Family:Whitney, David Rice (1828-1914)

David Rice⁹ Whitney (William Fiske⁸, William⁷, Phinehas⁶, William⁵, William⁴, Nathaniel³, John², John¹), son of William Fiske⁸ and Frances Ann (Rice) Whitney, was born 10 Jan 1828, Boston, MA, and died 20 Dec 1914, Boston, MA, aged 85 years 11 months, of mitral disease and arteriosclerosis.^[1]

He married, 30 Apr 1855, Boston, MA, Sophia Paine Dunn,^[2] daughter of James C. and Sophia P. (-----) Dunn. She was born 31 Oct 1834,^[3] Boston, MA, and died 17 Dec 1885, Boston, MA, aged 51 years 1 month 16 days, of ovarian tumor.^[4]

David Rice Whitney was born at Boston on the 10th of January, 1828, and graduated at Harvard university in the class of 1848. After an extended tour in Europe, he returned to Boston and entered at once into commercial pursuits. These he followed until 1876, when he retired from active mercantile business and turned his attention to banking. He was at once elected president of the Suffolk National bank, which position he held until 1 Jan 1884. During his presidency, having free access to the records of the Suffolk bank, for many years known as the King bank of New England, he wrote a short history of that institution, giving an account of its system of bank note redemption, known as the Suffolk bank system, of which it was the originator and which it forced upon all the banks of New England for a period of forty years.

Mr. Whitney's interest in financial matters has always been very deep; and at one time, in addition to his duties as president of the Suffolk National bank, he was a member of the finance committees of three of the largest banking and trust institutions in his native city--the New England Trust Company, Provident Institution for Savings, and Massachsuetts Hospital Life Insurance Company. In 1884 Mr. Whitney retired from the presidency of the Suffolk National bank to become the head of the New England Trust Company, the first institution of the kind chartered in New England, and at the present time the largest and most successful.

In addition to his regular occupation Mr. Whitney has found time to give to various public and charitable organizations. For many years he was the treasurer of the Temporary home for the Destitute; also one of the trustees, and for a time treasurer, of the Massachusetts General Hospital. He also served for a long period as one of the managers of the Home for Aged Women and as a member of the corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, besides which he served for several years as treasurer of Emmanuel (Episcopal) church, of Boston, and is at the present time one of the trustees of donations to the Protestant Episcopal church of Massachusetts.

Mr. Whitney has never held any political office, but has seldom failed to vote at every election for the candidate whom he believed to be best fitted for the office sought, irrespective of political party; resided 68 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA.

Children of David Rice⁹ and Sophia Paine (Dunn) Whitney:

i.	Frances Elinor10 Whitney, b. 21 Jun 1857, Boston, MA;[5] m. 18 May 1876, Boston, MA, Walter Burgess, b. ca. 1852, son of Benjamin F. and Cordelia W. (-----) Burgess;[6] resided 68 Com. Ave. Ch.: Mabel Whitney, b. 1 Sep 1877.
ii.	Mabel Blanche Whitney, b. 16 May 1865, Boston, MA;[7] m. 10 Jun [5 Jul per Pierce] 1898, Boston, MA, David E. Wheeler, b. ca. 1873, New York, NY, son of Everett P. and Lydia C. (Hodges) Wheeler.[8]

Census

• 1860, Boston Ward 4, Suffolk Co., MA:

208 254 Wm. F. Whitney 57 M - Druggist $55000 $110000 Mass. Frances A. " 52 F - " David R. " 33 M - $10000 " Frances E. Lewis 29 F - " Wm. F. Whitney Jr. 10 M - " Abby E. Andrews 34 F - Domestic Me. Timothy Sullivan 27 M - " Ireland Eliza Graham 40 F - " Mass.

• 1860, Boston Ward 6, Suffolk Co., MA:

454 480 David R. Whitney 32 M - Druggist $20000 Mass. Sophia P. " 25 F - " Frances E. " 3 F - " Phebe M. Flye 38 F - Servant Me. Eunice Ward 26 F - " Ireland Ellen Grant 27 F - : "

• 1865 State, Boston Ward 6, Suffolk Co., MA:

810 896 David R. Whitney 37 M - Ms. M Drugs &c. - - 1 1 - Susan " 30 F - " " - - - - - Frances E. " 8 " - " S - - - - - Julia Donnelly 28 " - Ire. " Servt. - - - - - Margaret Murphy 28 " - " " " - - - - - Mary Lawler 22 " - " " " - - - - -

• 1870, Boston Ward 9, Suffolk Co., MA:

1904 2542 Whitney, David R. 40 M W Dye Stuffs Mass. Male citizen over 21 -----, Sophia P. 34 F W Keeping house " -----, Frances E. 13 F W Attending school " Attended school -----, Blanch 5 F W At home " Casey, Mary 27 F W Domestic help Ireland Parents foreign born Carey, Margaret 33 F W Domestic help Sidney N.S.W. Parents foreign born O'Riley, Mary A. 35 F W Domestic help Ireland Parents foreign born Murphey, Margaret 27 F W Domestic help " Parents foreign born

• 1880, Boston, Worcester Co., MA:

D. WHITNEY 45 Self M M W MA Pres Of Bank MA MA L. WHITNEY 42 Wife F M W MA Keeping House MA MA M. WHITNEY 15 Dau F S W MA At School MA MA B. CRONAN 25 Oth F S W IRE Domestic Servant IRE IRE E. HELLEHER 25 Oth F S W MA Domestic Servant IRE IRE M. MCLEAN 40 Oth F S W IRE Domestic Servant IRE IRE

• 1900, 68 Commonwealth Aveneu, Boston Ward 11, Suffolk Co., MA:

39 39 Whitney, David R. Head W M --- ---- -- mar -- Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts Owns free house Burgess, Ella B. Dau W F --- ---- -- mar 20 1ch 1liv Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts -----, Mabel GDau W F --- ---- -- sgl Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts Kelley, Laura Srvt W F Aug 1870 29 sgl Ireland Ireland Ireland Servant, Immig. 1896 Dunn, Nora Srvt W F Aug 1867 32 sgl Ireland Ireland Ireland Servant, Immig. 1897 Can, Margret Cook W F --- ---- -- sgl Massachusetts Ireland Ireland Cook

References

• Census records.

• All data imported from Frederick Clifton Pierce, The Descendants of John Whitney, Who Came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635, (Chicago: 1895), p. 608.

1.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008; volume 1914/20 Death, page 723.

2.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 89, page 48.

3.^  "Sophia Paine [Whitney], [born] Oct. 31, 1834. G.R.3," according to Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: 1914-1915).

4.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 366, page 343.

5.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 107, page 123.

6.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 282, page 55.

7.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 179, page 77.

8.^  "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841–1910," from original records held by the Massachusetts Archives. Online database: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004; volume 480, page 150.

---

Copyright © 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group.