The Dwight family of
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
had many members who were military leaders, educators, jurists, authors, businessmen and clergy.
Around 1634,
John Dwight came with his wife Hannah (1604-1656), daughter Hannah (1625-1714), and sons
Timothy (1629–1718) and John (bef Jul 1629-1638) from
Dedham, Essex, England, to
Dedham, Massachusetts
Dedham ( ) is a New England town, town in, and the county seat of, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on Boston's southwestern border, the population was 25,364 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
First settled by E ...
. John and Hannah Dwight had two more daughters before John Dwight died in 1660. Mary (born at sea (1635-1713) and Sarah (1638-1663). The known descendants of John and Hannah Dwight are from their two grandsons (children of Timothy and his third wife Anna Flint): Justice Nathaniel Dwight (1666–1711) and Captain Henry Dwight (1676–1732).
Nathaniel Dwight
Justice Nathaniel Dwight (1666–1711) married Mehitable Partridge (1675–1756)
[Mehitable Partridge was a daughter of Samuel and Mehitable Crow Partridge (c.1652-1730). Mehitable Crow Partridge was a daughter of John and Elizabeth Goodwin Crow. Elizabeth Goodwin Crow was a daughter of Elder William (b.c. 1591-1673) and Elizabeth White Goodwin. William was remarried to Susanna Harkes Garbrand Goodwin (1593 -1676. He died in Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut. (William and Elizabeth White were ancestors of Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich, founder of the Goodrich Tire Company. Dr. Goodrich was a brother-in-law of Gen. Selden Erastus Marvin, a nephew of Judge William Marvin, who resided in Key West, Florida. Marvin became the seventh Governor of Florida.) Susanna had first married Rev. Thomas Hooker ll. Their son-in-law was Rev. John Wilson Jr., who married her daughter Sarah Wilson. Sarah Hooker Wilson was born in Little Baddow, Essex County, England, around 1629. Sarah Hooker Wilson was an ancestor of President William H. Taft. She died in Braintree, Massachusetts on August 20, 1725. Rev. John Wilson was a colleague of Rev. Richard Mather. Rev. John Wilson Jr. was born in London, England and came to New England in 1630. He graduated from Harvard College in 1642, the first graduating class, along with Rev. John Woodbridge.] in 1693. Their descendants were:
* Colonel Timothy Dwight II (1694–1771), lawyer married Experience King (1693–1763)
** Eleanor Dwight (1717-1777)
** Major Timothy Dwight III (1726–1777), married Mary Edwards (1734–1807), daughter of
theologian
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758)
***
Timothy Dwight IV (1752–1817), president of
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
1795–1817, married Margaret (or Mary) Woolsey (1754–1777)
**** Timothy Dwight (1778-1844)
**** Benjamin Woolsey Dwight (1780–1850), physician married Sophia Woodbridge Strong (1793–1861.
*****
Benjamin Woodbridge Dwight (1816–1889), educator and author
****** Eliza Dewey Dwight (b. 1850)
****** Sophia Edwards Dwight (b. 1853)
****** Francis Edwin Dwight (b. 1856)
****** Issabella Jane Dwight (b. 1861)
****** Bertha Woolsey Dwight (b. 1867)
***** Sophia Dwight (1818-1863)
*****
Theodore William Dwight
Theodore William Dwight (1822–1892) was an American jurist and educator, cousin of Theodore Dwight Woolsey and of Timothy Dwight V. He founded Columbia Law School in 1858 and New York Law School in 1891.
Biography
Theodore William Dwight was bo ...
(1822–1892), lawyer
***** Mary Dwight (1824-1864)
*****
Edward W. Dwight (1827–1904), member of the
Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...
***** Elizabeth Dwight (1831-1870)
**** James Dwight III (1784–1863), married Aurelia Darling (1787-1813) in 1811 and Susan Breed (1785–1851) in 1815
***** Elizabeth Smith Dwight (1812-1848)
***** Aurelia Dwight (1816-1874)
***** Timothy Dwight (1820-1822)
***** John Breed Dwight (1822-1843)
***** James McLaren Breed Dwight (1825-1897)
*****
Timothy Dwight V (1828–1916), president of
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
1886–1898
****** Helen Rood Dwight (1868-1909)
****** Winthrop Edwards Dwight (1872-1944)
**** John Dwight (1784-1803)
****
Sereno Edwards Dwight
Sereno Edwards Dwight (May 18, 1786 – November 30, 1850) was an American author, educator, and Congregational church, Congregationalist minister, who served as Chaplain of the Senate.
Early years
Dwight was the fifth son of Yale College ...
(1786–1850), author and minister, married Susan Edwards Daggett, daughter of
David Daggett (1764–1851, founder of the Yale College Law School. David Daggett was a descendant of Hannah Mayhew Daggett, daughter of Gov. Thomas Mayhew of Martha's Vineyard.
***** Their only daughter did not survive infancy.
****
William Theodore Dwight (1795–1865), clergyman
***** Henry Edwin Dwight (1832-1908)
***** Elizabeth Bradford Dwight (1835-1904)
***** Laura Leman Dwight (1836-1928)
***** Thomas Bradford Dwight (1837-1878)
***** William Theodore Dwight (1844-1848)
**** Henry Edwin Dwight (1797-1832)
**** a son who died young
*** Edwards Dwight (1754-1783)
*** Erastus Dwight (1756-1821)
*** Jonathan Edwards Dwight (1759-1800)
*** Sarah Dwight (1761-1805)
*** Mary Dwight (1763-1813)
***
Theodore Dwight (1764–1846), journalist, married Abigail Alsop (1765–1846), the sister of
Richard Alsop (1761–1815)
**** Mary A Dwight (1793-1875)
****
Theodore Dwight (1796–1866), author, married Eleanor Boyd.
**** William Richard Dwight (1798-1864)
*** Maurice William Dwight (1766-1796)
*** Fidelia Dwight (1768-1847)
*** Nathaniel Dwight (1770-1831)
*** Elizabeth Dwight (1772–1813) married William Walton Woolsey (1766–1839)
**** Mary Anne Woolsey (1793–1871) married Jared Scarborough (1781-1816) and then
George Hoadley (1781–1857)
***** William Woolsey Scarborough (1814-1896)
***** Elizabeth Dwight Scarborough (1815-1816)
***** Joseph Scarborough (1817-1817)
***** Elizabeth Dwight Hoadley married General
Joshua Hall Bates (1817–1908)
*****
George Hoadly (1826–1902), governor of Ohio
****** George Hoadley earned degrees at Harvard University
****** Edward M. Hoadley graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
****** Laura Hoadley married a second cousin, Theodore Woolsey Scarborough
***** Laura J Hoadley (1835-1853)
**** Elizabeth Woolsey (1794-1863)
**** William Cecil Woolsey (1796-1840)
**** John Mumford Woolsey (1796–1870) married Jane Andrews
*****
Sarah Chauncey Woolsey (1835–1905), author published ''
What Katy Did'' as "Susan Coolidge"
***** Jane Andrews Woolsey (b. 1836)
***** Elisabeth Dwight Woolsey (1838–1910) married
Daniel Coit Gilman
***** Theodora Walton Woolsey (1840-1910)
***** William Walton Woolsey (1842–1910), plantation owner, married Catherine Buckingham Convers, daughter of
Charles Cleveland Convers, and then Bessie Gammell
****** Clara Constance Woolsey (1872-1872)
****** John Munro Woolsey (1877-1945)
****** Convers Buckingham Woolsey (1880-1951)
****** Catherine Buckingham Woolsey (1882-1975)
****** William Walton Woolsey (1886-1964)
******
Gamel Woolsey (1895–1968), author, married
Gerald Brenan
Edward FitzGerald "Gerald" Brenan, CBE, Military Cross, MC (7 April 1894 – 19 January 1987) was a British writer and hispanist who spent much of his life in Spain.
Brenan is probably best known for ''The Spanish Labyrinth'', a historical wo ...
****
Theodore Dwight Woolsey (1801–1889), president of Yale 1846–1871, married Elizabeth Salisbury in 1833 and then Sarah Pritchard in 1854.
***** Edward Salisbury Woolsey (1834-1843) died of scarlet fever
***** Elizabeth Woolsey (1835-1843) died of scarlet fever
***** Agnes Woolsey (1838-1915)
***** William Walton Woolsey (1840-1843) died of scarlet fever
***** Laura Woolsey (1842-1861) died of typhoid fever
***** Catherine Woolsey (1845-1854)
***** Martha Woolsey (1847-1870)
***** Helen Woolsey (1849-1870)
*****
Theodore Salisbury Woolsey (1852–1929), legal scholar
******
Theodore Salisbury Woolsey, Jr. (1880–1933), forestry professor
******* Elizabeth Davenport Woolsey (1908-1997)
******* Anne Salisbury Woolsey (1910-2005)
******* Edith Woolsey (1912-2005)
******* Sarah Woolsey (1913-2003)
******* Patricia Woolsey (1917-2004)
****** Heathcote Muirson Woolsey (1884-1957)
***** Mary Prichard Woolsey (1855-1931)
***** John Muirson Woolsey (1858-1861) died of typhoid fever
***** George Woolsey (1861-1950)
***** Edith Woolsey (1864-1960)
**** Sara Dwight Woolsey (1805-1870)
**** Theodosia Woolsey (1810-1811)
*** Cecil Dwight (1774-1839)
*** Henry Edwin Dwight (1776-1824)
* Abiah Dwight (1704–1748), married Samuel Kent
** Elijah Kent (1722-1768)
** Abiah Kent (1727–1782), married John Leavitt (1724–1798), Esq., brother of
Jemima (Leavitt) Ellsworth
*** Joshua Leavitt (1746-1752)
*** John Leavitt (1748-1752)
***
Thaddeus Leavitt (1750–1826), merchant,
Suffield, Connecticut
Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, and located in the Connecticut River Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...
, married Elizabeth King
**** Thaddeus Leavitt Jr. (1778–1828), married Jemima Loomis (1779–1846)
***** Jane Maria Leavitt (1801–1877) married
Jonathan Hunt Jr. (1787–1832)
******
William Morris Hunt
William Morris Hunt (March 31, 1824September 8, 1879) was an American painter.
Born into the political List of Hunt family members of Vermont, Hunt family of Vermont, he trained in Paris with the realist Jean-François Millet and studied under hi ...
(1824–1879), painter, married
Louisa Dumerique Perkins of Boston
****** Jonathan Hunt, M.D., (1826–1874)
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, France
******
Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of architecture of the United States. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 ...
(1827–1895), architect, married Catherine Clinton Howland (1841–1880), sister of
Joseph Howland
****** Colonel
Leavitt Hunt (1831–1907), pioneer photographer, attorney, inventor, farmer, married Katherine Jarvis
*******
Jarvis Hunt (1863–1941), architect,
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
**** Elizabeth Leavitt (1788-1865)
**** John George Leavitt (1808-1859)
*** Thaddeus Leavitt (1750-1813)
*** Captain
John Leavitt (1755–1815), co-founder,
Leavittsburg, Ohio, farmer, innkeeper
****
Humphrey H. Leavitt (1796–1873),
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
politician,
United States District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...
judge
*****
John McDowell Leavitt
John McDowell Leavitt (May 10, 1824 – December 12, 1909) was an early Ohio lawyer, Episcopal clergyman, poet, novelist, editor and professor. Leavitt served as the second President of Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and as Presid ...
(1824–1909),
Episcopal clergyman, university president
******
John Brooks Leavitt (1849–1930),
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
attorney, author and civic reformer
** Anna Kent (1730-1807)
** Elihu Kent (1733-1814)
** Mehitable Kent (1734-1735)
*** Amelia Leavitt (1757-1809)
*** Freegrace Leavitt (1764-1843)
*** Jemima Leavitt (1764-1818)
*** Dorothy Leavitt (1768-1844)
*** Charlotte Leavitt (1769-1863)
* Mehitable Dwight (1705–1767), married Captain Abraham Burbank (1703–1767), large landholder, residing at Suffield, Connecticut.
** Abraham Burbank, Esq. (1739–1808), lawyer, Yale 1759, Massachusetts Legislature from 1779 to 1808; delegate to Constitutional Convention, 1780; Justice of the Peace in June 1772 and a commissary during the Revolutionary War;
married (1) Bethia Cushing (1740–1768) (2) Sarah Pomeroy (1744–1808), daughter of
General Seth Pomeroy.
*** Arthur Burbank (1782–1839) farmer, married Sarah Bates (1789–1870), daughter of Revolutionary War Soldier Eleazer Bates (1749–1826)
**** Abraham Burbank (1813–1887), largest real estate owner in Pittsfield, Mass.; builder, hardware store owner, hotel operator, married Julia M. Brown (1812–1897)
Henry Dwight
Captain Henry Dwight (1676–1732), farmer, merchant and judge, married Lydia Hawley (1680–1748).
Their descendants were:
* Brig. General
Joseph Dwight (1703–1765), judge in
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a New England town, town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,172 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Bot ...
, married Mary Pynchon, and then Abigail (Williams) Sargeant (1721–1791), half-sister to
Ephraim Williams Jr.
**Lydia Dwight (1732-1798) married Rev. Dr. John Willard (1733-1807), brother of Joseph Willard, former president of Harvard College. Rev.Dr. John Willard was a mentor of Rev. Abishai Alden and a descendant of Major Simon Willard. See Endicott Rock history.
** Joseph Dwight, Jr. (1737–1826) married Lydia Dewey (1745–1811)
*** Solomon Dwight (1769–1813) married Veina Foster
**** Elijah Dwight (1797–1868) married Olive Standish (1795–1874), descended from
Myles Standish
Myles Standish ( – October 3, 1656) was an English military officer and colonist. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony), Pilgrims. Standish accompan ...
*****
Jeremiah W. Dwight (1819–1885),
New York State
New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
politician
******
John Wilbur Dwight (1859–1928), New York State politician
** Pamela Dwight (1753*–1807), married Judge
Theodore Sedgwick (1746–1813)
***
Theodore Sedgwick (1780–1839), lawyer and diplomat, married
Susan Anne Livingson (1788–1867)
****
Theodore Sedgwick (1811–1859), lawyer and author
*** Henry Dwight Sedgwick (1785–1831), anti-slavery lawyer, married Jane Minot (1795–1859)
**** Henry Dwight Sedgwick II (1824–1903), married Henrietta Ellery Sedgwick (1829–1899)
***
Catharine Sedgwick (1789–1867), novelist
*** Charles Sedgwick (1791–1856), clerk of Massachusetts Supreme Court, married Elizabeth Buckminster Dwight (1801–1864)
**** Catharine Maria Sedgwick (1820–1880) married William Minot II (1817–1894)
*****
Charles Sedgwick Minot (1852–1914), anatomist
** Henry Williams Dwight (1757–1804), married Abigail Welles (1763–1840), descended from
Thomas Welles
***
Henry Williams Dwight (1788–1845), lawyer and politician
*** Edwin Welles Dwight (1789–1841), author and minister
* Captain Seth Dwight (1707–1774), farmer, married Abigail Strong (1710–1780)
** Ensign Josiah Dwight (1747–1796) married Tabitha Bigelow (c. 1740–1796)
*** Seth Dwight (1769–1825), merchant, married Hannah Strong (1768–1813)
**** Harriet Dwight (1792–1870) married James Dana
*****
James Dwight Dana
James Dwight Dana Royal Society of London, FRS FRSE (February 12, 1813 – April 14, 1895) was an American geologist, mineralogist, volcanologist, and zoologist. He made pioneering studies of mountain-building, volcano, volcanic activity, and the ...
(1813–1895), geologist, married Henrietta Frances Silliman (1823–1907), daughter of chemist
Benjamin Silliman (1779–1864)
******
Edward Salisbury Dana (1849–1935), mineralogist
****
Harrison Gray Otis Dwight (1803–1862), missionary to Turkey, married Mary Lane (1811–1860)
*****
Henry Otis Dwight (1843–1917), missionary to Turkey, married Mary A. Bliss
***** Sarah Hinsdale Dwight, missionary married Edward Riggs, the son on
Elias Riggs (1810–1901)
*** Josiah Dwight Jr. (1772–1826) married Sarah Hartwell (1772–1822)
**** Morris Dwight, M.D. (1796–?) married Minerva Bryant (1800–?)
***** Colonel
Augustus Wade Dwight (1827–1865) died in
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
* Colonel Josiah Dwight (1715–1768), merchant and judge, married Elizabeth Buckminster (1731–1798)
**
Thomas Dwight (1758–1819), politician, married Hannah Worthington (1761–1833)
** Clarissa Dwight (1762–1820) married Major Abel Whitney (1756–1807)
*** Josiah Dwight Whitney (1786–1869), merchant, married Sarah Williston (1800–1833)
****
Josiah Dwight Whitney (1819–1896), geologist
****
William Dwight Whitney
William Dwight Whitney (February 9, 1827June 7, 1894) was an American linguist, philologist, and lexicographer known for his work on Sanskrit grammar and Vedic philology as well as his influential view of language as a social institution. He was ...
(1827–1894), linguist, married Elizabeth Wooster Baldwin, daughter of
Roger Sherman Baldwin
Roger Sherman Baldwin (January 4, 1793 – February 19, 1863) was an American politician who served as the 32nd Governor of Connecticut from 1844 to 1846 and a United States senator from 1847 to 1851. As a lawyer, his career was most notable ...
*****
Edward Baldwin Whitney (1857–1911), judge, married A. Josepha Newcomb, daughter of
Simon Newcomb
Simon Newcomb (March 12, 1835 – July 11, 1909) was a Canadians, Canadian–Americans, American astronomer, applied mathematician, and autodidactic polymath. He served as Professor of Mathematics in the United States Navy and at Johns Hopkins ...
******
Hassler Whitney
Hassler Whitney (March 23, 1907 – May 10, 1989) was an American mathematician. He was one of the founders of singularity theory, and did foundational work in manifolds, embeddings, immersion (mathematics), immersions, characteristic classes and, ...
(1907–1989) mathematician
** Josiah Dwight, Jr. (1767–1821), merchant, married Rhoda Edwards (1778–1864), granddaughter of
Jonathan Edwards
*** Elizabeth Buckminster Dwight (1801–1864) married distant cousin Charles Sedgwick (1791–1856), see above
* Edmund Dwight (1717–1755) married Elizabeth Scutt (1724–1764)
** Jonathan Dwight (1743–1831) married Margaret Ashley (1745–1789)
*** Jonathan Dwight Jr. (1772–1840), merchant and politician, married Sarah Shepard (1774–1805)
**** Jonathan Dwight, third (1799–1856), merchant, married Ann Bartlett
***** Jonathan Dwight fourth (1831–1910),
civil engineer, married Julia Lawrence Hasbrouck
******
Jonathan Dwight fifth (1858–1929),
ornithologist
Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...
**** William Dwight (1805–?) married Elizabeth Amelia White
***** General
William Dwight, Jr. (1831–1888), in
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
**** Thomas Dwight (1807–?) married Mary Collins Warren, daughter of
John Collins Warren
*****
Thomas Dwight (1843–1911), physician,
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...
author and teacher
***
Edmund Dwight (1780–1849), merchant and philanthropist, married Mary Harrison Eliot
See also
*
Sedgwick family
*
Whitney family
The Whitney family is a prominent American family descended from non-Norman English immigrant John Whitney (1592–1673), who left London in 1635 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. The historic family mansion in Watertown, known as The Elm ...
*
Leavitt family
*
Hunt family
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwight
People from Dedham, Massachusetts
Families from Massachusetts
Hunt family (Vermont)
American families of English ancestry