David Phinney was born to Isaac and Elizabeth (Kenney) Phinney in Harwick, Wooster, Massachusetts. He married Judith Nash on May 17, 1780, in Hatfield, Massachusetts. They had 14 children while living in Massachusetts, Obediah, Martha, David, Roxana, Judith, Heman, Clinton, Almira, William, Gaylord, Climera, Patty, Lorenzo, and an unnamed infant girl (findagrave)