Jabez Whitaker1

Male, #45868, (6 Dec 1595 - after 1649)

Birth*6 Dec 1595 He was born on 6 Dec 1595 at Lambeth, London, England.1 
Marriage*circa 1616 He married Lady Mary M. Bourchier at Hanging Grimston, Yorkshire, England, circa 1616.1 
Death*after 1649 He died after 1649.1 
Biography* Jabez(5) Whitaker (William4, Thomas3, Thomas2, Thomas1) was born on 6 Dec 1595 at Lambeth, England; posthumous son. He married Lady Mary M. Bourchier, daughter of Sir John Bourchier and Elizabeth Verney, circa 1616 at Hanging Grimston, Yorkshire, England. He died after 1649? He immigrated in Nov 1619 to Jamestown, VA; was sent to VA with the rank of Lt. by the Virginia Company, in charge of tenants for one of the plantations known as the College land -- set aside for the endowment of an Indian College "for the training up of the children of those Infidels in true Religion, moral virtue and Civility." By November he settled near Jamestown in charge of fifty colonists, and gave a "good acompt of the trust reposed in him." In May 1621, he wrote a long letter describing his activities to his "very loving friend Sr. Edwin Sandys," who had succeeded him as treasurer of the company in spring of 1619. He left Virginia in 1628; left VA -- for England? He immigrated in 1649 to Barbadoes; per Cary Adams. He was in VA 1626 when his Jabez's father-in-law wrote ordering him home to his wife and child; and soon afterwards they were in Virginia. Jabez constructed a guest house at Jamestown which was in effect the first hospital in America, and he invented the Virginia split-rail fence. Both Jabez and his only known son William served as Burgesses in Virginia.

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Biography From "History of Baldwin County", 'Whitaker Family'

"The name Whitaker springs from the Old Knight Sir Simon de Whitacre, of the tract of Warwickshire, England, that to this day is known as Whitacre or Whitaker. At the time of the Doomsday Survey of possessions made by order of William the Conqueror, Sir Simon was listed the land proprietor." The coat of arms of the Whitaker family are emblazoned as follows: "Sable a fesse between three mascles argent. Crest, a Horse passant or. a Seagull with wings expanded."-Burke's Amorie. From Burke's Dictionary of the. Landed Gentry, we learn that there were three families of the name in County Lancaster, England; Whitakers of Broadclough, Whitakers of Symonstone and Whitakers of the Holme. The members of the family mentioned in the sketch are lineal descendants of Thomas Whitaker of the Holme living in 1431: Robert, Thomas, II, born 1458, died 1529, married Johannah; Richard, Thomas III, born 1504, died 1588, married 1530, Elizabeth, daughter of John Nowell, Esq. of Read. They had three sons, Robert, Richard, and William D.D., Master of St. John's College, Cambridge, England, born 1548, died Dec. 4th, 1595.

"Dr. William Whitaker was one of the most eminent theologians and controversialists of his day. He took part in drawing up the Lambeth Articles, 1595. He was companion and friend to Richard Hooker." (Letters of Eminent Literary Men, Meade's, Va.) Dr. Whitaker was twice married; first, to the daughter of Nicholas Culverwell ; second, to the widow of Dr. Fenner. He was the father of five sons, Alexander, William, Samuel, Richard, and Jabez. Two of these sons, Alexander and Jabez, were the first members of the Whitaker family to turn their thoughts towards this country. They came to Virginia in the early part of the seventeenth century.

"Alexander Whitaker, `the Apostle of Virginia,' son of Dr. William Whitaker, a celebrated Puritan divine, and headmaster of St. John's College, Cambridge, England, was born in 1585. He was master of arts of that university about 1604. He had a good parish in the northern part of England, but gave it up to come to Virginia, in 1611. He was preacher to the colony at Henrico in 1612. He was drowned in the James River, 1617. He was the author of Good News from Virginia."-(Virginia Biography, Vol. 1.) It was this Alexander Whitaker who baptized Pocahontas, at Jamestown, Va., 1613, and also officiated at her marriage to John Rolfe. In the rotunda, of the Capitol at Washington City, hangs a painting of the baptism of Pocahontas. The minister in the picture is Alexander Whitaker. He was never married.

"Capt. Jabez Whitaker, the posthumous son of Rev. William, in 1621, built at James City a guest house for the reception of new comers, which was undertaken to the great commendation of the people here and in London. He became, 1624, a member of the House of Virginia Burgesses and Captain."-(Stith's History of Va. Neill's Va. Carolorum.) "In 1625, Indian House Thicket, a neck of land called Hampton River, between two creeks, was occupied by Capt. Jabez Whitaker, son of William Whitaker, Master of St. John's."-(William and Mary Quarterly, Vol 12). "Captain Jabez Whitaker, the brother of Alexander Whitaker, the early minister, was burgess in 1625 and afterwards in council. Captain Jabez Whitaker was in Colonial Council of Virginia, 1626"-(H. J. Eckenrode, Revolutionary Soldiers). Captain Jabez Whitaker was born 1596, died after 1626. He married Mary, the daughter of Sir John Bourchier. Captain Jabez Whitaker invented the familiar Virginia rail fence, for which he received an award.2 

Family

Lady Mary M. Bourchier (say 1598 - after 1649)
Child

Charts Warren Culpepper's Ancestry Chart
Last Edited 15 Dec 2007

Citations

  1. , RootsWeb WorldConnect Project, Ancestry.com: Rootsweb.
    http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/
    Whittaker Family (Mad Genealogist).
  2. Anna Maria Green Cook, History of Baldwin County
    , Anderson, SC: Kays-Hearn, 1925 (Pages 115-117).
    Pages 464-467.