Family:Whitney, James Shields (1830-a1880)

James Shields Whitney

Elizabeth Field (Knapp) Whitney

James Shields⁸ Whitney (Asa⁷, Asa⁶, Levi⁵, Daniel⁴, Jonathan³, Jonathan², John¹), son of Asa⁷ and Clarinda (Williams) Whitney, was born 2 Dec 1830, Brownville, NY.

He married, 6 Sep 1860, New Berlin, NY, Elizabeth Field Knap. She was born 22 Dec 1837.

He was born at Brownville, NY, removed thence to Schenecatady in 1831, where his father, Asa, had been appointed assistant superintendent on the Mohawk & Hudson railway (from Albany to Schenectady, now a part of the New York Central). In 1836 his father went to Smithfield furnace, near Newburgh, NY, to take charge of a furnace, and the family removed thither. In 1837 they returned and his father resumed his postion on the railroad, where he had been made superintendent in 1832. In 1839 he removed to Albany, NT, where he remained till 1842, his father being one of the canal commissioners of the state. He attended the Albany academy there. In the fall of 1842 he removed to Philadelphia, his father entering into partnership with Mr. M. W. Baldwin, in the Baldwin Locomotive works. There he attended the public schools, graduating at high school in 1848. He then went into the car wheel foundry business, which his father and brother George had established in 1847, and became a partner in 1855. At present he carrying on this business as sole proprietor, under the old name A. Whitney & Sons. He was married Sept. 6, 1860, at New Berlin, NY, to Miss Elizabeth Field Knap, of that place; removed to Wallingford, PA, twelve and one-half miles out of Philadelphia, in 1892; was a member of the board of public education, Philadephia, from 1873 to 1879, and from 1885 to 1889, when he resigned (both times), otherwise has never held any public office; resided Wallingford, PA; address, 1815 True St., Philadelphia, PA.

Children of James Shields⁸ and Elizabeth Field (Knap) Whitney:

i.	Asa Williams9 Whitney, b. 31 May 1861; m. Helen F. Stebbins.
ii.	Anne Knap Whitney, b. 12 Nov 1862.
iii.	Thomas Brown Whitney, b. 19 Jun 1869.
iv.	Emma Seiler Whitney, b. 7 Apr 1873.

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. 547-548.

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Copyright © 2006, 2009, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group