For some time, Jonathan Whitney has appeared in various places as a Revolutionary War soldier. The references seemed promising: an entry in the American Genealogical-Biographical Index pointing to Connecticut service records and a 1790 census placement that aligned with his known residence.
The difficulty, as so often in eighteenth-century New England research, is that the name is not unique. The question is not whether a Jonathan Whitney served, but whether the Jonathan Whitney who was born in 1761 and died in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, was one of them.
Establishing the Identity of Jonathan Whitney
Jonathan Whitney was born in 1761, the son of Matthias Whitney of Killingly, Windham County, Connecticut. He married Olive Cady in Killingly in November 1784.¹ This places him in that town as a young adult at the close of the Revolutionary War period and provides the starting point for his own household.
Original data:Connecticut. Church Records Index. Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut.
The 1790 census for Killingly includes “Whitney, Jona” in the same cluster as Matthias Whitney and Asa Whitney. The household consists of one male aged sixteen or over, three males under sixteen, and four females, a structure consistent with Jonathan’s known family at that date.²
His will, written in Luzerne County on 9 December 1830 and proved 15 April 1832, names his wife Olive and his children: Ransom, Charles, the heirs of Asa Whitney, Walter, Frank, Horace, Martha (late wife of Marsh Lake), and Lucina.³ This record connects the Connecticut resident to the Pennsylvania man and fixes his identity at the end of his life.
Taken together, these records identify a single individual who was in Killingly in the 1780s, head of his own household there in 1790, and later a resident of Luzerne County.
The AGBI References
The American Genealogical-Biographical Index entry for Jonathan Whitney directs the researcher to two Connecticut sources:
- Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States: Connecticut
- Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution⁴
As an index, AGBI does not distinguish between men of the same name. Each reference must be examined and compared with the known details of Jonathan’s life.
The Connecticut Service Records
One of the cited service entries places a Jonathan Whitney in Canaan, in Litchfield County.⁵ Jonathan of Killingly is not known to have had any connection to that town, and the Whitney families there form a separate group.
The second reference is to a Jonathan Whitney who served as a captain.⁶ A man born in 1761 would have been fourteen at the beginning of the war and in his early twenties at its close. He does not fit the age or the community standing expected of a Revolutionary War officer, and no other record places him in that role.
Both entries therefore refer to other men of the same name.
The Pension Question
If Jonathan had later qualified for a federal pension, there would be a corresponding file or index entry. He does not appear in the Revolutionary War pension indexes, and his estate papers contain no reference to pension payments, arrears, or certificates.⁷
Age and Military Eligibility
Jonathan’s age during the war is central to the question:
| Year | Age |
|---|---|
| 1775 | 14 |
| 1780 | 19 |
| 1783 | 22 |
He reached military age only in the final years of the conflict. Any service would have been short-term local duty in the Killingly militia, and no record has been found that can be attributed to him.
Conclusion
The Jonathan Whitney who was born in Killingly in 1761 and died in Luzerne County in 1832 can be identified in the 1790 census and in his Luzerne County will. The Revolutionary War service records cited in AGBI belong to other men of the same name, and there is no pension or other military record that can be connected to him.
Sources
- Connecticut, U.S., Church Record Abstracts, 1630–1920, vol. 093 (Putnam), entry for Jonathan Whitney and Olive Cady, marriage, Nov. 1784; citing Killingly church records.
- United States. Bureau of the Census, Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790: Connecticut (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1908), 144, Killingly, Windham County, “Whitney, Jona”; digital image, HathiTrust, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31210012158174&seq=152.
- Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Will Book, Jonathan Whitney, will written 9 December 1830, proved 15 April 1832.
- Fremont Rider, American Genealogical-Biographical Index, vol. 197 (Middletown, Conn.: Godfrey Memorial Library), entry for Jonathan Whitney.
- Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution (Hartford: Adjutant General’s Office, 1889), 230, entry for Jonathan Whitney of Canaan.
- Ibid., 485, entry for Jonathan Whitney, captain.
- U.S. Revolutionary War pension and bounty-land warrant application files; search for Jonathan Whitney yielded no file corresponding to the man of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
The Tumbleweed 