married Silence Pray. She was born 1681; died 1 January 1767. Their gravestones still stand at the Whipple-Mowry Cemetery.
7. James, born c1686; died 3 October 1731, Lincoln, Providence, Rhode Island. His gravestone also still stands.
8. Daniel, born c1688; died 3 October 1768, Providence County, Rhode Island; married (1) Mary (2) Anne.

If you are able to add further documented details to this family, I would love to hear from you.