Deacon Timothy Phinney

Biography

Timothy Phinney's long life in Barnstable, on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, combined church responsibilities with county and state office. A published Massachusetts family history identifies him as a deputy sheriff for many years and, for a time, high sheriff of Barnstable County. It also records his election to the state senate in 1811.

The election has an independent documentary trail. The American Antiquarian Society and Tufts election database lists Timothy Phinney among the candidates for the Barnstable County senate seat in 1811 and marks him elected. Its underlying references include the Massachusetts Governor's Council records, town returns and contemporary newspapers. The entry identifies his affiliation as Republican, the political designation used at the time.

The family history also places Timothy in Revolutionary service as a first lieutenant in Captain Ebenezer Lothrop's artillery company, commissioned in April 1776. Its account of his later church life preserves a family recollection of the deacon sitting below the high pulpit, facing the congregation. The remembered scene belongs to the author’s family testimony, rather than to a contemporary description of a particular service.

Timothy married Temperance Hinckley in 1767. Their family included Mehitable Sturgis, who married Otis Carpenter, and a son also named Timothy. Their infant Calvin is recorded at Cobb's Hill Cemetery as dying in August 1793, aged five months.

Temperance died in November 1825. Timothy survived until July 2, 1838, aged ninety-two. His later years followed decades in which military, church and civil responsibilities had placed him repeatedly in public life.

Timothy’s parentage remains unresolved. The existing family reconstruction places him under John Phinney Jr. and Hannah Washburn, while the published account names Zaccheus Phinney and Susanna Davis.