Family:Whitney, Benjamin Franklin (1804-1885)

Benjamin Franklin⁷ Whitney (Cyrus⁶, Isaiah⁵, Isaiah⁴, Isaiah³, Thomas², John¹) son of Cyrus⁶ and Polly (Whitney) Whitney, was born 21 Mar 1804, Harvard, MA,^[1] and died 15 Dec 1885, Harvard, MA.

He married, 16 Jun 1827, Harvard, MA, Louisa Lawrence.^[2] She was born 17 May 1808,^[3] and died 6 Jan 1887. Her genealogy given in Genealogy of John Lawrence of Wisset, Suffolk, England, whose father, Henry, came to Charlestown, in 1635, and who himself settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, soon after. Her mother was a Bigelow, genealogy given in Bigelow family. It would be easy to write of the grace of her youth, the loving, and able care of a model mother for her large family, of her sore trials, of her cheerful, social, helpful spirit. Her firm and loving hand saved the family, for instance, at one time from absorption in the Skeneateles (New York) Community, where her husband, infatuated by Fourier, and eldest son, spent some months, and in many crises of changing fortune.

He was born in Harvard and soon moved with his parents to the old ancestral home of his grandfather on the extreme eastern slope of Oak Hill, next the Boxboro line. As a boy he experimented on the problem how to improve the poor native apples. He was always, through his long life, trying experiments, more to see what could be done than to reap any pecuniary reward. He was one of the very first to raise improved grafted applies and this first attempt was made without his father's knowledge or consent, but when the results were tasted and looked upon were followed by his father's practical approval, for he went into the improvement with considerable zest. This farm, according to tradition under Cyrus Whitney's management, took a prize one year for being the best farm in all Worcester county. It has produced large quantities of all kinds of fruit, as earlier it did grains and grasses. B. F. W. was allowed but little time at school, but the short time spent at a neighboring academy, and the constant habit of reading and use of reference books made him a well-informed man. He traveled much in 1828 and about 1832 or 1822 he engaged in trade in a country store in Harvard village. In 1836 moved to Seneca Falls, New York, where with varying success he managed a variety store, put up buildings, and one year carried on a large farm. In 1845 he returned to his native town, where he spent the last forty years of his life in agricultural pursuits, the last two giving him more and more pleasure. He greatly enjoyed the face of nature and all the changing life of bird, insect and plant. He knew the names, mostly common names, which the medicinal effect upon the human body of almost every leaf and root and herb. With him expired a considerable knowledge of his own genealogy and that of many about him. He esteemed others more than himself, was of retiring disposition, but when approached, conversed with interest and remarkable intelligence for one of his opportunities. He was a member of the Unitarian church, which he cherished. Was in early days a Whig in politics, in favor of a protective tariff, an admirer of Horace Greeley, in later life a stanch Republican and always for the union, and that he was one of the first to enter Richmond and offer protection to some defenseless, but at first defiant female cousins, who were at length glad to accept his offices in the confusion of the Federal occupation. He resided Harvard, MA.

Children of Benjamin Franklin⁷ and Louisa (Lawrence) Whitney:

i.	Mary Louisa8 Whitney, b. 25 Dec 1828, Harvard, MA;[4] d. 6 Oct 1829, Harvard, MA, aged 9 or 10 months.[5]
ii.	Solon Franklin Whitney, b. 22 Aug 1831, Harvard, MA;[6] m. Charlotte C. Wilder.
iii.	Sarah Louisa Whitney, b. 25 Nov 1833, Harvard, MA;[7] d. 6 May 1854.
iv.	James Harris Whitney, b. 16 Aug 1835, Harvard, MA;[8] m. Addie Thomas.
v.	Frances Alice Whitney, b. 20 Mar 1838, Harvard, MA; d. 27 Aug 1839, Harvard, MA, aged 17 months.[9]
vi.	Charles Edward Whitney, b. 19 Nov 1840, Harvard, MA; d. 8 Feb 1872 unmarried. He enlisted at the beginning of the war and served to the end; lay 100 days in the trenches in front of Petersburg, VA, where from disease and bullets he was left the highest in command of his regiment, a part of the time only sergeant-major, then captain. He was one of the first to march into Richmond. The horse which he rode came back to Boston with him, bore him to his father's in Harvard, was honored and cared for and finally buried long after the Captain had gone to his last muster. In the Wilderness he had seen his friends cut down, had suffered much from exposure, but lived after returning home until 1872, having gradually succumbed to pulmonary disease, the seeds of which were planted by repeated attacks of pneumonia while in service. He or his friends never asked for a pension. His brother Solon F. was appointed adminstrator of his estate 20 Feb 1872.
vii.	Harriett Lucy Whitney, b. 16 Sep 1843, Harvard, MA; d. 15 May 1844, Harvard, MA, aged 8 months.[10]
viii.	Frances Lucy Whitney, b. 18 Feb 1848, Acton, MA.[11]
ix.	William Ellery Channing Whitney, b. 11 Apr 1851; m. Alma C. Walker.

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), pp. 353-354.

1.^  "Benjamin Franklin [Whitney], s. of Cyrus and Polly, [born] Mar. 21, 1804. (Mar. 23, 1804. G.R.1.)," according to Thomas W. Baldwin, ed., Vital Records of Harvard, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1917).

2.^  "Benjamin F. [Whitney] and Louisa Lawrence, int. May 25, 1828," according to Harvard Vital Records.

3.^  "Louisa Lawrence [-----] [Whitney], w. of Benjamin Franklin, [born] May 17, 1808. G.R.1," according to Harvard Vital Records.

4.^  "Mary Louisa [Whitney], d. of Benjamin F. and Louisa, [born] Dec. 25, 1828," according to Harvard Vital Records.

5.^  "Mary Louisa [Whitney] (d. of Benjamin Franklin and Louisa Lawrence, G.R.1.) [died] Oct. 6, 1829, a. 10 m. (a. 9 m. G.R.1.)," according to Harvard Vital Records.

6.^  "Solan Franklin [Whitney], s. of Benjamin F. and Louisa, [born] Aug. 22, 1831," according to Harvard Vital Records.

7.^  "Sarah Louisa [Whitney], d. of Benjamin F. and Louisa, [born] Nov. 25, 1833," according to Harvard Vital Records.

8.^  "James Harris [Whitney], s. of Benjamin F. and Louisa, [born] Aug. 16, 1835," according to Harvard Vital Records.

9.^  "Frances Alice [Whitney], d. of Benjamin Franklin and Louisa Lawrence, [died] Aug. 27, 1839, a. 17 m. G.R.1," according to Harvard Vital Records.

10.^  "Harriet Lucy [Whitney], d. of Benjamin Franklin and Louisa Lawrence, [died] May 15, 1844, a. 8 m. G.R.1," according to Harvard Vital Records.

11.^  "Frances Lucy [Whitney], d. of Benjamin F. and Louisa, in Acton, [born] Feb. 15, 1848," according to Harvard Vital Records.

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Copyright © 2006, 2008, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group