The Whittlesey Family

In Cambridge, England, north of London and about five miles east of Peterborough, is a small town known as Whittlesea. In that locality lived the Whittleseys. The Cambridgeshire Church and court records show that:
RALPH WHITTLESEY was born in 1272; and his son,
WILLIAM WHITTLESEY, in 1300. William was educated at Cam­bridge and Oxford Universities. Oxford was founded by Simon Islip, Arch­bishop of Canterbury, and uncle of William. Edward III later appointed William Whittlesey Archbishop of Canterbury.
Other Cambridgeshire records show:
JOHN WHITTLESEY, born February 23, 1570, married Elizabeth Wesley in June, 1592; and their son,
JOHN WHITTLESEY, JR., born August 9, 1593, married Lydia Terry, at London, in October, 1621; and their son,
JOHN WHITTLESEY, III, was born July 4, 1623, near Whittlesea. About 1650, he immigrated to the New World. On June 20, 1664, he mar­ried Ruth Dudley, at Saybrook Connecticut. (She was the daughter of William Dudley and Jane Lutman). John Whittlesey and Ruth’s brother, William Dudley, operated a ferry on the Connecticut River, at Saybrook. John became a large land owner and served in the General Assembly. He died on April 15, 1704, and was buried in the Saybrook Cemetery, a monu­ment marking his grave. Ruth died on September 27, 1714. The first of their eleven children was John Whittlesey, IV.
JOHN WHITTLESEY, IV, born December 11, 1665, in the house be­side the ferry at Saybrook, Connecticut. On May 9, 1693, he married Hannah Long, who was born September 11, 1665, at Saybrook. It is believed that Hannah Long was a granddaughter of Robert Long, of Charleston, Massachusetts, who came to this country from London, in 1635, on the Ship Defiance.
In the days of our New England forebears, every man was expected to have a useful and gainful occupation and no stigma was placed on honest toil, no matter how humble its character. This is exemplified in the case of John Whittlesey, IV. He was a shoemaker by profession and also operated a general merchandise store; yet he was a representative in the legislature and an officer in the militia; positions of importance in those days. John Whittlesey, IV, left an almanac in which he kept his accounts and family memoranda. The following is taken from one of its pages:
"John Whittlesey, the original owner of this book, was a son of John Whittlesey who emigrated from England, and the only Whittlesey who ever came from there; and all of that name are his descendants, and the owner of this book was the first Whittlesey born in America. He settled at Saybrook Ferry and John Tully of Boston who published this almanac was a relative of the Whittle-seys. Hand this down to posterity."
John Whittlesey, IV, died on July 2, 1735, at Saybrook. His wife died on January 6, 1752. They had eight children, the third of whom was John Whittlesey, V.
JOHN WHITTLESEY, V, born November 1, 1696, at Saybrook. On December 17, 1718, John married Sarah Williams, who was born in Say-brook in 1700. John died in November, 1746. Five children were born of this marriage, the second of whom was Hester Whittlesey.
HESTER WHITTLESEY, born June 12, 1722, at Saybrook.   In 1745, Hester married David Wright, son of Benjamin Wright and Elizabeth Hand. The Whittlesey family thus merges into the Wright family.