1761 - 182?                        INDEX      PEDIGREE
 

 

SPOUSE: (2) JOHN DIAMOND PRESTON
Marriage: 21 February 1795
Place: Salem, Essex, Massachusetts
SPOUSE: (1)JOHN FORBES
SPOUSE: (3)JAMES WHITTEMORE



Birth Date: 1761
Birth Place: Salem, Essex, Massachsetts
Death Date: after 1820
Burial:
Salem, Essex, Massachsetts

CHILDREN
(boy)Forbes (h-1)
John Forbes (h-1)
Sarah Forbes (h-1)
Charles Forbes (h-1)
Richard Preston
John Diamond Preston
Whitmore (h-3)

OCCUPATION(S):

FAMILY
Father: SAMUEL WHITFORD
Mother: SARAH WHITE
HUSB (1) JOHN DAWSON


SIBLINGS

 



INDEX TO HISTORY
INDEX TO RESEARCH NOTES
RESEARCH NOTES

 RELIGIOUS INFORMATION:  

 BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:



From Salem Marriages
Forbes, John and Sarah Whitford, Sept 10, 1782
Forbes, Sarah
and John Diamond Preston of Boston, int[ention] recorded Feb. 21, 1795.
Preston, Sally [Hannah Presson on intention], and James Whittemore, Aug. 27, 1803.

From Marriages of Boston 1752-1809
John D. Preston and Sarah Forbes [of Salem] married by Rev. Dr. Peter Thatcher, February 26, 1795.
[Intention reads John Diamond Preston and Sary]

From The Diaries of William Bently , Pastor of the East Church, Salem, Massachusetts.

June 1785
 An account of the Number of Inhabitants in the Town of Salem.... John Forbes, Mariner. Ives' lane. [see map of Salem]

December 23, 1790  List of Families from Census taken by the Federal Government..... John Forbes, Mariner.

November 29, 1790  GENERAL THANKSGIVING in this State. A note was sent to me inclosing twenty five Dollars, Bill of the Essex Bank, supposed by the hand writing to come from E.H. Derby Esq, including this our Contribution amounted to [twenty-two pounds Sterling] The following persons were assisted from this Contribution: ..........Widow Forbes.

June 20, 1798  Mr. John Dimon Preston is missing. They left this port in a small fishing smack belonging to Capt. S[amuel] Ingersoll, bound to the W. Indies.

Sunday, July 8, 1798  Sarah Preston, delivery, prayers for husband long absent and missing.
1

September 20, 1798  We now conclude that Diman Preston and his crew, who have been long missing, and who left this port for the Spanish Main in a shallop, have foundered at sea. Their vessel was deep and small and they had a heavy gale upon leaving port.

March 24, 1799  Sarah Preston, death of her youngest child, husband absent, brothers at sea.
2

August 17, 1817  Charles Forbes, returned from Sea, having been among the islands of the Great Ocean. He was patronized by Mrs. Rogers and myself and was the son of John Forbes who was drowned in Virginia .... The wife has since married James Whittemore.

From The Parish List of Deaths recorded by William Bently, Pastor of the East Church, Salem, Massachusetts.

Aug. 19, 1791.  
News of John Forbes, drowned in Virginia, a[ged] 28. He has left a wife and four children.3 Died in February.

Sept. 20 1798.  
John Diman Preston, captain, from Marblehead, missing, 37. 1st marriage ____ years, 2nd marriage ____ years, 3d marriage five years. Left a wife with two children, males. She was a widow Forbes with three children, one female; married abroad, supposed repeatedly.
4 The shallop sailed from Salem 10 Nov., 1797, and has not been heard of since.

December 5, 1816  John Forbes, a seaman. [died of] Fever, 32 years...The mother a Dawson
5 and thrice married. First a Forbes, and by him had three children; second, a Preston, by whom one child; third, a Whittemore, and by him one child.

From the 1790 United States Census, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts

John Forbes: 1 male over 16,  2 males under 16,  2 females



From the 1800 United States Census, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts

Sarah Preston (says Presson) : 2 males under 10 (Richard Preston, age 5 & Charles Forbes, age 9), 1 male 10-15 (John Forbes, age 15), 1 female under 10 (? possibly a daughter from John Diamond Preston's marriage previous to Sarah), 1 female 10-15 (Sarah Forbes, age 12), and 1 female 26-44 (Sarah Preston age 39). Note: Sarah is living next door to James Whittemore who became her third husband in 1803.


Footnotes
1 July 8 1798 was the day that the infant son, John Diamond Preston was christened. He was born in June.
2 John Diamond Preston, 9 month-old son of John Diamond and Sarah Preston died 18 March 1799.
3 Children of John and Sarah Forbes: John Forbes b. 1784, (boy) Forbes, [see 1790 Census], Sarah Forbes b. 1788, Charles Forbes b. 1791
4 John Diamond Preston was married abroad several times prior to his marriage to Sarah.
5 Sarah Whitford was raised by her stepfather, John Dawson, from the age of three.

"Our society being composed of seafaring people, there were frequent occasions for offering notes, for returning of thanks for mercies received, as well as imploring blessings, the reading of them formed no inconsiderable part of the morning service. Coupled with this practice was a peculiar custom observed by him for many years of his early ministry, of making out a bulletin of the sick, stating their disease, and the stage of it reached by the patient. This was hung up in some conspicuous place in the house, for the purpose undoubtedly of informing the society where their sympathy was called for and their benefactions could be applied." Bentley Diaries,Vol I p. xiii   Biography of Bently by Judge Joseph G. Waters

"A century ago it was customary, in time of sickness or death, for the minister to receive and to read from the pulpit on Sunday, notes requesting the prayers of the congregation." Introduction

"It should be kept in mind that connection by marriage is frequently referred to as though it were by blood. 'Mother-in-law' means step-mother, in present day usage, and "brother at sea" may mean brother-in-law at sea."
Bentley Diaries Introduction

Footnotes 1-5 : NHC, 9/2001

 REFERENCES:


Vital Records of Salem, Mass
Vol. 3,4- Salem Marriages
Essex Institute [Salem, Ma] 1916
US/Can 974.45/S1 V2e v.4

Marriages of Boston
US/Can 974.461 V2b v.2


The Diary of William Bentley
Essex Institute [Salem, Ma] 1906
JSMB US/Can 921.73 B446b volumes 1,2



















Parish List of Deaths
Essex Institute [Salem, Ma] 1882
US/Can 974.45/S1 K2b











1790 United States Census
Salem, Essex, Massachusetts p.10











1800 United States Census
Salem, Essex, Massachusetts p.243