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Beautiful in person, and of cultivated mind,
heroic but gentle, respected and "beloved by all as
she were a tender mother," fearless of personal
danger but of sensitive delicacy towards others too
high-spirited to submit to the dictation of British
prelates but too sincere a believer in the Prince of
Peace to provoke or endure controversy which
could be honorably avoided, this noble woman gave
her heart to her "godly husband" and her life to
aid him in the ministry of the Gospel. To that
work she brought a clear head, a strong hand, a
Christian soul. By her disinterested devotion to
the welfare of others, she was justly entitled to
the reverence of posterity, and was worthy of being
one of the founders of a free commonwealth.
No lady ever came to these colonies, of higher
lineage, of more elegant culture, or of more lovely
and Christian character. For the royal and noble
blood which flowed in her veins, for the good for-
tune which surrounded her with the attractions of
aristocratic luxury, and gave the advantage of
liberal culture, she has no especial claim to honor
but for that serious and religious disposition which
led her to improve these advantages, to store her
mind with learning, and to give her thoughts to
subjects far above the ordinary pursuits or the
frivolous pleasures of youth, and for that moral
heroism which led her, the only daughter of an
illustrious family, at the age of twenty-four years,
to turn away from her ancestral halls that she
might share the fortunes of a God-serving Puritan
'
minister of the gospel, whose contest with the
bishops had already begun, when she chose to face
the grim uncertainties of the future, and to cast
her lot with his,—we cannot withhold from her
the just tribute of our respect and admiration.
(II) Rev. Samuel (2) Whiting, son of
Rev. Samuel (i) and Elizabeth (St. John)
Whiting, was born in Shirbeck, England,
March 25, 1633; he studied with his
father in Lynn, and was graduated from
Cambridge in 1653, taking the degree of
Master of Arts in 1656. He was ordained
minister of Billerica, November 11, 1663.
The same year he was admitted a freeman
in the Massachusetts Colony. He went
to Billerica in 1658, and was employed as
preacher there until his ordination on the
date named above. Here he remained
almost fifty years after 1663, and was
esteemed, as Dr. Cotton Mather says, "a
;
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
reverend, holy, and faithful minister of
the gospel." He preached the Artillery
Election sermon in 1682. Mr. Whiting
died February 28, 1713, at the age of
almost eighty years. On November 12,
1656, he married Dorcas Chester, of
Charlestown, Massachusetts. They were
the parents of ten" children, among whom
was Elizabeth, mentioned below.
(Ill) Elizabeth Whiting, daughter of
Rev. Samuel (2) and Dorcas (Chester)
Whiting, was born October 6, 1660. In
1702, she married Rev. Thomas Clark, of
Chelmsford. Among their descendants
were Rev. Dr. Porter, president of Yale
College ; George B. Butler, Esq., coun-
sellor-at-law, of New York, and Charles
E. Butler, Esq., of New York, law partner
of William M. Evarts.
(The SL John Line).
Arms—'Argent, on a chief gules two mullets or.
Crest—On a mount vert a falcon rising or,
belled of the last, ducally gorged gules.
Supporters—Two monkeys proper.
Motto—Data fata secutus. (Following his pre-
scribed fate).
This famous English family, one of the
oldest and most distinguished in the
kingdom, descends paternally from Hugh
de Port, who held fifty-five lordships in
County Hants in the time of William the
Conqueror. Hugh de Port's vast estates
are tabulated in the Domesday Book,
under the article of terra Hugonis de
Port, which is the more singular as he
was evidently a native Englishman since
he held at least two manors, Cerdeford
and Eschetune, in Hants, from his ancestors
before the Norman invasion. Hugh
de Port was survived by a son Henry,
who was the father of John de Port,
whose son, Adam de Port, was a powerful
feudal baron seated at Basing in Hants.
Adam de Port married Mabel, the daughter
and sole heiress of Reginald de Aure-
val, by Muriel, the only daughter and heir-