Joseph Whipple, Jr.

Who was Joseph Whipple, Jr.?

Joseph Whipple, Jr. was a wealthy merchant in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and a Deputy Governor of the colony.

The son of Colonel Joseph Whipple who was also a merchant, Whipple was born in Providence, the third of 12 children. He was a ship-owner, dealing in many goods including slaves, and he often traded illicitly with the Spanish and French who were at war with the British. He was considered the wealthiest member of his extended family of merchants, though the full value of his estate is not found in the public record.

In addition to being very wealthy, he married into wealth as well. His first wife, Anne Almy, bore four of his children, all of whom died as infants, she dying less than two weeks after her last child died. He then married Sarah Redwood, the daughter of probable business partner, Abraham Redwood. Redwood was a merchant, ship-owner, slave-owner and philanthropist who had a large and profitable plantation on Antigua in the West Indies. He was the founder of the Redwood Library in Newport. With Sarah, Whipple had nine children, the second of whom, Joseph III became Deputy Governor at a very young age, following his father's death. Whipple's will was dated 28 May 1750, and proved on 2 July following, suggesting that he died in June 1750.