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Major of militia, Accomack CO, VA 1693 and Lt. Col. 1711. Somerset County, Maryland September, 1684 Merchant; 1689 High Sheriff 1691 Collector of tobacco export tax; 1692 Representative to first General Assembly.
(below from "Old Somerset on the Eastern Shore of Maryland" by Clayton Torrence)
William Whittington's father, Captain William Whittington, first appeared in Northampton County in 1640-41, where he was lieutenant and captain of militia and a member of the court.
William is first mentioned in Somerset county in a September, 1684 document as a merchant and, by 1689, was High Sheriff there. After becoming involved in a conflict between the Provisional Government of the Associators (Lord Baltimore) and their Majesties William and Mary, he was removed from office. But, by 1691, he was appointed collector of the tobacco export tax on behalf of Lord Baltimore.
William Whittington's sympathy with Lord Baltimore's cause was no doubt the reason for his appointment in 1691 as collector, on behalf of his Lordship, of the tobacco export tax in Somerset County.
With the establishment of the royal government in Maryland, he was elected a representative from Somerset county to the first General Assembly in May of 1692. He continued as a member of the Lower House of Assembly until 1695, when he again became High Sheriff and also the treasurer for the Eastern Shore of the province. In 1692 and 1693, he was a member of the course of Somerset county.
In 1699 William Whittington was again returned from Somerset as member of the Lower House of Assembly, continuing there for several years -- certainly until May 31, 1717, when the Governor informed the body that he had received a letter from Colonel Whittington telling of his "indisposition and desiring to be excused from his attendance this Assembly." The Council minutes do not record Whittington as again in attendance between this date and the time of his death in the early Spring of 1720.
In addition to the various civil offices of responsibility and honor held by him we find Whittington from time to time occupying the militia offices of captain, major, and colonel.
William Whittington lived in the southern section of Somerset County below the Pocomoke River. He became an extensive landholder and owner of a large and valuable personal estate. His will, dated February 28, 1719, is an interesting document. Among its many items are two which show the charitable disposition of the man: (1) he gave part of his Cedar Neck and Sandy Wharf tracts of land to certain trustees for maintenance and teaching of six poor children at a time "to reade and learn the fundamentals of the Christian Religion"; (2) he directed his sons and daughters "to make a payment to the Justices for the use of the poor."
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circa 1649 - 1720 (~ 71 years)
