Family:Whitney, James Foster (1843-a1900)

James Foster⁸ Whitney (James Foster⁷, Lemuel⁶, Joseph⁵, Timothy⁴, John³, John², John¹), son of James Foster⁷ and Elizabeth S. (Morton) Whitney, was born 4 Sep 1843, Charleston, IL.

He married, 20 Nov 1865, Mattoon, IL, Alice Hamblen. She was born 14 Jun 1846.

James F. Whitney, born near Charleston, IL, 4 Sep 1843; lived with his parents in Coles and Edgar Counties, IL, until spring 1851, when his grandfather, Lemuel Whitney, took him to Pendleton County, KY; lived near Foster, KY, until April, 1861, when he went to live near Mattoon, IL, to his step-father, Rufus Pierce; stayed with his step-father (Rufus Pierce was born near Milton, MA), until 31 Jul 1861 when he enlisted as a private in Company D, 41st Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry; was shot in right temple at Fort Donelson, TN, 15 Feb 1862; taken home by his step-father; stayed until 25 Mar 1862, when he rejoined his regiment at Shiloh, TN. At the battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, he was shot through right thigh and through left leg, about four inches below knee, and a flesh wound, calf of right leg; lay in hospital at Savannah, TN, until May, when he was taken to hospital at Quincy, IL; left hospital on furlough some time last of May, and stayed with his step-father until Sep 1862, when he rejoined his regiment at Bolivar, TN, was discharged from the army on 10 Nov 1862, by reason of said wounds disabling him from service; stayed with the army as clerk in sutler store, in 62d and 54th Illinois Regiments until Oct 1865. Married Alice Hamblen, of Mattoon, IL, 20 Nov 1865; farmed his step-father's farm (Mr. Pierce died Apr 1864), until Jan 1870; went to Texas, and tried to raise cotton until Jan 1874; returned to Charleston; stayed in Charleston until 29 Mar 1874; started west; landed in Larned, KS, 3 Apr 1874; took a homestead twelve miles north of Larned; elected register of deeds of Pawnee County, KS, Nov 1875; served one term; went back to farm Jan 1878; in Nov 1879, was elected county clerk, which position he has held to date, having been nominated at the Republican conventions, and elected for the eighth term in Nov 1893; resided Mattoon, IL; Larned, KS.

For more information see Archives - Biographies

Children of James Foster⁸ and Alice (Hamblen) Whitney:

i.	Walter H.9 Whitney, b. 26 Aug 1866; resided unmarried at Alva, OK.
ii.	Ruby Whitney, b. 1 Aug 1868; m. 7 Oct 1893, Claude Rinker; resided Nevada, MO. He was b. 1862; s. p.
iii.	James R. Whitney, b. 10 Apr 1871; resided Larned, KS.
iv.	Mary P. Whitney, b. 16 Aug 1873.
v.	Jerry T. Whitney, b. 23 Aug 1875.
vi.	Bessie Whitney, b. 24 Mar 1879; d. 23 Mar 1880.
vii.	Alberta Whitney, b. 23 Apr 1884.
viii.	George Gould Whitney, b. 26 Dec 1889.

References

• 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. 435.

---

Copyright © 2006, 2007, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group