Colonel Nathan Whiting
American, 1724 - 1771
BiographyNathan Whiting was born on 4 May 1724 to Elizabeth Adams Whiting Niles and Rev. Samuel Whiting of Windham, Connecticut. He was the youngest of thirteen children. His father died when Nathan was an infant, leaving Nathan to be mostly raised by his sister Mary Whiting Clap (1712-1736) and her husband Rev. Thomas Clap, the first to receive the title of “president” at Yale. Thomas Clap, in 1741, several years after the death of Mary Whiting Clap (Nathan’s sister), wed Mary Haynes Lord Saltonstall Clap, the mother of Mary Saltonstall Whiting Williams, the woman who would become Nathan’s wife nine years later; author Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a descendent of Mary Haynes Lord Saltonstall Clap.
Nathan graduated from Yale College in 1743. For a few years after, he lived and worked as a merchant in New Haven. Nathan’s mother was a descendant of Gov. William Bradford; later in life, when she was a widow, Elizabeth would live with Nathan and his wife Mary Saltonstall Whiting Williams who he wed in 1750. With his wife, Nathan would have several children, three of whom reached adulthood: Nathan Hains/Haynes Whiting, Elizabeth Mary “Polly” Whiting Hale, and Gurdon Saltonstall Whiting.
Commissioned as an Ensign, he participated in the Siege of Louisbourg in 1745. He was a Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel in the French and Indian War, 1755-1762. In 1762, he was in command of troops building fortifications at Crown Point. After the war, Nathan served in the Connecticut General Assembly from 1769 until his death. He was buried in New Haven’s Grove Street Cemetery when he died on 9 April 1771. His will indicated that he owned property in New Haven, “Hebron Marlborough Parish”, and Whitingham, Vermont, which was named after Nathan Whiting.
Sources: Barbour Collection; Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History by Franklin Bowditch Dexter; Fort Ticonderoga; Hale Collection; U.S. Wills and Probate Records; Yale University Library
Nathan graduated from Yale College in 1743. For a few years after, he lived and worked as a merchant in New Haven. Nathan’s mother was a descendant of Gov. William Bradford; later in life, when she was a widow, Elizabeth would live with Nathan and his wife Mary Saltonstall Whiting Williams who he wed in 1750. With his wife, Nathan would have several children, three of whom reached adulthood: Nathan Hains/Haynes Whiting, Elizabeth Mary “Polly” Whiting Hale, and Gurdon Saltonstall Whiting.
Commissioned as an Ensign, he participated in the Siege of Louisbourg in 1745. He was a Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel in the French and Indian War, 1755-1762. In 1762, he was in command of troops building fortifications at Crown Point. After the war, Nathan served in the Connecticut General Assembly from 1769 until his death. He was buried in New Haven’s Grove Street Cemetery when he died on 9 April 1771. His will indicated that he owned property in New Haven, “Hebron Marlborough Parish”, and Whitingham, Vermont, which was named after Nathan Whiting.
Sources: Barbour Collection; Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History by Franklin Bowditch Dexter; Fort Ticonderoga; Hale Collection; U.S. Wills and Probate Records; Yale University Library
Person TypeIndividual
American, 1754 - 1825
