Benjamin Whitall1,2,3

M, #1362, b. 3 December 1747, d. 13 September 1797
  • Birth*: 3 December 1747; <3rd day 10th mo 1747>
    Date is given as '10-3-1747' in GCHS article, as 'Oct 3 1747' in Whitall-Matlack-Kennedy bible. See note on father's page regarding dates.4,5
  • Marriage*: 14 August 1769; Wilmington, Delaware; Married by Lawrence Girelius, by license.; Spouse: Elizabeth Hopper6,7
  • Death*: 13 September 1797; Death was Sept 13, 1797 per Mickle; Sept 14 per the cited bible records. Benjamin Whitall died of yellow fever along with seven other family members; see the note on his mother's page.8,5,9
Last Edited: 13 Jun 2023

Parents:

Father: James Whitall1,2,3 b. 4 Nov 1717, d. 29 Sep 1808
Mother: Ann Cooper1,2 b. 23 Jun 1716, d. 22 Sep 1797

Family:

Elizabeth Hopper b. 14 Sep 1747, d. 11 Dec 1808

Children:

Joseph Whitall+ 23 b. 17 Mar 1770, d. 12 Feb 1847
Dr. Benjamin Whitall23 b. 8 Apr 1772, d. 24 Oct 1797
Samuel Whitall+2 b. bt 1773 - 1775
Ann Whitall24 d. 27 Sep 1789

Notes

  • Note*: "Benjamin Whital mar'd to Elizabeth Hopper, dau. of Samuel & Mary (she was of Raccoon 1 mile above the lower bridge on Raccoon Creek). They settled on a farm situate on 'Esther Run" 2nd branch of Woodbury Creek, bought by James Whital in 1756 500£ 300 acres..."10
  • Note: Disowned: Men's Minutes of Haddenfield, 11 mo 11 1771, MF #15, p. 177: "... Whereas Benjamin Whitall and Elizabeth his Wife...have deviated...as to go out in their Marriage, and their going such a Distance to accomplish it; and that before an hireling Minister...Therefore it becomes necessary...to disown them..." (See also 12th mo 10 1770, 4th mo 8 1771.)11
  • Note: Evidence for the list of children of Benjamin & Elizabeth includes: The Woodbury meeting records list Joseph & Benjamin. The 1797 will of James Whitall names Joseph & Samuel. Asa Matlack named Joseph, Benjamin, Samuel & Ann. The marriage records of Joseph & Samuel name their father.
    Nona Cross, who has published an extensive Whitall genealogy on the web, adds son Gilbert Whitall.
    An unsourced sheet in the surname files of the Gloucester Co. Hist. Soc. added sons Gilbert & Aaron.
  • Note: Revolutionary War Military Service:
    Benjamin Whitall was in the First Battalion Gloucester Co. Militia June 15 1775.
    He also was a Second Lieutenant in an artillery co. formed March 2, 1776, and was subsequently promoted to be a First Lieutenant and later Captain Lieutenant.
    He commanded as Captain a company in Col. Silas Newcomb's Regiment of Foot under Gen. Heard from June or July 1776. The unit participated in the Battle of Brooklyn August 27th. October rolls state that he was 'sick in camp' and 'unfit for duty'. He was back in Deptford by Oct. 24 under a doctor's care.
    He appears as a lieutenant in a September 1777 muster roll of the West Jersey Artillery under Capt. Samuel Hugg, and he was probably with the battery near Mantua Creek harassing British warships off Billingsport.12,13,14,15,16,17,18
  • Note: Patriotic Service: In July 1775 fourteen Gloucester County citizens voluntarily contributed 296 logs toward construction of the chevaux-de-frize to blockade the Delaware River. Benjamin Whitall made the largest contribution, of 55 logs.

    In the next two months seventeen chevaux-de-frize were constructed and sunk off Fort Mifflin. Over two years sixty three or more were sunk there and off Billingsport. Benjamin Whitall's logs would have been enough to construct two.

    Note that Harper's book dates the contribution as July 1776, while Jackson's book says July 1775.19,20
  • Note: The United States Constitution was ratified December 17 1787 by delegates of the state of New Jersey, including Benjamin Whitall, one of three delegates for Gloucester County. (http://www.usconstitution.net/rat_nj.html)
  • Note: Civil offices: Benjamin Whitall was elected sheriff of Gloucester County N.J. in 1790. The next sheriff was in 1793. He was elected a member of the New Jersey Assembly in 1794.21
  • Note: Probate, intestate:
    "1797, Oct. 13. Whitall, Benjamin, the elder, of Gloucester Co. Int. Adm'rs - Joseph Whitall, Benjamin Whitall and Samuel Whitall. Fellowbondsmen - James B. Cooper and John Blackwood; all of said Co. Lib 37, p. 106

    1797, Oct 11. Inventory, £1,267.12.11; made by Phineus Lord and Jonathan Harker. File 2140H."22

Citations

  1. [S547] 'Woodbury New Jersey Miscellany; Genealogical. Compiled by members of D.A.R. and read at a series of meeting.' FHL microfilm 848,548. p. 55.   DAR--Woodbury-Misc-848548.pdf
  2. [S19] Asa Matlack, 'Miscellaneous Notes Collected by Asa Matlack', transcribed by Asa Matlack Stackhouse. FHL 441,459, Item 2. [Notes: Asa Matlack lived 1783-1851. Manuscript includes in part: Old Coles Church register of deaths, p. 12-72; St Mary's Church burials, p. 73-119; Book 1 - William Matlack descendants; Book 8 - William Matlack descendants; Book 9 - Various families, including Whitall.] Book 9, p. 863.   Matlack-Asa--Notes--books-1-8-9--441459.pdf   Matlack-Asa--Notes--pp-366-371--441459.pdf   Matlack-Asa--Notes--Old-Cole-Church-index--441459.pdf
  3. [S132] Documents relating to the colonial, revolutionary and post-revolutionary history of the state of New Jersey. aka New Jersey Archives. Will of James Whitall, 40:371.
  4. [S229] J.G.W & I.C.M, "The Whitall Family of Red Bank", Bulletin of the Gloucester County Historical Society Vol 4, March 1954, No 3, pp. 9-10. Sources are not cited..   Glou-Co-Hist-Soc--Bulletin.pdf
  5. [S532] Whitall, Matlack, Kennedy bible: Photocopy of four pages from a family bible; provenance unknown; modern writing on top of first page: 'Whitall-Matlack-Kennedy'. Photocopy obtained from Gloucester Co. Hist. Soc. 25 Jan 2007.
    Compiler's notes: 1) Content includes children of James & Ann (Cooper) Whitall, of James & Hannah (Whitall) Matlack, of Robert & Elizabeth (Henry) Kennedy, and of James & Elizabeth (Kennedy) Matlack. 2) The bottom halves of the first two pages are switched, presumably during repair of breaks across fold lines. 3) Pages are all in same hand, and the latest date is 1828, so this appears to be a compilation of other records, made seventy plus years after the births of the Whitall children.
       Gloucester-Co-Hist-Soc-Jan-25-2007.pdf
  6. [S60] Christina Congregation, Trinity Church, Wilmington, Delaware church records, 1750-1889. FHL Microfilm #6,692. p. 880.
  7. [S374] The Records of Holy Trinity (Old Swedes) church, Wilmington, Del., from 1697 to 1773 / Tr. from the original Swedish by Horace Burr, with an abstract of the English records from 1773 to 1810. Series: Papers of the Historical Society of Delaware ; 9 (Reprinted 1988 Higginson Books. Orig. publ. 1890 Historical Society of Delaware. Original edition. (available on Google books), ), p. 729 & Errata p. 164.
  8. [S470] Stewart, Frank H., Stewart's Genealogical and Historical Miscellany, No. 1, 1918. Originally publ. in Woodbury Daily Times from June 19 to July 31, 1918. (Gloucester County Historical Society, 1969), Samuel Mickle's Account Book, p. 10.   Stewart--Miscellany.pdf
  9. [S416] Snape, William J. and Edward L. Wolfe, "The Studies of Yellow-Fever by Noah Webster and John Conrad Otto AT Red Bank, New Jersey", Bulletin of the Gloucester County Historical Society Vol. 19, No. 4 June 1984, p. 25.   Glou-Co-Hist-Soc--Bulletin.pdf
  10. [S19] Asa Matlack, 'Miscellaneous Notes Collected by Asa Matlack', transcribed by Asa Matlack Stackhouse. FHL 441,459, Item 2. [Notes: Asa Matlack lived 1783-1851. Manuscript includes in part: Old Coles Church register of deaths, p. 12-72; St Mary's Church burials, p. 73-119; Book 1 - William Matlack descendants; Book 8 - William Matlack descendants; Book 9 - Various families, including Whitall.], Book 9, p. 865.   Matlack-Asa--Notes--books-1-8-9--441459.pdf   Matlack-Asa--Notes--pp-366-371--441459.pdf   Matlack-Asa--Notes--Old-Cole-Church-index--441459.pdf
  11. [S499] Upton, Ann, Email regarding the marriage out of meeting of Benjamin Whitall and Elizabeth Hopper, in response to query to from Jeff Moore. Ann Upton, Haverford Special Collections Librarian replied by email 21 Apr 2008, and also mailed a photocopy of portions of the Haddonfield mtg. minutes.    Haverford--Hadd-Min-1771--Benj-Whitall-Marriage.pdf
  12. [S478] Stryker, William S., compiler, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton, N.J.: Wm. T. Nicholson & Co., 1872), p. 320, 418.   Stryker--Official-Register.pdf
  13. [S471] Stewart, Frank, Letter regarding the Revolutionary War military service of Benjamin Whitall, from historian Frank Stewart, dated Nov 8 1917. In 'Whitall' surname file of the Gloucester Co. Historical Society, Woodbury N.J. Photocopied 17 Sep 2007.    Stewart--Letter-Benj-Whitall-Service.pdf
  14. [S469] Stewart, Frank H., Notes On Old Gloucester County New Jersey. volumes I, II & III. Originally publ. Camden & Woodbury JN, Vol I 1917, Vol II 1934, Vol III 1937 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977), I:256.   Stewart--Notes.pdf
  15. [S77] Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, NARA M881, viewed on Footnote.com 2/08 [now Fold3.com]. record of Benjamin Whitall, in Newcomb's Regiment. p. 1-9.
  16. [S386] Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, NARA M246, viewed on Footnote.com 2/08 [now Fold3]. Folder 77, Newcomb's Regiment of Foot. p. 6, 12, 15, 17.
  17. [S385] Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, NARA M804, viewed on Footnote.com 2/08 [now Fold3]. 1) File of veteran James Tomlin, pension # S. 6252, p. 2, 4, 6-8 & 12-13, statements by James Tomlin & John Dilks. 2) File of veteran James Mc Gee, pension # W. 7427, p. 3, 7-9, 11, 12, 20, statements by McGee's widow & David Owen. 3) File of veteran David Owen, pension # W. 3857, p. 13-15, statement by David Owen.
  18. [S190] Harper, Robert W., Old Gloucester County and The American Revolution 1763-1778; including Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem Counties (Woodbury, New Jersey: Gloucester County Cultural and Heritage Commission, 1986), p. 50, 70, 71..
  19. [S190] Harper, Robert W., Old Gloucester County, p. 38.
  20. [S230] Jackson, John W., The Pennsylvania Navy 1775-1781 : The Defense of the Delaware. Appendix B. Chevaux-de-frize, p. 353-376 (Rutgers University Press, 1974).   Jackson--Pennsylvania-Navy.pdf
  21. [S106] Cushing, Thos. and Charles E. Sheppard, History of the Counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland New Jersey, with Biographical Sketches of their Prominent Citizens (Phila. Everts & Peck, 1883. [Available on HeritageQuest], ), p. 122, 124.   Cushing--Gloucester-County.pdf
  22. [S132] New Jersey Archives, 38:408.
  23. [S454] Society of Friends, Woodbury Monthly Meeting, NJ. Filmed at Dept of Friends Records, 302 Arch St, Phila. FHL microfilm 20,486. I Record of Births & Deaths 1702-1887, p. 6.
  24. [S470] Stewart, Frank H., Stewart's Miscellany, No. 1, Samuel Mickle's Account Books, p. 8.   Stewart--Miscellany.pdf