Family:Whitney, Horace Kimball (1823-1884)

Horace Kimball⁹ Whitney (Newel Kimball⁸, Samuel⁷, Samuel⁶, Samuel⁵, Nathaniel⁴, Nathaniel³, John², John¹), born Kirtland, Ohio, 25 Jul 1823; married in Nauvoo, Illinois, Feb. 3, 1846, Helen Mar Kimball, born 20 Aug 1828; married 2d, at Salt Lake, Utah, Oct., 1850, Lucy Bloxam, born 1832; died Sept., 1851; married 3d, 1 Dec 1856, Mary Cravath, born Sept. 8, 1838. The subject of this sketch was the eldest child of Newel K. and Elizabeth Ann Whitney, and was born at Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio, on the 25th of July, 1823. He early evinced a great love for books, and throughout his life was an almost incessant reader. His parents being well to do and desirous that their children should learn, he had ample opportunity to gratify his taste for reading, and even in his boyhood became quite a prodigy among his mates, owing to his scholarly attainments. His anxious father, fearful that his son might injure his health by excessive study, would often take the light from his room at night, lest he should read after retiring. Horace at such times, with a Henry Kirke White persistency, would open his window, and thrusting his head and book out into the moonlight read on by Luna's pale beams until tired nature insisted upon repose. When Joseph Smith, the Mormon leader, founded at Kirtland schools for the study of ancient languages and science, Horace K. Whitney was in the front rank of pupils enrolled, and being an apt grammarian, with a prodigious memory and a quick intellect, soon acquired a proficient knowledge of Hebrew, Greek and Latin. He was also an expert mathematician. "Ask Horace," became a by-word among his companions in later years, whenever information was desired. They styled him "the walking dictionary." He was not only literary, but musical in his tastes. he sang melodiously, and played the flute like a master. Horace, in his early years, was very fond of manly sports; particularly swimming. Among his schoolmates was a larger boy who often played the bully, and was especially hard upon young Whitney, owing perhaps to his proficiency at school, which would naturally make him a favorite with his teacher, and consequently an object of dislike to envious companions. One day the boys were "in swimming," and Mr. Bully dove and did not come up again. General alarm prevailed, when Horace, who was an expert in the water, plunged in and rescued the drowning lad, whose head he found entangled in some ugly roots at the bottom of the deep millpond. It is perhaps needless to add that the gratitude of the rescued boy knew no bounds, and that he was the firm friend thereafter of the youth who had saved his life. Horace removed with his parents from Kirtland in the fall of 1838, and spent the ensuing winter at Carrolton, Greene County, Illinois; their journey to Missouri, whether the main body of their people had preceded them, being intercepted by the news of the expulsion of the Mormons from that state. In order to help support the family Horace applied to the trustees of the school district in which he resided for a situation as teacher. A mature age--say over twenty-one--was required in an applicant. He was in his sixteenth year, but was large of his age, and appeared somewhat older. Having answered every question satisfactorily to the examiners the chairman remarked, "I should take you to be about twenty-three, Mr. Whitney." "You needn't guess again," was the shrewd answer, and the young scholar was forthwith engaged. At Nauvoo, after the family removed to Illinois, Horace learned the printers' trade, and in Salt Lake Valley was among the force of compositors who, in 1850, set the first type for the Deseret News, which still lives, the oldest newspaper in the Rocky Mountains. Horace, as stated elsewhere, was with his people in their exodus from Nauvoo into the western wilderness. He was one of the original Mormon pioneers, who, on the 24th of July, 1847, entered the valley of the Great Salt Lake and founded on its desolate shores, since redeemed and made to blossom like an Eden in the desert, what is universally regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. His life here was peaceful and comparatively uneventful. He was a great lover of the drama, and for many years a member of the Deseret Dramatic Association, playing, on the local stage, purely for amusement, various parts, with recognized ability. He subsequently performed for several years in the Salt Lake theater orchestra. During almost his entire life in Utah he was a bookkeeper in the office of President Brigham Young, a situation which he held at the time of his death. He never aspired to official life, and as he grew older his love of quietude and distaste for publicity of any kind became more and more apparent. He was nver so contented as when seated in his arm chair, devouring with eager mind Bulwer, Scott, Cooper, Dickens, Thackeray, or any of the great masters of literature, or applauding at the Temple of Thespis the efforts of genius before the footlights. Horace Kimball Whitney, an honest man, and a brilliant, though unassuming and unambitious spirit, died at Salt Lake City, Utah, on the 22d of November, 1884; resided Nauvoo, Illinois, and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Children of Horace Kimball⁹ Whitney:

i.	Helen Rosabell10 Whitney, born 6 May 1847; died 6 May 1847.
ii.	WM. Howard Whitney, born 17 Aug 1848; died 23 Aug 1848.
iii.	Horace Kimball Whitney, born 1 Sep 1849; died 1 Sep 1849.
iv.	Vilate Murray Whitney, born 2 Jun 1853; died 5 Feb 1870.
v.	Elizabeth Ann Whitney, born 27 Nov 1857; married 9 Nov 1886, Robert T. Paton; resided 285 C St., Salt Lake City, Utah. Ch.: Joseph Whitney, born 24 May 1888; died 13 Jul 1889.
vi.	Genevieve Whitney, born 13 Mar 1860; married 29 Dec 1886, Edward Lee Talbot, born 25 Dec 1862; resided 285 C St., Salt Lake City, Utah. Ch.: Edward Lee, born 4 Dec 1887; Florence, born 28 May 1890.
vii.	Helen Kimball Whitney, born 24 Mar 1862; married 30 Oct 1863, George Taysum Bourne, born 1 Sep 1857; resided Salt Lake City. Ch.: Helen Vilate, born 15 Aug 1884; George Bradford, born 30 Sep 1886; Genevieve, born 27 Dec 1888; Horace K., born 14 Jun 1891.
viii.	Charles Spaulding Whitney, born 21 Nov 1864; died 4 Aug 1886.
ix.	Florence Marian Whitney, born 4 Apr 1867; married 21 Sep 1887, Henry M. Dimoody, born 4 Mar 1866; resided 326 S. 1st West St., Salt Lake City, Utah.; s. p.
x.	Phebe Isabel Whitney, born 24 Sep 1869; died 23 Jul 1874.
xi.	Orson Ferguson Whitney, born 1 Jul 1855; married Zina Beal Smoot.
xii.	Horace Gibson Whitney, born 6 Jan 1858; married Marion M. Beatie.
xiii.	Ella Eliza Whitney, born 22 Mar 1859; married 14 Jan 1878, R. V. Decker, born 4 Sep 1848; resided 18 E. No. Temple St., Salt Lake City. Ch.: R. LeRoy, born 5 Dec 1878; Mary G., born 30 May 1886.
xiv.	Emmaretta Smith Whitney, born 23 Mar 1861; married 24 Sep 1884, George D. Pyper, born 21 Nov 1860; resided Salt Lake City. Ch.: Emmaretta, born 3 Nov 1885; George Whitney, born 6 Jul 1887.
xv.	Joshua Rodolphus Whitney, born 8 Mar 1864; married Emeline L. World.
xvi.	Laura Maria Whitney, born 2 Dec 1865; married 30 Apr 1888, William George Rynders, born 26 Feb 1866; resided 26 E. No. Temple St., Salt Lake City. Ch.: Whitney, born 13 Mar 1890.
xvii.	Lucy Helen Whitney, born 4 Mar 1867; unm.; resided Salt Lake City.
xviii.	Elizabeth Sikes Whitney, born 20 Dec 1870; died 3 Aug 1872.
xix.	Mary Linda Whitney, born 17 Aug 1872; unm.; resided Salt Lake City.
xx.	Clark Lyman Whitney, born 10 Jun 1874; unm.; resided Salt Lake City.
xxi.	Samuel Austin Whitney, born 12 Feb 1877.
xxii.	Geo. Washington Whitney, born 4 Jul 1878; died 4 Sep 1878.
xxiii.	Lafayette Whitney, born 4 Jul 1878.
xxiv.	Harriett Whitney, born 14 Apr 1883.
xxv.	Newell Whitney, born 1851; died 1851.

References

1. 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. 602-603.

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