Most of us from the various American Whipple lineages recognize the Betsy Ross flag of 13 stars, the 48-star flag, if we were born before January 1959 (Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union as the 49th and 50th states on January 3 and August 21, 1959), and the current flag of half a hundred stars. But how many Whipples know about the 48-star Whipple Flag named after its designer, Wayne Whipple?

The American flag evolved over many years and did not spring into existence when Betsy Ross finished her work in Philadelphia in May 1776. The first flag to have been raised on the North American continent was probably flown by Eric the Red or his son Leif when they raised the Viking sea rovers’ banner (a black raven on a white field) in 1000 A.D. The first flag linked to the future Stars and Stripes was probably the red ensign with small white upper canton, the ancient symbol of England (the Cross of St. George) raised by the English settlers of Jamestown and Plymouth. Read the rest of this entry »

The Whipple Museum of the History of Science is at the University of Cambridge in England. It was established in 1944 when Mr. Robert Stewart Whipple presented his collection of early scientific instruments and antiquarian books to the University. The museum is housed in the historic First Cambridge Free School erected in 1618 and extensively remodeled during the 19th century. The site was acquired by the University late in the century and expanded in 1894 to provide scientific laboratories. The site underwent major internal reconstruction and restoration in the mid 1970s and re-opened as the Whipple Museum in 1976. The main gallery of the Museum is housed in a large hall with Elizabethan hammer-beam roof trusses. The Whipple Library is in an adjacent room allowing visitors to combine essential sources for research in the history of science.

The Museum is preeminent in and internationally renowned for its collection of scientific instruments and models, dating from the Middle Ages to the present. Microscopes and telescopes, sundials, early slide rules, pocket electronic calculators, teaching and demonstration apparatus, as well as laboratory equipment are included in the collection. Among the specific items are: the first circular logarithmic slide rule, c. 1640, a grand orrery, c. 1750, an astronomical screen c. 1757, a set of mathematical instruments, 1717, a precision balance, 1790, electro-static generator, c. 1785, Azimuth compass, 1711, and many others. Read the rest of this entry »

England, when the Matthew Whipple family lived in Bocking, owed its economic well being to the woolen cloth industry and Essex County was one of the great wool and cloth counties. Colchester was its main cloth center with Bocking and Braintree among the more important secondary markets. Less important were Coggeshall, Hawsted, and Dedham.

Essex’s first known fulling mill was in Bocking and dates from 1303. It was used during the whole of the cloth industry period and may have been the mill near the church.

Before the industry flourished in England, the country’s wool supplies were exported to the great continental cloth-making centers in Flanders, a geographical region located in parts of Belgium, France, and the Netherlands along the North Sea from the Strait of Dover to the Scheldt estuary. Today it is within the borders of northern Belgium.

By the mid 1200s when the industry began to flourish, the English government placed high taxes on wool export and eventually banned all wool exports. And to enhance the growth of the industry, it passed a law in the 1330s banning the wearing of foreign woolen cloth.

Residents of Flanders were known as Flemings and they settled in Bocking, Colchester, Coggeshall, Halstead, and Shalford as early as 1304, making these places flourishing centers of the industry. Edward III (1327-77) gave the industry a great boost by inducing large numbers of Flemings, who “respected woolsacks much more than Englishmen,” to emigrate and teach his people a better style of weaving. However, the largest number of Flemings arrived during Elizabeth’s reign (1558-1603). Read the rest of this entry »

Blaine, I have read through those volumes multiple times. I am so impressed with your work and follow through in getting them published. I had no idea when we compared notes and spoke during the NERGC conference that I was actually a Whipple descendant. I really value your volumes highly and consider it special to have met you and know of your genealogical expertise and work on behalf of the family. A job well done. Thomas J. Kemp, Director, Genealogy Products, News Bank, Inc., Conn. 11-23-2010.

The Church of England was an important institution in Bocking. It was organized nationwide with archiepiscopal Peculiars, parishes administered by the Archbishop of Canterbury instead of by the diocese in which they are located. Bocking is still a “Peculiar.”

From early in the thirteenth century, Bocking rectors were called the Dean of Bocking. Adjacent to it’s Deanery with its seventeenth century gable and chimneys, is an old barn and dovecote with 135 nests of lath and plaster. The dovecote is interesting because it was built when John Gauden was the Dean in residence. Gauden achieved wide fame when he claimed authorship of the Eikon Basilike.

[The Eikon Basilike, The Pourtrature of His Sacred Majestie in His Solitudes and Sufferings, was a purported spiritual autobiography attributed to King Charles I of England. It was published on February 9, 1649, ten days after the King was beheaded by Parliament in the aftermath of the English Civil War. Written in a simple, moving, and straightforward style in the form of a diary, the book combines irenic prayers urging the forgiveness of Charles’s executioners with a justification of royalism and the King’s political and military program that led to the Civil War. Read the rest of this entry »

Bocking, the Whipple’s English home town, is on the Blackwater River near the center of Essex county and about 45 miles from London. Its closest neighbor is Braintree. In the early 1600s they were known as the “Busy Bees” of Essex. Their prosperity was due to the wool-cloth trade started in the days of the Flemish weavers. They were also famous for beautiful silks and beautiful windows.

The origin of it’s name is unknown. Some sources say it was named for a Viking chieftain named Bocca; others say it was Boca, a Saxon chieftain. A more picturesque supposition is the name is derived from the Saxon word “Boc,” a beach tree, and Ing, here meaning meadow-land, usually low-lying and situated by a river. A third source says it was named for free land taken from the folcland or common, and held by a private owner by “Boc” or charter. Earliest records refer to it as Boccinge, Boccinges, and Bockyng. Read the rest of this entry »

Blaine, I want you to know how much I appreciate the 4 volume set of Matthew Whipple genealogy. It is a beautiful masterpiece of research and compilation that will take a prominent place in my family’s Whipple historical background. The binding and format are especially attractive, and we will treasure your due diligence for generations to come. Nancy Dorian, Green Valley Arizona. 8-31-1010.

(Hawkins lineage of Anne Hawkins wife of Matthew Whipple of Ipswich, Massachusetts.)

First Generation

1. John Hawkins, son of John Hawkins (my great (10) grandfather) of Braintree, Essex Co., England was born in Essex Co. about 1570 and died there in 1619 at 49 years of age. He married twice. (1) Unnamed. (2) Mary Levitt 21 February 1603/04 in Essex Co. She died 3 May 1635 in Bocking, Essex Co., at 54 years of age. He was the oldest son and heir. His title was Gentleman and he was a Trustee for the poor. It is believed he lived in a fine mansion in Great Square in Braintree. A tablet identifying his tomb is in the north Chancel Wall of St. Michael the Archangel Church which dates from 1199. Unfortunately the Church Register only dates from 1660

John Hawkins and his unnamed first wife had the following children:

2 i. Eleanor Hawkins baptized in Bocking 6 March 1595 and buried there in 1609.
+ 3. ii. John Hawkins III
4 iii. Francis Hawkins.
5 iv. Mary Hawkins born abt 1590 and married Matthew Wright 8 November 1610.
John Hawkins and Mary Levitt had the following children:

+ 6 v. Anne Hawkins born abt 1604.
7 vi. Sarah Hawkins born abt 1605 and married William Coppin 26 September 1622. Read the rest of this entry »

Your history and genealogy of 15 generations of the Whipple family is a monumental work which will be treasured by us and many of our
Whipple relatives for generations to come. Thank you and best regards, Mary Lou and Don Klassy, Minnesota. 16 Aug 2010.

THE VIGOR OF AMERICA springs from its early English emigrants and the seed of that stock is now found in each of the 50 United States. That seed was planted in the decade 1630-40 when approximately 20,000 English, the Whipples among them, settled in New England. After 1640, the Long Parliament resolved many of the grievances of the non-conformists and immigration suddenly ceased. It was almost 200 years before the English again flocked to American shores.

One does not leave the known for the unknown without some idea of the destination — especially families with children. In 1638, Matthew and Anne had five: Mary, 12; Anne, 10; Elizabeth, 9; John, 6; Matthew, 3. John and Susanna also had five: Susanna, 16; John, 13; Elizabeth, 11; William, 8; Mary, 4. If they were members of group of Puritans traveling together, the group would have planned carefully before leaving. Read the rest of this entry »