I admire this book. The writing is fresh and engaging and the historical chapters add depth and interest to the genealogical narrative.”
—Malcolm Monteith Whipple. Utica, Illinois.

                        Blaine Whipple, author of two previously published family genealogies, sees his latest book, 15 Generations of Whipples Descendants of Matthew Whipple of Ipswich, Massachusetts Abt. 1590-1647 the final result of 51 years of research on one of America’s earliest families.

Brothers Matthew and John Whipple moved from Bocking, Essex County, England to Ipswich, Essex County, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1638, 369 years ago. Their descendants remained in the New England-New York area for 175 years before the fourth generation joined the migration west by moving to the Northwest Territory, first settling in Ohio. From 1813 on, descendants continued to seek new opportunities as they followed the sun westward until finally reaching the Pacific Coast.

Blaine’s quest began in 1956 and in the ensuing years he did original research in all of the locations where his ancestors settled, including Bocking where they were living in the mid 1500s. While in London, he was able to get a copy of Matthew Whipple, Sr.’s will from the Principal Probate Registry. It is dated 19 December 1616 and was proved 28 January 1618-19. The will was written in Old English, the probate in Latin, suggesting Matthew was an educated man.

Matthew, oldest of the two brothers, is Blaine’s eighth great grandfather. He is also the eighth great grandfather of President Calvin Coolidge and the seventh great grandfather of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the course of his research, Blaine discovered that many of Matthew’s descendants played an active role in their communities, in state and local government, business endeavors, agricultural pursuits, and the country’s various wars. Consequently, public records are the sources for much of the biographical information included on many of the individuals included in the pages of this book.

His goal in writing the books on descendants of Matthew and John was to create a singular resource of Whipple history on the Ipswich families.

The Title of John’s book is History and Genealogy of “Elder” John Whipple of Ipswich, Massachusetts His English Ancestors and American Descendants. It was published in 2003.
Blaine also wrote and published Scott A Name Worth Looking Into in 1981. It is a history-genealogy of Scott family, his mother’s line, and includes Irish and French-Canadian ancestry. The Scotts settled in Quebec Province by 1712 and migrated to Minnesota in 1845. Both Irish and French lines have been traced to the 1600s in their native lands.

Like many Whipples before him, Blaine has been active in political and public affairs. He has been an Oregon State Senator, School Board Chairman, Water District Chairman, Fire District Treasurer, and a Director of the Washington County, Oregon Emergency Medical Services District. He spent eight years as Oregon’s Democratic National Committeeman and was Oregon Chairman of the Eugene McCarthy for President Committee in 1968 and the George McGovern for President Committee in 1972. He was his Party’s nominee for Congress and Secretary of State.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the U. of Minnesota and a Master’s of Science Degree from the U. of Oregon. A commercial real estate broker in Portland, Oregon since 1963, he has been an officer in several local genealogical organizations, editor of genealogy newsletters, long-time member of the New England Historic Genealogy Society, the National Genealogical Society, and several state genealogical societies. He is married, has three children, and six grandchildren.