James WHITCOMB

1632 - 23 Nov 1686

• BIRTH: 1632
• DEATH: 23 Nov 1686, Boston, Suffolk, MA

• MARRIAGE: ABT 1662, Boston, Suffolk, MA

• MARRIAGE: ABT 1680, Boston, Suffolk, MA

                                    __________________
                   _John WHETCOMB _|
                  |                |__________________
 _John WHITCOMB __|
|                 |                 _John HARPER _____
|                 |_Ann HARPER ____|
|                                  |_Frances SMYTH ___
|
|--James WHITCOMB 
|
|                                   _Henry COGAN _____
|                  _Henry COGAN ___|
|                 |                |_Elizabeth CARYE _
|_Frances COGGAN _|
                  |                 __________________
                  |_Joan BORIDGE __|
                                   |__________________

[1048] (James was probably not from the family of John Whitcomb. Even Charlotte Whitcomb doubted
this, despite including him in "The Whitcomb Family in America". Frederick Wead seems to put
the matter to rest in NEHGR v112 p160. I'm leaving him in the current work for now in hopes of spreading
the correction.)

Note on ""James Whetcombe of Boston"
Frederick W. Wead.
NEHGR v112 p160 (Apr 1958)
"Many of the earlier genealogies of the Whetcomb-Whitcomb family place James Whetcombe,
who was a prominent merchant in Boston from about 1662 to his death in 1686, as the fifth
child of John and Frances (Cogan) Whetcomb of Dorchester, Scituate, and Lancaster, but I
can find no basis for this relationship... Miss Charlotte Whitcomb, in her "The Whitcomb
Family in America", was skeptical of his relationship, but placed him as the oldest son.
In this she was wrong, for there are three depositions by him showing that he was born
about 1633... That he came to Boston about 1662 is also shown by the recorded birth of his
first child, 30 Nov. 1662.... James, by his first wife, Rebecca, had James, 1662, Peter,
1664/5, Peter, 1666, Joseph, 1667, Jane, 1669, and Rebecca, 1671. By his second wife,
Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. William and Hulda (Symmes) Davis, he had William, 1680,
William, 1681, and Elizabeth, 1683. None of these names is similar to the name of any of
the children of John and Frances... James Whetcombe died in Boston 23 Nov. 1686, and was
buried in the Old Granary Burying Ground with an impressive list of pall bearers. His
will, 7 Nov. 1686-10 March 1686/7 (Suffolk Prob. 1525), names widow Elizabeth and children
James, Jane, Rebecca, William, and Elizabeth."

"The Whitcomb Family in America"
Charlotte Whitcomb
Minneapolis, MN; 1904; pp40-42
"James Whitcomb (John) appeared in Boston as early as 1662. Whether he was, as indicated above,
a son of Immigrant John is a question over which authorities differ in opinion... No dates of James'
marriage to either wife are yet found, nor is the date of the death of Rebecca known, but Judge
Sewall in his Diary mentions the funeral of Elizabeth (Aug. 20, 1712), in a way that shows the
ceremonial to have been conducted with much state."

"A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England"
James Savage
Pub. Boston, 1860-1862
Repub. Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD, 1998
v4 pp507-508: "Whitcomb, James, Boston, merch. by w. Rebecca, had James,
b. 30 Nov. 1662; and Peter, 1 Mar. 1665."

"New England Marriages Before 1700"
Clarence A. Torrey, Baltimore, MD, 1985
(as found on NEHGS CD-ROM, Boston, 2001)
"WHITCOMBE, James (1632-1686) & 1/wf Rebecca _____; by 1662; Boston"
"WHITCOMB, James & 2/wf Elizabeth [DAVIS] (1655-), dau William; by 1680; Boston"