Let us start with my maiden name - Whitson. There are two main line of Whitsons in America both arriving in the 1600s. There has been a great deal of discontent between the two lines on if we are actually related or not and to date and my knowledge there is not any tangible proof that the two lines are related. My line descended from Henry Whitson who is first found in Lynn, Massachusetts before 1640 in which he was a founding member. He is soon found on Long Island in New York where he stays and establishes our line in America.

Whitson is Scottish and means 'son of White'. We are descended from the Vikings that invaded Scotland. We are not associated with any specific clan. It is my understanding that we are our own clan. We have our own plaid which can be found online. Whitson spelled in Gaelic is Quitson or Quoitson or Quhitson and I am sure there are other various spellings.

Henry married Rebecca Foster whom we can trace when she arrived in America with her family and back in England unlike Henry who just appears. They marry and have one child that we can find - Thomas Whitson who is born in Hempstead, Nassau Co., New York 20 August 1652. Henry is a founding member of Hempstead, Long Island, New York as well.

In 1643 a group of settlers from New England purchased land at Hempstead, Nassau Co, Long Island, New York where they settled. Henry Whitson along with his father-n-law, Christopher Foster, were among the original 50 proprietors to settle Hempstead.

Little known fact - Cape Cod was almost known as Whitson's Bay and in fact a map of the Atlantic Coast of North America dated 1610 shows it as Whitson's Bay. Martin Pring entered the harbor of Edgartown which he named as Whitson's Bay based on a farmer who farmed there. If he had made it back to Europe before the map maker that beat him there Cape Cod would be Whitson's Bay.