Nathaniel Whiting

Nathaniel Whiting (1609-January 15, 1682–3) was an early settler of Dedham, Massachusetts. He owned several mills on Mother Brook and is said to have dug the canal, the first man-made water way in America. Personal life Whiting was born in England in 1609 to Samuel and Sarah Whiting. His mother's family came from Hoxden, Middlesex. He was in Watertown in 1635 and moved to Dedham in 1636. In 1638, he was granted 10 acres of land in Lynn, Massachusetts. Some sources have indicated he had a brother named Samuel, and claim that Samuel to be Rev. Samuel Whiting Jr. However, Rev. Whiting Jr's father's memoirs clearly demonstrate that Rev. Samuel Whiting Jr. had no brother named Nathaniel. Whiting married Hannah Dwight, the daughter of John Dwight. They were married on March 4, 1643. Together they had 14 children, of whom 10 lived long enough to have families of their own. He joined the First Church and Parish in Dedham in 1641 and was a signatory to the Dedham Covenant. He was made a freeman on May 18, 1642.