| Notes |
- Cotton Mather, in his '* Magnalia ** (vol. i. p. 503), thus speaks of her father and her- self: He (Mr. Samuel Whiting) married the daughter of Mr. Oliver St. John, a Bedfordshire, UK gentleman, of an honorable family, nearly related unto the Lord St. John of Bletso. This Mr. St. John was a person of incomparable breeding, rirtue and piety; such that Mr. Cotton, who was well acquainted with him, said of him: "He is one of the completest gentlemen, without affectation, that he ever knew; and this his daughter was a person of singular piety and gravity, one who by her discretion freed her husband from all secular avocations, one who upheld a daily and constant communion with God in the devotions of her closet, one who not only wrote the sermons that she heard on the Lord's days with much dexterity, but lived them; and lived on them all the week. The usual phrase among the ancient Jews for an excellent woman was, ' one who deserves to marry a priest* Even such an excellent woman was now married unto Mr. Whiting." [3]
- Nor should we omit in this connection honorable mention of his wife, Elizabeth St. John Whiting, daughter of Sir Oliver St. John, Knt., and sister of Oliver, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas of England. She is described as remarkable for beauty, dignity, a commanding presence, and endowed with an education which in those days was rare among women. Even in her old age, and under mar- vellously changed circumstances, she did not lose her youthful fond- ness for the great poets of England, Chaucer, Spencer, Shakspeare, and others, with whose works her husband's library at Lynn was stored. Though brought up in affluence, and connected by many ties with the lords of the realm, she early fell into sympathy with those who questioned the king's prerogatives, and who were soon to become the lords of the Commonwealth. When her husband's thoughts were turned toward New-England, she, — ^not of course without deep regrets, but with the pride and zeal of a high-spirited woman, — forwarded his plans and cheerfully shared in all his en- deavors. During the time of her residence in Lynn, her house be- came famous for its hospitality, and she was the friend and companion of many of the leading persons in the colony, whom she often en- tertained as guests, but without neglecting the daily duties which were a part of her life. No lady ever came to these colonies of higher lineage, of more elegant culture, or of more lovely and christian character. [4]
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1605 - 1676 (71 years)
Set As Default Person 
[1] 
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
