Family:Whitney, George Lewis (1807-1867)

George Lewis⁷ Whitney (John⁶ and Statira (Farrell) Whitney, John⁵, John⁴, Richard³, John², Henry¹), son of John⁶ and Statira (Farrell) Whitney, was born 2 Sep 1807, Branford, CT, and died 27 Jun 1867, Pontiac, MI. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Canandaigua, NY.^[1]

He married firstly, 18 Jan 1831, Canandaigua, NY, Lucinda Barlow Williams, daughter of Dr. William Augustus Williams. She was born 16 May 1810, Canandaigua, NY, and died 20 May 1861, Canandaigua, NY, where she was buried.

He married secondly, 7 Aug 1862, Fremont, OH, Anna Roosevelt MacEnally, daughter of James and Caroline (Roosevelt) MacEnally, and granddaughter of Cornelius L. and Ann (Lockwood) Roosevelt. She was born 8 Nov 1835, New York, NY. After his death, she returned to Canandaigua, NY, and was living there in 1870.

Phoenix says the following:

. . . a printer, editor, and commercial correspondent . . . . The following, from theOntario Repository, Canandaigua, 23 May 1861, is a part of her husband's tribute to her memory: "If our columns bear evidence of the absence of our usual attention upon them, this week, the reason is furnished in the fact that for several days past, we have been chiefly confined to the sick-room and dying-bed of a long-cherished and most intimate companion,--one who had stronger claims upon our affections, our sympathies and personal attention than all earthly objects besides. The wife of the editor of this paper, previous to her death, had been sick for several weeks, from a painful and incurable disease-a cancerous affection of the lungs--which terminated fatally last Monday morning. She bore her sufferings with a Christian fortitude and resignation, and with a confidence of being able to hold out to the end, which afforded a beautiful and convincing testimony in support of the religion, which for more than thirty years, she had professed and consistently practised in all the relations of life. As wife, mother, friend and neighbor-and as a member of the community in all its varied relations, the promptings of her kind heart were never confined to the cold forms or mere conventionalities which too often control the acts even of the charitable and the good. Her heart was a perennial fountain of benevolence, open at all times to everybody, as the closing scenes in her life fully attested." The Detroit Daily Advertiser, of 28 May 1861, said: "To many citizens of this place this will be a sad announcement. In her residence here of ten years prior to 1840, she endeared herself to a large circle of acquaintances, many of whom still live to remember and mourn for her. To an ardent and generous temperament, a singularly unselfish and self-sacrificing disposition, and a mind and heart of transparent truthfulness and integrity, she united a talent of keen observation and lively powers of description, which among friends who knew her intimately, gave great zest and vivacity to her conversation. But it is as a true and warm-hearted friend, a tender wife and mother, and a sympathizing benefactor to the neglected and the needy, that she will be especially held in affectionate and grateful remembrance. As a Christian, her life of humble and undoubting faith was crowned by a death of signal triumph. Leaving a pleasant home, a husband and six affectionate children, she could yet say, 'It is not such a terrible thing to die!' As the scenes of time faded, her faith lit up the dark valley with the bright presence of her Saviour, until 'the shadow of death was turned into the morning,' the morning of an unending day."

She was buried in Canandaigua, the day after her death, from the Congregational Church (Dr. Dagget's), of which she had been a member for more than twenty years. . . . .

The following, from The Advertiser and Tribune, of Detroit, 28 June 1867, shows the principal facts of his life:

"Almost equally as startling as the announcement of the death of Judge Witherell on Wednesday, was that of the demise of George L. Whitney, Esq., yesterday forenoon. Mr. Whitney had been quite unwell all Winter and, only a week or two since, was seriously meditating a trip to Europe as the only possible hope of restoration. He was then quite feeble. Last week he was taken to St. Luke's hospital, from which time he continued to fail till about 10 o'clock yesterday morning, when he ceased to breathe. His family, who have for the past year been residing at Pontiac, were with him at the time of his decease. His remains it is intended to remove to Canandaigua, N.Y., for interment.

"George L. Whitney was born in 1808, consequently was 59 at the time of his death. He learned the printer's trade and was employed in a New York office. In 1829 the only newspaper published in Detroit was the old Detroit Gazette, the Democratic organ. The Whigs needed a mouth-piece, and, in the year mentioned, the late Oliver Newberry, in their behalf, visited New York for the purpose of securing the material for an office, and a printer to take charge of it. Mr. Whitney was recommended to him as a young man worthy and competent. With his assistance a font of type and presses were bought, all the funds being supplied by Mr. Newberry and his associates. Mr. Whitney was 21 years of age when he thus removed to Detroit. In November of that year (1829), the first number of the Northwestern Journal was issued, and so admirable was its typographical appearance and general newspaper characteristics, that it at once assumed the position of leading paper in the Territory. For three years it was issued weekly, then semi-weekly, and at last, in June 1836, under the title of the Advertiser, the paper became a daily. Mr. Whitney did not, at that time, assume to manage the political course of his paper. For that, some of the ablest talent in the Territory was secured, and Wm. Ward, Maj. Rowland, Franklin Sawyer, and, among others, the late Judge Chipman, were successively at the political helm. Mr. Whitney must, for a time, have done well, for he assumed the responsibilities of a family, and erected for his own use the comfortable residence on the corner of Brush and Larned Streets, now occupied by Hon. Wm. Warner. But the severe financial troubles of 1836-7 seriously affected the business of the young publisher, and by degrees his office fell into the hands of Hon. A. S. Porter, for whom Mr. Whitney continued to publish the Advertiser until the fall of 1839, when he disposed of all his interests in Detroit, and removed to Canandaigua, N.Y. There he again established himself in business as the publisher of the Ontario Repository. There he remained for a number of years. The Repository was a capital village paper, and no doubt afforded a comfortable income. With the formation of the Republican party in 1856, however, Mr. Whitney had no sympathy; and continuing to issue a Whig paper after the Whig party was dead, he very naturally found his business dwindling away. In 1859 or 1860, too, he had the misfortune to lose his wife. He became unsettled, sold his paper, and in 1861 removed again to Detroit. Without capital, he found it more difficult to engage in remunerative business than on his former advent here, and he was this time fain to accept a salaried situation on the newspaper of which he had been the founder. Subsequently he established a commercial periodical, which, however, did not succeed. He then became the editor of the Commercial Advertiser, a weekly paper issued in this city, and on this he remained up to the time of his death.

"Mr. Whitney was a pleasing writer, and an industrious compiler of statistical information setting forth the great natural resources of his adopted State. During the last few years, he has been the valued Detroit correspondent of several American and European journals, and no man has probably done more to show up the great advantage Michigan offers to emigrants and settlers, than he has done in these letters. The State owes him a debt in this behalf that few will ever appreciate. Socially he was a genial and pleasant companion, and in his family an indulgent husband and father. His favorite amusement was music, for which he possessed talent in a high degree. In his earlier years, he excelled as an organist, while his merit as a composer is evinced by numerous published pieces, chiefly of sacred music, that arc still to be found in our various popular collections.

A beautiful tune of his, entitled 'Canandaigua,' and adapted to the favorite words by Tom Moore--

'Come, ye disconsolate, where e'er ye languish,

Come to the mercy-sent, fervently kneel!

Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish,

Earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal,'

has a place in the Jubilee, and will, we doubt not, be thought worthy of reproduction in future musical collections.

"As a business man, Mr. Whitney was never really fortunate, and at the time of his death we regret to say his affairs were far from being in a prosperous condition. He leaves a young wife, and, if we mistake not, a son and two or three daughters. His second son, a soldier of one of our regiments of regulars, was killed on the bloody field of Gettysburg, just four years ago."

From another paper, printed in Detroit about the same date, we learn that "he held the position of postmaster at Canandaigua, under President Tyler."

"Mr. Whitney was an Episcopalian, and was organist and a member of the vestry of St. Paul's Church for the last ten years of his first residence in Detroit."

"Politically and socially, Mr. Whitney was a man of moderate and liberal views, and during the later political revulsions has classed himself as a conservative, not having attached himself to either party. Although naturally industrious, his generosity and warm-heartedness stood in the way of his accumulating property. He continued his active editorial labors up to about a week ago, although suffering for a long time previous from failing health. His demise, however, was sudden and unexpected, and the fact shows how far a naturally robust constitution may become exhausted and destroyed by mental labor before the impending crisis gives warning of its approach. Mr. Whitney had been for some time engaged in preparing matter designed to compose the initial number of a work to be entitled the Michigan Quarterly Register."

"His funeral was attended at St. Paul's Church yesterday afternoon, and his remains taken thence to Canandaigua."

Children of George Lewis⁷ and Lucinda Barlow (Williams) Whitney:

i.	William Augustus8 Whitney, b. 23 Feb 1834, Detroit, MI; m. Emma J. Roach.
ii.	George Williams Whitney, b. 22 Jun 1836, Detroit, MI; d. 8 Oct 1836, Detroit, MI, where he was buried.
iii.	George Williams Whitney, b. 17 Aug 1837, Detroit, MI; d. 23 Apr 1847, Canandaigua, NY; bur. Woodlawn Cemetery, Canandaigua, NY.[2]
iv.	Sarah Adams Whitney, b. 13 Aug 1840, Detroit, MI; d. 11 Apr 1912; bur. Woodlawn Cemetery, Canandaigua, NY;[3] unmarried; was living at 23 Douglass Street, Brooklyn, NY, in 1868.
v.	Julia Elizabeth Whitney, b. 6 Jul 1841, Canandaigua, NY; d. 17 Nov 1841, Canandaigua, NY; bur. Woodlawn Cemetery, Canandaigua, NY.[4]
vi.	Charles Henry Whitney, b. 30 Jan 1843, Canandaigua, NY; served in the war of 1861, in Company C, 17th Regiment, U. S. Infantry; was wounded in the battle of Gettysburg; died at Gettysburg, PA, 16 Jul 1863; bur. Gettysburg National Cemetery, Gettysburg, PA.[5]
vii.	Grace Williams Whitney, b. 12 Oct 1845, Canandaigua, NY; d. 21 Aug 1881; bur. Woodlawn Cemetery, Canandaugua, NY;[6] unmarried; was living at 23 Douglass Street, Brooklyn, NY, in 1868.
viii.	Mary Whitney, b. 29 Mar 1847, Canandaigua, NY; d. 21 Aug 1847, Canandaigua; bur. Woodlawn Cemetery, Canandaigua, NY.[7]
ix.	Frederick William Whitney, b. 28 May 1849, Canandaigua, NY; entered the 9th Regiment, U. S. Infantry, in May 1867, and died at Fort Churchill, NV, 26 Dec 1867, from disease brought on by exposure and hardship; bur. Fort Churchill Cemetery, Fort Churchill, NV.[8]
x.	Mary Whitney, b. 4 Oct 1850, Canandaigua, NY; and was living at 23 Douglass Street, Brooklyn, NY, in 1868.

Children of George Lewis⁷ and Anna Roosevelt (Mac Enally) Whitney:

xi.	James Roosevelt Whitney, b. 14 Aug 1863, Canandaigua, NY; d. in early infancy, and was buried at Canandaigua, NY.

Census

• 1831 Petition List, Wayne Co., Michigan Territory.
• 1831 Petition List, Michigan Territory.
• 1832 Petition List, Oakland Co., Michigan Territory.
• 1833 Petition List, Michigan Territory.
• 1840, Canandaigua, Ontario Co., NY: George L. Whitney, 1 male 30-39, 3 males 15-19, 2 males 0-4, 1 female 30-39, 1 female 15-19, 1 female 10-14, and 1 female 0-4; 4 engaged in manufacture or trades.
• 1850, Canandaigua, Ontario Co., NY:

456 456 George L. Whitney 41 M - Postmaster Ct. Lucinda B. " 40 F - N.Y. William A. " 16 M - Clerk Mich. Attended school Sarah " 10 F - " Attended school Charles H. " 7 M - N.Y. Attended school Grace " 4 F - " Frederick W. " 1 M - " John Burnet 15 " - " Luther Mulford 18 " - Printer " Ellen Rodgers 22 F - Ireland Honora Kellogg 24 " - "

• 1855, Canandaigua, Ontario Co., NY:

247 Frame $1500 316 George L. Whitney 46 M - - Connecticut 1 - 15 Editor 1 - - - - - - Lucinda B. Whitney 45 F - Wife Ontario 1 - 15 - - - - - - - - William A. Whitney 21 M - Son Detroit, Mich. - - 15 - 1 - - - - - - Sarah H. Whitney 15 F - Dau Michagan - - 15 - - - - - - - - Henry C. Whitney 12 M - Son Ontario - - 12 - - - - - - - - Grace Whitney 9 F - Dau do - - 9 - - - - - - - - Fredrick Whitney 6 M - Son do - - 6 - - - - - - - - Mary Whitney 4 F - Dau do - - 4 - - - - - - - - William Poor 18 M - Appr do - - 18 - - - - - - - - Robert Mcginnis 14 M - Appr Scotland - - 4 - - - 1 - - - - Bridget Curren 21 F - Srvt Ireland - - 3 - - - - - - - - Julia Curren 22 F - do Ireland - - 4 - - - - - - - -

• 1860, Canandaigua, Ontario Co., NY:

982 996 Geo. L. Whitney 53 M - Editor & Publisher $4000 Conn. Lucinda B. " 50 F - N.Y. Wm. A. " 26 M - Printer Mich. Sarah H. " 20 F - " Chas. H. " 16 M - Student N.Y. Grace " 14 F - " Attended school Fredk. " 11 M - " Attended school Mary " 9 F - " Attended school Ambrose Ainsworth 21 M - Printer " George Silcox 15 M - Apprentice " Bridget Cursan 25 F - Domestic Ireland

• 1870, Canandaigua, Ontario Co., NY:

428 460 McEnally, James 60 M W R.R. Freight Agt. $13000 $2000 N.Y. Father foreign born, Male citizen over 21 -----, Caroline 60 F W Keeps hs. " -----, Antoinette 25 F W At home " Whitney, Anna 30 F W " " Rosevelt, Clinton 6 M W " " -----, Lillie 4 F W " "

• 1870, Brooklyn, Kings Co., NY:

1395 1982 Whitner, William 35 M W Printer Michigan Male citizen over 21 -----, Sarah 28 F W Keeps house " -----, Grace 23 F W N. York -----, Minnie 19 F W " Meyer, Julia 30 M W Dry Goods $10000 -- Germany Parents foreign born -----, Emma 28 F W Keeps house Germany Parents foreign born -----, Julius 8 M W N. York Parents foreign born -----, Katy 5 F W " [sic] -----, Caroline 25 F W D. Servant Germany Parents foreign born

• 1880, Brooklyn Ward 1, Kings Co., NY:

Cathrine NELSON 64 Self F W W NY Keeping House IRE IRE Maria NELSON 30 Dau F S W NY At Home NY NY Kate NELSON 20 Dau F S W NY At Home NY NY Mary OBRIEN 50 Othe F S W IRE Servant IRE IRE Mary CRONIN 40 Othe F S W IRE Servant IRE IRE Charles BIDDLE 38 Othe M M W NY Dentist ENG ENG Lizzie BIDDLE 36 Othe F M W PA Boarder VA PA Mary COLEMAN 35 Othe F S W CT Dress Maker CT CT Sarah WHITNEY 35 Othe F S W NY Tellegraph Operator NY NY Grace WHITNEY 30 Othe F S W NY Tellegraph Operator NY NY Helen HUDSON 30 Othe F S W NY Clerk In Store CT CT John STANTON 33 Othe M M W CT Clothing Business CT CT Mary STANTON 30 Othe F M W MA Boarder MA MA Grace STANTON 7 Othe F S W CT At School CT MA Annie HOBBIE 40 Othe F S W NY Music Teacher NY NY Charles BUTLER 45 Othe M M W NY Shipping Clerk NY NY Sarah BUTLER 40 Othe F M W NY Boarder NY NY Fred BUTLER 14 Othe M S W NY At School NY NY Richard RALPH 66 Othe M M W NY Retired Merchant RI NY Margret RALPH 55 Othe F M W NY Boarder NY NY

• 1880, Anna, William, and Minnie/Mary not found.
• 1900, 1835 Vermont Avenue, Washington, Washington Co., DC:

18 18 Whitney, William Head W M Feb 1834 66 sgl Michigan Connecticut New York Printer Gov. Prt. Of., Rents house -----, Sarah H. Sist W F Aug 1839 60 sgl Michigan Connecticut New York Martin, Rosa Srvt W F Oct 1872 27 sgl Virginia Virginia Virginia Domestic

References

• Census records.

• All data imported from Stephen Whitney Phoenix, The Whitney family of Connecticut, and its affiliations; being an attempt to trace the descendants, as well in the female as the male lines, of Henry Whitney, from 1649 to 1878; to which is prefixed some account of the Whitneys of England. (New York : Priv. Print. [Bradford Press] 1878), pp. 690-693 and p. 1497.

1.^  Find A Grave Memorial #110567186, George Lewis Whitney.

2.^  Find A Grave Memorial #110567087, Lucinda Barlow Williams Whitney.

3.^  Find A Grave Memorial #110567164, George Williams Whitney.

4.^  Find A Grave Memorial #110567001, Sarah A. Whitney.

5.^  Find A Grave Memorial #110567113, Julia Elizabeth Whitney.

6.^  Find A Grave Memorial #120226761, Pvt. Charles Henry Whitney.

7.^  Find A Grave Memorial #110567141, Grace Williams Whitney.

8.^  Find A Grave Memorial #110567063, Mary Whitney.

9.^  Find A Grave Memorial #120091043, Frederick Williams Whitney.

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