This is the final posting on the life and times of Benjamin Whipple, a native of Ipswich, Mass. who grew up in Westborough and began his married life in Hardwick, both in Worcester Co. Mass., and was among the first settlers of Bennington and Rutland Co., Vermont.  It includes details of his extensive service in the Revolutionary War and his five terms in the Vermont legislature when it functioned as an independent nation before being admitted to the Union as its 14th state in March 1791.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR SERVICE

Ben had extensive Revolutionary War service and is found on various payrolls for seven Alarms and twice as Muster Master between 1777 and 1782.  His sons Nehemiah and David served with him in four of those Alarms and son Jonathan in one.  His first period of service was in Capt. John Warner’s company in Lieut. Col. Herrick’s reg’t of Rangers.  There were 40 men in the company and Ben served 108 days entering August 18 and discharged December 3, 1777.  He was paid £3 12 shillings.  He was in Capt. Simeon Wright’s company in Col. Gideon Warren’s reg’t of militia November 7-13 1778. Read the rest of this entry »

Benjamin Whipple moved his family to Rutland county either shortly before or after Vermont became an independent state in 1777.  Hepzibah died May 10, 1779 making Ben a widower for his last 27 years.   He purchased 100 acres from James Mead, Rutland’s first settler, in 1778 in an area which became known as Whipple Hollow.  Located in the Otter Creek Valley near the loftiest peaks of the Green Mountains, it was a favorite route for Indian travel and was rich beaver country.  Its Charter was issued by New Hampshire Governor Wentworth September 7, 1761, three years before the end of the French and Indian War.

The first Proprietor’s meeting for which records exist was the second Tuesday in October 1773.  Little public business of importance was conducted between 1775-80.   It had 134 freeholders in 1780 including Benjamin and sons Nehemiah and David.  Ben was listed fourth in the freeholder list.  He was elected Selectman in 1782, and 1783 and occasionally served as Pro-Tem Clerk.

The county was incorporated February 22, 1781 and included practically all of the western half of the state north of Bennington county.  Ben was among the first county officers serving as Assistant (side) Judge at the first Session of the County Court.  He served in this position from 1781-86.  Side Judges assisted the Chief Judge of the Superior Court.  In addition to the Chief Judge, any three of the Side Judges could hold Court.

Most of the early judges were not educated in law but possessed influence in their own neighborhoods because of their talent in transacting ordinary business.  John A. Graham, the first Acting Attorney in Vermont, was admitted to the Bar in 1785, the year he moved to Rutland.  He was 21. Read the rest of this entry »

Benjamin Whipple, my great (4) grandfather, was born 23 April 1727 in Ipswich, Mass. died 30 April 1806 in Whipple Hollow, Rutland Co., Vermont.  He married Hepzibah Crosby 7 August 1749 at Westborough, Mass. He served in the French & Indian War from Hardwick, Mass., was an early settler in Bennington, Vermont where he became an Esquire and an early settler in Rutland, Vermont.  A farmer, he served as selectman, town moderator, constable, county judge and five terms in the Vermont legislature.  He helped draft Bennington’s Declaration of Freedom and served in the Revolutionary War.

He was seven when the family moved to Westborough, Mass. where he spent the next 15 years of his life working on his father’s farm, his grandfather’s farm and corn mill, and assisting their neighbors Rev. Ebenezer Parkman with a variety of chores on his farm. Read the rest of this entry »

The Whipple Procedure was developed by  Dr. Allen Oldfather Whipple (1881-1963).   He was graduated from Princeton in 1904 and earned a medical  degree at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1908.  He interned at Roosevelt Hospital and after a brief tenure at the Sloane Hospital for Women in New York City, became a surgeon to the outpatient clinic at Presbyterian Hospital and was Director of Surgical Service at Manhattan’s Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center from 1921 to 1946.  At the time of his retirement in 1946 he had also been a Professor of Surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University for 25 years, training over 300 new surgeons.  He was considered a gifted teacher and innovative surgeon.

Allen, my distant cousin, and I are direct descendants of Francis Whipple (1705-1783) and Abigail Lamson (1708-1799) of Westborough, Massachusetts.  They are Allen’s great (3) and my (5) great grandparents.  Read the rest of this entry »

Little is known of Amiel’s early life. He was raised in Concord, Mass., taught school there in 1834, and attended Amherst College 1836-7. He applied for admission to West Point at least twice before being admitted 1 July 1837, graduating 22 June 1841 fifth in his class.

When Amil enrolled, West Point was  beginning its 36th year, having been formally opened 4 July 1802 during Thomas Jefferson’s administration. The curriculum was established by Bvt. Maj. Sylvanus Thayer when he became superintendent in 1817. The foundation for everything was mathematics. A math problem had one correct answer and it was the cadet’s duty to find it Thayer believed that math sharpened analytical powers and taught a manner of thinking transferable to other areas of life. Engineering was the other key to Thayer’s program. No deviation was permitted from these two fields of study. General Winfield Scott said the Mexican war was won because of the leadership of Academy men. West Pointers were in command of 55 of the 60 major battles of the Civil War and included such Academy graduates as Lee, Grant, Sherman, Stuart, Jackson, and Sheridan. West Point’s Honor Code: “A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do,” built the character of most of its graduates.

Amiel was originally commissioned in the artillery corps but was transferred to the topographical engineers 28 Sept. 1841 where until 1844, he worked on harbor projects improving navigation for New Orleans and the approaches to Baltimore, Md. and Portsmouth, N.H. Read the rest of this entry »

In May 1774, parliament voted to close the port of Boston and named General Thomas Gage, commander-in-chief of British armed forces in North America and governor. Then parliament passed two additional Acts that insured there would be a rebellion.

The first provided that no officer of the Crown would have to stand trial in Massachusetts for murders committed in the line of duty. If soldiers fired into crowds of rioters, as they did in the Boston Massacre in March 1770, they would not be subject to local juries. American Whigs called it “The Murder Act,” since it appeared to sanction the killing of civilians. Read the rest of this entry »

The year 1774 saw major changes in Massachusetts provincial government; changes that led to the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War two years later. In that year, Whipples families lived in the Worcester County towns of Westborough, Grafton, New Braintree, Sutton, and Hardwick and their county was a leader in replacing British rule in the colony.

Massachusetts was agrarian, except for seaport towns. Westborough, for example, was a community of small property owners. Farms were 50 to 100 acres and the average family possessed a riding horse, a pair of oxen, two or three milk cows, a few steers, heifers, sheep, and poultry. Though living in the countryside, they belonged to the town where they worshiped, discussed politics, drilled with the militia, and bought goods or services. They came together every March in the Meeting House to elect officers for the year – selectmen, a treasurer, clerk, constable, tighingman, road surveyor, fence viewer, hog reeve, deer reeve, hay warden, etc. — and to conduct community business. Additional meetings could be called by the selectmen or by a petition from 10 citizens. Adult males came to town for Militia days. Read the rest of this entry »

Capt. Thomas Whipple was born in the Hamlet, Essex Co., Mass. 21 October 1731 and died 30 January 1811 in New Braintree, Worcester Co., Mass., at 79 years of age. He married Martha Higgins in Westborough, Worcester Co., Mass., 17 June 1755. She died 9 February 1811 in New Braintree, Both are buried in Evergreen Cemetery. His stone remains, most of hers is missing.
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The second son of Francis and Abigail, he was about three when the family moved to Westborough. He was about 27 when he moved his family to New Braintree where their third child, Abigail, was born August 9, 1758. Read the rest of this entry »