According to Lemuel Shattuck208, John Whitney was admitted a freeman on 26 May 1647 at age 23, and was a selectman in Watertown from 1673-6 and 1678-9. The birthdates of John Whitney’s children given here are those of Smith209; they differ slightly from the dates given by Shattuck, probably because of errors of interpretation.

John Whitney attended the Merchant Taylors’ School on Suffolk Lane in London before coming to New England with his family. The Merchant Taylors’ School afforded “him the finest education available to the son of a yeoman intended for business. The younger John Whitney appears in the Merchant Taylors’ School Register from 11 December 1631 until 1634 (Merchant Taylors’ School Register, 132).”210 The Merchant Taylors’ School is still (1999) in existence, and its website (http://schoolsite.edex.net.uk/223/) includes information about the history of the school.